Explains the rights that you have to drive, what information you need to tell the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and how to appeal if your driving licence is taken away.
View this information as a PDF (new window)
The information you provide will be considered by the DVLA. They will aim to make a decision about whether you can drive or continue to drive within six weeks of you telling them about your mental health problem. They will write to you if it is likely to take longer than this.
In some situations, the DVLA may need more information before making a decision. The DVLA might want to:
Once the DVLA has all the information it needs, you will receive a letter from the DVLA telling you whether:
The process looks like this:
It is important to remember that your situation will be looked at by the DVLA individually – just because you have a particular diagnosis or take a particular medication doesn't mean you won't be allowed to drive.
No. The medical standards for Group 2 licence holders are much higher than for Group 1 licence holders due to the size and weight of the vehicles being driven, and the amount of time drivers spend on the road behind the wheel.
This will be up to your doctor. If your doctor tells you that you need to tell the DVLA about your mental health problem, you will need to ask him or her whether you can carry on driving while the DVLA makes its decision. Usually the DVLA will not revoke your licence until all the medical information has been provided, although in some exceptional cases it can revoke your licence immediately if it is in the interests of road safety to do so.
If you are advised by your doctor to stop driving or if you decide yourself that you shouldn't drive, you must surrender your driving licence to the DVLA. To surrender your licence, you need to fill in a declaration of surrender for medical reasons from the Gov.uk website and send this to the DVLA with your licence.
You will need to apply for a new licence if you want to start driving again after surrendering your licence.
There are advantages to surrendering your licence voluntarily, as it may mean that you can start driving again sooner:
This is a government department that maintains registers of drivers and vehicles in Great Britain.
See our full list of legal terms.This includes people who drive large lorries and buses.
See our full list of legal terms.This includes people who drive motor cars and motor cycles.
See our full list of legal terms.This information was published in April 2018. We will revise it in 2020.
References are available on request. If you would like to reproduce any of this information, see our page on permissions and licensing.