Standard licence holders who find they cannot continue to meet the financial standing requirements will need to write to the Traffic Commissioner and ask for a “period of grace”. The Senior Traffic Commissioner has directed that providing:
the operator is not insolvent
there are no outstanding maintenance or other issues impacting on road safety
this is not an attempt to avoid responsibility for compliance failures.
Traffic Commissioners can grant a period of grace starting at four months with the possibility of an extension to the maximum allowable period of six months. A satisfactory financial check within the last six months may be relied on as evidence to support the grant of a period of grace.
If the inability to meet the financial standing requirements has been shown on a check made between 1 March and 30 September 2020, the maximum period of grace has been extended to 12 months.
There is no facility to grant a period of grace to restricted licence holders and they should consider offering the Traffic Commissioner an undertaking for a financial check to be carried out at a specified date in the future.
Information provided by Croner-i