If you have a driving licence and develop a medical condition or a disability or a condition you have and declared has gotten worse since you got your licence, you must declare it to DVLA.
IMPORTANT: Drivers who don’t declare a condition that might affect their ability to drive safely to the DVLA risk fines of up to £1,000, getting their licence suspended or being prosecuted if they have an accident.
Here is everything you need to know about declaring your medical conditions to DVLA.
Contents
What medical conditions can stop you from driving?
You have to surrender your licence to DVLA if:
- Your doctor tells you to stop driving for three months or more
- Your medical condition affecting your ability to drive safely lasts for three months or more
- You don’t meet the required standards for driving because of your medical condition
When you meet the medical standards for driving again, you can apply to get your licence back.
What medical conditions need to be declared to DVLA?
The DVLA has confirmed a list of 118 conditions drivers must declare to avoid penalties and fines. Here is the complete list in alphabetical order.
- Absence seizures
You must declare any epileptic seizures or blackouts and stop driving right away.
- Acoustic neuroma
You must declare if you experience sudden and disabling dizziness. Talk to your doctor if you’re unsure if your acoustic neuroma causes other symptoms affecting your driving or if you must tell DVLA about them.
- Agoraphobia
Ask your doctor if agoraphobia affects your driving.
- Alcohol problems
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Amaurosis fugax
You must stop driving for at least one month after a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or mini-stroke and restart when the doctor tells you it’s safe.
- Amputations
You must declare any amputated limb.
- Angiomas or cavernomas
- Ankylosing spondylitis
Check with your doctor if it affects your driving.
- Anxiety
Ask your doctor if anxiety affects your ability to drive safely.
- Aortic aneurysm
You must declare if your aortic aneurysm is 6 cm or more in diameter. If your aortic aneurysm is 6.5 cm or more in diameter, you must not drive.
- Arachnoid cyst
- Arrhythmia
You must declare your arrhythmia if you have distracting or disabling symptoms or if your condition means you cannot safely stop or control the car.
- Arteriovenous malformation
- Arthritis
You must declare if you use special controls for driving.
- Asperger syndrome
You must declare if your autistic spectrum condition affects your ability to drive safely.
- Ataxia
- ADHD
You must declare if your ADHD or ADHD medication affects your driving.
- AIDS
- Bipolar disorder (manic depression)
- Blackouts
Ask your doctor if your blackouts, fainting or loss of consciousness affects your ability behind the wheel.
- Blood clots
You must declare if you have a blood clot in your brain, you don’t have to declare if you have one in your lungs.
- Blood pressure
You must declare if your blood pressure treatment affects your driving.
- Brachial plexus injury
- Brain abscess, cyst or encephalitis
- Brain aneurysm
- Brain haemorrhage
- Traumatic brain injury
- Brain tumour
It might be possible for your doctor to tell you to surrender your licence
- Broken limbs
You must declare if you cannot drive for over three months because of a broken limb.
- Brugada syndrome
- Burr hole surgery
You must declare if you’ve had burr hole surgery to remove a clot from around your brain.
- Cancer
You don’t need to tell DVLA if you have cancer unless you develop problems with your brain or nervous system, your doctor says you might not be fit to drive, you’re restricted to certain types of vehicles or vehicles that have been adapted for you or your medication causes side effects which could affect your driving.
- Cataracts
You must declare only if this condition affects both your eyes.
- Cataplexy
- Central venous thrombosis
You must declare only if you still have problems one month after central venous thrombosis.
- Cerebral palsy
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT)
- Cognitive problems
- Congenital heart disease
- Fits, seizures or convulsions
- Déjà vu
You must declare if you are having seizures or epilepsy causing déjà vu.
- Defibrillators
You must declare if you have an implanted defibrillator, also known as an ‘ICD’.
- Dementia
- Depression
You must declare if your depression affects your ability to drive safely.
- Diabetes
You must declare if your insulin treatment lasts over three months, you had gestational diabetes, and your insulin treatment lasts over three months after the birth, you get disabling hypoglycaemia, or a medical professional has told you that you’re at risk of developing it.
- Diplopia (double vision)
- Dizziness or vertigo
You must declare if you experience sudden, disabling or recurrent dizziness.
- Drug use
You must declare it if you’ve used illegal drugs or misused prescription drugs.
- Eating disorder
You must declare if your eating disorder affects your ability to drive safely.
- Empyema (brain)
- Essential tremor
You must declare if your essential tremor affects your ability to drive safely.
- Eye conditions
You must declare your eye conditions if they affect both of your eyes.
- Guillain Barré syndrome
- Serious head injuries
- Heart attacks
You don’t need to declare if you’ve had a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or a heart, cardiac or coronary angioplasty. However, you should stop driving for – one week if you had an angioplasty, it was successful, and you don’t need any more surgery, four weeks if you had angioplasty after a heart attack but it wasn’t successful or four weeks if you had a heart attack but didn’t have angioplasty.
- Heart failure
You must declare your heart failure if symptoms affect your ability to drive safely, distract you while driving or happen at rest.
- Heart palpitations
- Hemianopia
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma
You must declare it if any of the following apply: you develop problems with your brain or nervous system, your doctor says you might not be fit to drive, you’re restricted to certain types of vehicles or vehicles that have been adapted for you or your medication causes side effects which could affect your driving.
- Huntington’s disease
- Hydrocephalus
You only need to declare if you have hydrocephalus with symptoms.
- Hypoglycaemia
- Hypoxic brain damage
- Intracerebral haemorrhage
You must declare if you still have problems a month after an intracerebral haemorrhage.
- Korsakoff’s syndrome
- Labyrinthitis
You must declare if you have labyrinthitis symptoms for three months or more.
- Learning disabilities
You must only declare learning disabilities, not learning difficulties such as dyslexia.
- Lewy body dementia
- Limb disability
- Long QT syndrome
- Lung cancer
You must declare it if any of the following apply: you develop problems with your brain or nervous system, your doctor says you might not be fit to drive, you’re restricted to certain types of vehicles or vehicles that have been adapted for you or your medication causes side effects which could affect your driving.
- Lymphoma
You must declare it if you develop problems with your brain or nervous system, your doctor has expressed concerns about your fitness to drive, you can only drive a specially adapted vehicle or a specific type of vehicle, or your medication causes side effects that might make it unsafe for you to drive.
- Marfan’s syndrome
- Medulloblastoma
- Meningioma
You must declare it if it affects your ability to drive safely.
- Motor neurone disease
- Muscular dystrophy
- Myasthenia gravis
- Myoclonus
- Narcolepsy
- Night blindness
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
You must declare it if it affects your driving.
- Excessive sleepiness
You must declare it if you have confirmed moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, with excessive sleepiness, either narcolepsy or cataplexy, or both, or any other sleep condition that has caused excessive sleepiness for at least three months (including suspected or confirmed mild OSAS).
You must not drive until you’re free from excessive sleepiness or your symptoms are controlled, and you’re strictly following any necessary treatment.
- Optic atrophy
- Pacemakers
You must declare if you’ve been fitted with a pacemaker.
- Paranoid schizophrenia
- Paraplegia
- Parkinson’s disease
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Personality disorder
You must declare it if it affects your driving.
- Pituitary tumour
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Ask your doctor if PTSD will affect your driving.
- Psychosis
- Psychotic depression
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension
You must declare it if you receive treatment from an NHS specialist centre.
- Severe memory problems
- Stroke
You only need to declare it if you still have problems one month after the stroke.
- Surgery
You must declare if you’ve had an operation and cannot drive three months later.
- Syncope
You must declare if you suffer from blackouts, fainting (syncope), loss of consciousness and driving.
- Sleep apnoea
There are several sleep disorders that you should declare, including confirmed moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. You should also notify them if you’re taking medication that has caused excessive sleepiness for three months.
- Schizo-affective disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Scotoma
- Severe communication disorders
You must declare it if it affects your ability to drive safely.
- Spinal conditions, injuries or spinal surgery
- Subarachnoid haemorrhage
- Tachycardia
- Tourette’s syndrome
You must declare it if it affects your ability to drive safely.
- Tunnel vision
- Usher syndrome
- Reduced visual activity
- Vertigo
You must declare if you experience sudden, disabling, or recurrent dizziness.
- Visual field defect
- VP shunts
You must declare if you had a VP shunt fitted.
- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
Can I inform DVLA of a medical condition online?
If you have a driving licence you can use DVLA’s online service to check if your condition needs to be reported. After that, you’ll be told how to report your condition. Depending on the condition you have, you will either fill out a form online or printing and send it.
Afterwards, you might be subject to a new driving licence, a limited-time one, or you might need to fit your car with special control to accommodate your condition, depending on the seriousness of your medical condition.
What medical conditions do I need to tell car insurance?
Depending on the insurer, you may or may not need to tell your insurance provider about your medical condition. Make sure to check this before taking out a policy.
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