A query from FREEDOM of Information has revealed that UK drivers are spending more than £50,000 a day to replace lost driving licences.
The data comes from the DVLA and shows results between 2018 and 2022.
Drivers spent just over £70m on new licenses in four years
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Drivers spent just over £70m on new licenses in four yearsCredit: Alamy
The study, conducted by Lease Fetcher, found that the DVLA makes millions of pounds each year and tens of thousands of pounds each day as people replace their licence.
The FOI query revealed that a whopping 3,501,972 licenses were replaced between 2018 and 2021.
The standard fee for replacing a lost driving license is £20 meaning UK drivers have spent just over £70m over the 4 year period.
This in turn means that the DVLA has achieved an average of £17.5 million per year between 2018 and 2021.
This boils down to UK drivers spending an average of £48,000 per day – the equivalent of a lost license being replaced every minute.
2019 was the most expensive year, with drivers spending an average of £55.4k each day on driving license replacements.
The FOI request also revealed that there are some UK drivers who will not be able to keep their license but also some who will try anything to get one.
In 2021, 386 identified cases of counterfeit or counterfeit driver’s licenses were filed with the DVLA.
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This is a significant 15% increase over the previous year, when 335 cases were identified during claim processing.
The DVLA – suffering from delays due to staff absences and Covid – has shared some useful tips to get your documents faster.
The DVLA website states: “As a result of Covid and the impact of previous industrial action, there are ongoing delays in the processing of paper applications.
“We apologize for any inconvenience and our staff are working hard to reduce wait times.
“Additional delays may occur when processing more complex cases, such as when medical evaluations are required as part of your driver’s license application.”
The DVLA website states: “Our online services are working as usual and without any delay.
“This is the quickest, easiest and often cheapest way to get in touch with us.
“We encourage you to use our online services whenever possible.”
If you apply online, you should receive your Driver’s License or Vehicle Registration Card, V5C, within five days.
Drivers who renew their paper driver’s license with a new photo have to wait the longest.
Source: thesun