Millions of drivers with photograph licences are at risk of being fined if they do not renew the photograph every ten years.
The DVLA set the conditions for photograph licences stipulating that all photographs needed to be replaced after 10 years, at a cost of £20. Failure to comply could result in a fine of £1000 as stated in Section 99 of the 1988 Road Traffic Act, which is enforceable by the police. This does not affect drivers with an original style paper licence.
To ensure that they abide by the law, 2.9 million licence holders will need to renew their photograph by the end of 2012, with an additional 13 million to be renewed over the next 5 years.
According to Sainsburys car insurance statistics, the consequences of having an expired photograph displayed on a licence are not fully understood. For instance failure to update a licence will not, in itself, affect a drivers car insurance, although approximately 31 per cent of people questioned thought this was the case. 27 per cent mistakenly thought it would incur penalty points on their licence and an additional 13 per cent thought their car could be confiscated.
The research has revealed that 10 million people are not aware of the expiry date on their vehicle licence and 14 per cent of expired licences ran out in 2009 or earlier. Less than 1 in 3 drivers whose licence has expired are aware that it has.
As photo card licences were originally issued in 1998 it would be prudent for drivers owning this kind of licence to check the photo renewal date, especially if they plan to use their licence as a form of identification in the future.