Code 101

Read code 101 beside the category to which DVLA attached it. It is commonly printed against D1, the minibus entitlement carried forward for people who obtained a full car licence before 1 January 1997. It does not convert every vehicle on your licence into a minibus and it does not automatically authorise paid passenger work. Check the category, its dates and any other restriction on the reverse of the photocard before accepting the keys.

Department for Education guidance says inherited D1(101) allows up to 16 passenger seats with no maximum vehicle weight restriction for its school minibus setting. Later category B volunteers have different limits.

The key question is who pays for the right to travel. A fare or club subscription can make a journey hire or reward even when the organiser makes no profit.

The Department for Transport describes hire or reward as payment in cash or kind giving a person the right to travel, even if that person does not actually use the seat. A fare is the obvious case. A membership fee that includes transport can count too. It is the connection between payment and carriage that matters, not the label on the invoice. Calling a charge a donation or fuel contribution will not necessarily remove that connection.

School guidance treats a pupil's petrol contribution as hire or reward. Reimbursing a teacher's own fuel, parking or tolls is different. Driving duties in a teacher's contract also defeat the later category B volunteer exception.

Ask the organiser what passengers pay and what the driver receives. Get unclear arrangements checked with the permit issuer or DVSA.

Yes, in the specific permit setting described by Department for Transport guidance. An organisation operating without a view to profit can hold a section 19 permit to carry its members or the people it exists to help. The permit lets the operator charge for carriage without a full PSV operator licence. For a driver who still holds inherited D1(101), the guidance says a small bus of any weight may be driven under the permit and there is no restriction on that driver receiving payment. This exception is why code 101 cannot be read as an absolute ban on every paid shift.

The permit belongs to the organisation. A standard section 19 permit covers no more than 16 passengers excluding the driver, and its disc identifies who may travel. Display the disc in the windscreen. A change of group or passenger class needs the issuer's attention.

An eligible group gets a standard section 19 application through DVSA or a designated body and returns it to the issuer. The operator must check its permit and insurance before a charged journey.

Section 22 is for a non-profit body meeting social and welfare transport needs through a community bus service. Unlike a section 19 vehicle, it may carry the general public. A section 22 permit is issued by a traffic commissioner, and the Department for Transport directs applications on form PSV368 to the Central Licensing Office in Leeds. A section 19 disc cannot simply be used for a public community bus route. The organisation must display the appropriate disc for the service actually being run.

A permit for a large bus does not turn inherited D1 into a large bus category. Department for Transport guidance requires a PCV driver licence for large permit buses. Check the seating and service before agreeing to drive.

A public fare service fits the section 22 model; a members' outing fits section 19. The authorisations are not interchangeable.

You do not acquire D1(101) by volunteering or by hiring a minibus. GOV.UK sets conditions under which a car licence holder may drive a minibus within the UK, and a later category B holder must meet all of them. The driver must be 21 or older, have held a licence for at least 2 years, drive on a voluntary basis for a non-commercial body using the minibus for social purposes, tow no trailer and, if over 70, meet the Group 2 medical standards. Department for Transport permit guidance adds that the driver may receive no payment beyond out of pocket expenses. The current GOV.UK page sets a 3,500kg maximum authorised mass for the standard vehicle, with a separate 4,250kg figure for an electric or hydrogen vehicle and an allowance for equipment for disabled passengers.

A later category B driver under a permit cannot be paid beyond expenses. An automatic-only licence also requires an automatic minibus. The organiser should check each driver's record rather than rely on the rental firm's decision to hand over keys.

Check the end date of the D1 row before arranging future minibus duties. GOV.UK says the online renewal service for drivers aged 70 or over does not renew C1 or D1 entitlement. If you want to retain minibus entitlement at that stage, obtain a D2 application and a D4 medical examination report from a Post Office offering DVLA services. A doctor completes the D4; the forms go to the address specified in section F of D2. This is a vocational medical assessment, not an automatic continuation of the old code.

If D1 disappears when you renew the car category, stop minibus duties relying on D1(101). Check the current DVLA record before driving; an older photocard is insufficient.

For professional passenger work, apply for provisional D1 or D with D2 and D4, pass the required tests, and check Driver CPC. The inherited restriction cannot simply be removed by request.

Code 101 does not add trailer entitlement. GOV.UK lists D1 with a trailer up to 750kg; D1E covers a heavier one. Inherited D1+E(101) can permit heavier towing. The category B volunteer exception allows no trailer.

Code 101 concerns purpose, not gearbox. Check any automatic restriction, vehicle details and insurance before hiring. Permit operators must tell insurers about passenger payments.

For travel outside the UK, GOV.UK advises contacting the licensing authority in the country being visited. The school guidance says its category B minibus arrangements apply to UK driving and not abroad. A GB section 19 permit does not confer foreign operator authorisation. Check with the foreign authority and your insurer before booking a cross-border trip; the printed 101 alone is not a promise of permission overseas.

GOV.UK lists LC20, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence, with 3 to 6 points. The Department for Transport says a paid operation without a valid permit or PSV operator licence can lead to prosecution and vehicle impoundment. These concern different breaches, not the mere presence of 101.

Permit guidance requires third-party cover for the minibus and passengers. Tell the insurer about passenger payments. If a free trip becomes charged carriage, confirm the policy and permit first.

If a mistake emerges, tell the organiser and insurer, then correct the operation before another journey. DVLA can confirm entitlement; DVSA or the issuer can clarify permit eligibility.

Read 101 beside D1 or D1E on the photocard, including the category expiry. GOV.UK's View your driving licence service shows current entitlements and creates a check code for an operator. A photo of the card's front does not show the restriction.

If the record looks wrong, ask DVLA to check it. Northern Ireland has a different process: nidirect lists DL2 and DLM1 for provisional vocational licensing there.