When do points come off my licence? Driving Licence FAQ's

Author Name – Ben Garner

    8 people

The majority of points stay on your licence for four years. This includes speeding, failing to stop, driving with an unsafe vehicle (such as illegal tyres) and driving without insurance. However, some points can stay on your licence for eleven years if it is a more serious offence, such as causing injury or death through dangerous driving.

If you’ve ever been caught by a speed camera or had a fault found on your car, you may have points on your licence. The DVLA states that “you can be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of 3 years”.

In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about penalty points on your licence, and how you can find any information you need in regards to checking your licence.

penalty points

How many points are you allowed on your licence?

Under the current legislation, you are allowed no more than 12 licence points within a three-year period before you receive a driving disqualification. In some cases, you can be disqualified from driving immediately.

However, if you amount 6 points within two years of passing your test, you will also be disqualified under the New Drivers Act.

 

Check my licence: How to check driving licence information

You can access all of your driving licence information on the gov.uk website.

On this page, you can view your driving record, which includes which vehicles you can drive. You can also view any penalty points of disqualifications here, and find out if you have any points on your license.

 

How many points for speeding?

Penalty points are given on a scale from 1 to 11 depending on the severity, with the points staying on your licence for 4 or 11 years. Below are the most common penalties, and the number of points you could get for them.

  • Failing to stop after an accident – 5 to 10 points
  • Driving whilst disqualified – 6 points
  • Driving without due care and attention – 3 to 9 points
  • Causing death by driving – 3 to 11 points
  • Using a vehicle with defective parts (tyres, brakes, etc) – 3 points
  • Using a mobile phone whilst driving – 3 to 6 points
  • Driving with alcohol level about the legal limit – 3 to 11 points
  • Driving without insurance – 6 to 8 points
  • Exceeding speed limit – 3 to 6 points

The full list of offences and their respective points can be found on the government website.

 

What classes a car as road legal?

You can get points on your licence if your car is found to have defective parts or classed as not road legal. Below are a few things that could get you points if found on your vehicle:

  • Valid insurance
  • Legal modifications
  • Valid MOT
  • Taxed
  • The windscreen has no cracks
  • All the lights work
  • The brakes work and aren’t excessively worn
  • Tyres must not have below 1.6mm of tread depth and must not have any cuts or bulges

 

Check if your car is road legal

If your vehicle is found to have defective parts, you could end up with points on your licence. At National, we offer a FREE vehicle safety check. This checks the key areas of your car to ensure they are safe to drive and road legal. To book, please click the button below.

FREE Safety Check

Did you enjoy this blog post? |
8 people found this review helpful
Autogreen tyres
Avon tyres
Bridgestone tyres
Continental tyres
Dunlop tyres
Goodyear tyres
Hankook tyres
Michelin tyres
Pirelli tyres
Sailun tyres