UK Driver's License, it can be done.

good for you Wench, I didnt bother with manual, much to the chagrin of my brother in law and others. I figure it would have taken me 40 tests to pass in a manual so, 4 in an auto was plenty for me  
I will probably stay as a named driver for another year, I would rather fork out £300 instead of £550 right now. We have a (somewhat ) older car, hee hee  

You CAN stay on yr american license for a year...get this though...if you leave the country and come back, the year starts all over again. My Flatmate has been driving over here on his American license for like 12 years! Insurance isn't really a problem with it either. For both my husband and I (we both have US licenses) we pay about £497 a year for full comprehensive! Not too shabby...

-=kat=-

just an annual trip to france to drive on the US liscence eh?

i always wonder how they 'know' your year is up. 

You CAN stay on yr american license for a year...get this though...if you leave the country and come back, the year starts all over again.

Really???  So when we return from visiting the US summer (let's say July 25), I have until July 25th AGAIN to drive on my US license?  Interesting!  Certainly takes off some of the pressure I've been feeling about getting a UK license!

Katatonic,  who do you and your DH use for insurance?

You CAN stay on yr american license for a year...get this though...if you leave the country and come back, the year starts all over again.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's site says "Provided your full licence remains valid, you can drive any category of small vehicle shown on your licence for up to 12 months from the time you became resident."  I guess if you leave for long enough to cease to be resident, then become resident again, that's OK .... but I would think that they might consider a holiday to the USA as - well - trying to buck the system if they ever found out.

DVLA site: http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/drvingb.htm#5.%20All%20other%20countries

Also, if you renew your license at any time after you got residency, that might be a bit suspect as well. They do say 1 year, and then you have to get a UK license.  In Texas, you have to renew every two years.

Thanks for the clarification, Graham...looks like the pressure is back on!   

Just to let you know my job is in insurance claims (currently in the US) but I spent several years doing this in the UK too.

As with most things it is all OK if you do not get pulled over by the Police or have an accident (fault and severity do come into it a bit).

When you file a claim it may come to light that you are on a "foreign" license and this may be reviewed for establishing if there is coverage for the accident if you are liable (under Third Party) / or for your car if you have Comprehensive.

Usually the rule is that if the Insurance Company has accepted "the risk" as long as ALL MATERIAL INFORMATION has been disclosed to them at Application for the Policy AND at each subsequent renewal (as the contract is deemed to start afresh each period - 12 months is usual).

As was pointed out the US driving licenses have an expiry date of 2- 4 years depending on the State so you have to make sure it is in force. On the other hand, if you get your British license, you are OK generally until you are 70 years old.

Just to say.....

The best thing to do is to get your UK license -though what hubby says is true in that if you disclose to the insurance company that your are on a USA license for longer than the 12 month limit, and they insure you anyways they are assuming the risk.  I can't see too many companies doing that, but hey. 

The same applies to the driving on your UK license in the USA.

I just honestly do not see why someone would not just take the drivers test and be fully legal regardless of which country you are living in.   That is just me though. 

I think the law as found by Graham is pretty straight forward.