If you’re convicted of a motoring offence the courts can fine you and endorse your driving licence with penalty points. Endorsements must stay on your driving licence for four or eleven years, depending on the offence.
If your licence has been taken from you by the PSNI it is normally passed to the Fixed Penalty Office (FPO) who update the licence and return it with penalty points added. The process can take up to 12 weeks. The number to contact FPO is: 028 9072 8318.
If you have attended court because of a motoring offence your licence is initially sent to the Customer Services Centre of the Northern Ireland Courts Service and held for 3 weeks pending appeal. The number to contact them is: 028 7126 1329. After 3 weeks the licence is forwarded on to Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) Coleraine to have the endorsements generated on the licence. The number to contact DVA is: 0845 402 4000.
Each endorsement has a unique offence code and is allocated 'penalty points' on a scale from one to eleven, depending on the severity of the offence. The endorsement (and penalty points) is updated on your driver record and written on your paper driving licence or the counterpart document of your photocard driving licence.
An endorsement must stay on your driving licence for the following periods of time:
if the offence is:
Example: date of conviction is 3 December 2002 - the endorsement must stay on the licence until 2 December 2013.
If the offence is for:
Example: date of conviction is 28 May 2004 - the endorsement must stay on the licence until 27 May 2008.
In all other cases,
Example: Date of offence 10 June 2005 - the endorsement must stay on the licence until 9 June 2009.
If you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of three years, you’ll be liable to be disqualified under the 'totting-up' system. This is shown on your licence as TOT UP. Information on your driving entitlement and endorsements are sent to the courts and police on request.
Your driving licence is automatically revoked (withdrawn) if you build up six or more penalty points within two years of passing your first driving test.
You’ll need to produce your driving licence to the police, fixed penalty office (FPO) or when you appear at court. If your driving licence is lost, you can get a duplicate.
If your driving licence is not returned after being endorsed, you’ll need to contact the FPO on 028 7126 1329 or DVA enquiries on 0845 402 4000.
You can apply to remove expired endorsements by obtaining a replacement licence. Expired endorsements are automatically removed when you apply to renew or update your licence for other reasons.
You can check:
If you’ve lost your driving licence and need to check your endorsement details you can contact DVA customer services.
Contact the convicting court for advice.
Motoring
