Endorsements, Disqualification and Revocation

Once you have been convicted of a road traffic offence, the following categories define the different ways your driver's license can be affected:

Endorsements

Endorsements are markers which are placed on your driving licence when you commit a driving offence. Each offence has its own respective code (e.g. CD40- Causing death by careless driving). If the number of endorsements on your licence builds up, this can be problematic. It is possible to be disqualified from driving as a result of having too many endorsements on your licence. However, endorsements are not permanent; they have an expiry date which is dependent on the severity of the offence which was committed. Most endorsements are for minor offences and they usually stay on your licence for up to four years. For offences of a more serious nature, an endorsement cannot be removed until at least 11 years after the initial conviction.

It is likely that the severity of the punishment will relate to the length of time the endorsement stays on your licence for. Serious offences, which lead to 11 year endorsements, include driving while under the influence of drugs or while over the legal limit of alcohol. If you do not provide a sample for these tests, your actions will also be treated as a serious offence. The charge of causing death by careless driving also results in a long-term endorsement on your licence. 

Following the four or eleven year time period, if you want to have an endorsement removed from your licence, you need to contact the DVLA. For all those who have a photo-card driving licence, you need to apply to the DVLA with the D1 form, which can be obtained from either the post office or the DVLA directly. D1 forms must be sent to the following address: DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AB. You must also send your licence and the application fee with the form. Should you still have a paper driving licence, it is necessary to apply for a new photo-card driving licence, before you can apply to have endorsements removed from your licence. In order to do this, you must send form D750, photo-ID and a passport photo to the above address.

There is a possibility that the DVLA may want to carry out some medical checks during the application process. For example, if you were disqualified from driving or committed an alcohol related motoring offence, the following markers are used to measure whether you are over the permitted limits. The DVLA will make medical enquiries if your blood, urine or breathalyser levels exceed the following levels:

• 87.5 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath;
• 200 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood;
• 267.5 milligrams per 100 millilitres of urine.

In addition, medical enquiries will also be made if you received two disqualifications within 10 years for drink-driving offences or were disqualified for either refusing or failing to provide a sample for analysis when necessary.

If you receive 12 or more points on your driving licence within three years, you face being automatically disqualified from driving. This is called totting up.

Disqualification from driving

For disqualification periods of more than two years, it is possible to apply to have your disqualification period ended earlier than the initial time period. However, it is not possible to make such an application until you have served a specific amount of your ban. The amount of your ban which you have to serve depends on the length of the overall ban. However, it is generally half of the period. For example, the minimum period for those disqualified for less than four years is two years. This period is increased to five years if you were disqualified for 10 years and over. For those who have been disqualified from driving from four to ten years, the mandatory period which must have lapsed is half the original ban. Before having served these respective amounts of your ban, it is not possible to apply for an earlier ending of your disqualification from driving. When your disqualification period has ended, it is necessary to renew your driving licence.

Short period disqualification (SPD)

A SPD is a driving disqualification with a time period of less than 56 days. After serving such a ban, it is not necessary to renew your licence. Rather, the court stamps your licence with an indication of when you are allowed to drive again. Following this date, you are legally allowed to drive again with your old licence.

Revocation

As of 1995, all new drivers who accumulate six points on their licence, within two years of passing their first test, will have their licence revoked. Should this happen, you must take the same steps as someone who cannot drive. This includes getting a provisional licence, practising as a learner and passing your driving test once again. Upon passing for the second time round, the six initial points will remain on your licence.