How to surrender your lorry or bus licence
- Surrendering your vocational entitlement
- Surrendering your driving licence
- Where to send the completed declaration(s)
- If you decide to return to driving after voluntary surrender
The medical standards of fitness to drive are available to all medical practitioners. There may be an occasion when your own doctor may have advised you not to drive, in accordance with these standards.
Surrendering your vocational entitlement
If you have been informed by your doctor not to drive you can surrender your entitlement to drive lorries or buses to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Surrendering your entitlement removes the need for the DVLA to make formal medical enquiries into your fitness to drive.
If medical enquiries are made and these confirm that you cannot meet the required medical standards of fitness to drive, your vocational entitlement will have to be revoked. If you want to voluntarily surrender your lorry or bus entitlement, or want this entitlement revoked for insurance purposes, you will need to complete form VOC99/CERT' (PDF, 65K)
Surrendering your driving licence
If you also wish to surrender your driving licence and reapply for its restoration at a later date, you will need to complete Declaration of voluntary surrender' (PDF, 32K) and return it together with your licence. Surrendering your licence removes the need for us to make formal medical enquiries into your fitness to drive. If medical enquiries are made and these confirm that you cannot meet the required medical standards of fitness to drive, your licence will have to be revoked.
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Where to send the completed declaration(s)
The completed document(s) can then be returned to DVLA by post, fax or email. If you choose to email the document(s) you should note that this is not a secure means of communication and that DVLA accepts no responsibility for handling your email until after it is received. You can post, fax and email your document(s) to the following address and numbers below:
Drivers Medical Group DVLA Swansea SA99 1TU |
Fax number0845 850 0095 Email address |
If you decide to return to driving after voluntary surrender
If in the future, following surrender, you apply for the restoration of your vocational entitlement and or driving licence, medical enquiries will need to be made. However, whilst these enquiries are being carried out the law provides cover to drive under Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act, 1988. This means that as soon as your application is received at DVLA (following voluntary surrender) you may resume driving provided you meet the following criteria:
- a valid application is held at the DVLA
- you have not or would not be refused or revoked a licence for medical reasons and you are able to meet the medical standards of fitness to drive. These standards are set down in "At a glance guide to the current standards of fitness to drive". All medical practitioners have access to this publication, therefore if you are in any doubt about your ability to meet these standards, you should check with your doctor before you resume driving
- you must have held a GB or Northern Ireland licence issued since 1 January 1976 or another exchangeable licence
- you keep to any special conditions which may apply to you, and to your licence
- you are not disqualified from driving
Page last updated: 23/04/2008