Replacing damaged drivers licence

johnington

Hi folks,

Looking for opinions because I can't make up my mind on what to do.

Renting a car abroad for the holidays. One of the terms is that the drivers licence is held for at least one year, I've had mine for 9. My current paper licence is a bit damaged though. The photograph is smudged; looks like moisture got in somehow. You can still tell it's me though, just smudged around the edges and a few spots on the face.

Do I:

A) Chance my existing licence? Does a damaged photo invalidate it?

Replace with new? Will the issue date be as per original licence or from when I receive it?

If I go with B and the issue date is from this year, the licence will be less than 1 years old and they won't rent to me.

Anyone replace a damaged licence recently that is in the know?

Atlantic Dawn

Held means from the date you got your first licence, not the time you have had your current licence. I'd replace the licence with a new one, issue date will be test pass or issue date of first licence, not exactly sure which it shows.

jimmycrackcorm

johnington wrote:

Replace with new? Will the issue date be as per original licence or from when I receive it?

I replaced my damaged licence in 2015. That's the date it shows.

CiniO

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I replaced my damaged licence in 2015. That's the date it shows.

It shows 2015?
If so that's not correct and you should ask them to replace it.

CiniO

Generally speaking - we are talking about 2 different things.

One is your licence as per entitlement to drive. That date should be equivalent to the around date you passed your test , and might be different for different categories if you have few. This date should never change, and should always be the same on all your licence documents.

Seconds is the date of issue of document, which will be different for every driving licence document which was issued to you.

F.e. my B category licence has issue date of 1999. My D category licence has issue date of 2008. C category issue date of 2012.
But my most recent driving licence document was issued in 2012.
All those dates should be noted on a licence document.

When someone asks me, how long did I have my car licence, asnwer is 18 years. And similarly 9 years for bus, and 5 years for truck.
No one should be interested in issue date of document itself, as it's irrelevant.