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Reducing the period of your disqualification

If you have been disqualified from driving for a period of two years or more, the law allows you to apply for a reduction in the period of your disqualification under certain conditions.

The circumstances in which you are able to apply for a reduction of the period of your disqualification are:

  • after serving two years of the disqualification period if you were disqualified for more than two but less than four years
  • after half the period of disqualification has been served if you were disqualified for less than 10 years but not less than four years
  • after serving five years of the disqualification period if you were disqualified for 10 years or more

What you need to do

Your appeal should be made in writing to the convicting court, and the letter should give the date of offence and conviction date plus any other information that may justify an appeal hearing. On receipt of the written appeal the clerk of the court will take note of any new evidence available that may warrant the courts time for an appeal hearing. Pending the result of an appeal the convicting magistrate may decide to suspend the disqualification. You may then continue to drive until the appeal judgement is heard. If the appeal is not granted any disqualification period will start from the date of the appeal and you must stop driving.

What happens next

If the court agrees to reduce the period of disqualification, notification will be sent to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). You can make an application to DVLA for the early restoration of your driving licence but a licence will only be issued once confirmation is received from the court. Please note that although courts may approve a reduction in the period of disqualification, this does not affect the period (four or eleven years depending on the offence) for which the endorsement must legally remain on the driving licence