Points and fines for breaking the laws of the road are issued by the police, not the DVLA. If you are unfortunate enough to receive an endorsement, you will need to hand over your licence to the police, a fixed penalty office or when you appear in court, depending on how severe the offence is.
New Drivers
If you have passed your driving test is the last 2 years and get 6 or more points on your driving licence, you will find that your licence gets revoked. If this happens to you, you will have to apply for and buy a new provisional driving licence as well as completing your driving theory and practical test again to obtain a full licence.
These conditions also apply to foreign driving licences that have been exchanged for a British licence.
Speeding
Points for exceeding the speed limit can warrant 3-6 penalty points, depending on the severity of the offence. Codes for speeding must stay on a driving licence for a minimum of 4 years from the date of the offence.
What Do The Speeding Codes Mean?
- SP10- Exceeding goods vehicle speed limits
- SP20- Exceeding speed limit for type of vehicle (excluding goods or passenger vehicles)
- SP30- Exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road
- SP40- Exceeding passenger vehicle speed limit
- SP50- Exceeding speed limit on a motorway
Alternatives To Points
A large number of police authorities up and down the country now offer awareness courses as an alternative to points on your licence, depending on the offence(s) you have committed. The idea of these is to encourage drivers to change their attitude towards their driving, with a particular focus on the area that they were caught to be breaking the law.
You will have to pay to attend the course, but the advantage is that there will not be any additional points put onto your licence. This can mean that your insurance cost won’t increase.
Awareness Courses
The awareness courses are offered for
- Speeding
- Red Traffic Lights
- Mobile Phones
- Driver Improvement
- Drink Driver Rehabilitation
You can only attend the workshop courses as an alternative if you are referred to one by the police. You can also only attend a course once within 3 years.
Common Offences
This is a list of some of the more common offences caused by drivers that result in points and fines:
- Driving with excess alcohol
- Excess alcohol in charge of a motor vehicle
- Failure to provide a specimen of breath
- Speeding
- Driving without due care and attention
- Failure to stop after an accident/failure to report an accident
- Failure to identify the driver
- Dangerous driving and causing death by dangerous driving
When Are Points Removed?
The duration of your penalty points (or endorsement codes) on your licence can vary. This depends on the offence you have committed. The shortest duration is 4 years, while the longest is 11 years.
For example, points for reckless and/or dangerous driving and points for exceeding the speed limits have to stay on your driving licence for 4 years from the date of the conviction. However, points for drink or drug convictions have to stay on your licence for 11 years from the date you were convicted.
To check how many points you have on your license you can call the DVLA Licence check number here.