Penalty Points Explained - Money Expert

Penalty points (or 'endorsements') are placed on your licence if you commit a driving offence. They can affect your car insurance premiums, and if they add up within a certain period, you can be disqualified from driving. 

We'll go over exactly how points are acquired, how long they last, and how to get rid of them, in this guide.

In This Guide:

• What are penalty points?
• How many penalty points do you get for different driving offences?
• How long do points stay on your licence?
• How to remove expired penalty points or endorsements from your driving licence
• Disqualification
• How to avoid getting penalty points
• Penalty points and car insurance

How to remove expired penalty points or endorsements from your driving licence

Any points on your licence should be removed automatically when the endorsements expire. If you can still see points that you think should have been removed, contact the DVLA.

You can check your points on the gov.uk website, you'll need your national insurance number and your driving licence number.

You do not have to pay to remove expired points from your license.

Disqualification

You will be disqualified from driving if you are assigned more than 12 points over a 3-year period. This will mean you cannot drive for a certain length of time. The courts will decide how long this period lasts, but as a rough guide you could receive a driving ban for:

• 6 months if you rack up 12 or more points in 3 years.
• 1 year if you the disqualification is your second in a 3-year period.
• 2 years if it's your third disqualification.

And you can't go straight back to driving either. Provided your disqualification was more than 56 days (and it usually is), you'll have to go through the process and cost of re-taking your driving test and securing a new driving licence.

It's even more strict for new drivers. If you are still in your probationary period (2 years from the date you pass your driving test), you have a limit of 6 points. If you are assigned 6 or more points in these 2 years, you will have your licence taken away. You will have to start from the beginning by applying for a provisional licence and taking both your theory and practical driving test. Any points on your provisional licence carry over to your full licence after you pass your test.

How to avoid getting penalty points

The most common way of getting penalty points is from speeding. The standard result of a speeding conviction is a £60 fine and 3 points on your driving licence.

If you don’t want these points, they can be avoided by attending a Speed Awareness Workshop (SAW). This course costs anywhere between £60 and £100 and will take half a day of your time, but it does prevent both the fine and the points.

This option is only available if it is your first or only speeding conviction within the last 3 years, and only for drivers whose convictions are less serious. If you were breaking the speed limit by over a certain amount, you may incur a larger fine and may be assigned more points.

Penalty points and car insurance

Another drawback to penalty points is the effect they can have on your car insurance. You are obliged to let your provider know about your conviction. Your premiums will almost certainly get more expensive, and if you are uninsured or starting again after a disqualification, you may struggle to find a provider willing to cover you at all.

If your conviction was for speeding and you chose to attend a Speed Awareness Workshop, your insurance premiums may still increase, but it’s likely that they will not increase as much as if you had chosen to accept the assignment of points on your licence.

Visit our guide on car insurance for convicted drivers for more information on how to get cheaper cover with points on your licence.