A DVLA licence check for employers confirms that a driver holds a valid licence for the vehicle they drive and shows any penalty points or disqualifications. An employer can check through the free GOV.UK service with a code from the driver, by post with form D888/1, or through a provider connected to DVLA’s Access to Driver Data service. Every route needs the driver’s involvement, and checks repeat on a schedule set by risk.
A driver who is disqualified, unlicensed for the vehicle or carrying 12 points is a risk to the business as well as to themselves. The licence card in their wallet will not tell you any of that, because penalty points have not been printed on a physical document since the paper counterpart was abolished on 8 June 2015. The only reliable source is the driver record held by the DVLA, or by the DVA for Northern Ireland licences.
This guide explains what the law expects of employers, what a check returns, the three ways to run one, and how often to repeat it. It also covers consent, the D906 form and what to do when a result comes back with a problem. For the commercial side of the subject, the Pocket Box licence checking service shows how the process can be automated.
Table of Contents
Why Employers Need a DVLA Licence Check
No single statute tells employers to check licences every set number of months. The case for a DVLA licence check for employers comes from general health and safety law and from road traffic offences that reach the business.
Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to protect employees and others, so far as reasonably practicable, from risks created by their work. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 add a duty to assess those risks, including driving.
The Health and Safety Executive’s guidance on driving at work tells employers to check the validity of a licence on recruitment and at intervals after that. The guidance is not law in itself, but it is the standard an inspector or a court is likely to measure a business against.
Road traffic law adds two offences that can land on the business directly. Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is an offence to cause or permit another person to drive otherwise than in accordance with a licence, and an offence to cause or permit the use of a vehicle without insurance. An employer who sends an unlicensed driver out in a company van can commit both.
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 applies where a death results from a gross failure in the way an organisation managed its activities, including driving. It targets the organisation rather than individual managers. Directors can still face personal prosecution under section 37 of the 1974 Act where a health and safety offence was committed with their consent or connivance, or through their neglect.
Who Counts as a Driver for Work
The duty covers anyone who drives on the business’s behalf, whatever vehicle they use. Licence verification applies to a two-van business as much as to a large HGV operator.
- Employees in company cars, vans and HGVs.
- Grey fleet drivers who use their own cars for work journeys, such as client visits or travel between sites.
- Agency drivers and temporary staff, who are often added at short notice and missed.
- Contractors and volunteers who drive on your behalf, where you direct when and how the driving happens.
Commuting from home to a normal place of work is not usually treated as driving for work. A journey from home straight to a client site usually is.
What a DVLA Licence Check Shows
A check returns the driver record as it stands on the day you run it. The table below sets out the main fields and what each one means for an employer.
| Field | What it shows | What an employer does with it |
|---|---|---|
| Licence status | Full, provisional, expired, revoked or disqualified | Stops anyone without a full, valid licence from driving for work |
| Entitlement categories | The vehicle categories the driver may drive, with start and end dates | Matches each driver to the vehicles they are allowed to use |
| Penalty points and endorsements | Offence codes, points and conviction dates | Sets the check frequency and any review or restriction |
| Disqualifications | Current bans and their end dates | Removes the driver from all driving duties until the ban ends |
| Photocard expiry | When the photocard needs renewing | Prompts a reminder before the card runs out |
Entitlement is where many fleets go wrong. A category B car licence covers vehicles up to 3,500 kg maximum authorised mass, so a 7.5-tonne lorry needs C1. A driver with category C can tow a trailer of up to 750 kg, while a heavier trailer needs CE. The category on the record settles which vehicles a driver may use, and an employer has no discretion over it.
Points matter for two thresholds. Most drivers face disqualification at 12 or more points within three years. New drivers have their licence revoked at 6 or more points within two years of passing their first test, and passing an HGV test does not start a fresh two-year period. Endorsements stay on the record for 4 or 11 years, depending on the offence.
Three Ways to Run a DVLA Licence Check for Employers
All three routes below cover licences issued in Great Britain. Each needs the driver to take part, either by creating a code or by signing a form.
The GOV.UK Check Code
The driver signs in to the View or share your driving licence information service with their licence number, National Insurance number and the postcode on their licence. They create a check code, which they can also get through their driver and vehicles account or by phone.
The employer then uses the GOV.UK check someone’s driving licence information service with the last 8 characters of the licence number and the code. The code must be used within 21 days and works once, so each new check needs a new code. The service is free. GOV.UK warns that obtaining someone else’s personal information without their permission is a criminal offence.
The Postal Check With Form D888/1
The driver and the employer complete form D888/1 together and send it with a £5 cheque or postal order to the Drivers Fee Paying Enquiries team at DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AJ. This route suits the occasional one-off check where a driver cannot use the online service. It is slow and leaves you waiting for a reply by post.
Access to Driver Data Through a Provider
Access to Driver Data, known as ADD, is the DVLA’s real-time service for organisations with a demonstrable business need to check entitlement and endorsements. DVLA delivers it as an API, so most employers reach it through a licence checking provider or fleet software rather than connecting directly.
ADD does not remove the driver from the process. Each driver signs a D906 fair processing declaration, which Fleet News reported lasts for up to three years or until the driver stops driving for the company, whichever comes first. Once it is in place, checks can run on a schedule without asking the driver for a new code each time.
| Method | Driver action each time | Cost | Speed | Best suited to | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOV.UK check code | New code for every check | Free | Same day, once the code arrives | Small fleets and pre-employment checks | Use for fewer than about ten drivers or a single new starter |
| Form D888/1 by post | Signs the form | £5 per check | Days, by post | Drivers who cannot use the online service | Keep as a fallback only |
| ADD through a provider | Signs a D906 once, valid up to three years | Charged by the provider | Real time | Fleets checking many drivers on a regular cycle | Use once manual codes become hard to chase |
Northern Ireland and Non-GB Licences
The DVLA holds records for licences issued in Great Britain only. Northern Ireland licences are issued by the Driver & Vehicle Agency, and nidirect runs an equivalent check service. The NI driver needs a nidirect account with a verified identity to create a code, and the employer then enters the 8 characters of the licence number with that code. As with the GOV.UK service, the code lasts 21 days and works once.
The DVLA cannot check a licence issued outside the UK. For those drivers, see the original document, confirm which vehicles it covers, and check GOV.UK’s guidance on driving in Great Britain on a non-GB licence, because the rules depend on the issuing country and how long the driver has lived here. Record what you saw and when, and set a date to check again.
Consent, the D906 Form and Data Protection
A driver record is personal data, so the DVLA releases it only with the driver’s involvement. For ADD, that involvement is the signed D906. When the DVLA changed its process for UK GDPR in 2018, it said that consent would no longer be the basis for releasing data, and that requests would instead need a completed declaration from the driver.
The practical step is to make licence checking a written condition of driving for the business, set out in your driver policy and, where possible, in the contract. The fleet driver policy template gives a starting point for that wording.
A driver who declines a check can then be removed from driving duties until the check is complete, which treats the refusal as a driving question rather than a disciplinary one. Take HR advice before applying that to an existing employee.
Keep only the check results you need, store them securely, and set a retention period in your data protection policy. This article is general information rather than legal advice, so confirm your approach with a data protection or employment adviser.
How Often to Run Driver Licence Checks
There is no statutory frequency for a DVLA licence check for employers, so set one by risk and write it down. The schedule below reflects common practice in UK fleet risk management.
| Driver group | Suggested frequency |
|---|---|
| New starters and agency drivers | Before they first drive for work, with no exceptions |
| HGV, PCV and other daily drivers | At least every three months |
| Regular business drivers, including most grey fleet | Every six months |
| Occasional drivers | At least once a year |
| Any driver after a road incident | Straight away, whoever was at fault |
Move a driver to a shorter cycle when points appear, rather than waiting for their next annual check. Most licences need renewing every 10 years for the photocard and every three years from age 70, so add those dates to your reminders as well. The free licence check spreadsheet has columns for the last check, the next check and the frequency for each driver.
Acting on the Result of a Licence Check
A clean result is simply recorded against the driver’s file. A result with points, a ban or a missing category needs a response that matches its seriousness, applied the same way to every driver, and one common approach is set out below.
- One to five points: record the result, tell the driver you have seen it, and shorten their check cycle.
- Six to eight points: hold a documented conversation about the offences and consider a driver risk course.
- Nine or more points: pause driving for work while you review the risk, and check your insurance policy for conditions on high-point drivers.
- Disqualification, revocation or an expired licence: stop all driving for work at once until the driver shows a valid licence.
- Missing category: stop the driver using that vehicle type, while allowing vehicles they are entitled to drive.
Whatever the result, log the date of the check, the outcome, the action taken, who was told and the next review date. If a driver is later involved in a collision, a consistent dated record is the clearest evidence that the business took reasonable steps.
Building a Licence Check Process That Holds Up
A process that survives an insurer’s question or an HSE visit is written down and applied to every driver in the same way. A workable version has the five steps below.
- List everyone who drives for work, including grey fleet, agency staff, contractors and volunteers.
- Choose the checking route for each group and collect a D906 where you use a provider.
- Set the check frequency by risk and put every due date in a diary or system.
- Record each result and the action taken against the driver’s file.
- Review the policy every year and after any incident.
Licence checks sit alongside other driver records, such as Driver CPC and tachograph cards for HGV drivers. The fleet compliance guide for UK operators covers how those obligations fit together.
Managing Licence Checks Across a Fleet
On a fleet of more than a few drivers, the harder task is keeping every check on time. Chasing codes, typing results into a spreadsheet and remembering who moved to a three-month cycle after picking up points all take admin time, and gaps open when someone is on leave.
Pocket Box fleet management software keeps driver records, vehicle checks and renewal reminders in one place. Its licence checking module runs each DVLA licence check for employers on the schedule you set, alerts you to new points, expiries and category changes, and logs every result with a date.
Drivers stay linked to the vehicles they are entitled to drive, so a missing category shows up before the keys are handed over. To see where licence checks sit in the wider set of operator duties, download the free UK fleet compliance guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an Employer Check a Job Applicant’s Licence Before They Start?
An employer can check once an offer involving driving has been made. Ask the applicant for a check code and the last 8 characters of their licence number, and run the check before their first journey. Tell applicants at the offer stage that a satisfactory licence check is a condition of the role.
Does a DVLA Licence Check Confirm the Driver’s Insurance?
A licence check covers the licence only and says nothing about insurance. For grey fleet drivers, ask to see the insurance certificate and confirm it includes business use, because social, domestic and pleasure cover does not usually extend to work journeys. Check the MOT and tax status of their vehicle at the same time.
How Long Do Drink-Driving Endorsements Stay on a Record?
Most drink-driving endorsements stay on a driver record for 11 years from the date of conviction, longer than the 4 years that applies to many speeding offences. A licence check will show the endorsement code and its date, even after the driver has served any ban.
What Should a Fleet Do if a Check Will Not Return a Result?
The most common causes are a mistyped licence number, an expired code or a code already used. Ask the driver for a fresh code and check the last 8 characters again. If the record still will not show, keep the driver off work driving until you have seen a valid result.
