Steve Farrell Senior Reporter

Thousands of motorcyclists could be unwittingly riding without insurance because of a disagreement over what constitutes a full licence Many riders tell their insurance com­pany they have had a full licence since the date they passed their standard motorcycle test But the insurance ombudsman has concluded they are wrong, and a full licence is only obtained when the 33bhp power restriction is lifted, usually two years afterpassing the standard test.

It means motorcyclists are misinform­ing insurers about how long they have held a full licence, potentially rendering their policies invalid.
The only riders not affected by the confusion are those who passed their test before the 33bhp restriction came in, or those who took the Direct Access test instead of the standard one.

Licence confusion
The confusion has arisen from the codes used by DVLA to refer to the various kinds of motorcycle licences.
The code used by the agency for full unrestricted motorcycle licence is cat­egory ‘A’.
On passing the standard test, riders immediately have this code added to their photocard licence in the list of vehicles they have full entitlement to use. A clarification that they are restricted to 33bhp appears in a separate column on the licence.
The confusion has arisen from codes used by the DVLA to refer to various kinds of bike licence
But later, DVLA changes the photo card licence to say the rider has only had category ‘A’ entitlement since the 33bhp restriction expired, up to two years after the category was originally added. The period in which the rider was restricted to 33bhp is now referred to only on the paper counterpart. But here the type of vehicle they were entitled to ride during that period has been changed to category ‘A2’.
  
insurers in disagreement
•according to some insurers, including Carole Nash and MCE, riders who say they have held a full licence since they passed the standard test are correct. but others say they are wrong - and the financial Ombudsman has just agreed with one such broker.
Alasdair Osborn, 30, had his policy -cancelled on his Honda CD200 Benley by eBike after telling the broker he’d held a fulll `A` licence since passing his standard bike test. The broker argued he had not acquired a full licence until two years later in 2002, when the 33bhp restriction was lifted. The firm demanded £35 extra which Osborn refused to pay.

Complaint rejected
The Ombudsman rejected Osborn’s complaint, telling him “You discussed the problem with the DVLA and various emails confirm you passed your test on 29 April 2000 but - significantly  were restricted from riding larger bikes until 29 April 2002. As a result, you did not have a full licence until 29 April 2002.” Osborn’s licence, which has been updated by DVLA, says he has only held a full category ‘A’ motorcycle entitlement since 2002 and ‘A2’ since 2000 - even though an earlier version said he ob- tained‘A’ in 2000.

DVLA ‘amends' licence histories
Tisborn has since asked DVLA to clarify his entitlement. A customer services  manager replied in a letter: ‘I must make it dear from the outset that the Department cannot give legal advice.’
The letter admits category ‘A2’ doesn’t actually exist in regulations and was introduced for admin purposes. It adds: ‘When you claimed your test pass a ‘full’ licence was issued showing category ‘A’... The entitlement start date would have commenced from 29 April 2000 but reference to the two -year restriction would also have been indicated.
‘When you updated the photograph on your licence in May this year, as the two-year restriction period had lapsed, your licence was automatically changed to show unrestricted ‘A’ category with the start date being amended to being from 29 April 2002.’
‘Complete farce’
Osborn, 30, a lab assistant from Peterbor­ough, Cambs, said: “It’s a complete farce, j I was always under the impression that I
if you passed a test, the day you passed was the day you qualified. The DVLA says it’s down to the courts to settle but presumably I’d have to fund any action. Why should I pay to clarify the terms used by a government agency? ”
A DVLA spokeswoman said: ‘After the two-year period, we do not remove the restriction from the category A and leave the test pass date, because that would wrongly convey that unrestricted motorcycles could have been driven from the test pass date. DVLA issues licences in as clear a format as possible.’ eBike said: As the DVLA-issued pho­tocard licence for Mr Osborn indicated he had a full motorcycle licence which had commenced in 2002, this conflicted with the information he had supplied.’

                                                                                                                                                                             

So when you pass the standard test(restricted to 33bhp)and you insure your little 125 run it for 2 years insured, as a restricted rider, where does the problem arise ? (and as I recall when I insured my TDM850 with ebike they asked if it was restricted).   Question to clarify a point, would Mr Osbornes cd200 benley have been less than 33bhp. if not ebike are in the right.   It,s one of those grey areas in as much as passing standard test means you have a 'full' licence to ride motorcycles up to 33bhp (in as much as you've passed the test so chuck away the L plates) but what the government are saying is-you are a learner for the next 2 years till your 'full' entitlement starts!!                                                                                                                                                                             

my appologies for the rough post my edit window ran out as i was prettying it up lol.....   more poor sods in limbo ...pilly insurance farce....modification farce...and now `have you got a full licence or not `farce .... where the hell is going to end DVLA needs sorting thier system is falling apart and insurers seem to be a law above all others....                                                                                                                                                                             

If the insurers can get more money out of you by twisting a phrase they will.. Once read about a guy who trashed his bike and the insurance wouldn't pay out because on inspection they found he'd fitted braided hoses-not manufacturer spec-and not informed them of the 'modification' therefor he was not insured.                                                                                                                                                                             

Please don't copy/paste directly from the internet / email / word etc as it screws up the post.  Copy into Notepad first then copy from there into BM.

I've cleared the formatting from your post now.

Thanks                                                                                                                                                                             

ok just read it all - that's ridiculous!  Gonna swap to a Dutch licence quickly before mine expires                                                                                                                                                                             

Matt get both you cant get banned as easy lol                                                                                                                                                                             

thanks for tidying it up matt i have a similar finished doc but ran out of time on the edit and the mess didnt show up till after i posted...   i feel sorry for the young uns as with my previous post on the three tier licence ladder they may face next year  its going to cost a small fortune to gain a licence and insurance just like they are facing with cars with costs of two or three thousand just to get on the road...   must be an evil underground coven of cyclists bent on world domination at work                                                                                                                                                                             

No doubt the cycling brigade will be the next target for the government cash snatching squads.                                                                                                                                                                             

What the Ombudsman needs to do is screw the nut on the insurance company's and their underhand ways of extorting money for any reason e.g postcode levys on premiums. Not give them excuses to raise premiums.                                                                                                                                                                             

  i feel sorry for the young uns as with my previous post on the three tier licence ladder they may face next year its going to cost a small fortune to gain a licence and insurance just like they are facing with cars with costs of two or three thousand just to get on the road...   Not just the young uns Nellie, some learners are quite mature,  *ahem*