HGV or bus licence revoked on medical grounds (Group 2)

For a lorry or bus driver, a DVLA medical decision can put a job at stake as well as a licence. Group 2 has stricter standards and its own forms, but the routes back are the ones every driver has. This guide sets out what’s different for Group 2, and where to start.

What Group 2 means

DVLA’s guide for medical professionals, “Assessing fitness to drive”, splits licences into two groups. Group 1 is cars and motorcycles. Group 2 is large lorries (category C) and buses (category D). It says that in most cases the medical standards for Group 2 drivers are substantially higher than for Group 1, because of the size and weight of the vehicle and the length of time an occupational driver typically spends at the wheel.

If you were awarded a car licence before 1 January 1997, you may also hold C1 (3.5 to 7.5 tonne lorries) and D1 (minibuses with 9 to 16 seats, not for hire or reward). DVLA says you keep that entitlement only until the licence expires or is revoked for medical reasons; after that, the Group 2 standards apply when you renew or reapply.

DVLA’s guide sets separate standards for each group, so read your letter closely for which entitlement the decision is about, and the standard it says you don’t meet. If the letter isn’t clear, ask DVLA through its contact service.

Driving while DVLA decides

If you’ve applied to renew and DVLA hasn’t decided yet, section 88 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 may let you keep driving, but only if you meet every condition in DVLA’s leaflet INF188/6. For Group 2 there’s an extra one: your entitlement must not have been suspended, revoked or refused by a traffic commissioner. INF188/6 says a bus or lorry driver who has applied to renew may drive once DVLA has the correct and complete application, as long as every condition is met.

Section 88 never applies if your last licence was revoked or refused for medical reasons. And if your Group 2 entitlement has expired and you’re now applying only for a car licence, you may drive only the vehicles on that application that you were entitled to drive before. Our guide to section 88 lists every condition.

Your three routes

1. Further medical evidence

If DVLA didn’t have the whole picture, GOV.UK says you can send relevant information that wasn’t in the original assessment, with proof that you meet the standard explained in your letter and the letter’s reference number, to DM Further Evidence, DMI Support, D5, DVLA, SA99 1DL. For Group 2 that proof has to answer the Group 2 standard, which in most cases is the higher one.

2. Reapplying with a D2

GOV.UK says that to reapply for a bus, coach or lorry licence you fill in a D2 application form and the form for your health condition. If you’re aged 45 to 65, you also send a D4 medical report form with your D2 if you haven’t done so in the past 5 years. From the age of 65 the licence has to be renewed each year, with a completed D4. You can get a D2 or D4 from a Post Office that offers DVLA services, and your letter from DVLA tells you if you need to send medical evidence. Postal applications go to Drivers Medical Group, DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1TU. Our guide to reapplying after a medical revocation covers the timing.

3. An appeal, as a last resort

GOV.UK’s appeal routes are the same whatever the licence: contact your local magistrates’ court within 6 months in England and Wales, or your local sheriff court within 21 days in Scotland, and tell DVLA you’re appealing. If a magistrates’ court dismisses the appeal, it can order you to pay the other side’s costs (Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, section 64). Our guide on how to appeal a DVLA medical decision explains the steps and the risk.

Group 2 forms

GOV.UK says that if you have a bus, coach or lorry licence, you have to send a form or questionnaire to DVLA about a condition, and that the address you need is on the form. Several conditions have a separate Group 2 version: for example FEP1V for epilepsy, VDIAB1I for insulin-treated diabetes, SL1V for excessive sleepiness and sleep apnoea, and VOCH1 for heart conditions. Our guide to DVLA medical forms by condition lists them all.

Waiting on a Group 2 renewal

DVLA’s target for 2025-26 was an average of 50 working days to make a licensing decision on medical cases, and the average it achieved was 56.66, so plan for a wait. Keep a log of every call and letter, check with your doctor whether section 88 covers you before you drive, and use DVLA’s complaints procedure if the case stalls. Our guides to DVLA medical delays and complaining to DVLA take you through it.