Car and motorcycle medical questionnaires

If you're suffering from any of the medical conditions or disabilities listed below, you will need to tell the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA). To do this you should fill in a DL1 form and forward it to DVA, who will then send you the appropriate medical questionnaires.

DL1 form

DL1 forms are available from main Post Office ® branches. You can also contact DVA to request one on:

  • 0300 200 7861 (Monday to Friday, from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm)

GP fees

If you receive a medical questionnaire(s) as a result of notifying DVA of a condition, you will need to arrange for your doctor to complete the form(s). Your questionnaire(s) will include a consent form that must be signed. This allows DVA to make medical enquiries into your fitness to drive.

With your medical questionnaire(s) you will also receive a GP claim form. It is up to your doctor to fill this in and return it to DVA if they wish to obtain payment for completion of your medical form.

DVA will pay the appropriate fee to your GP (doctor) for the completion of your medical form(s) on the first occasion only. Payment for duplicates will be your responsibility.

Medical conditions

If you currently suffer from any of the following medical conditions you must tell DVA. To do so, complete a DL1, tick the appropriate box on the health section and return the form to:

Drivers Medical Section
DVA
Coleraine County Hall
Castlerock Road
Waterside
Coleraine
BT51 3TB

Diabetes

For further information on diabetes, please use the link below:

Heart conditions

  • angina (heart pain) brought on by driving
  • implanted pacemaker
  • disturbance of heart rhythm significant to cause dizziness, collapse or loss of consciousness
  • any other heart condition
  • defibrillator (ICD) implanted

For further information on heart conditions, please use the link below:

Neurological conditions

  • stroke
  • mini stroke
  • cerebral thrombosis
  • amaurosis fugax
  • brain surgery, brain tumour, severe head injury

For further information on these neurological conditions, please use the link below:

Other neurological conditions

  • serious memory problems or episodes of confusion
  • chronic neurological conditions (for example multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease)
  • fits or blackouts
  • severe and recurrent disabling giddiness
  • Parkinson's disease
  • epilepsy (Please note if you suffer from epilepsy and want to drive lorries or buses you must not have suffered a fit of any kind, or required treatment for fits in the last 10 years)
  • sleep disorders or conditions which cause excessive daytime or awake time sleepiness
  • sleep apnoea syndrome
  • narcolepsy or cataplexy
  • any other condition which causes excessive daytime or awake time sleepiness

Vision problems

  • any visual condition which affects both eyes (not including short or long sight or colour blindness)
  • any visual condition which affects remaining eye, if sight in one eye only (not including short or long sight or colour blindness)

Alcohol and drugs

If you're disqualified for some alcohol related offences, DVA will make medical enquiries before your driving licence can be renewed.

These offences are:

  • disqualified with an alcohol level of over: 200mg in 100ml of blood, or 87.5mg in 100ml of breath; or 267.5mg in 100ml of urine
  • disqualified twice in 10 years for certain alcohol related offences
  • disqualified for failing or refusing to give a specimen (blood, breath or urine) for testing
  • dependence on or misuse of alcohol in the past three years
  • dependence on or misuse of drugs in the past three years

Psychiatric conditions

  • any mental ill-health condition (including depression)
  • any psychiatric illness requiring hospital admission
  • Alzheimer’s, cognitive impairment, dementia, memory problems

Spinal injuries or limb problems

severe spinal injuries
paraplegia
tetraplegia
amputations
persistent limb problems

If you require any further information about any of the above conditions, you can contact DVA on:

  • phone: 0300 200 7861 (Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm)

Surrendering your driving licence

The medical standards of fitness to drive are available to all medical practitioners. If your doctor has advised you that you should not drive you may wish to surrender your licence. You can apply for it back at a later date.

Surrendering your driving licence has an advantage, if and when you decide to re-apply.

More useful links

Share this page

What do you want to do?
What is your question about?
Do you want a reply?
Your email address
To reply to you, we need your email address
Your feedback

We will not reply to your feedback.  Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers.

This feedback form is for issues with the nidirect website only.

You can use it to report a problem or suggest an improvement to a webpage.

If you have a question about a government service or policy, you should contact the relevant government organisation directly as we don’t have access to information about you held by government departments.

You must be aged 13 years or older - if you’re younger, ask someone with parental responsibility to send the feedback for you.

The nidirect privacy notice applies to any information you send on this feedback form.

Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers.

Plain text only, 750 characters maximum.
Plain text only, 750 characters maximum.

What to do next

Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk 

What to do next

If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit.  Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

Carer's Allowance

Call 0800 587 0912
Email dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

Discretionary support / Short-term benefit advance

Call 0800 587 2750 
Email customerservice.unit@communities-ni.gov.uk

Disability Living Allowance

Call 0800 587 0912 
Email dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

Employment and Support Allowance

Call 0800 587 1377

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

Personal Independence Payment

Call 0800 587 0932

If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

What to do next

Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

What to do next

For queries or advice about careers, contact the Careers Service.

What to do next

For queries or advice about Child Maintenance, contact the Child Maintenance Service.

What to do next

For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

What to do next

For queries or advice about criminal record checks, email ani@accessni.gov.uk

What to do next

Application and payment queries can be emailed to ema_ni@slc.co.uk

What to do next

For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency.

What to do next

For queries or advice about birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates and research, contact the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) by email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk

What to do next

For queries about:

If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

What to do next

For queries or advice about passports, contact HM Passport Office.

What to do next

For queries or advice about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), including parking tickets and bus lane PCNs, email dcu@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

What to do next

For queries or advice about pensions, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre.

What to do next

If you wish to report a problem with a road or street you can do so online in this section.

If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads.

What to do next

For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) enquiry service.

What to do next

For queries or advice about rates, email:
rating@lpsni.gov.uk

For queries or advice about property valuation, email:
valuation@lpsni.gov.uk

For queries or advice about land registry, email:
CustomerInformation.LandRegistration@finance-ni.gov.uk

For mapping queries, email:
Mapping.Helpdesk@finance-ni.gov.uk

What to do next

For queries or advice about  60+ and Senior Citizen SmartPasses (which can be used to get concessionary travel on public transport), contact Smartpass - Translink.