Replace a Lost, Stolen or Damaged Driving Licence (UK Guide 2026)

At a glance

• What this covers: replacing a Great Britain full or provisional photocard driving licence that has been lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed — not a licence that has expired, or where your name or address has changed.
• Apply online: GOV.UK states the fee is £20, paid by debit or credit card (correct as at July 2026 — always check gov.uk for the current figure). You must be a resident of Great Britain and not currently disqualified from driving. GOV.UK says your licence should arrive within a week.
• Apply by phone or post: form D1 (car/motorbike) or D2 (lorry/bus) from a Post Office; the fee is shown on the form. GOV.UK says postal applications take around 3 weeks. Phone applications are only available if your photocard is not damaged, none of your details have changed, and it does not expire within 56 days (90 days if expiring for medical reasons).
• Driving while you wait: your entitlement to drive comes from holding a valid licence for that class of vehicle under section 87 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, not from possessing the physical card — losing the card does not remove an entitlement that was otherwise still valid.
• Producing your licence to police: if a constable asks, you must produce your licence under section 164 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 — but section 164(8) gives you a defence if you produce it at a nominated police station within 7 days, or as soon as reasonably practicable.
• Not the same as "Section 88": section 88 RTA 1988 is a distinct exception mainly for drivers whose licence has expired while a renewal is pending — it is not what covers you for an ordinary lost/stolen/damaged replacement of a licence that is still in date.
• If your old licence turns up later: GOV.UK says you must return it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AB, explaining what happened — you should not simply destroy or discard it yourself.
• Northern Ireland: residents use the separate Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) service, not this GOV.UK/DVLA service.

What a "replacement" licence actually is

A replacement driving licence is a new photocard issued by DVLA (the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) to take the place of one that has been lost, stolen, destroyed, or is too damaged to read. Both full and provisional GB licences can be replaced through the same GOV.UK service.

This is a distinct service from renewing an expired licence and from updating your name or address — all three sit under different parts of GOV.UK, and using the wrong one is one of the most common reasons an application gets bounced back. If your photocard is coming up for its 10-year renewal date rather than simply missing, see our guide on DVLA driving licence renewal instead.

How to apply online

GOV.UK's online service covers both full and provisional licences. To use it, you must:

1. Be a resident of Great Britain. Northern Ireland has a separate service through the DVA.
2. Not be disqualified from driving for any reason.
3. Sign in — you'll need to create sign-in details if you do not already have them, and you may be asked to prove your identity. GOV.UK notes this usually involves photo ID such as a passport or driving licence.
4. Pay the fee. GOV.UK currently states this is £20, by MasterCard, Visa, Electron or Delta debit or credit card — check gov.uk for the up-to-date figure before you start, as fees are reviewed from time to time.

You do not need the paper counterpart of an old-style licence to apply. Once you've applied, DVLA sends a confirmation email, and GOV.UK says your new licence should arrive within a week (it can take longer if your medical or personal details need to be checked).

If your last provisional licence application was made before 1 March 1973, GOV.UK's guidance is that you need to use the apply for your first provisional driving licence service instead of the ordinary replacement route — this is unusual, but it does still come up for drivers who held a very old provisional entitlement and never converted it to a full licence. See our guide on applying for your first provisional driving licence if that applies to you.

Applying by phone or by post

If you cannot or would rather not use the online service, GOV.UK sets out two alternatives.

By phone: you can contact DVLA to apply by phone, but only if you have a photocard licence and none of your details have changed. You cannot apply by phone if your licence is damaged, or if it expires in less than 56 days (90 days if it's expiring for medical reasons).

By post: complete form D1 ("Application for a driving licence") for a car or motorbike licence, or form D2 for a lorry or bus licence. Both are available from most Post Offices. Send your completed application, along with the fee shown on the form, to the address printed on it. GOV.UK says your licence should arrive within 3 weeks by post, longer if further checks are needed. If your name has changed, you'll also need to send original documents confirming this. If you're replacing a paper (non-photocard) licence, you'll also need to enclose original identity documents, a passport-type photo, and your old paper licence if it's been damaged. See our guide on renewing a lorry or bus licence if your entitlement covers larger vehicles.

What identity documents you might need

If you already have a valid UK passport, you'll normally just enter the 9-digit passport number — GOV.UK is clear you should not send your physical passport. If you don't have a UK passport, GOV.UK's guidance on identity documents for a driving licence application sets out alternatives, including:

• a current foreign passport (non-EU/EEA) with a UK visa sticker, or a current Irish passport;
• a UK birth, adoption or naturalisation certificate, sent together with further proof such as your National Insurance card, a DWP/HMRC letter showing your National Insurance number, a P45/P60/payslip, or a marriage/civil partnership certificate; or
• evidence you receive a State Pension, if you're a pensioner.

Where you're relying on a certificate rather than a passport or immigration share code, GOV.UK also requires someone who knows you personally — holding a valid GB photocard licence, resident in the UK, and not a relative or someone at your address — to countersign your form and photo. Original documents only; photocopies and laminated certificates are not accepted.

Can you drive while you wait for your replacement?

This is the question people ask most, and it is worth getting right because two different legal provisions get conflated in a lot of online guidance.

Your entitlement, not your card, is what makes driving lawful. Under section 87(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is an offence to drive "otherwise than in accordance with a licence authorising him to drive a motor vehicle of that class" — the offence turns on whether you hold a valid entitlement, not on whether you are physically carrying the card. If your licence had not expired, been revoked or been disqualified before it was lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed, your underlying entitlement is unaffected by the loss of the card itself.

You must still produce your licence if asked. Section 164 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 gives a constable the power to require you to produce your licence — for example if you're stopped, or after a road traffic accident. If you cannot produce it there and then, section 164(8) provides a defence where you produce it in person at a police station you nominate, within 7 days of being asked, or as soon as reasonably practicable, or where it was not reasonably practicable to produce it before proceedings began. This is often called "producing at a police station," and it is a defence to the offence of failing to produce your licence — not a separate permission to drive without one.

Section 88 is a different provision, and it usually doesn't apply here. Section 88 RTA 1988 is headed "Exceptions" and allows someone to keep driving where they held a licence for that class of vehicle and a "qualifying application ... for the grant of a licence" is pending with DVLA — in practice, this provision (explained in DVLA's own leaflet INF188/6) is aimed at drivers whose licence has expired, or is expiring, while a renewal or medical reapplication is being processed. If your licence is simply missing but was still in date, you are not relying on a pending "grant" of a new licence in the section 88 sense — you already hold a valid licence; you are just replacing the card. Section 88 becomes relevant only where your licence has also expired or been revoked around the same time, in which case you should check the specific section 88 criteria (including medical fitness, no current disqualification, and the application being correct and complete) before assuming you're covered.

In practice, carrying proof still matters. You will not be able to hire a car, and you may struggle to satisfy an employer, insurer or a car rental desk of your entitlement, without the card itself or a temporary DVLA check code. You can generate one free of charge through view or share your driving licence information while you wait for your replacement to arrive.

If your licence was stolen

You apply for a replacement in exactly the same way as for a lost or damaged licence — there is no separate "stolen" process on GOV.UK. GOV.UK's guidance is that you should contact the police if your licence is stolen; this is not stated as a legal precondition of getting a replacement, but it is sensible practice, particularly where other identity documents (a passport, bank cards) went missing at the same time, since a crime reference number can matter if the licence is later misused for identity fraud.

If you find your old licence after ordering a replacement

This is where the current advice circulating online is often wrong. GOV.UK does not say to destroy or shred your old licence. Its guidance is explicit:

"You must return your old licence to DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) explaining what's happened if you find it after applying for or receiving a replacement."

Send it to: DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AB. Only the most recently issued licence is valid once a replacement has gone out, but DVLA wants the old card back, with a short note of what happened, rather than have you dispose of it yourself.

Worked example: Priya's lost licence

Priya loses her purse on a train, with her full GB photocard driving licence inside. Her licence itself is not due to expire for another six years, and she has never been disqualified. She reports the loss to the train operator's lost property and, since her bank cards went missing too, reports it to the police and gets a crime reference number.

That evening, Priya applies online through GOV.UK, signs in, confirms her identity using her passport number, and pays the fee GOV.UK quotes at the time. Because her underlying entitlement was never affected — only the card was lost — she can lawfully continue driving to work the next morning under section 87 RTA 1988; if a police officer asked to see her licence, she would need to produce it, or produce it at a nominated police station within 7 days under section 164(8), until her replacement arrives. Two months later, Priya finds her old licence wedged behind a car seat. Rather than throwing it away, she posts it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AB, with a short covering note explaining that a replacement had already been issued.

Common mistakes to avoid

1. Using the wrong DVLA service. Replacement (lost/stolen/damaged/destroyed) is not the same as renewal (expired licence) or an address/name update — using the wrong one can hold up your application.
2. Assuming "Section 88" is the reason you can keep driving. For an ordinary lost/stolen/damaged replacement of an in-date licence, your continuing entitlement rests on section 87, not section 88 — see above.
3. Destroying an old licence that later turns up. Return it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AB, instead.
4. Trying to apply by phone with a damaged card or an imminent expiry date. GOV.UK's phone route is only available for undamaged photocards, unchanged details, and licences not expiring within 56 (or 90) days — anything outside that needs the online or postal route.
5. Sending photocopied identity documents by post. GOV.UK requires originals; photocopies and laminated certificates are not accepted for postal applications.

This guide provides general information about replacing a lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed driving licence in Great Britain. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for advice tailored to your specific circumstances. The law and DVLA process described were accurate as at July 2026 and are subject to change — always check GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk for the most current position.

Last reviewed: July 2026 by a non-practising solicitor · Next review due: July 2027 or on legislative change.