How to change your address on your driving licence

Moved house and need to let the DVLA know? We can help

Moving house is a complex business, but changing the address on your driving licence remains an important task – not least as you could end up with a £1,000 fine if you fail to do so.

Fortunately changing the address on your driving licence – whether you have a full or provisional one – is free, easy, and only takes a few minutes online – although you can also do it by post, if you prefer. We’ll talk you through all the options.

Change the address on your driving licence online

1. First, you’ll want to head to the Government’s official website set up specifically for this task (note there’s a separate site for people who live in Northern Ireland), and this site will then take you to the online tool, which is run by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
2. You’ll need to enter your name, gender, date of birth and country of birth on the first page, clicking through to the next page when you’ve completed this.
3. You will then be asked for your driving licence number as well as all the addresses you have lived at for the past three years.
4. You will also be asked to provide your National Insurance number and passport number, if you have these.
5. Once you have completed the online form you should receive a confirmation email from the DVLA, with your new licence coming through in the post within roughly seven working days.

You can continue to drive while you wait for a new licence to be issued. Note that you don’t need to change the address on your licence if you’ve living away from home temporarily – for example if you live at university or college during term time.

Change the address on your driving licence by post

While changing the address on your driving licence is easier and quicker online, you can do so via post as well.

1. You’ll need either the D741 form that came with your photocard driving licence, or you can get a D1 form (D2 if you drive a bus or lorry) from the post office. You used to be able to download the D1 and D2, but they’re now only available from Post Offices
2. Fill out the form (it asks you to detail such things as your name, address, sex, DoB, and eyesight quality) and send it, along with your old licence, to: DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BN.
3. If you have an old-style paper driving licence, you’ll need to upgrade to a photocard driving licence at the same time. To do this, include a passport photograph with the D1 form, including your passport number on the form. If you don’t have a passport there are other ways to prove your identity, which the Government’s website details.

Changing your address by post takes three weeks or so, making it easier and quicker to use the online service.

Update your address on other vehicle documents

Changing the address on your driving licence doesn’t automatically change the address any cars you own are registered to – you will need to do this separately.

As with changing your address on your licence, it is a legal requirement to change the address your car is registered to if you have moved house.

• Again, this can be done online or by post; you’ll need the car’s registration, and the document reference number from the V5C logbook.
• If you pay for your road tax by monthly direct debit you’ll need to change your address for this, too. Fortunately there’s an easy Government portal for this as well.
• People with a personalised number plate will also need to use the Gov portal to change their address for this.
• Finally, if you have a trailer registered to your address and want to continue to be able to take it abroad, you’ll need to update your address for this, too – again, using the Gov website.

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