If you have penalty points on your driving licence and are concerned about being disqualified through totting up, you may wonder whether you can remove points from your licence after a certain point. Totting up can lead to an automatic driving disqualification if you receive 12 penalty points in any three-year period, while for new drivers, receiving six points in your first two years can see your driving licence revoked.

As such, any amount of points can be a concern, and there is no legal mechanism to remove penalty points from a UK driving licence early. You cannot pay to remove them, take a course or accept other penalties to erase licence points that have already been recorded against you. However, there is a clear timetable set out under the law for when points stop counting for the purposes of a totting up disqualification, and when they leave your record entirely. Points are removed only when they reach the end of their fixed period, and for most motorists that happens automatically. Alternatively, if points have been added in error, it may be possible to correct wrongly recorded endorsements and have them removed so your driving record is accurate.

In this guide, the expert motoring offences solicitors at JMW explain the rules of penalty points for drivers in England and Wales, how you can potentially avoid penalty points even if you plead guilty or are convicted of an offence, and how and when points expire.

How Long Do Penalty Points Stay on Your Driving Record?

An endorsement is the formal record of an offence on your licence and usually takes the form of penalty points, when you are convicted of an offence. These endorsements expire after a set period, and most expired endorsements are removed automatically from your driving record when they are no longer valid. You do not normally need to apply for expired points to come off, although if you believe that expired points are still appearing on the licence you can contact the DVLA to have them removed.

However, the question of how long an endorsement remains on your licence does not have a straightforward answer. There are three relevant time periods that affect when points appear on your licence and the effects they can have:

• Three years: the window during which points are counted towards "totting up". Totting up is the process by which a driver who builds up 12 or more penalty points within three years faces an automatic disqualification. The time limit runs from the date of the offence, rather than the date on which you were convicted or assigned the points.
• Four years: the period for which a standard endorsement, such as one for speeding, stays on your driving record (from the date of the offence for most offences).
• 11 years: an endorsement for drink driving, drug driving and certain serious offences stays on your driving record for 11 years from the date of conviction in most cases.

This means that while a typical speeding endorsement stops counting towards a totting-up ban after three years, it remains on your driving record for the full four years, where an insurance company or an employer carrying out a licence check may still see it. As such, it can continue to affect insurance premiums and have other impacts. For drink driving and similar serious driving offences, the endorsement stays on the record for eleven years from the date of conviction, and is visible to third parties for the first five of those years. Importantly, if you have a relevant previous conviction within 10 years from the commission of the new offence, your disqualification length can increase significantly.

You can see what is held against you using the GOV.UK "View your driving licence information" service, which shows your endorsements and the dates the points expire. The endorsement attaches to your driving record, not to the physical card, so renewing, replacing or switching your licence will not remove points. This includes applying for a new photocard or paper driving licence, as the record sits with the DVLA rather than the physical licence or paper counterpart.

When Do Points Stop Counting for Totting Up?

For standard motoring offences, the practical totting-up window is three years from the date of an offence. For these purposes, an endorsement is "valid" for the first three years of a four-year endorsement, and the first ten years of an eleven-year endorsement. A court can take an endorsement into account only if you commit a new offence while it is still valid, and the endorsement is still on your driving record when your case is heard.

The penalties for totting up are fixed by law and the court has limited discretion. If you reach 12 penalty points within three years, the Magistrates' Court must impose a minimum disqualification of six months. A second disqualification within three years rises to a minimum of 12 months, and a third to two years. These are not negotiable, although there are totting up defences available that can help you to keep your licence in some cases.

Once a totting-up ban has been served, all the previous penalty points are removed, and your licence is returned to you. However, as has been noted, insurance companies can increase your premiums as a result and failing to disclose penalty points - even those that have expired - can invalidate your insurance, which can lead to more serious offences. Most insurance providers require you to disclose offences from the preceding five years, whether or not the points remain on your licence.

While totting up penalties are typically triggered when a driver receives 12 within any three-year period, new drivers face a stricter rule. If you are within two years of passing your driving test and you build up six or more penalty points, your licence is revoked rather than simply endorsed. You then have to reapply for a provisional licence and pass a driving test again.

Can a Speed Awareness Course Remove Penalty Points?

A speed awareness course is an educational alternative offered for some low-level speeding offences. If the police offer you a course and you complete it, no penalty points are added for that offence at all. It keeps points off your licence, but it cannot remove points that have already been recorded.

You may be offered a speeding course for an offence if you have not attended the same course in the past three years, and your speed falls within a qualifying band for low-level speeding. However, this is offered at the discretion of the police and is not automatic, even for first-time offences. For a single speeding conviction where no course is offered, the minimum penalty is three penalty points and a fine, but it can be more.

As such, you should not rely on being offered a speed awareness course to protect your licence from the risk of a totting up offence, nor believe that you are not at risk because you are more than three points away from the 12-point disqualification threshold.

Can a Solicitor Protect Your Driving Licence?

The best way a solicitor can protect your licence is to defend or challenge the underlying offence and prevent points from being added. For example, many speeding offences turn on evidence that can be tested, such as the calibration of a speed-detection device, the validity of the notice of intended prosecution, identification of the driver, or procedural errors in handling the case. 

Where you are at risk of a totting up disqualification, we can often build an exceptional hardship argument to protect your licence. Throughout this process, we will advise on which route gives you the best chance and work towards the outcome that is right for you.