Guys guys, I think you two are at cross purposes. The point (can’t think of a way to avoid the pun) being made as I understand it is, that if you live in France and are currently driving on a valid UK licence, then if you do anything that leads to the loss of points you are required to change your UK licence for a French licence. I think that’s all David is saying, and it is correct. Maybe he should have included the word “deduction” or “loss” to make it clearer.
@Stella,
I was talking to an 82 year old gentleman the other day who was quite upset
at having had his driving license taken away; he’d had two “minor
accidents”…
*Anna *
No worries, he can get himself a sans permis and carry on having “minor accidents” to his heart’s content 
There’s a couple of old gentlemen near me who drive Aixams, one orange and one red and they both have go-faster stripes and flash alloys and the works…
Nice in yellow too !
The trouble is you can lose at least one point, possibly even two before you are required to change your licence. It’s not as simple as you can keep your UK licence until you get/lose/have points.
Everybody understands what we mean when we talk about driving convictions and points. The fact that Britain awards them and France takes them away from your allowance is splitting hairs and being unnecessarially petty.
Hmm. My post was in reply to Jonathan Badger’s post, which he has subsequently deleted, in which he was taking issue with what you said because I think he’d misunderstood it, so I was trying to explain to him what I thought you meant. But of course my post doesn’t make any sense now the previous one isn’t there any more. Don’t worry David, I think we all agree with you.
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Hi Farida
I can help put you in touch with someone from NY - send me a message! X
Sorry. I didn’t mean to confuse.
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Surprisingly, nor did I.
Thank you for editing your original post to clarify the points issue.
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Hello Farida
An International driving license is only valid for 3 years ! As has been suggested by others here why not change to a French driving license ? Mine is accepted all the time for identity purposes, I don’t need to update the photo (gives a few laughs among French friends when we compare our photos and how we have changed) and it’s easy to do!
For insurance I use my local Thelem, they have been brilliant, so helpful, even going so far as to bring my shopping and mother home to me after a minor accident when my OH was driving my car !
Good luck 
I use Sally Woolston at Axa for 2 motorcycles and 2 cars. Helpful and competitive. Drop her an email and she’ll sort you out over the phone or email. UK licence is fine. insure@agencelimonier.com
Been here 10 yrs and never had a problem with an english license.,
Actually you can ask to retain those categories and I was not asked to pass a medical and still have my C1.
This car looks cool think i need 1 for myself. Much better than the vintage (not classic just old) twingo that i’m driving now. And to everyone that have given their thoughts on this thread thank you very much for all the information it was really helpful and gave me more insight to french driving… I saw for some just agree to disagree i think we can all have our own opinion based on our experiences. I found that many things are made difficult here but also there are loopholes to get around it and you just need to be a little bit more creative. Plus it helps if you know people somehow seems like favors works over here. Its like a jump queue ticket in some occasion 
I looked at my photocard and its valid until 2023 so i have time to decide tho i’d really want to stay here in france and so exhausting moving around, starting again just gives it more of a reason to stay but we will never know. Sounds benefial changing to french license so will definitely look into that.
Maybe your date of validity on your old UK licence helped, as it may have been a long way in the future. Have you actually checked the expiry date for that category (column 11 on the back of the new plastic licences)? To hold a C1 in France (or C, D, etc. etc.) very definitely needs a medical, & renewed every 5 years up to age 60, then every 2 until age 76, then every 1.
Well you are right in that it has to be renewed every 5 years but I very definitely did not have a medical!!!
When we first took out French car insurance we went to the local Aviva office (we’re both Aviva retirees) because we could not honestly complete Phil’s application online - putting in the real date he passed his driving test provoked an error message as French drivers could not have been 17 when they qualified! The boss at Aviva was perfectly happy with our UK/EU licences and we’ve been insured for various cars ever since.
Hi all, as far as I remember you have a year to change your driving licence, if you do not change it for a French one within that time you will have to take the French driving licence test.
I tried to exchange mine as soon as we arrived, but the lady at the Prefecture told me not to bother… and to come back in a few years, when it expired. (it was a photocard one). This I did and all went very smoothly… 
Nothing about having to exchange it within a year here. A UK or othe EU licence is valid in France until it expires