Penalty Points, Endorsements and Totting Up Driving Disqualifications

How Long Do Penalty Points Stay on a License?

Typically, endorsements stay on your driving record for anything between four or 11 years depending on the offence. You can see a full list of driving offences at the bottom of this page showing the amount of penalty points associated with offences of various levels of severity.

An endorsement is valid for the first:

• Three years, for a four-year endorsement
• 10 years, for an 11-year endorsement

And a court can take your endorsement into account if both:

• You commit another offence while it’s valid
• The endorsement is still on your driving record when the court considers your case

Once your points have exceeded the ‘valid’ period, they no longer count on your tally for totting up purposes.

Can Insurance Companies and Employers See My Driving Endorsements?

Organisations such as insurance companies and employers may be able to find out that you have the endorsement:

• Any time during a four-year endorsement
• During the first five years of an 11-year endorsement, or the first 30 months if you’re under 18

How Long Do Penalty Points Stay on a Driving Record?

Again, this depends on the offence. Endorsements and penalty points will stay on a driving licence four years from the date of conviction (not the date of the offence) if the offence is for either:

• reckless/dangerous driving - shown on a license as DD40, DD60 and DD80
• results in disqualification

Endorsements and penalty points will stay on a driving licence 11 years from date of conviction (not the date of the offence) if the offence is for either:

• Drink driving or drug driving – a drink or drug driving offence will be shown on your license as DR10, DR20, DR30, DR31, DR61 and DR80
• Causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs – shown on the driving record as CD40, CD50 and CD60
• Causing death by careless driving, then failing to provide a specimen for analysis – shown on the driving record as CD70

In all other cases, an endorsement will stay on your driving record for four years from the date of offence.

Totting Up Penalty Points

Penalty points add up on a licence and if you reach the limit of 12 points then you may be disqualified from driving. For example, if you already have nine or more points on your licence, then a further three points would tot up to 12 or more and a Magistrate will consider disqualifying you from driving for a minimum of six months.

Defending Totting Up of Penalty Points

In some cases, there may be special reasons or exceptional hardship caused if a disqualification were to be applied. If either of these arguments are valid, then the Court may reconsider the penalties. 

If you already have points on your licence this could lead to disqualification. Known as a TT99, this signifies disqualification under ‘totting-up’ procedure when the driver has reached 12 penalty points within a three-year period and this could result in loss of earnings and have serious consequences affecting your livelihood.

Penalty Points if Driving for Less Than Two Years

If you have been driving for under two years and already have three points on your licence and you receive three more, then your licence would be rescinded. You would then have to go through the time and expense of taking your driving test again.

How to Avoid a Driving Ban

Your strongest chance of avoiding a driving ban is to argue ‘exceptional hardship’. To do this you will need a team of expert driving offence solicitors on your side. We have an expert team of driving solicitors who can listen to you and help you build a case for exceptional hardship and so we may be able to request the Court not to ban you even if you are convicted of the offence. Complete our enquiry form today and one of specialist driving offence laywers will get in touch with you