advice please on driving licence

[Downunder]

Please could someone enlighten us as to what the procedure is to be able to drive in France where we hold an English current licence but no longer live in that country, also have a current Australian one and would, for the time being, want to occasionally rent a car until we find somewhere permanent to live.  We hold EU passports if that's of any consequence.

 

[derf]

I should think that a large percentage of the people on this Forum are in the same position as you. Living in France and still holding a current British driving licence with their old UK address on.

There is no requirement to change your Licence to a French one anymore Unless maybe if you commit a traffic offence in France, then you could be asked to change it get the points deducted.

You can hire a car with your UK licence, and of course if you want too when you have an address in France you can exchange it for a French one.

[Will]

I think you will be better off with the British licence. If it is an EU-type licence it is perfectly legal and valid for use in France. As Australia is outside the EU I doubt if its licences will have the same validity. I'm sure you would be able to hire cars etc with your Australian documentation by pretending to be a tourist, but unless you really are only visiting for a short time you could get into hot water in case of an accident etc.

[Coco]

I'm not disputing what Les and Will have said, just a little confused.  Can someone please explain how you can hang onto a UK licence when living permanently in France when it states on the UK licence that there is a £1,000 fine for not advising DVLA of an uptodate address and that address has to be your current UK one?

[Will]

Coco - although we live and work in France we still own a house in the UK (that isn't rented out, and which I use on my frequent returns to England, mainly for work purposes). The address on my driving licence is the address of that house. I'm sure other people in France have other perfectly legitimate ways of maintaining 'dual address' status.

Now I shall sit back and await the amateur lawyers' considered opinions that as a result I am unlicensed and a danger to all other road users (seriously, I am sure I have seen something to confirm my view on the DVLA web site or printed matter).

[Ron Avery]

Sorry Will but what a lot of Guff. You getting mixed up with your Sky subscription?   There is no need to concoct a dual address, a UK License is perfectly legal for a French resident.

The £1000 fine applies if you are a UK resident and don't notify the DVLA of a change of address, it does not apply to moving to France, they are not interested,  I told the DVLA when I moved and they told me to keep the UK License as they could not issue a UK Driving License with a French address on it

As Les has said, very clearly, if you live in France you do NOT have to change your license EVEN though it has a UK address on it, it is perfectly valid in France.  You can change it if you wish to a French one, (after 1 March it is free in many departments).  HOWEVER, again as Les has said, you do HAVE to change it to a French License if told to by the French Police, this is so that they can TAKE points off your license as in France the points system works in the opposite way to the UK.

[Dick Smith]

Ron - he's right. The DVLA says that to use your UK licence abroad you must be UK resident, see

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/drvinothercountries.htm

"You may use your GB licence for driving in all other European Community/European Economic Area [EC/EEA] member states... You must be resident in GB, have passed a driving test and be over 18 years of age."

And if you don't think an insurance company could make a non-payment case out of that...

[Ron Avery]

Yes Dick that is probably right if you live in the UK, if you had read the next bit

Moving to another country 

If you move to another country, you should check with the driving licence authorities there for information about driving and exchange of licences. 

Well I did and the DVLA will not change my UK License to a French address.  My sub-prefecture told me that the French authorities accept a UK Driving License, with a UK address on it as valid and do NOT require a UK license to be changed to a French one UNLESS the Police tell you to. So that means that the French authorities are happy so there is no problem.

They are not hung up about the use of a driving license to prove your address here,  we have the C de J or Utility bills if that is necessary, I have hired vans and cars here with no problem, all they are concerned about is that you have a driving license. as I said, other documents can be used to prove where you live

[Dick Smith]

I'd be careful - I read that as two separate sections. In the end the only answer is to contact the DVLA and ask - they do respond to emails (given a bit of time). I realise the French authorities may be happy - but will they and your insurance company still be happy if it goes t-u?

[Tourangelle]

What I don't understand in the above posts is what does it matter what the DVLA thinks as long as the French are happy when you are driving in France with a British licence. Which they are.

Dick is your post related to driving a British car? Otherwise I don't see what the insurance issue could possibly be. They really don't care about the address on driving licences here.

[0BRIAN WOODHEADI,m here in franceddMMyyyy0Falseen-USI,m here in franceTrue]

The answer is really simple if you live in france like we and others do change your driving licence to a french one,if you do not live in france don`t change it

 

[Tourangelle]

It is not that simple. I live in France, have a British driving licence, but don't have (or need) a car, therefore don't drive regularly. I've wondered in the past about getting my licence changed to a French one, just because sometime 2 pieces of id are required for cheques and so on, but I was put off by the admin.

But really, if you live in France all the time, why bother changing unless you have to?

[Ron Avery]

[quote]I'd be careful - I read that as two separate sections. In the end the only answer is to contact the DVLA and ask - they do respond to emails (given a bit of time). I realise the French authorities may...[/quote]

"I'd be careful - I read that as two separate sections"

It is two sections, at the risk of repeating myself infinitum I asked the DVLA to change my l.icense and they said NO.  I asked the French if I had to change it and they said NO!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dick Smith]

I take your point, I just don't trust insurance companies. Like Franklin Roosevelt said about banks, people who lend you an umbrella when the sun is shining but ask for it back as soon as it starts to rain...

[Downunder]

[quote]I take your point, I just don't trust insurance companies. Like Franklin Roosevelt said about banks, people who lend you an umbrella when the sun is shining but ask for it back as soon as it starts to...[/quote]

What a great response.  Thank you very much everyone for your input.  As the licence is dated until 2009 we'll leave well alone.

P.S. I wish I'd had this sort of response to my enquiry for somewhere to stay in the Indre

[Boghound]

[quote]I'd be careful - I read that as two separate sections. In the end the only answer is to contact the DVLA and ask - they do respond to emails (given a bit of time). I realise the French authorities may...[/quote]

You really should stick to commenting on replies where you actually have first hand knowledge Dick..Ron is correct..you do not have to change to a French one, even if you have lived here for many years...you have to change if you commit an offence that requires the reduction of points...French insurance companies would have a copy of your licence anyway when you first applied for cover...this is one area where they cannot weasel out from.

[Coco]

[quote]It is not that simple. I live in France, have a British driving licence, but don't have (or need) a car, therefore don't drive regularly. I've wondered in the past about getting my licence changed to...[/quote]

Why does everyone always seem so frightened of the admin involved?  My husband and I went along to the Prefecture one day at about 11.45am, filled in the relevant form, which was very simple, took two passport photos each, handed the form the photos and our UK licences to the lady, who told us it would take about half an hour.  On seeing the time (by now about 11.55) she changed that to "come back half an hour after lunch".  Et voila, two new pink licences.  And yes, they have been useful on occasions when we've been asked for 2 forms of identity with our address on.

[Will]

Coco - changing to a French driving licence (at least in the départment where we both live) is painless, I quite agree. In our household Judie has changed to a French licence, just as you did, while I retained the British licence for the simple reason that it is valid in France, and if I had changed it I would have lost the entitlement to drive certain categories of vehicle. Never having been asked for two forms of address-bearing ID I know nothing of that particular benefit.

Well, and this is with moderator's hat removed, I did what I said and sat back and I wasn't disappointed, the same old pedants turn up not bothering to properly read what others have posted and come out with their own brand of half truths and assumptions. By the way Ron, I don't have a Sky subscription and have no need to concoct any dual address thing. I genuinely live in two countries (and am going to the other one again tomorrow). So I see that as being, if you like, doubly legal. I certainly don't agree that a licence carrying an obsolete address is necessarily illegal.

I don't think anybody can dispute the fact that a British driving licence is perfectly valid in France. Our prefecture gives the choice of changing to a French licence or giving the applicant a document to keep with the British licence to show to any gendarme who is still stuck in old French law rather than the newer EU directives that override them (now I'm sounding like one of the bar room lawyers and certainly don't recommend arguing with the gendarmes). I'm pretty certain some other prefectures won't swap EU licences for French ones (you can of course exchange USA, Australian etc licences)

The point that the pedants love to raise is that British driving licences carry an address, which DVLA says must be your current address and not having the current address is an offence. I don't know what Ron Avery is referring to as 'guff' because he and I are saying exactly the same thing.

I repeat, I'm sure I have seen somewhere on the DVLA web site or printed matter that if you move to another EU country you can retain your last UK address on the British EU-style licence and continue to use it legally, but I'm bu**ered if I can find it again.

[Chas]

[quote]I'd be careful - I read that as two separate sections. In the end the only answer is to contact the DVLA and ask - they do respond to emails (given a bit of time). I realise the French authorities may...[/quote]

I did just that about 4 years ago. They responded by Email stating that they accepted that having moved to France my UK address was no longer valid, but as far as DVLA was concerned that was OK. I no longer have the Email but did post it on the "old" forum.

[derf]

[quote]Why does everyone always seem so frightened of the admin involved? My husband and I went along to the Prefecture one day at about 11.45am, filled in the relevant form, which was very simple, took two...[/quote]

I went to the Prefecture to change my Uk licence some time ago and was told i needed to get it translated into French and if I wanted to keep all the groups on that licence i would need to have a medical etc. etc. thats why i still have my perfectly legal UK licence, even with the wrong address on. 

[0BRIAN WOODHEADI,m here in franceddMMyyyy0Falseen-USI,m here in franceTrue]

I changed my UK licence to a french one which had and still has on it every class but a motorbike(even though I have a little moped called "taz")on it,no problem at all to have it changed,six week wait and a brand new EU licence french style

 

[Downunder]

[quote]I changed my UK licence to a french one which had and still has on it every class but a motorbike(even though I have a little moped called "taz ")on it,no problem at all to have it changed,six week wa...[/quote]

Another query please.  If we should want to buy a car in France and own a UK licence even though the address is wrong, haven't had contact with insurers for 3 years now (to confirm ncb) what would be the procedure please.  Anybody know?  Or is it more prudent that we'd be better off showing Aus licence then at least we'd be able to have confirmation from insurers here that we have a ncb? Gosh there's so much to deal with

[derf]

You seem to be locked into this driving licence and address thing, what you will need is proof from your present insurers of your NCB nothing to do with which DL you use. 

[Simon]

I found this an interesting debate, so I emailed the DVLA and asked them direct about living in France with a UK licence; here is their reply

"I regret that we are unable to issue a GB licence showing an address outside Wales, Scotland or England.

Drivers who take up residence in another EC/EEA country no longer have to exchange their driving licence, but may continue to drive using their own national licence for as long as is remains valid. You should however check with the appropriate driving licensing authorities where you are now resident for information on any conditions that the host member state may stipulate.

National licences may only carry an address from the country which issued that licence. We are therefore unable to re-issue your British licence with a foreign address. It is accepted that drivers who move to another part of the EC/EEA could be holding driving licences showing an incorrect address.

This is permissible under the terms of the EC Directive on Driving Licences.

I hope this answers your enquiry."

I think that answers it for me.

Regards

SImon

[Stocky]

I have been following this topic with interest and read the various expert views.  Its alright for you youngsters but I will throw the other items into the arena:

I have one of those old green paper licenses so i will obviously need to change anyway. 

what happens when you reach 70?  you need to renew your British license, but have no UK address or Doctor

French driving license states that on reaching 70 it is not valid for the UK.  How do you get that changed on approaching that milestone?