To lose your driving licence you need to either have reached the maximum number of penalty points allowed or have committed an offence that was deemed by the courts to have put the lives of others at risk.

A disqualification from driving can range from one year to ten years depending on the severity of the offence. There are also cases where a judge will rule that the offender should serve a lifetime disqualification to avoid putting the lives of others at risk.

In some less serious offences an offender may be required to serve a Short Period Disqualification (SPD) which is less than fifty six days. Your driving licence will be held by the court for the duration of the period but it will not be revoked, you will not need to retake a test and you can start driving once the SPD has expired.

If you have served a full driving ban you can apply for your licence once it has expired which can be done by filling in the correct forms available online or at a post office. At this stage you will only receive a provisional driving licence so you can apply to re-take the theory, hazard perception and practical test.

The disqualification endorsements will remain on a licence unless otherwise inculcated by a magistrate, for which you will need to appear and present your case to have them removed.

If someone has been disqualified they may apply for their licence earlier than the expiry of the disqualification. However, this depends on the individual circumstances of the driver and the length of the ban.

A driver may be allowed by a court to only serve half their disqualification if they have undertaken driving improvement courses or other steps to ensure safer driving once qualified. The effect of the ban on an individual’s family life or career may also be considered by the court.

For bans longer than 2 years you can apply after half the proposed disqualification period, for example for a ban of 6 years you can apply after 3. If you made other offences, driving or otherwise, since your disqualification the court will immediately dismiss your application. If you are caught driving whilst banned you will face a custodial sentence and a hefty fine.

If you need advice on speeding, then visit Nick Freeman’s site if you believe you may experience exceptional hardship as a result of losing your licence.

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