Hi
I have just been fitted with a pacemaker/defibrilator and need to contact the DVLA to hand in my driving licence for 6 months. I tried to do it on line but had to verify with the Post office which came up with the conclusion that I do not exist, I wish the Inland Revenue would take the same view! I have tried to find forms on the DVLA web site but they seems a load of forms which I cannot find 2 days running. Has anyone had to do this and can point me in the right direction.
Thanks in advance
Regards

Colin

Hi Colin, Father in law has had this done and was advised he should not drive for a week and if he noticed any symptoms like dizziness etc he should not drive until he had seen the heart specialist, but he was not told to contact the DVLA or hand in his licence and we did nothing.

Thankfully he has stopped driving now, he is 94 and had two speeds, dead slow and stop. He only stopped because between insurance £700, tax £180 and MOT and service £120, it was costing him £1,000 a year. Between MOT's his average mileage over four years was 198 and common sense has prevailed.

However, he had the pace maker fitted two years ago (he was 92 at the time) and looking into it now, I found this, which should help.

https://www.gov.uk/pacemakers-and-driving Syd

I had a pacemaker fitted in 2011 and I don't think I notified DVLA at the time, only my insurance broker. I did notify DVLA when my licence expired a few years later. I don't remember having my licence withdrawn at all.
Does a pacemaker "affect driving". I was told that it didn't.

Hi
The rules seem to have changed the list of notifiable medical conditions is enormous, have a look on the DVLA web site. Or perhaps not or there will be no cars on the road. There is a £1000 fine for not registring when your told and or course your insurance is not valid for driving when banned. The hospital made a great play that I needed to inform the DVLA both orally and in writing.
Thanks Syd I have found the form and trying to get the information to put it together, although an appointment with my usual GP is 3 weeks away!
Regards

Colin

You are right Colin things have changed and that £1,000 fine is a big deter-ant not to obey. Syd

Hello Colin,

To assist, this is the current DVLA policy:

1- if you have a medical condition or a "life support" mechanism (LSM) fitted you must inform (a) your insurance company (b) DVLA

2- if fitted with a LSM you will be told by the medical authorities how long you must wait before you can drive

3- HOWEVER, only DVLA can give you the authority to start driving again - as you can see there is a BIG difference between this point and point 2 above.

4- DVLA will only give you the authority to drive again, once they have received the necessary paperwork and have made their own enquiries.

5- once those enquiries are complete and they are happy for you to start driving again, they will send a letter of confirmation; this can take 4-6 weeks at present.

6- if DVLA do not allow you to start driving again, then with regret they will request you surrender your D/L forthwith.

7- you can appeal, but the appeal is based on fresh medical evidence and is rarely successful. This is because you have already submitted the latest medical advice - hence your referral to DVLA in the first place !!

Therefore and in essence, it is NOT the medical advice that temporarily suspends your driving; but it is the confirmation from DVLA that in their opinion you are fit to drive and retain your D/L.

I hope the above provides clarity ??

Good luck.

Richard.

Without going into details, for about 5 decades, my driving licence is reviewed every 3 years. This involves me receiving a form from DVLA which I have to fill in, plus the details of my GP and any consultant (it helps to smile and fawn and say the right things) and me signing the form to give DVLA permission to contact them to verify that what I have put on the form is correct.

Basically it's just a paper-pushing box-ticking bureaucracy which only became so convoluted this century. I don't want to give more personal info than I already have, so you'll have to trust my cynical experience of the system