The Hardship License “Work Letter”

The Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Division of Insurance Board of Appeal provide limited hardship licenses, which are also known as work or Cinderella licenses, for those who have had their Massachusetts Driver’s Licenses or right to operate suspended or revoked.

Hardship relief is discretionary and it is often difficult to get a Mass. hardship license. Therefore, it is usually advisable to hire a lawyer, so as to increase your chances of success.

In Massachusetts, hardship licenses are granted primarily for work, school, or medical reasons and the applicant must provide sufficient documentary evidence of a hardship.

Satisfying the hardship license evidentiary requirements is critical. For work-related hardship license appeals, this means that you must provide a letter from your employer which explains your work hours and need for a license. The hardship license work letter should also articulate why public transportation will not meet your needs. When a letter of this nature is unavailable, as a last resort, a pay stub can be produced as evidence of employment. However, this type of documentation is often not as convincing as a well-written letter which documents the hardship.

Self-employed appellants must provide acceptable proof of self-employment in the form of tax documents, letterhead, business cards, advertising materials, and the like. The RMV Board of Appeal requires such documentation because some appellants claim that they are self-employed when they are actually unemployed.

Those seeking hardship licenses for educational or medical reasons must also supply sufficient documentary proof of their need to drive and the work letter is an important part of that proof.

You can download sample hardship license work letters to get an idea of what these important documents should look like.