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 11 years, depending on the offence.
If your licence has been taken from you by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) it is 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:
If you have attended court because of a motoring offence, your licence is first sent to the Customer Services Centre of the Northern Ireland Courts Service and held for 15 days pending appeal. The number to contact them is:
After this period 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:
Each endorsement has a unique offence code and is allocated 'penalty points' on a scale from one to 11, 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.
You can find out more information on some of the main offences and associated penalties outlined in The Highway Code:
An endorsement must stay on your driving licence for the following periods of time.
Eleven years from date of conviction if the offence is:
Example: date of conviction is 3 December 2012 - the endorsement must stay on the licence until 2 December 2023.
Four years from the date of conviction if the offence is for:
Example: date of conviction is 28 May 2013 - the endorsement must stay on the licence until 27 May 2017.
Four years from the date of offence in all other cases.
Example: date of offence 10 June 2013 - the endorsement must stay on the licence until 9 June 2017.
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 if asked.
Your driving licence is automatically revoked (withdrawn) if you build up six or more penalty points within two years of passing your first driving test.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:
or DVA enquiries on:
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.
The paper counterpart of your driving licence will show driving offences and other relevant information.
If you’ve lost your driving licence and need to check your endorsement details you can contact DVA customer services, Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm on:
If incorrect endorsement details are shown on your driving licence, contact the convicting court for advice.