DVLA

[LindaK]

At my last annual appointment with Consultant at UCLH she advised I inform DVLA ( I have CMT 1A). So looking on their website they have a list of A-Z conditions that are notifiable and of course CMT is not listed, but Peripheral Neuropathy is.

So would be interested to know what others have put and what the outcome was.

Many thanks

Linda

[Amanita]

Hi, Linda,

Yes you absolutely must inform the DVLA about your CMT!

If you are involved in any incident even if caused by the other party and there is any question that you might have an undeclared health problem it can lead to all sorts of nasties, like a £1000 fine from the DVLA and finding your insurance is invalidated. So your car insurance company also needs to know.

CMT is not mentioned by name, but is covered by "peripheral neuropathy" if you look up the long list of diseases listed by the DVLA under "Medical Conditions, Disabilities and Driving". By coincidence I have my licence renewal form right here (must get on with it) and section 4 asks about health. CMT here comes under "any other chronic neurological condition including MS ..... " In my case i will tick the box "Have you told us about this before?" and also (reluctantly) "Has this condition got worse?" As it would be a fib to tell them you have a progressive disease and a few years later claim it has not progressed!

I can't remember exactly what happens but suspect they send you a form. I am sure they ask you for your GP's and neurologist's contact details. I know they contacted my neurologist 6 years ago, and he reassured them I was fine.

However some months later, the occupational therapist he had sent me to see strongly recommended I should have a voluntary medical driving assessment. There was a 6 month waiting list and the outcome was that I was not fit to drive a manual car, and to get myself some lessons in driving an automatic, using my left foot on the brake (and R foot on accelerator) immediately and to buy an automatic car in the next two weeks! Meanwhile i was reminded it was my responsibility to drive only if I was quite safe to do so. It all took quite a lot longer than 2 weeks but 6 years later I am still driving my automatic, and braking safely with my left foot.

With luck you may not need to go through that rigmarole, but the important thing is to tell the DVLA and your insurance company.

All the best.

[Hidden]

CMT has to be notified. I'm 66 and I told them when I was diagnosed about 11 ish years ago. Nothing happened for years. Things only changed about 4 years ago when we moved and had to change address etc. Then they made me see my GP and put me on a 3 year license. This has just been renewed following another visit to GP.

[CHAMPDAD]

hi LindaK. I had to report my condition 3 years ago and underwent several medical examinations, pretty straight forward but over a period of 2 years it was tyersom, last year I received my ( compulsary) drivers medical examination of drivers withdisabilities, I was a nervous wreck but on sitting the examination of my driving I should haven't worried, the wording of the letter made me nervous ( up date of skills needed etc) I drove my car as I normally would have and was fine, ( and I had had a 10 year break due to lack of confidence ) my advice is this is absolutely nothing to worry about, I was awarded a 3 year licence and not worried about my next one in 2 years, I still have my pass report with the 10 categories they assess us on so if you need more information would be great to help, 😊 x

[LindaK]

Many thanks to all who replied to my query about informing DVLA, very useful info. I have printed the pages and sent them off.

[Amanita]

Best of luck, Linda - I hope it will go smoothly for you. You may find you get a licence which has to be renewed every 3 years.

I realised they had sent me an ordinary 3-year renewal form (2 pages) , not a medical one (5 pages), so found one online covering neurological probs, filled it in and posted it off with my licence and the ordinary form. I have also informed my neurologist and GP that I have passed on their details and warned them the DVLA may well contact them. I'll probably also send the neurologist a copy of the completed medical form.

[Megan23]

I’v got cmt1A and I have ur down cmt1A (phenomenal neorophy )just had to have a medical at my Drs but my luck my dr never filled the form in properly so dvla have sent it back to him so now I have to wait again mine has been going on since the middle of July18 fed up on waiting now.