Strokes - insurance and DVLA

[MarkJ]

Morning all

I had a stroke a few days ago and I'm trying to sort out some admin - DVLA and insurers - and wondered if anyone else had been through this recently and can confirm the process

I'm grounded for 4 weeks from the date of the stroke, but I believe I don't need to inform DVLA unless, (taken from their website)

• You have had more than one recent stroke or TIA
• One month after the stroke you are still suffering from weakness of the arms or legs, visual disturbance, or problems with co-ordination, memory or understanding
• You have had any kind of seizure, unless:– it happened at the time of the stroke or TIA or within the following 24 hours and you have never had a seizure, stroke or TIA before
• You needed brain surgery as part of the treatment for the stroke
• A person providing your medical care has said he/she is concerned about your ability to drive safely
• You hold a current Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) or Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) (Group 2) driving licence.

I.e. generally you don't have to inform them for 4 weeks if all you had was a 'straightforward' stroke.

Your GP will have to check you over before you can start driving again

As far as insurers go, you don't need to inform them until you're ready to start driving again.

Is there any benefit in informing them sooner (for example, if they hoick the premium too much it might give you time to look around)

Does this all sound right? sorry it's perhaps asking the obvious, but it's all a bit woozy still

Thanks


Mark

 

[harrow]

Morning all

I had a stroke a few days ago and I'm trying to sort out some admin - DVLA and insurers - and wondered if anyone else had been through this recently and can confirm the process

I'm grounded for 4 weeks from the date of the stroke, but I believe I don't need to inform DVLA unless, (taken from their website)

• You have had more than one recent stroke or TIA
• One month after the stroke you are still suffering from weakness of the arms or legs, visual disturbance, or problems with co-ordination, memory or understanding
• You have had any kind of seizure, unless:– it happened at the time of the stroke or TIA or within the following 24 hours and you have never had a seizure, stroke or TIA before
• You needed brain surgery as part of the treatment for the stroke
• A person providing your medical care has said he/she is concerned about your ability to drive safely
• You hold a current Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) or Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) (Group 2) driving licence.

I.e. generally you don't have to inform them for 4 weeks if all you had was a 'straightforward' stroke.

Your GP will have to check you over before you can start driving again

As far as insurers go, you don't need to inform them until you're ready to start driving again.

Is there any benefit in informing them sooner (for example, if they hoick the premium too much it might give you time to look around)

Does this all sound right? sorry it's perhaps asking the obvious, but it's all a bit woozy still

Thanks


Mark

Yes that sounds reasonable, take your doctors advice and if your car is in a safe place or someone can put it in a safe place I can't see your insurance company can get too stressed.

Some people have small strokes and never realise they have had one at all.

Your doctor will let you know when you can drive again, get yourself well !

 

[delicagirl]

sorry to hear that mark.... i hope it was a minor one and that you can carry on as before...... how did you know you were having a stroke ?

 

[blights]

I have some experience of this my mother has had a couple of full strokes and numerous TIA afterwards. When you have your stroke if it is bad enough for the hospital stroke doctor to feel you are unable to drive they will tell you in the hospital you are not fit to drive until say 6/12 weeks whatever time they say at which point you need to go see you GP to get him to confirm you are now fit to drive. She has not yet been told she cannot drive after a TIA all that ever gets said is it is your responsibility to know when you are ready to drive and feel fit enough to do so but please do get a quick check as per usual with your GP to confirm you are ok to drive. This is what she does now hope this helps. From my experience with my mother if a doctor has said it is ok to drive it is ok for you to drive but the buck stops at you, as only you know how you feel with the brain fog etc that follows a stroke or TIA. I did also ring her insurance and they asked two questions has she been told not to drive by the doctor and has she been told she is fit to drive by the doctor. As long as you feel ok and have not been advised to take a break from driving you should be ok. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

[Channa]

Firstly I hope you recover quickly

I can't help with dvla but give guidance on the insurance

They need to be told. A general principle of insurance called utmost good faith

This basically means any incident that could alter premium or indeed even influence cover should be declared it is a standard term

Insurer's differ from each other and as an earlier reply suggests will qualify as to whether they perceive is an increased risk

I would tell them straight away if your car was damaged or stolen whilst a stroke is nothing to do with it the fact remains that a material fact hasn't been disclosed

All the best

Channa

 

[trevskoda]

Hi i had the same 7 years back,three bleads into brain,doc at royal belfast told me no driving for 4 weeks or he would inform on me,was not told to let any one know but started to drive after the 4 week time.
Hope you are ok and stick to the meds,prob simvastin,clipodogral,irbisertan,no fatty foods or sugary stuff/package food etc.
Do keep an eye on your hearing and sight,my hearing went down esp in one lug.

 

[MarkJ]

sorry to hear that mark.... i hope it was a minor one and that you can carry on as before...... how did you know you were having a stroke ?

Thank you, kind words are much appreciated.

How did I know? I suddenly realised that my left hand wasn’t working properly then it started to tingle and I realised I couldn’t feel anything with it. I started to feel dizzy and shaky. While my wife was calling 999, the tingling and numbness spread down my left side into my ankles and feet, and then finally back up into the left side of my face. The 999 operator wanted to speak to me and I struggled to understand his questions and when I did, I could hardly say anything other than yes or no. Fog had descended.... and I honestly thought I was dying. Luckily things started easing to the extent that I felt ok, though a bit crazy, just 6 hours later lying in A and E.

Scary, but I’ve been lucky in the sense that many end up damaged for rest of their lives, but I’ve been told I should be ok.

 

[REC]

It's amazing how a stroke can debilitate you completely then recover well, if you are lucky! Hopefully, it won't affect your insurance too much but as the DVLA aren't involved and GP says fit, it shouldn't. Make as little as possible of it and should be ok. Insurance questions when you are taking it out, only ask if you have been advised not to drive or had to report to DVLA , so if the company add, I suppose you could get a quote elsewhere?
Wishing you a speedy recovery!

 

[Deleted member 9849]

A friend of mine has a slightly different ailment-epiletic seizures.Sometimes they only lasted a few seconds and he would just go blank.He carried on driving after being diagnosed and often didn't know he had had one but his wife did and told the consultant.He told him to stop driving immediately and informed DVLA.

DVLA sent my friend a load of information last week about driving and epilepsy,the upshot being that he can't even apply for a driving licence until he has been free of any episode for 5 years.He's a tugger and is now putting both his car and caravan up for sale and had to cancel all the holidays they had booked for the summer.

 

[delicagirl]

Thank you, kind words are much appreciated.

How did I know? I suddenly realised that my left hand wasn’t working properly then it started to tingle and I realised I couldn’t feel anything with it. I started to feel dizzy and shaky. While my wife was calling 999, the tingling and numbness spread down my left side into my ankles and feet, and then finally back up into the left side of my face. The 999 operator wanted to speak to me and I struggled to understand his questions and when I did, I could hardly say anything other than yes or no. Fog had descended.... and I honestly thought I was dying. Luckily things started easing to the extent that I felt ok, though a bit crazy, just 6 hours later lying in A and E.

Scary, but I’ve been lucky in the sense that many end up damaged for rest of their lives, but I’ve been told I should be ok.

so glad you have recovered from that initial frightening stage.... the wonders of modern science hey? here you are - on tablets, typing and getting back to normal life..... best wishes