Penalty Points

If you acquire 12 points in a 3 year period then you become liable for disqualification under the 'totting-up' procedure; this will be a minimum 6 month period. Disqualification can be avoided if the court can be persuaded that you'll suffer "exceptional hardship". Please note that losing your job is not necessarily considered to be exceptional hardship! There are additional details about the different types of disqualification and their implications on our Disqualification page.

Penalty points count toward totting-up for 3 years, but they are not actually removed from your driving licence for another year, so they stay on your licence for 4 years. The date that counts for the purpose of totting-up is the date of the offence, not the date that the points were actually put on to your licence.

Maximum fines at present levels

The maximum fine that can be imposed by Magistrates' Courts for a particular offence is set at one of five levels. The actual fine imposed must be no more than this maximum, is based on the offender's "relevant weekly income", and will fall within a Band depending on the circumstances of the case. For speeding offences there is some more detail about relevant weekly income on the Magistrates' Guidelines page.

Magistrates' guidelines for motoring offence penalties

The guidelines used by Magistrates' Courts in deciding on the penalties they impose are specified in detail in the Magistrates' Court Sentencing Guidlines published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council. The magistrates can deviate from the guidelines, but if they do they must explain their reasons. The information here is summarised from the 15 July 2008 update, which became effective on 4 August 2008.

• D Must disqualify at least 12 months (unless special reasons) and endorse
• E Must endorse (unless special reasons) and may disqualify

Note 1: Extended disqualification periods apply to some offences for repeat offenders.

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