What Penalty Points Stay on Your Licence for 4 Years and Which Last 11

• Penalty points stay on a driving record for 4 or 11 years, and the offence code decides which.
• Twelve or more points inside 3 years can bring a ban of 6 months, and new drivers lose their licence at 6 points in 2 years.
• Speeding costs a £100 ($134) fine and 3 points at the minimum, and the code stays on the record for 4 years.

How Long Your Points Last, and When 12 Becomes a Ban

Most points last 4 years. A handful of serious drink and drug offences last 11. The DVLA record shows the date each endorsement comes off, so a driver with a ticket in hand can check the exact date online instead of counting years from memory.

The start of the clock changes with the code. For most everyday offences the count runs 4 years from the date of the offence itself. For the 11 year group and for a set of serious 4 year codes, the count starts on the date of conviction. That gap is easy to miss. A court hearing months after a speeding offence does not push the 4 year clock back: the clock began on the day of the offence.

Separate from how long points stay on the record is the ban test. A driver who builds up 12 or more points within 3 years can be disqualified. Points older than 3 years still sit on the record for their full 4 or 11 years, but they fall outside that 3 year test. A drink or drug endorsement from 5 years back still shows on the record, yet it adds nothing to the 12 point sum.

The 4 Year Offences: Most of the Table

Most of the endorsement table runs for 4 years from the date of the offence. The groups below come with the points range for each.

Speed limit codes SP10 to SP50 carry 3 to 6 points. They cover goods vehicles, other vehicle types, ordinary public roads, passenger vehicles and motorways. A driver who accepts a fixed penalty for speeding pays £100 ($134) and takes 3 points, unless the police offer a speed awareness course. Courses are offered only where the police decide the offence suits one and the driver has not been on a course in the past 3 years. The licence still carries a code for 4 years. Anyone offered that choice can read how the speed awareness course swap has tightened.

Three points sit on a long list of single offences: TS10 for failing to comply with traffic light signals, TS20 for double white lines, TS30 for a stop sign, TS50 for other traffic signs, CU10 for defective brakes, CU30 for a defective tyre, CU40 for defective steering, MS10 for leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position, MS70 for driving with uncorrected defective eyesight and MW10 for breaching special road regulations on motorways. Pedestrian crossing offences PC10, PC20 and PC30 are 3 points each, as the zebra crossing offence shows.

The heavier 4 year codes are the ones that end licences quickly. Using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks, IN10, carries 6 to 8 points. Failure to give information as to the identity of the driver, MS90, carries 6. Failing to stop after an accident, AC10, and failing to report one within 24 hours, AC20, carry 5 to 10. Careless driving, CD10 to CD30, carries 3 to 9. Using a mobile phone and similar breaches of vehicle control, CU80, carry 3 to 6. Driving while disqualified, BA10, carries 6.

The table also lists how codes change when someone is involved in an offence without being the driver. A driver who aids or abets an offence gets the same points as for the offence itself, with the 0 in the code changed to a 2, so LC20 becomes LC22. Causing or allowing someone else to commit an offence turns the 0 into a 4, so LC20 becomes LC24. Encouraging or persuading turns it into a 6, so DD40 becomes DD46, with the same points for the conviction.

The 11 Year Offences: Drink and Drugs

The 11 year group is short and every code in it counts from the date of conviction. Drink codes DR10, DR20, DR30 and DR31 carry 3 to 11 points. They cover driving or attempting to drive over the alcohol limit, driving unfit through drink, failing to supply a specimen and refusing permission for analysis of a blood sample taken without consent. DR61, refusing that permission in circumstances other than driving, is 10 points and also runs 11 years.

Drug codes DG10 and DR80, driving over the specified drug limit and driving unfit through drugs, and DG60, causing death by careless driving with a drug level above the limit, run 11 years from conviction at 3 to 11 points. So do the death by careless driving codes CD40 to CD70 where drink or drugs were involved, or the driver failed to supply a specimen.

Some other drink and drug codes sit in the 4 year group. Being in charge of a vehicle over the alcohol limit, DR40, unfit through drink, DR50, or failing to provide a specimen when not driving, DR60, each carry 10 points. In charge while over the drug limit, DG40, and unfit through drugs, DR90, are also 10. Failing to co-operate with a preliminary test, DR70, is 4 points. For all of these, gov.uk gives 4 years from the date of the offence, or 4 years from the date of conviction where a disqualification is imposed.

Some serious driving codes run 4 years but start the count on conviction. They include the dangerous driving codes DD10, DD40, DD60, DD80 and DD90, causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving CD80 and CD90, and the codes for causing death or serious injury while disqualified, BA40 and BA60.

12 Points in 3 Years: How a Ban Is Built

The ban test is a sum. Here is an illustration, not a case from the record. A driver collects 3 points for exceeding the statutory speed limit on a public road (SP30), 3 points for failing to comply with a traffic light (TS10) and 6 points for using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks (IN10, which carries 6 to 8). That is 12 points inside one 3 year period. The driver can be disqualified.

A ban for 12 or more points within 3 years can last 6 months. A second disqualification within 3 years can bring 12 months, and a third 2 years. The court decides how long any ban lasts, based on how serious it judges the offence to be. A summons arrives in the post telling the driver when to attend court.

A ban of 56 days or more means the driver must apply for a new licence before driving again, and might have to retake the driving test or take an extended test. The court says which. A shorter ban needs no new licence: the driver checks the disqualification on the online record and drives again once it ends. A driver disqualified for 56 days or more with no penalty points, which is the non-endorsable case, still pays to renew the licence, and can do so only after the ban ends.

The totting up ban leaves its own mark. Code TT99 shows a disqualification under totting up and stays on the record for 4 years from the date of conviction.

New Drivers, Wrong Records and the Fine for Ignoring DVLA

New drivers face a lower line. A licence is cancelled, or revoked, at 6 or more points within 2 years of passing the test. Points on a provisional licence that have not expired carry over to the full licence on passing. Two 3 point offences are enough: 3 plus 3 is 6. The driver must then apply and pay for a new provisional licence and pass both the theory and the practical test again. A driver who has not yet sent off for the full licence can use the provisional licence to retake the tests. Passing a test for another category of vehicle, for example a heavy goods vehicle, does not start a second 2 year period. The same rules apply to anyone who exchanged a foreign licence for a British one and then passed a further driving test in Great Britain.

Points also reach the wallet, and what six points cost on insurance is worth knowing before any appeal.

To check a record, use the online service for licences issued in England, Wales or Scotland. A driver needs a driving licence number, a National Insurance number and the postcode on the licence. The service shows penalty points and disqualifications, and the same record shows when points will be removed. A check code for sharing the record with a car hire company, for instance, is valid for 21 days. If the endorsement details are wrong, the driver contacts the court that convicted them. Endorsement codes and processes in Northern Ireland are different, so this guide covers Great Britain.

Paperwork carries its own penalty. A driver who accepts a fixed penalty notice does not need to give a licence to the police or the fixed penalty office, only a name, date of birth and licence number. The office tells the DVLA, and DVLA adds the endorsement. If DVLA writes to ask for a licence, after a revocation, a ban where the licence was not handed in to the court, an invalid licence or a change of address, the driver must send it. Ignoring the request can mean a fine of up to £1,000 ($1,340).

A driver who pleads not guilty to a speeding charge and loses in court faces more than the fixed penalty. The fine is usually a percentage of weekly income, up to £1,000 ($1,340), or £2,500 ($3,350) on a motorway, and the court can add more points, a ban or a suspension. A speed camera offence also starts a clock: a notice of intended prosecution and a section 172 notice arrive within 14 days of the car being caught, and the driver has 28 days to return the section 172 notice naming who was driving.

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