Driving over the age of 70
Renewing your driving licence
About 90 days before your 70th birthday, the DVLA will send you a letter to ask you to renew your driving licence. There’s no need to retake your test, you just need to return a form, either the paper or online version.
When you renew your licence, you’re confirming to the DVLA that you’ve no medical conditions that you need to tell them about, and that your eyesight meets the minimum requirements. You’ll need to renew your licence every three years.
Always use the gov.uk website if you are renewing your licence online, as other unofficial websites have been known to charge unnecessary additional fees on top of any statutory fees that may apply.
Meeting the eyesight requirements
If you’re approaching the time to renew your licence, it’s a good idea to make use of your free NHS eye test to ensure you have the correct prescription spectacles, if you need them.
It’s illegal to drive if you can’t read a number plate from 20 metres away, you can wear glasses for this. Not wearing your glasses – or wearing glasses with the wrong prescription – could invalidate your car insurance.
Declaring medical conditions to the DVLA
You’ll need to let the DVLA know if you have any medical conditions that could affect your driving. It’s not necessary to inform them of all conditions, look at the Government’s list of health conditions for full details.
If you have one of these health conditions, you might be concerned that it will automatically stop you from driving, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Depending on the condition, it might be that you must take a driving assessment to prove you’re safe to drive.
Failing to declare medical conditions to the DVLA could invalidate your insurance policy, and if you were to have an accident as a result of your condition, you could face a fine of up to £1,000 or even imprisonment.
Unless the DVLA restricts your driving or removes your licence, there’s no need to tell Saga about any medical conditions. You can just continue to enjoy driving, protected by Saga’s car insurance for over 70s.
How confident are you on the road?
It’s probably been a while since you passed your driving test. If you’re at all concerned about how safely you’re driving, or decide you’d like a refresher, you could arrange a driving assessment course.
Organisations, including RoSPA and the IAM, provide driver assessments where you’d drive for an hour or so, in your own car, on roads you’re familiar with so they can give you a report on your driving and advice on how you could improve your skills or drive more safely. It’s not a test, but a way to check your driving ability and make changes to the way you drive so you can be safer on the roads.
If you lose confidence in your driving, perhaps due to having an accident, we can help you to arrange up to four hours of driver confidence coaching with an instructor of your choice. Driver confidence courses are available to customers who have Legal Protection – included as standard with our Saga Plus cover level, or optional with other cover levels.