Martin Lewis Warns Motorists Could Be Fined £1,000 Over Driving Licence Error

Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has urged drivers to check this detail on their driving licence or else they risk racking up a £1,000 fine.

Your driving licence may often end up at the bottom of your bag in a zipped up forgotten about place in your wallet, only brought out when you go clubbing.

However, Lewis has urged motorists to stay up-to-date with the information on their IDs after the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) warned two million drivers are currently at risk of receiving a one grand fine.

Via the latest Money Saving Expert email, Lewis urged drivers to check the expiry dates on their photocard licences.

Paper licences were replaced by photocard licences in 1998.

He said: "Photo driving licences usually expire after 10 years... If you don't renew, you ultimately risk being fined."

Drivers could receive a fine of up to £1,000 if found with an out-of-date licence.

Licences have to be renewed every 10 years.

To check the date on your licence, Money Saving Expert states: "There are a few dates printed on the photocard, but the one you need is the photo expiry date printed on section 4b on the front of the card."

If you do discover your licence is out of date, you should have had a letter from the DVLA sent to your home address a month or so before it runs out.

You can renew your licence online on the government website. However, you must have a valid UK passport to do so.

You can also renew it via post for £17. The DVLA website has a form you can print out, or post offices also have 'D1 packs' which you can pick up.

Another option, is you can pay a higher fee of £21.50 to fill out the form, have your photograph taken and have it sent off to the DVLA all at the post office.

You won't get fined if you renew your licence and it's already expired.

You can continue driving even if your licence has expired as long as your application is currently being processed and you meet certain conditions.

Some of the conditions are that you must be healthy enough to drive and that you drive a vehicle you were able to drive with your old licence.

The frequency in which you have to renew your driving licence increases when you turn 70.

Instead of it being every 10 years, you have to renew it every three.

The date on licences is important as it can help authorities catch anyone who is driving illegally.

They also help keep the roads safer.