Are old-style paper driving licences still valid?
That's because the rules are different depending on your age, when your licence was issued, whether you've moved house and other reasons.
To clear up your confusion, carry on reading.
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In 2015 the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) scrapped the paper counterpart for anyone in Great Britain (not Northern Ireland — see below) who had been issued with a driving licence after 1998.
If you've been issued with a paper licence at any point since then, you should also have a photocard, and you can discard your paper counterpart without worry. All data that would have been recorded on the paper section — your penalty points — is now held online.
However, if you were issued with a paper licence before April 2000, it is valid provided that all the information on it is still correct. Moving house or changing your name without updating your licence will make it invalid. You could be fined £1,000 if the police catch you using an invalid licence.
Most British women change their name after marriage, about 90 per cent according to a 2016 study cited by the BBC. Driving licences must be updated with the new name to remain valid. However, the DVLA confirmed to Driving that should a driver choose to keep their maiden name on official documents after marriage, they will not need to inform them about the marriage as the existing licence remains valid.
In 1998 the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) replaced the old-style paper licence with a plastic photocard and paper counterpart, the latter of which was used for tallying up the licence points you had.
However, in 2015 the paper counterpart was replaced by an online service and paper counterparts were no longer issued, partially due to the number of people who kept losing them. About 445,000 people misplaced theirs in 2014 and had to pay £20 each time to replace it, at a total cost of nearly £9m.
Some paper licences are still valid as of the date of publication, but not all of them.
If your paper licence was issued before March 31, 2000, and all of the information on your paper licence is still correct as outlined above, then it will usually remain valid until you turn 70.
On the day before your birthday you will need to renew your licence, and you will be issued a photocard free of charge. It is also free if you still have your paper licence but you need to change the address or name. All driving licences must be plastic by 2033.
If you need to replace your licence before then because it has been defaced, lost or stolen, then you can do so through a service on the government website. This costs £20, and delivery times are in the region of three to four weeks.
Provided you're medically and legally cleared to drive, and your application isn't more than a year old, you're allowed to drive while you are swapping your paper licence for a photocard.
As of June 2015 paper licences have not had details of endorsements (penalty points) written or printed on them.
Instead the details of any offences and endorsements are held electronically, and to view those details, as well as things like what classes of vehicle you're legally allowed to drive or evidence of the validity of your licence to provide to car hire companies, drivers can check through the DVLA portal. That only applies if your licence was issued in England, Scotland or Wales, though.
The changes made to the licencing system in Britain in 2015 did not take effect in Northern Ireland and a licence there is still made up of a photocard and a paper counterpart, the latter of which remains an important part of the licence and must be kept safe. As is the case in Great Britain, single-part paper licences issued before the switchover to the use of photo cards may still be valid.
While details of any endorsements are also recorded electronically and can be viewed through the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) portal, those endorsements are also recorded on drivers' paper counterpart.
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