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Totting Up Bans

If you are facing the prospect of 12 points on your driving licence, you are likely to be disqualified from driving. This is known as a totting up ban, when the number of points you have accumulated means that you reach the maximum of 12 allowed.

A totting disqualification can be disruptive, particularly if you need your licence for your job or because you are a carer. Our team of road traffic lawyers can advise you of the best course of action and whether you may be able to avoid a ban, for example, if it would result in exceptional hardship for you or someone else.

We have extensive experience in providing a defence to drivers facing a totting up ban and a strong track record of success in avoiding totting disqualification. It is not always easy or straightforward to prevent your licence from being removed however, and if you need it for work or as a carer, you are advised to speak to a legal expert as soon as possible.

Our totting up ban services include:

  • Advising you of the strength of the case against you and checking whether any errors have been made by the police or prosecution that might mean we could ask for the case to be dropped
  • Representation at court in cases of exceptional hardship
  • Appealing a totting up driving ban

Get in touch with our totting up ban solicitors

If you are facing a potential totting up ban, our expert totting up lawyers can help. Contact us today and we will provide the representation you need to protect your driving licence.

Call 020 8309 5010 | Ask us a Question | Email us

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Can I avoid a totting up ban?

In some cases, it may be possible to avoid a ban after totting up points on your licence. If you are facing 12 points on your licence, you may be able to put forward evidence of exceptional hardship. This could convince the court that you should not have your licence taken away. The matter will generally be heard in the Magistrates’ Court.

On rare occasions, there may be special reasons for having committed the offence. For example, if you had to take someone to hospital in an emergency and you were speeding, this could persuade the court not to convict you.

How many points on my licence before I get banned?

If you tot up 12 points on your licence, you will automatically be disqualified from driving for at least six months unless you can show the court that it would cause exceptional hardship. This can be either financial or emotional hardship.

Examples of offences that will add penalty points on your licence include:

  • Speeding, generally three to six points
  • Going through a red light, three points
  • Driving without due care and attention, three to nine points
  • Failing to stop after an accident or not reporting an accident, five to ten points

Aggravating factors may mean that you receive more points, for example, driving without due care and attention in wet weather or on an icy road or speeding in a risky area such as outside of a school at either end of the school day.

Whilst a driving offence that attracts 12 points is not likely, if you already have points on your licence a second or subsequent offence could easily mean that you have totted up enough points to face disqualification.

If you are a new driver and have only held a licence for two years or less, you will receive a totting up ban once you have six points on your licence. As a new driver, your licence will be revoked and you will need to resit your driving test, to include the theory paper, in order to regain it. The points will remain on your licence, even after you become a qualified driver.

What is the minimum ban for totting up?

The minimum ban for totting up is six months. If you have been disqualified from driving before, the disqualification period could be longer. Again, if there are aggravating factors, you could receive a longer ban from driving.

How do I get out of a totting up ban?

Keeping your licence as a totter may be possible if your circumstances mean that a ban would cause exceptional hardship. This could be hardship to you or to others and it could be emotional or financial.

The court must be persuaded that there will be exceptional hardship and this usually needs to be more than simply being unable to work or losing your job. The Sentencing Council notes that almost all driving bans cause hardship. To have a successful defence, you will need to show that it is more than an inconvenience or hardship and we will need to prove to the court that it is exceptional.

There is no exact definition of exceptional hardship, but we have extensive experience of proving this when defending clients.

Examples might include where your family home would be at risk if you were unable to work, the business you work for might collapse without you or you need to be able to drive to care for a sick relative. Exceptional hardship arguments tend to be more successful when the hardship involves others, such as children or elderly parents.

What is the process of totting up?

Totting up happens as points are added to your licence faster than they expire. Points are active on your licence for three years, so if you have more points added during that time, you could reach 12 points. At that stage, you will usually face disqualification.

Can you reduce or prevent a totting up ban?

Unless you can prove that you or someone else will suffer exceptional hardship because of a totting up ban, you will not be able to reduce or prevent it.

What happens after a totting up ban?

After a totting up ban, you will be disqualified from driving for at least six months. If you have been banned from driving in the previous three years for more than 56 days, your disqualification will be longer, generally at least a year if you have been disqualified once before and two or more years if you have been disqualified more than once.

How our totting up ban solicitors can help

Advising you of your rights

If you are facing a potential totting up ban, speak to our solicitors and we will go through what has happened with you and establish whether there is any way to avoid having more points put on your licence and being banned for totting up 12 points or more.

We will also check that the police have followed the correct legal procedure in dealing with the current offence. If they have not, we may be able to ask the court to dismiss the case.

If you wish to plead not guilty to the offence that you have been accused of, it will be for the police to make a case against you. They will have a time limit in which to produce their evidence.

Representation at court

If your case goes ahead, we can provide representation at court to put forward any special reasons or to plead exceptional hardship. We will put together the strongest possible evidence and you will be represented by an expert totting ban lawyer.

Appealing a totting up driving ban

If you have lost your licence because of totted up points, we can appeal to the Crown Court on your behalf. There is a strict deadline of 21 days from the date of the magistrates’ decision in which to appeal so it is vital to seek legal representation without delay.

It may be possible to have your driving licence reinstated while we wait for the date of the appeal hearing.

Totting up appeals can be difficult, as you will need to show that the lower court made an error. You are strongly recommended to seek professional representation if you are considering an appeal.

Get in touch with our totting up ban solicitors

If you are facing potential disqualification, speak to our expert totting ban solicitors.

Contact us today and we will provide the representation you need to protect your driving licence.

Call 020 8309 5010 | Ask us a Question | Email us