How long do penalty points remain on a driving licence, or does it depend on the type of conviction?
Penalty points remain on your licence for four years, but cease to be relevant on their third anniversary. If you accumulate a total of 12 penalty points or more in any three-year period you will be disqualified for a minimum of six months, unless you call evidence to establish that such disqualification would cause you or persons dependant on you exceptional hardship. However an endorsement for drink driving and related offences is relevant for ten years, and cannot be removed from your licence until its 11th anniversary. The reason for this is that, if a motorist is convicted of a second drink-driving conviction within ten years of the first, then the minimum mandatory disqualification is not 12 months but 36 months.