I passed my car test at 18. Within six months I had three points — 35 in a 30 zone on the A5 near Tamworth, NIP straight to the house. Felt rubbish. Paid the fine, did the speed awareness, moved on.
Then at 19 I started training for Cat C. Scraped through in November. Got the full licence. Did a few months with an agency in Cannock, then a yard job out of DIRFT. Happy days. Thought I was sorted.
What I didn't know — what nobody at the training school or the agency mentioned — was that those three points I'd picked up at 18 were still counting. Not just on my licence. Against a two-year clock I didn't know was ticking.
A mate explained it to me in the canteen at DIRFT one Thursday. I had five points by then, picked up a second NIP somewhere on the A38. He looked at me like I was an idiot and said: you know you can't get one more point, right?
I didn't. And if I had — if I'd picked up a third speeding NIP before my two years were up — DVLA would have revoked everything. Cat B. Cat C. The lot. Starting from scratch.
What the two-year rule actually says
The Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995 is short and not very friendly. The basic rule: if you get six or more penalty points in the two years following the date you passed your first full driving test, DVLA will revoke your licence.
Not suspend. Revoke.
You go back to a provisional. You reapply. You resit the theory test. You resit the practical test. Not just for your car licence — for everything. Including Cat C. Including Cat C+E if you've got it.
That first full test is the trigger. For most drivers that's their Car test — Cat B. The two-year clock starts from the date you passed that test, not the date you got your provisional, not the date you passed your CPC, not the date you passed your Cat C.
The bit Cat C drivers don't know
Here's the one that bites people. You'd think, logically, that passing a new category would restart the probationary period. Cat C is a harder test, more responsibility, bigger vehicle. Surely that resets the clock?
It doesn't. GOV.UK is explicit about this: "There is not another 2 year period if you pass a test for another category of vehicle, for example to drive a heavy goods vehicle."
So you pass your Cat B at 18. Two years later is your 20th birthday. In those two years, you can pick up Cat C, C+E, ADR, CPC, whatever you like. None of it extends the window. The six-point threshold applies for exactly two years from that first Cat B pass date. Full stop.
If you passed your car test and started picking up points before you even thought about HGV work — and then you went into the industry within that two years — those earlier points count. The driver card doesn't know the difference. The licence revocation process doesn't care.
Points from your provisional licence count too. If you were on a provisional and picked up a speeding endorsement, then passed your test, those points carry over to your full licence and count toward the six-point threshold.
What happens if DVLA revoke it
The process isn't instant — but it's not complicated in DVLA's favour either. They write to you. They tell you the licence is revoked. You surrender it. You're back on a provisional.
To get back on the road you have to take a new theory test. Then a new practical Cat B test. Then, if you want your professional entitlements back, you have to retake those too. The initial CPC qualification for a new driver isn't a quick course — it's Parts 1 to 4, theory and case studies and a separate driving test element. I covered that in detail in this post on the initial CPC qualification.
Realistically, losing your licence under the new driver rule costs months. Probably most of a year if you're doing it properly. And your employer will know. The agency will know. The gap on your card will be visible the next time a transport manager downloads it.
The 12-point totting up rule — different, but not gentler
Once you're through the two-year window, the new driver rules stop applying. You're on the standard totting up rules like everyone else. That threshold is 12 points within a three-year period — but those three years are measured on a rolling basis from each individual offence, not from a fixed date.
Hit 12 points and the court imposes a minimum six-month disqualification. Mandatory. The magistrates don't have a lot of discretion once you're at the threshold — though they do have the power to reduce or extend the ban depending on circumstances.
There is a hardship argument. If you can demonstrate that losing your licence causes "exceptional hardship" — and the bar is genuinely high, not just "I'll lose my job" — the court can sometimes avoid the mandatory ban. But the magistrates hear the hardship argument constantly. A driver saying they'll lose their HGV job isn't exceptional hardship in most courts' view, unfortunately. It's the expected consequence.
And here's the thing about Group 2. Losing your licence as an HGV driver isn't the same as losing your licence as a car driver. You don't just lose weekend driving. You lose your entire livelihood. The mortgage, the payments, the whole lot — all tied to that plastic card in your wallet.
Points that matter more for professional drivers
Not all endorsements carry the same weight. Some offences carry two or three points. Others carry six. The ones that catch HGV drivers most often:
- SP30 (exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road) — 3–6 points. Most speed camera NIPs land here.
- MS90 (failure to give information as to identity of driver) — 6 points. This is the one where someone puts the NIP in a drawer and ignores it. Six points, mandatory.
- CU80 (breach of requirements as to mobile phones) — 6 points. I covered the mobile phone rules in this post.
- TS10 (failing to comply with traffic signal) — 3 points minimum. Longer amber doesn't fix this.
MS90 is the one that catches people out consistently. You get a Notice of Intended Prosecution in the post. You don't recognise it, or you've moved, or you don't think it's serious. You do nothing. The court finds you guilty in absence. Six points. No warning, no fine negotiation — just the conviction and the points on your licence.
For a new driver who already has three points from a speed camera? That's the end of the licence, right there.
What DVLA can do beyond the courts
The courts impose disqualifications when you hit the thresholds. But DVLA's medical group has separate powers — and for Group 2 licence holders, those powers get used more.
Group 2 (which covers Cat C, C+E, D, D+E and their subcategories) has a higher standard of fitness than Cat B. The DVLA medical group can revoke or refuse to renew a Group 2 entitlement if they consider the holder a risk, even without a court order. A pattern of serious endorsements can trigger a medical group review — not because of a specific point threshold, but because the DVLA has a duty to consider whether a Group 2 holder is fit to drive professionally.
This doesn't happen after a single speeding NIP. But serious convictions — drink driving, dangerous driving, persistent speeding — can trigger a review. The decision-making is by the DVLA medical advisers, not by the courts, and it's separate from any disqualification the court might impose.
A drink drive conviction, for example, normally leads to mandatory disqualification by the court. It also leads to a minimum one-year bar on Group 2 entitlements, sometimes longer. I went into the drink drive specifics in this post — the career outcome for an HGV driver is significantly worse than the legal minimum.
The practical bit: checking where you are
If you're within two years of passing your first full test, you need to know exactly how many points are on your licence. Not "probably none" or "maybe three from that camera last year." Exactly how many.
DVLA runs a free online check: gov.uk/check-driving-licence. Takes two minutes. It shows your current endorsements, the dates they were imposed, and when they expire. The two-year revocation threshold is based on points imposed (not offence date), so it's the date on the NIP and the conviction date that matter.
If you're working agency, your operator should be doing this check anyway — regularly, not just at induction. I covered the employer's obligation in detail in this post on employer licence checks. But don't rely on them catching it. Run your own check. It's your career on the line, not theirs.
The one thing worth asking the agency before you sign
Some agencies are good at flagging this during induction. Most aren't. They check your licence exists and that your CPC is current. They don't always flag that you're in your probationary two years and that a single endorsement changes everything.
If you're new to the industry, ask. Ask specifically: "I'm within two years of passing my Car test — can you explain the new driver rules and how many points I have left before revocation?" A decent compliance person will know the answer immediately. If they look at you blankly, that tells you something about their compliance process.
And if you're tracking your own driving hours, rest periods, and compliance records — ShiftOwt tracks 561 and WTD compliance automatically for £5.99 a month. It won't stop you getting a speeding ticket. But it will stop you accidentally burning your rest period or running over your weekly hours on an agency shift when your compliance is already shaky.
Penalty points are a separate risk. But losing your licence to the two-year rule is avoidable — if you know the rule exists.
Quick recap
The two-year clock starts when you pass your first full test. For most HGV drivers, that's their Car test. Six points in those two years — regardless of how many categories you've added since — means DVLA revoke everything. Getting Cat C doesn't restart the clock. Getting C+E doesn't restart the clock. Nothing restarts the clock except the two years running out.
After two years, the standard 12-point totting up rule applies. Hit 12 within three years, minimum six-month ban. Hardship argument exists but is hard to run successfully.
Check your licence. Know your points. Know your two-year date if it's still live. That's it, really.
The hardship argument at a totting-up hearing
You've hit 12 points. You're at court. The magistrates have to impose a minimum six-month ban — unless you can demonstrate exceptional hardship to yourself or others if the ban is imposed.
The bar here is genuinely high. Not just "I'll lose my job." The courts hear that constantly. Losing a job is a consequence of the disqualification — it's not exceptional hardship in itself. Exceptional hardship is something beyond the ordinary consequences of losing your licence.
A few things that courts have accepted as exceptional hardship: the driver is the sole carer for a disabled dependent who relies entirely on them for transport to medical appointments, and no alternative transport is realistically available. A business that employs other people (not just the driver themselves) that would collapse entirely if the driver's licence were taken away. A genuine medical situation where the driver's continued ability to work is the only thing preventing significant harm to another person.
A few things that courts routinely reject: "I'll lose my job." "I'll lose my house." "My wife doesn't drive." "I'll have to commute two hours each way." These are hardships, but the courts view them as ordinary consequences of driving offences rather than exceptional ones.
The key word is exceptional. It has to be something that goes beyond the usual way that losing a driving licence disrupts someone's life. For an HGV driver, losing their licence genuinely does affect more people than the equivalent for a car driver — but that argument has to be made specifically and compellingly, not assumed.
If you're facing a totting-up hearing, get a solicitor. Specifically, one with experience of road traffic cases. The hardship argument has to be prepared and presented properly. A vague statement that you'll struggle financially isn't the same as a properly evidenced hardship case, and the courts can tell the difference within thirty seconds.
Avoiding the accumulation problem
The practical answer, obviously, is don't accumulate points. But there are specific patterns that catch HGV drivers more than others.
The mobile phone endorsement — CU80, six points — catches more drivers than any other single offence. I covered it in detail in this post, but the summary is: DVSA check for this at roadside stops. It's a six-point offence. One CU80 plus one speeding NIP and a new driver is at seven points. Two CU80s and you're at 12 before you've had a single speeding penalty.
The failure-to-identify offence (MS90) is the other one. Get a camera NIP, forget about it, end up with six points because you didn't respond to the notice. The fine is automatic, the points are mandatory, and there's no going back once the court has issued the conviction in your absence.
If you get a Notice of Intended Prosecution in the post — any NIP — read it. Respond to it. Even if you weren't driving, you have to identify who was. Even if you think the camera was wrong, you respond. The six-point MS90 is worse than most of the underlying offences it's supposed to be about.