What age do medical checks become compulsory and what is usually involved?
The law requires HGV drivers to be in reasonably good health in order to legally operate commercial vehicles on public roads. To that end, every new driver must undergo an HGV medical exam with accompanying paperwork (D4) that is submitted to the DVLA by the physician who performs the examination. Candidates are required to undergo a new medical exam every time their licence comes up for renewal. It is the same exam whether you wish to drive a lorry or a bus. The most important fact to know is that a Doctor cannot assess whether you are fit to drive a commercial vehicle, they simply complete the D4 medical examination form. The DVLA makes the decision on whether you are fit to drive.
If you are under the age of 45 your HGV medical will last until your 45th birthday, after which you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every 5 years until the age of 65. After the age of 65 you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every year.
LuckyMatty:
If you are under the age of 45 your HGV medical will last until your 45th birthday, after which you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every 5 years until the age of 65. After the age of 65 you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every year.
The exact expiry date is dependent on the date your licence expires and is renewed. It is quite possible (and perfectly legal) for a driver to reach 49 years of age without ever having submitted a D4 since his initial application.
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Roymondo:
LuckyMatty:
If you are under the age of 45 your HGV medical will last until your 45th birthday, after which you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every 5 years until the age of 65. After the age of 65 you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every year.The exact expiry date is dependent on the date your licence expires and is renewed. It is quite possible (and perfectly legal) for a driver to reach 49 years of age without ever having submitted a D4 since his initial application.
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how so not being argumentative just intrested.
i passed my rigid test in nov 2019 so had a medical around sept/oct that year. jan this yeari got a letter from the dvla saying they were going to susspend my licence in feb if i didnt get a new medical as i was turning 45 in feb
cooper1203:
Roymondo:
LuckyMatty:
If you are under the age of 45 your HGV medical will last until your 45th birthday, after which you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every 5 years until the age of 65. After the age of 65 you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every year.The exact expiry date is dependent on the date your licence expires and is renewed. It is quite possible (and perfectly legal) for a driver to reach 49 years of age without ever having submitted a D4 since his initial application.
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how so not being argumentative just intrested.
i passed my rigid test in nov 2019 so had a medical around sept/oct that year. jan this yeari got a letter from the dvla saying they were going to susspend my licence in feb if i didnt get a new medical as i was turning 45 in feb
What was the expiry date for your hgv licence?
I’d guess it was your 45th birthday, or very close to.
They don’t usually threaten to suspend your licence in a months time. What they usually do is send you a D4 Medical form. The accompanying letter usually tells you they need the completed D4 by a certain date. If they don’t get it in time, they may not have everything processed before the date your hgv runs out. As your hgv has run out, you can’t drive hgv’s.
Simon:
cooper1203:
Roymondo:
LuckyMatty:
If you are under the age of 45 your HGV medical will last until your 45th birthday, after which you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every 5 years until the age of 65. After the age of 65 you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every year.The exact expiry date is dependent on the date your licence expires and is renewed. It is quite possible (and perfectly legal) for a driver to reach 49 years of age without ever having submitted a D4 since his initial application.
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how so not being argumentative just intrested.
i passed my rigid test in nov 2019 so had a medical around sept/oct that year. jan this yeari got a letter from the dvla saying they were going to susspend my licence in feb if i didnt get a new medical as i was turning 45 in feb
What was the expiry date for your hgv licence?
I’d guess it was your 45th birthday, or very close to.They don’t usually threaten to suspend your licence in a months time. What they usually do is send you a D4 Medical form. The accompanying letter usually tells you they need the completed D4 by a certain date. If they don’t get it in time, they may not have everything processed before the date your hgv runs out. As your hgv has run out, you can’t drive hgv’s.
i think it was nov 2024 so i would of been 47 it was definetly 5 years after i passed my class 2
cooper1203:
Roymondo:
LuckyMatty:
If you are under the age of 45 your HGV medical will last until your 45th birthday, after which you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every 5 years until the age of 65. After the age of 65 you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every year.The exact expiry date is dependent on the date your licence expires and is renewed. It is quite possible (and perfectly legal) for a driver to reach 49 years of age without ever having submitted a D4 since his initial application.
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how so not being argumentative just intrested.
i passed my rigid test in nov 2019 so had a medical around sept/oct that year. jan this yeari got a letter from the dvla saying they were going to susspend my licence in feb if i didnt get a new medical as i was turning 45 in feb
In that case colour me pleasantly surprised - seems they have changed their procedures and my comment is wrong.
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sorry i was wrong i jusy looked back at my post at the time and trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 2&t=171215 it was due to expire 24/12/24
LuckyMatty:
The most important fact to know is that a Doctor cannot assess whether you are fit to drive a commercial vehicle, they simply complete the D4 medical examination form. The DVLA makes the decision on whether you are fit to drive.
Slight modification: you’re right that for a D4 medical the doctor does not assess your fitness to drive, ie they don’t pass or fail you, despite the common perception.
But… when you need to invoke Section 88, the doctor should be asked to consult the official guidelines (see link) and then make an interim assessment on fitness to drive, while the driver waits for DVLA to make their decision (which seems to be back on track as two of my S88 drivers got their licences back surprisingly rapidly)
gov.uk/government/publicati … fessionals
cooper1203:
sorry i was wrong i jusy looked back at my post at the time and trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 2&t=171215 it was due to expire 24/12/24
That’s a bit strange. Your licence was due to expire 24/12/24, which is a bit odd all on its own.
DVLA sent you a D4 Medical form in 01/22, with a covering letter (as is usual), saying essentially “get this completed and back to us by 2/22, or we’ll suspend your hgv licence”?
As we’ve said, the normal procedure is- Your 45th birthday is approaching. Your hgv licence expires on your 45th birthday.
At roughly 2 months before your birthday you get a D4 and covering letter from the DVLA. The covering letter tells you to get the D4 completed and back to them by at least a week before your licence expires, otherwise your licence will be suspended from its expiry date.
You have time to arrange for a Dr to give you a medical and complete the form. Part of the form requires an eyesight test, you might have to get that bit done by an optician.
You can use your own GP, who could charge you £120, or you can use an “hgv medical” Dr who’ll charge you about half price.
Whichever method you use, you then send the completed and signed D4 back to the DVLA, who send you a new hgv licence, usually good for the next 5 years.
You can carry on working.
This is what happens if you got your hgv licence before your 40th birthday. You will have had a D4 type medical before doing your hgv training, which will make you “good until your 45th birthday”.
If you did your medical, training and test after your 40th birthday, the usual procedure is. Your licence expires 5 years after you had your medical. Otherwise it is exactly the same as above. Unless the DVLA has fairly recently changed their procedures in relation to age related medicals.
Simon:
That’s a bit strange. Your licence was due to expire 24/12/24, which is a bit odd all on its own.
How did it happen that your licence was due to expire on Christmas Eve?
Hardly anyone works on that day, if they have any option. You wouldn’t have had a D4 medical on that day. Drs have that option, unless they charge double time for a D4. But I think that’s unlikely tbh. DVLA are not known for their “keenness”, so I kind of doubt they’d have been working Christmas Eve, even if they were in attendance at the office.
24/12/24 is just a really odd day for a licence to run out, unless that’s your birthday and you had your medical well over 5 years before your 45th.
Roymondo:
LuckyMatty:
If you are under the age of 45 your HGV medical will last until your 45th birthday, after which you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every 5 years until the age of 65. After the age of 65 you will need to pass the HGV medical assessment every year.The exact expiry date is dependent on the date your licence expires and is renewed. It is quite possible (and perfectly legal) for a driver to reach 49 years of age without ever having submitted a D4 since his initial application.
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As Raymondo says. My medical would have been due this year. But because my licence renewal was before I turn 45 this year my medical is now not due until 2027 when I will be 49. No letter from DVLA for medical renewal just a new date of July 2027 for my next renewal at which point I will need a medical.
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Simon:
cooper1203:
sorry i was wrong i jusy looked back at my post at the time and trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 2&t=171215 it was due to expire 24/12/24That’s a bit strange. Your licence was due to expire 24/12/24, which is a bit odd all on its own.
DVLA sent you a D4 Medical form in 01/22, with a covering letter (as is usual), saying essentially “get this completed and back to us by 2/22, or we’ll suspend your hgv licence”?As we’ve said, the normal procedure is- Your 45th birthday is approaching. Your hgv licence expires on your 45th birthday.
At roughly 2 months before your birthday you get a D4 and covering letter from the DVLA. The covering letter tells you to get the D4 completed and back to them by at least a week before your licence expires, otherwise your licence will be suspended from its expiry date.
You have time to arrange for a Dr to give you a medical and complete the form. Part of the form requires an eyesight test, you might have to get that bit done by an optician.
You can use your own GP, who could charge you £120, or you can use an “hgv medical” Dr who’ll charge you about half price.
Whichever method you use, you then send the completed and signed D4 back to the DVLA, who send you a new hgv licence, usually good for the next 5 years.
You can carry on working.This is what happens if you got your hgv licence before your 40th birthday. You will have had a D4 type medical before doing your hgv training, which will make you “good until your 45th birthday”.
If you did your medical, training and test after your 40th birthday, the usual procedure is. Your licence expires 5 years after you had your medical. Otherwise it is exactly the same as above. Unless the DVLA has fairly recently changed their procedures in relation to age related medicals.Simon:
That’s a bit strange. Your licence was due to expire 24/12/24, which is a bit odd all on its own.How did it happen that your licence was due to expire on Christmas Eve?
Hardly anyone works on that day, if they have any option. You wouldn’t have had a D4 medical on that day. Drs have that option, unless they charge double time for a D4. But I think that’s unlikely tbh. DVLA are not known for their “keenness”, so I kind of doubt they’d have been working Christmas Eve, even if they were in attendance at the office.
24/12/24 is just a really odd day for a licence to run out, unless that’s your birthday and you had your medical well over 5 years before your 45th.
i did question the date when i got my licence back from dvla trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 5&t=163398
it all seems a bit odd as i got more than 5 years when they added the cat c. i turned 45 end of feb this year
its all academic i guess as i got a new medical and since passed my class 1 and happily working just intresting
cooper1203:
i did question the date when i got my licence back from dvla trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 5&t=163398it all seems a bit odd as i got more than 5 years when they added the cat c. i turned 45 end of feb this year
its all academic i guess as i got a new medical and since passed my class 1 and happily working just intresting
As long as you’re still working, it’s all good.
I think there must have been a screw-up of some sort when your licence was issued, which they noticed at the last minute. That’s why the normal paperwork arrived with next to no time for you to sort your part out. Computers were supposed to prevent that kind of thing happening. The paperless office and all the other promises. Offices seem to have just as much paper, if not more. Archives have to be kept on paper, because hard drives can become corrupted. So you can’t keep your legally required archives only on disc, just in case 
I think when you renew your 5 year licence before 45, you have to declare that everything is fine with your health still by ticking the appropriate box.
The perceived risk of being over 45 requires a medical on renewal.