To ask if you have had 12 points on your license and if so what happened?

[daysayso]

I have 9 points currently, I have had a letter to say I was speeding 53 mph on a 40mph motorway temporary speed limit

Once I reach 12 points I've read it's an auto ban - unless you can prove hardship.

Has anyone got to 12 points and either successfully appealed it or got away with it and if so how?

No smart comments please these is really stressing me out

Thanks in advance

I'm basically fucked

I know someone who lost his license for 12 months after getting to 12 points. He wasn't given leniency for the fact that he relies on his car for work (sales rep) and was written into his employment contract that he has to have a valid licence or can lose his job. Sorry OP.

Do your parents rely on you to drive them to appointments?

You need to start thinking of reasons why you need to keep your licence and hope the judge got some the night before

My advice and this isn’t a smart comment, this is a genuine look at yourself comment - behave. The rest will work itself out and you won’t be having to ask stupid questions like how can I find a way to avoid the repercussions of my actions.

And anyone here trying to find a way for a terrible driver to blag a way to get out of continuing as a terrible driver, needs to have a word with themselves too.

OP will drive anyway, license, insurance or not. Hence the “I’m fucked” comments. It’s not all about you OP.

Use the banned time to work on yourself.

There are specialist motoring legal people that can represent you for a cost (i.e not the no win no fee guys). They have a reasonably high success rate but only because they know what to challenge and how.

EVERYONES employer writes them a letter saying it might put their job at risk so that won't stand out as a good reason.

The totting up system exists for a reason, it gives drivers repeated chances to stick to the rules. If the show they can't then they lose (should) lose their license as punishment.

What hardship would you appeal on? Can you afford a decent lawyer? I don't agree with it but know a guy who avoided a ban for a drink drive charge but he paid a fortune for legal help.

OP will drive anyway, license, insurance or not

What on earth are you basing that assertion on?

My DP had a 6month ban for totting up. This was with specialist solicitor in attendance. Court were not interested in hardship - despite living over 40 miles to nearest office and caring for elderly parents. We could've appealed to crown but it was clear this wouldn't have been looked at favourably.

You should be banned. Don’t try to ‘get off’, try to become some who thinks the risk of killing or seriously injuring someone isn’t worth the fun of driving a bit faster.

As PP have said, there are legal specialists who are possibly your best chance of not receiving an outright ban. It is case by case and again as previously referenced, it will depend on the elements of law which need to be met and defended. Be prepared to pay a lot of money for this service, OP.

And, if you do avail yourself of it, you'll be paying your insurance company for a long time until those points are spent. You may be able to keep your insurance costs (proportionately) lower by staying with your existing insurer, if they're willing to keep you on risk.

All you can do is your best. Don't make excuses, be very aware of the reasons why you amassed the points. Do as other posters have suggested and work out your routes without use of your own car, find ways to make that work.

Ignore the gleeful twats on the thread. This was a motorway offence and OP is being punished. No need for the knitting team waiting for the guillotine to be wheeled out.

I had 14 points for about a year after pleading exceptional hardship in court. I didn't hire a solicitor because I couldn't afford one and just spoke up in court and told them my hardship reasons.

The prosecution was desperately trying to bully me into saying "no" to his repeated asking of "well that's not exceptional hardship is it?" After the 4th time of him asking i said "look, the answer is not going to change just because you keep on asking me the same question, if I had representation they'd have objected to you deliberately bullying me by now". Instead of an additional 6 points the judge gave me 8 which took the total to 14 instead of 12.

Generally speaking, losing your job would not be enough to meet the threshold for exceptional hardship, so that on its own (should it be the case) probably won’t avoid a ban.

If you have medical needs, childcare responsibilities, or relatives you support who would be adversely affected by you losing your licence, you can present this to support your plea of exceptional hardship. You should present every element, as the magistrates need the fullest possible picture if they’re going to go against sentencing guidelines and not ban you.

Just to mention, if exceptional hardship is agreed by the magistrates, you can’t use those same reasons for minimum of three years. You’ll have 12 points on your licence, so very much in the last chance saloon, and any further offences would be certain to trigger a ban.

On the assertion that OP is a consistently bad driver. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck... I’d say you are naive to believe a person like this would have any respect for a ban as they are openly looking for excuses so they can escape a perfectly reasonable and foreseeable ban.

you made the wine now drink a cup

@daysayso could you perhaps list when you got the points, time in between each one roughly. If you have had any speed awareness courses in the last 3-5 years and your profession and dependants ie, community nurse have 3 children under 17. Also any family care responsibilities. How long you have had a license. People will be able to advise a bit more I would say.

I’d accept the ban. It’s reasonable and fair. It’s literally natural consequences in action. You are unsafe to be on the road. Find an alternative. Don’t drive again.

I understand what Barkingdog is saying, OP, it would be useful but this isn't a good or safe place to put any specifics. You need specialist legal advice - and you will have the same old posters absolutely wetting themselves to pull you down even more. You don't need that.

Do you have anybody in real life you can talk this through with?

I knew someone who was appealing, largely on the basis that she did some travelling for her job, and every time it was because she had been doing between 30 and 40 in a 30mph zone, in a place she didn't know. Although she obviously needed to start assuming 30 unless she was absolutely sure, it was a bit different to doing regularly 80mph on the motorway. I don't know what the outcome was, I'm afraid.

You shouldn't be driving. You haven't learned after your previous points.

Why would there be mitigating circumstances? You've been caught with zero change in behaviour. It happened to my boss and he had to hire a chauffeur. The boss of a car company - oh how we all laughed.

OP, I hope that you are able to keep your licence if you really need it, but I also hope that you will really learn from this. You might think that speeding is a victimless crime - just rule breaking without any real consequences unless you get caught - but that is not the case.

An elderly relative of mine is in intensive care right now because she was hit by a speeding driver. She was a pedestrian. The extent of her injuries was horrific and we didn't think she was going to make it. It now looks like she will pull through but she is in agonising pain and it will take months for her to recover - or maybe she won't ever make a full recovery. I don't suppose that the person driving the car went out that day with the intention of nearly killing someone. They probably just didn't think, or perhaps they were in a rush or whatever.

12 points on a licence suggests that you have been caught speeding several times. You've probably done it many more times without getting caught. Just think about it. One day, you could end up killing someone. Would you want that on your conscience? It just isn't worth it to save a few minutes here or a few minutes there. The speed limits are in place for a reason.

I’d suggest getting a solicitor. I’m a magistrate and when I’ve heard hardship cases as a bench it is a high bar to meet. I’ve seen people banned and unable to argue hardship as they could afford a driver, get taxis to get disabled relatives to hospital, get public transport/walk kids to school, travel 3+ hours on a train to see kids.

The guidance specifically says that losing your job is not hardship enough for the ban to be relaxed - so my recommendation would be get a solicitor who understands the rules and whether you have any grounds.

DH was banned 6 months based on :totting up:
This was despite six points being due to be removed within 3 months of this happening.
He went to court, argued re: job, childcare etc
No difference

I'm surprised so many people know someone who has had a ban before... I mean I'm not perfect, I had a speeding ticket first year of passing my test and then learnt my lesson. But to get to almost 12 points though and not think "Hey, I should probably drive a bit safer" is baffling to me... You say you're on 9 points now... Just make sure you don't get anymore points, it's not that hard.

Did they lose their job?