Checking that your drivers can actually drive

If people drive as part of their job, someone should be checking that they are entitled to. In a lot of small businesses, nobody is.

The paper counterpart is long gone

The paper counterpart to the photocard licence was abolished in 2015. Endorsements are held on DVLA's record, not on anything the driver can hand you.

That means asking to see a licence tells you the person has a licence and shows you the photocard's expiry. It tells you nothing about points, disqualifications or the categories they actually hold.

How to check properly

The driver generates a share code from DVLA's online service and gives it to you, along with their driving licence number. That lets you view their record — categories, endorsements, disqualifications — with their consent.

Codes are time-limited and single-viewer, so the process is designed around the driver authorising each check rather than an employer holding standing access.

What each method actually tells you

How often

There is no universal legal frequency, and the sensible answer is risk-based:

• Annually as a baseline for anyone who drives for work
• More often for high-mileage drivers, anyone carrying passengers or goods, and anyone with existing points
• On joining, before they drive anything

Also worth having: a policy requiring drivers to tell you about new endorsements when they happen, rather than waiting to be checked.

The grey fleet

The bit most often missed. When an employee uses their own car on company business, the employer's duties do not disappear because the vehicle is not theirs.

In practice you want to be able to show, for each grey-fleet driver:

• Valid licence with the right categories
• Business use insurance — social, domestic and pleasure plus commuting is not enough
• Valid MOT where applicable
• Some assurance the vehicle is roadworthy

None of this is onerous. It is simply not done, usually because nobody has decided whose job it is.

Why the mileage record helps here too

The same log that supports a mileage claim tells you how much business driving each person actually does — which is what a risk-based checking policy should be built on. Someone doing 25,000 business miles a year is a different exposure from someone doing 800, and treating them identically is either over-administering one or under-checking the other.

Sources

• GOV.UK — Penalty points (endorsements)
• GOV.UK — Getting an MOT
• GOV.UK — Check the MOT history of a vehicle
• The Highway Code

General information, not legal advice. Employer duties around driving for work are detailed: take advice on your own obligations.