Penalty points and endorsement codes (SP30, IN10, DR10)
Published
When a driver is convicted of a motoring offence, the court endorses their
driving record with a code and, usually, penalty points. The codes are terse —
SP30, IN10, DR10 — but each one tells a precise story, and together they
are the best early-warning signal a fleet has.
How the codes are built
The two letters give the offence family, the two digits the specific offence:
| Prefix | Offence family |
|---|---|
| SP | Speeding |
| IN | Insurance |
| DR | Drink or drugs |
| CU | Construction and use offences — vehicle condition, plus mobile phone use (CU80) |
| CD | Careless driving |
| DD | Dangerous driving |
| LC | Licence offences |
| MS | Miscellaneous |
| TT | Totting up (disqualification) |
The codes you'll actually see
| Code | Offence | Points |
|---|---|---|
| SP30 | Exceeding the speed limit on a public road | 3–6 |
| SP50 | Speeding on a motorway | 3–6 |
| CU80 | Using a hand-held mobile phone while driving | 6 |
| IN10 | Using a vehicle uninsured | 6–8 |
| CD10 | Driving without due care and attention | 3–9 |
| DR10 | Driving or attempting to drive over the alcohol limit | 3–11 (usually with a ban) |
| DG10 | Driving over the specified drug limit | 3–11 (usually with a ban) |
| LC20 | Driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence | 3–6 |
| MS90 | Failure to give information as to identity of driver | 6 |
| TT99 | Disqualified under the totting-up procedure | — |
SP30 is by some distance the most common endorsement in the UK; MS90 is the one to watch in fleets, because it often means a speeding ticket was ignored rather than answered.
How long endorsements stay on the record
- Most offences (speeding, insurance, phones, careless driving): valid for 3 years from the offence, shown on the record for 4 years.
- Drink, drug and dangerous-driving offences (DR10, DG10, DD40 etc.): shown on the record for 11 years from conviction.
The distinction between valid and merely visible matters: points count towards a ban only while valid, but an 11-year DR code stays visible to insurers and employers long after.
When points become a ban
- 12 valid points within 3 years brings a totting-up disqualification (code TT99) — normally 6 months.
- New drivers: just 6 points within 2 years of passing the first test and the licence is revoked entirely — back to provisional.
- Courts can also disqualify directly for a single serious offence, whatever the points total.
A driver on 9 points is one ordinary speeding offence from a ban — which is why risk-based fleets move drivers to more frequent checks as points build rather than waiting for the annual check to discover a disqualification that happened months earlier. Note that a ban does not always change the headline licence status — the endorsement itself can carry the disqualification while the status still reads "valid", so read the endorsements, not just the status line.