Want to know everything about penalty points? What are they, how long will they stay on your driving licence and how do you know if you have any?
What are penalty points?
A penalty point is a formal punishment given to you by the Gardai for a driving offence. There are 63 road traffic offences that garner penalty points.
Each offence will carry its own amount of penalty points and a fixed fine, In most cases, you will have 28 days to pay the first fixed fine, and if you miss this you’ll have another 28 days to pay an increased fine. After this, you’ll need to go to court.
If you get 12 penalty points within a three-year period, you will be automatically taken off the road for six months. Learn more about driving offences.
If you were issued your first learner permit on or after August 1st, 2014 during the time you drive under this permit, and for the first two years you drive under your first full licence, seven penalty points are enough to have you disqualified from driving for six months.
How long will penalty points stay on my driving licence?
The penalty points are only added to your licence 28 days after the issue date of the written notification. It is also from this issue date that your fifty-six-day (28 days fir the original fine, another 28 fir the increased fine) period to pay your fine begins.
If you get penalty points, you’ll be sent a written notification about the offence you made, where it happened, how many points you’re getting for it, and the fine you need to pay.
Penalty points stay on your licence for three years. If your licence is out of date for any of that time, it won’t count as part of the three years.
How to check penalty points Ireland?
To be able to check penalty points Ireland you need to contact the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) on 0818 700 800/ +353 21 462 4810 or email online contact form here. Have your driving licence ready.
We offer flexible car insurance policies with great benefits, discounts for safe drivers, a claims process that takes care of you if something goes wrong and a handy online system to manage your account. Simply call us on 1800 332 211 to see what options best suit you.
