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Section 89: Duration of licences

Road Traffic Act 1972 · 1972 c. 20View on legislation.gov.uk

Part III: Licensing of drivers of vehicles

A licence shall, unless previously revoked or surrendered, remain in force—

except in a case falling within paragraph (b) or (c) of this subsection, for a period of three years or, if the Secretary of State so determines in the case of a licence to be granted to a person appearing to him to be suffering from a relevant disability within the meaning of section 87 of this Act, for such shorter period, not less than one year, as the Secretary of State may determine ;
in the case of a licence granted in exchange for a subsisting licence and in pursuance of an application requesting a licence for the period authorised by this paragraph, for a period equal to the remainder of that for which the subsisting licence was granted; and
in the case of a provisional licence, for a period of one year;

and any such period shall begin with the date on which the licence in question is expressed to come into force.

Where it appears to the Secretary of State that a licence granted by him to any person is required to be endorsed in pursuance of any enactment or was granted in error or with an error or omission in the particulars specified in the licence or required to be so endorsed on it, the Secretary of State may serve notice in writing on that person revoking the licence and requiring him to deliver up the licence forthwith to the Secretary of State.

Where the name or address of the licence holder as specified in a licence ceases to be correct, its holder shall forthwith surrender the licence to the Secretary of State and furnish to him particulars of the alterations falling to be made in the name or address and, in the case of a provisional licence as respects which the prescribed conditions are satisfied, with a statement of his sex and date of birth; and a person who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence.

On the surrender of a licence by any person in pursuance of subsection (2) or (3) above, the Secretary of States—

shall, except where the licence was granted in error or is surrendered in pursuance of the said subsection (2) in consequence of an error or omission appearing to the Secretary of State to be attributable to that person's fault or in consequence of a current disqualification, and
may in such an excepted case which does not involve a current disqualification,

grant to that person free of charge a new licence for the period for which the surrendered licence was granted.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.