Driving licence address

[Jofang]

We are retired, our house is sold and we're considering motorhoming full time both in the UK, Europe and further afield. How does having no UK address affect my driving licence? My son has already volunteered his address for us to use but is this acceptable to DVLA, insurance, etc?

 

[DBK]

Don't you have a French licence?

But using your son's address will be fine for the UK licence.

 

[Jofang]

I have a UK licence but we're fortunate to have property in France.

 

[kev54]

We are retired, our house is sold and we're considering motorhoming full time both in the UK, Europe and further afield. How does having no UK address affect my driving licence? My son has already volunteered his address for us to use but is this acceptable to DVLA, insurance, etc?

As DBK suggests, I also reckon your son’s address is fine for the Driving Licence - from memory, they simply stipulate it must be an address where communications can reach you.
Other questions arise - will the vehicle remain registered in the UK - and return for annual MOT etc? Insurance without a permanent UK address might be a different kettle of fish. Interested to hear from those with direct experience.

 

[HKF]

I have a UK licence but we're fortunate to have property in France.

We have UK licences but live in France. There is no legal requirement to change our address on our UK licences.

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[HKF]

As DBK suggests, I also reckon your son’s address is fine for the Driving Licence - from memory, they simply stipulate it must be an address where communications can reach you.
Other questions arise - will the vehicle remain registered in the UK - and return for annual MOT etc? Insurance without a permanent UK address might be a different kettle of fish. Interested to hear from those with direct experience.

I live in France full time (last 3 1/2 years). DVLA said there is no legal requirement for us to change the address on our UK licences. No mention was made about needing to contact us for anything.

I have a UK registered vehicle which is taxed, MOTd and insured by Adrian Flux. They know I live in France and they have the address of where the vehicle is kept in the UK as the insured address. I also gave a different UK address for communication. They did once give me a Green Card for 6 months although, technically, i should have started the import process within 3 months (as a resident of France). I think I was actually one week over when I took it back. But, yes, you can have a UK registered vehicle insured in the UK even if you live in France, providing it is taxed/SORN/MOTd.

 

[ianp]

I live in France full time (last 3 1/2 years). DVLA said there is no legal requirement for us to change the address on our UK licences. No mention was made about needing to contact us for anything.

I have a UK registered vehicle which is taxed, MOTd and insured by Adrian Flux. They know I live in France and they have the address of where the vehicle is kept in the UK as the insured address. I also gave a different UK address for communication. They did once give me a Green Card for 6 months although, technically, i should have started the import process within 3 months (as a resident of France). I think I was actually one week over when I took it back. But, yes, you can have a UK registered vehicle insured in the UK even if you live in France, providing it is taxed/SORN/MOTd.

It seems from the UK govt web site that you 'could' be fined up to £1000 for an incorrect address on a licence and that you wont be able to renew the licence if not 'permanently resident'. I've never actually heard of anyone being fined as such though many years ago when having been stopped by the police for no seat belt I was informed that it was a requirement to update it in no uncertain terms.......they still let me off with both the licence and the seat belt though so a good day was had....!

Change the address on your driving licence

Change the address on your full or provisional driving licence for free - do it online or by post

www.gov.uk

and depending upon when your licence was issued and is valid until will dictate its validity in France......before you are required to exchange it apparently.....!

 

[Martin Stacey]

We are retired, our house is sold and we're considering motorhoming full time both in the UK, Europe and further afield. How does having no UK address affect my driving licence? My son has already volunteered his address for us to use but is this acceptable to DVLA, insurance, etc?

DVLA require a UK address - They do not accept a PO Box number. They may also reject a mailing service address (the later seems to be hit and miss if you read online reports)

For Full Time Motorhome Insurance (mines through Comfort Insurance) you will need a UK correspondence address and your driving licence and vehicle registration V5 to show that same correspondence address.
Proper full timers motorhome insurance is likely to cost you more.

Consider other things like electoral role, HMRC, Council Tax (even if you like me pay none) etc as you may want a "footprint" should you go back to bricks and mortar and for other things as well.

I use my relatives for all the above.

 

[HKF]

It seems from the UK govt web site that you 'could' be fined up to £1000 for an incorrect address on a licence and that you wont be able to renew the licence if not 'permanently resident'. I've never actually heard of anyone being fined as such though many years ago when having been stopped by the police for no seat belt I was informed that it was a requirement to update it in no uncertain terms.......they still let me off with both the licence and the seat belt though so a good day was had....!

Change the address on your driving licence

Change the address on your full or provisional driving licence for free - do it online or by post

www.gov.uk

and depending upon when your licence was issued and is valid until will dictate its validity in France......before you are required to exchange it apparently.....!

Yes, thank you for this. We both have old style paper licences and are able to use them until they expire under the WARP Agreement (Brexit), so no need to renew like the new style ones. Once they expire, we simply change them for French licences without having to take a test (again, under the terms of the WARP Agreement).

 

[gus-lopez]

nsurance without a permanent UK address might be a different kettle of fish. Interested to hear from those with direct experience.

Stuart Collins,Swansea have always insured Uk residents vehicles that are permanently out of the country & only return for an mot ,if that is necessary.https://www.stuartcollins.com/