New Drivers
Your driving licence will be revoked if you build up six or more penalty points within two years of passing your first driving test. You’ll need to reapply for your driving licence as a learner driver and resit your driving test.
Penalty points gained before passing your driving test
Any penalty points you gain before passing your first driving test are taken into account. However, having six or more doesn’t mean your licence will be revoked straight after you pass your test.
Gaining further points after passing your test, taking your total to six or more, will mean your licence will be revoked.
Who is affected by the New Drivers Act
The act applies to all drivers from, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the European Community and European Economic Area, Isle of Man, Channel Islands and Gibraltar.
Drivers from designated countries
The act applies to you if you have exchanged a driving licence from a designated country for a British licence and pass a further driving test in this country.
The designated countries are: Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland and Zimbabwe.
Getting your full driving licence back
To get your full driving licence back you must first reapply for a provisional driving licence.
Applying for a provisional driving licence
You’ll also need to pass the theory and practical driving tests again and claim your test pass.
Pass the theory and practical driving tests
You’ll need to pay for and resit the theory and practical driving tests.
After passing your retest
It’s important to remember that passing a retest doesn’t remove the penalty points from your driving licence. The penalty points remain valid.
Can I prevent automatic revocation of my driving licence under the New Drivers Act?
I have received a letter from the DVLA informing me that my licence has automatically been revoked as I’ve reached 6 penalty points. Is there a way I can avoid revocation of my driving licence as I rely heavily upon my licence for work and cannot afford to lose my job?
Revocation is automatic if you reach 6 points within the first 2 years of holding your full driving licence. If this is as a result of Fixed Penalty Notices, which you have accepted, you have very little further recourse. If the points arise from a Court decision, you can lodge an appeal to a higher Court within 21 days of the conviction and the revocation will be suspended, pending the outcome of that appeal. However, the Court can only alter the punishment so if the outcome is still 6 or more penalty points, the revocation will stand as the Court has no discretion to prevent same.
If my driving licence is revoked, how soon can I retake my driving test?
In theory, immediately. Revocation applies only to drivers who reach or exceed 6 points within the first 2 years of obtaining their first full licence and thus are subject to the New Drivers Act. It is not a disqualification, and so you are entitled to apply for a new provisional licence straight away and as soon as you pass the theory and practical tests, your full entitlement will be reinstated. Whilst there is no minimum period that you must wait before applying for a new licence, in practical terms, much depends upon the availability of test dates etc.
Special reasons is not a defence. It is a facility that the Court can use to avoid imposing an endorsement on your driving licence. In order to be successful, the Defendant needs to establish mitigating or extenuating circumstances which whilst not amounting to a defence, are such that when taken into consideration, justify not imposing a punishment. The reason must relate to the Defendant not to the allegation. Forgetting to cover a direct debit would not be regarded as an extenuating circumstance, given that this is within your control and the onus is upon you as a driver to be certain that your insurance is effective before you use your vehicle.
The criteria applied by the Court is “exceptional hardship” and it is a common comment that whilst an individual would suffer hardship through the loss of their licence, that hardship is not so exceptional that it justifies avoiding a totting up ban. Loss of job alone does not always amount to exceptional hardship and any attempt to avoid totting up purely on that basis could fail. It can however be used to develop other reasons which combined, do meet the criteria set by the Court. It is for the Defendant to establish the severity and degree of hardship and it is for the Court to assess the severity of the implications and to decide whether that amounts to “hardship which is beyond that normally suffered”.
If you plead guilty or are convicted of a driving offence, you are entitled to make a submission to the Court to reduce any punishment imposed and that process is termed mitigation. It is not a defence and care must be taken to ensure that it does not amount to same. A common error is for the Defendant to put forward so many excuses and explanations that their mitigation plea is rejected by the Court because it amounts in fact to a “not guilty” plea
Mitigation can be presented personally or, at the discretion of the Court, in writing. It can be used to avoid potential disqualification or to reduce the number of penalty points/period of disqualification.
To save your license you need expert advice.
We are experts in motoring law and have an enviable success rate and track record.
We can write a mitigation letter for a fixed fee and £195 including VAT, if you cannot afford an expensive barrister
Consult the experts
Rodney Hylton-Potts
24 hour a day legal helpline and email service
020 7381 8111 or law@rhplaw.co.uk
