DVSA: Abolition Of Licence Counterpart – Update

Updated.


This was first flagged (officially) back in December 2014, and the initial email warned that from 8 June 2015 the paper counterpart of the licence would no longer be valid.Licence counterpart - RIP

DVSA has issued an update now that the deadline is imminent (as of this update, it is now in force) – and this is aimed at ADIs.

As an approved driving instructor, this will mean the following for you and your pupils:

When presenting for lessons

You can check your pupil’s photo card licence for ID purposes. However if you want to carry out further entitlement checks you can do so by using either of the following:

  • ‘Share Driving Licence’, DVLA’s new online driving licence enquiry service
  • DVLA’s existing telephone, post and intermediary enquiry services

This user guide gives further information about how you can carry out further entitlement checks.

This user guide tells your pupils how they can share their driving licence with you.

Several things are apparent from this. Firstly, ADIs only really need to check the photo card for ID purposes (which is precisely what I said in the latest issue of ADI News (June 2015)). But if they still want to do the James Bond bit and find pupils’ inside leg measurements, those two links in the above quote provide the means and the explanation for doing so, because it turns out that the new Show Licence system allows temporary sharing of the information. I’ve given step by step instructions on the Information page.

The DVSA email makes it clear that entitlement checks will have been carried out at the time their test was booked. Examiners will not be doing any additional checks on the day of the test other than looking at the photo card. I suppose that ADIs come in earlier in the learning process and have slightly (and I mean “slightly”) more reason to want to check entitlement – the View Licence service shows penalty points and disqualifications. However, it is not necessary for an ADI to routinely carry out this check – 99 times out of a hundred all they need to do is check the photo card.

One significant change is the fact that pupils are going to have to send off their licences on their own when they pass if they have switched addresses at any point. Fortunately, they won’t have to pay for it and they can do it online or by post – I’ve given more details on the Information page.

Pupils with EU/EEA licences will need to apply for a D91 form before they can book their tests. At the moment, I cannot find any reference to D91 other than in this DVSA email. That must be on its way.

You should destroy your counterpart after 8 June 2015 (I’d wait until 9 June if I were you).


Edit: I noticed someone on a forum complaining that pupils wouldn’t be comfortable entering their National Insurance number in front of the ADI on a laptop in the car. Erm! I don’t think that’s how it works.

What happens is that the licence holder (pupil) generates a code at home, or wherever they would normally access the system, using the View Licence feature. They send this code to their instructor, who then uses the separate Check Licence feature to redeem the code (the ADI also needs the last 8 digits of the pupil’s licence, which they should have anyway). The code is valid for 72 hours and can only be used once.

The system is designed such that non-essential confidential information is not compromised. The pupil shouldn’t be doing it in the car with the instructor present, and the instructor shouldn’t be requesting that they do so.


Edit: I noticed on another forum – and in spite of DVSA setting out clearly how to do it – someone complaining about having to handle NI numbers or obtain “printouts” from pupils.

Look, people! The pupil logs into a special site and obtains a share code. They give this share code to their instructor, who then logs on to a totally separate site using the code – not their NI number –  and is then able to see their licence details.

Yes, the pupil could print the code out. But they could also text or email it – the email option in particular allows cut-and-paste of their share code. It really isn’t rocket science.

I’ve given step by step instructions on the Information page.


Edit: I’ve had several tests since 8 June and examiners are definitely not asking for the paper counterpart. You can dispose of yours without any worries.


Edit: Just a reminder that the vast majority of ADIs do not need to access online licence details for the vast majority of their pupils. Unless specific entitlement details are required which are not shown on the photo card, ADIs do not need the other information. They just think they do, and are creating needless extra work  for themselves and pointless embarrassment for their pupils by requesting access.

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