DVSA has the power to carry out spot checks on your vehicle and can issue fines (called ‘fixed penalties’) if you commit an offence.
Some of these ‘fixed penalties’ are graduated depending on the circumstances and seriousness of the offence.
What follows explains:
What is the graduated fixed penalty and financial deposit system?
The fixed penalties system is an effective way of enforcing road traffic law for commercial vehicles, because:
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) can:
About this guidance
This guidance has been produced by DVSA after consultation with the Department for Transport and trade bodies.
It is not legally binding on DVSA or their staff, but will normally be followed unless there are good reasons not to.
Graduated fixed penalties and financial deposits
Fixed penalties are graduated, meaning the amount can vary depending on the circumstances or the severity of the offence.
Currently, this approach is used in the case of offences such as breaches of drivers’ hours rules and the overloading of vehicles.
Fixed penalty notices can mean any of the following:
Deposit payments may be made for:
Alleged offenders can choose to contest the offence in court if they want to.
DVSA mainly use this system when dealing with commercial goods and passenger carrying vehicles, covering areas such as:
However, a DVSA examiner can deal with any vehicle on the road, and issue a fixed penalty notice or notices if appropriate.
Examiners will issue graduated fixed penalties and financial deposits in line with the DVSA enforcement sanctions policy. Sometimes, discretion will be necessary, but it will be done fairly.
Legal regulations for England and Wales
In England and Wales, section 54 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 allows an examiner to issue fixed penalties for an alleged offence.
Legal regulations for England, Wales and Scotland
In England, Wales and Scotland, section 75 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 allows an examiner to issue a conditional offer of a fixed penalty for alleged offences. DVSA will only issue conditional offers of a fixed penalty for offences detected in Scotland.
The 2 legal regulations achieve the same thing: allowing the alleged offender to pay a fixed penalty rather than being taken to court. However, you can still choose to have it dealt with by a court.
Fixed penalties apply regardless of nationality. A deposit may be payable if you can’t give a satisfactory UK address.
The decision to take enforcement action
A fixed penalty notice is one of the options open to examiners when deciding the right course of action.
Other options available include giving a verbal warning or issuing:
Examiners will consider any mitigating factors before taking action.
Graduated penalties
Graduated fixed penalties:
The main graduated offences cover:
The penalties are graduated to reflect the:
The level of graduation is set out in legislation and is not at the discretion of the DVSA examiners. Each graduated offence band carries a different financial penalty.
Offences that can be dealt with by fixed penalty but are not graduated carry a single fixed penalty amount.
Issue of notices for multiple offences
Examiners can issue more than one notice at a time if you have committed more than one offence.
The law does not limit how many fixed penalties can be issued. However, each traffic examiner or vehicle examiner can issue up to 5 fixed penalty notices or conditional offers each per encounter – meaning up to 10 is possible.
This will include fixed penalty and deposit notices to be issued for drivers’ hour’s offences found to have been committed in the previous 28 days, but only one notice for an endorsable offence within the encounter.
The table shows the possible combinations.
| Combinations per examiner | 0 endorsable | 1 endorsable | 2 or more endorsable |
| 0 non-endorsable | – | Fixed penalty or conditional offer | Summons |
| 1 non-endorsable | Fixed penalty or conditional offer | Fixed penalty or conditional offer | Summons |
| 2 non-endorsable | Fixed penalty or conditional offer | Fixed penalty or conditional offer | Summons |
| 3 non-endorsable | Fixed penalty or conditional offer | Fixed penalty or conditional offer | Summons |
| 4 non-endorsable | Fixed penalty or conditional offer | Fixed penalty or conditional offer | Summons |
| 5 non-endorsable | Fixed penalty or conditional offer | Summons | Summons |
| 6 or more non-endorsable | Summons | Summons | Summons |
DVSA’s action will be fair, consistent and proportionate. It will require the same standard of evidence before issuing a fixed penalty as is required to issue a court summons.
Summary
If the infringement is serious, depending on the circumstances, the examiner will consider giving a:
If the infringement is minor, the examiner may just give a verbal warning.
A fixed penalty notice or conditional offer (if in Scotland) is an alternative to a summons, not an alternative to a verbal warning.
The guidance is different where immediate roadworthiness prohibitions (see below) are being applied.
Drivers’ hours offences
When a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer is issued for an offence, the examiner may also prevent the vehicle going any further.
This is to:
Fixed penalties and conditional offers will be issued for drivers’ hours offences that are:
For example, failure to take:
The fixed penalty will be the usual penalty for drivers’ hours offences except where the:
The drivers’ hours offence penalty graduations reflect the seriousness and circumstances. Meaning, how far you have exceeded the limits or failed to meet the requirements of the legislation. For example:
Example: exceeding the 4.5 hour driving limit
| Severity – time driving beyond the 4.5 hour limit | Endorsable | Fixed penalty amount |
| Less than one hour | No | £100 |
| One hour up to (but not including) 2 hours | No | £200 |
| 2 hours and over | No | £300 |
The legislation shows the first hour as a £100 penalty, but DVSA examiners will generally allow 15 minutes’ leeway before issuing a notice. However, if you repeatedly use those 15 minutes then the examiner may still take action.
Roadworthiness offences
When a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer is issued for a construction and use offence, the examiner may also prevent the vehicle going any further.
This is to protect people from unsafe vehicles.
Careful thought will be given to your responsibility for the vehicle defects. Generally, this will be the main consideration when issuing of a fixed penalty notice for roadworthiness offences.
However, for immediate roadworthiness prohibitions – one where the vehicle cannot be used until the defect is repaired – the guidance below will be followed.
Immediate prohibitions involving a vehicle used by a GB operator
A fixed penalty notice or conditional offer may be issued for the offence if the examiner thinks the defect is serious and shows a significant breakdown of maintenance procedures (this is known as an ‘S’ marked prohibition). That is if they consider either that the defect would have been obvious:
The examiner will take into account whether:
If this is the case:
In situations where the significant defect points to poor general maintenance, the operator will:
The matter may also be reported to the Traffic Commissioner and/or they could be prosecuted.
Immediate prohibitions involving a vehicle used by a foreign or Northern Ireland operator.
Sanctions imposed by a traffic commissioner will not be available in the case of a non-GB registered vehicle.
Instead, a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer may be issued where there is an immediate prohibition because of a risk to road safety that is:
Fixed penalties for certain roadworthiness matters mean mandatory endorsement of the driving licence (with penalty points).
These are the only offences DVSA deal with that carry the mandatory endorsement of the driving licence.
If you commit an endorsable offence, you will only be offered a fixed penalty if the extra points do not cause a mandatory disqualification. If that is the case, the matter must go to court.
If the fixed penalty notice or conditional offer relates to offences carrying an obligatory endorsement, you will be issued it regardless of whether you or not you have a UK driving licence.
Excess weight offences
When a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer is issued for an excess weight offence, the examiner will also prevent the vehicle going any further.
This is to:
A fixed penalty is the preferred option for dealing with excess weight offences unless:
The table below shows the current graduated penalty levels for excess weight matters.
| Severity | Endorsable | Fixed penalty amount |
| Less than 10% | No | £100 |
| 10% up to but not including 15% | No | £200 |
| 15% and over | No | £300 |
A £100 penalty will be given for a 0% to 9.99% overload, but DVSA examiners will allow a 5% leeway before issuing a fixed penalty or prohibition, unless the relevant weight has been exceeded by 1 tonne or more.
Normally, a fixed penalty would be inappropriate for serious cases of overloading – for example, when the vehicle is overloaded by 30% and over, or the excess weight is 5 tonnes – so a court summons would be issued instead.
If the excess weight and the way the load is carried is having a significant effect on road safety – for example, serious instability or loss of control, these other offences will mean a court summons, with the excess weight being part of the offence/s.
Financial penalty deposit notices
Financial penalty deposit notices allow DVSA to deal effectively with vehicle-related offences committed by people who do not have a verifiable address in the UK.
This will not apply to the vast majority of UK residents, as they will generally have a fixed address.
If a deposit has been paid for a fixed penalty or conditional offer – and during the following 28 days, you do not ask for the matter to go to trial, the deposit will be credited as payment of the fixed penalty.
If a deposit has been paid and the matter goes to court, the deposit will be:
DVSA examiners have the power to stop a vehicle from being driven if a person asked to pay a financial penalty does not do so immediately.
Fixed penalty deposit requirement notice
Where it is appropriate to offer a fixed penalty or conditional offer, but you are unable to provide a normal address within the UK, a fixed penalty deposit requirement notice will be issued.
You are expected to pay the deposit immediately. The deposit amount is equal to the total amount of the fixed penalties / conditional offers issued.
If you do not pay the deposit immediately, the examiner will prevent the vehicle being driven.
The prohibition will be removed when either:
You may also be issued with a direction notice, which means you have to move the vehicle to a designated place.
DVSA examiners also have the power to immobilise the vehicle until the financial penalty deposit is paid.
When no payment is made, the examiner may either:
It will be moved to secure storage until full payment is made for the:
If after 3 months no attempt has been made to remove the prohibitions that led to the confiscation of the vehicle, the vehicle may be sold and the money used to pay any charges.
Court financial penalty deposit requirement notice
If the offences committed are considered too severe, or too numerous for the offer of a fixed penalty, you will be:
The level of the financial deposit reflects the number of offences under consideration. The table below shows how.
| Number of offences | Amount to be paid |
| 1 | £500 |
| 2 | £1,000 |
| 3 or more | £1,500 |
The amount to be paid is calculated on the number of offences and not their severity (unlike financial penalty deposits issued for a fixed penalty or conditional offer).
There is an upper limit of £1500 for any single occasion but not to the number of offences that can be shown on the notice
If the court finds you guilty, the money will be:
The money will be refunded with interest if:
If the deposit is not paid immediately, the court financial deposit notice will contain a prohibition on driving the vehicle on a road. The prohibition will no longer apply when:
You may also be issued with a direction notice, which means you have to move the vehicle to a designated place.
DVSA examiners also have the power to immobilise the vehicle until the deposit is paid. If no payment is received, they may have the vehicle removed to secure storage until payment is received for the:
After a court financial penalty deposit requirement notice is issued, a prosecution case will be compiled by DVSA. The court summons will be sent:
DVSA will only issue a notice if the vehicle is stopped in England and Wales. No action in this respect will be taken in Scotland.
Procedure for non-endorsable fixed penalty offences
This section sets out the:
These options are available to all recipients of a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer, whether they have been asked to pay a deposit.
This section applies where no financial penalty deposit has been imposed.
Fixed penalty notices (England and Wales)
When you get a fixed penalty notice, you have to either:
If you have been fined for more than one thing, you can choose a different option for each offence
If you do not do not do anything within 28 days, DVSA will pass the issue to the courts. You will then have to go to court, and your fine will automatically increase by 50%.
Conditional offer (Scotland)
There are 2 options:
If you choose the latter option, the matter will be passed to the procurator fiscal for consideration of court action.
If court action is started, you may then contest the offence.
A different decision can be made, about each offence, if more than one notice was issued at the same time. The same course of action does not have to be taken in relation to all of them.
Paying the fixed penalty notice or conditional offer
There are 3 ways to pay:
You cannot go to a DVSA address to pay fixed penalty notices or conditional offers in person.
Pay online
During a roadside encounter, the DVSA vehicle examiner will issue you with a:
The link will take you straight to your outstanding payments.
You can pay by debit or credit card.
You will get a receipt by email once you have made the payment.
Pay by phone
You can pay by calling DVSA on +44 (0)300 123 9000.
You will need a credit or debit card and one of the following:
You can only pay by phone Monday to Friday, 7:30 am to 6 pm. However, you can make online payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Pay by post
If you are a UK driver or operator, you can pay by cheque or postal order.
You will need to:
DVSA Fixed Penalties Office
Ellipse
Padley Road
Swansea
SA1 8AN
Request a court hearing (England and Wales)
If you want to go to court instead of paying the fine, you must fill in and send part 2 of the notice to DVSA within 28 days. If you do not want to accept the notice in relation to an offence, you can ask in writing for the matter to be dealt with in court.
To do this, complete part 2 (on the reverse) of the fixed penalty and post it to the address shown.
All sections should be completed in block capitals:
Do not fill in the payment slip or send a payment if you are asking to go to court.
Lost or defaced notices
Call DVSA if you lose or damage the notice you were given. They will send you another copy.
You will need to give the:
The 28-day deadline to pay the fine cannot be extended because you lost or damaged the notice.
All time limits will run from the issue date of the original notice. Duplicates will have the same issue date on them as the original.
If you accept a fixed penalty, the amount can be paid by credit or debit card at the same time as arranging for the duplicate notice to be sent.
If you are contesting an offence or seeking legal advice, the customer service centre staff will arrange for a duplicate of the notice to be sent.
Failure to respond within 28 days
England and Wales
If the fixed penalty is not paid within 28 days, and no court hearing is requested, the penalty will be registered with the courts as an unpaid fine.
This will mean a 50% increase in the amount owed to the court
Example
A notice showing a payment of £50 will increase to £75.
Once the notice has been registered with the courts as an unpaid fine, the option to request a court hearing or to pay the fine is no longer available. The court will then take the normal steps to recover the money.
Scotland
If a conditional offer is issued in Scotland but not paid within 28 days, a file will be sent to the procurator fiscal. They will consider whether to start court proceedings for the offence.
The option to pay the fixed penalty will then no longer available.
Procedure for endorsable fixed penalty offences
The information about paying the penalty or requesting a court hearing also applies for endorsable offences and the same time limits apply.
DVSA must also check the driving licence to make sure that accrued points, including those for the fixed penalty being issued, will not reach or exceed the threshold for disqualification.
Driving records at DVLA: GB and non-GB issued licences
DVSA examiners have access to information allowing them to check:
DVLA also holds a computer-based driving record for non-GB licences. Penalty points are recorded for unlicensed or foreign offenders.
This means fixed penalties for endorsable offences can be issued to anyone who:
The examiner can decide whether you would be disqualified from driving in Great Britain due to your penalty points.
This means that unlicensed and foreign alleged offenders can be treated in exactly the same way as GB licence holders.
Driving licence produced at roadside
If the offence is endorsable and you hold a GB licence, the examiner can only offer the fixed penalty if any current endorsements will not lead to disqualification.
If you decide to surrender your licence at the roadside, the examiner will issue you with a receipt and keep the licence. The receipt also acts as a temporary driving licence until the real one is returned.
Once they have received your licence, the fixed-penalty office will send you a:
Driving licence not produced at roadside
If the full licence is not available at the time, the examiner will still issue a fixed penalty, but it will be provisional.
Once they have received your licence, the fixed-penalty office will send you a:
It cannot become a full offer of a fixed penalty until:
The issue of the provisional notice means you have to:
You must produce the photocard even if you intend to:
When DVSA receives the licence, the endorsements will be checked. If penalty points can be added without causing disqualification, the provisional offer becomes a full fixed penalty.
You must then decide if you want to:
If the driving licence does not show your current name and address, the appropriate sections of the licence should be completed and signed before it is surrendered for endorsement.
For an endorsable offence, you cannot go online until your licence has been produced.
Return of driving licence
When the penalty is accepted and paid within 28 days, the licence will be endorsed with the penalty points and returned to the address shown.
You must tell DVLA if you have changed address.
In England and Wales, if you ask for the matter to be heard by a court, the licence will be returned to you with no points added.
If it does go to court, the licence will need to be surrendered to the court.
Failure to surrender the driving licence or to pay the penalty amount
England and Wales
If the licence isn’t produced within the 14-day period the matter will go to court.
If the licence is produced within that period and the provisional offer becomes a full offer, but the penalty isn’t paid within 28 days:
Scotland
If the licence is not produced within 14 days, the matter will be passed to the procurator fiscal who will decide whether to take further action.
If the licence is produced within the period and the notice is confirmed, but you do not pay within 28 days, the matter will pass to the procurator fiscal who will decide whether to take further action.
Paying a financial penalty deposit
This will only be necessary when you have not been able to provide a satisfactory UK address.
The amount will be shown on the notice.
When the deposit is for a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer, you can still choose to:
The notices also state that driving the vehicle is not allowed until the deposit is paid.
DVSA can also immobilise the vehicle and have it removed.
As soon as the full deposit amount is paid, the prohibition is lifted, so payment will allow the vehicle to be driven as long as any:
Payment methods
The deposit amount must be paid in full. Part payments will not be accepted.
The following payment options are available at the roadside.
Pay online
During a roadside encounter, the DVSA vehicle examiner will issue you with a:
The link will take you straight to your outstanding payments.
Cards taken, include:
You will get a receipt by email once you’ve made the payment.
Pay the examiner
You can pay:
Pay by phone
Call DVSA and pay by credit or debit card – more than 2 cards can be used for each payment.
Later payment
The vehicle cannot be driven and may be immobilised until the deposit is paid in full.
Once examiners have left, you can only make a payment by using the GOV.UK payment portal or calling DVSA and using a debit or credit card. You can use more than 2 cards per payment.
After the deposit has been paid: fixed penalty notice or conditional offer
Once the penalty is paid, if you want to accept the penalty (and if, in the case of an endorsable offence, the driving licence requirements have been complied with), then you do not need to do anything else.
The deposit amount equals the fixed penalty amount and 28 days after the notice issue date the deposit payment will be automatically allocated to pay the fixed penalty.
If you want to contest the penalty, you must request a court hearing within 28 days in the same way as if no deposit had been paid.
Complain about a fine
You can complain to DVSA if you think it is wrong that you were given a fixed penalty. The fixed penalty terms and conditions will still apply while you complain.
DVSA will cancel a fixed penalty if it was issued in error.
You do not have a legal right to complain, as the law doesn’t say that DVSA has to provide a complaints procedure for fixed penalties. However, the process is in place to allow appropriate matters to be resolved:
Get legal advice if you do not know what to do.
How to complain
You can complain if you have been given a:
For example, if you disagree with the examiner’s analysis of the driver’s hours.
You must complain within 10 days of the issue date of the notice, except in exceptional circumstances.
Before you complain
Check the standards the examiner applied. Information can be found in the:
Make your complaint
Call DVSA to complain.
If the complaint is about a prohibition, state whether a fixed penalty was issued for the offence.
DVSA customer service centre
Telephone: 0300 123 9000
Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 6pm
What happens next?
DVSA will record the date you complained and send you an acknowledgement.
DVSA will investigate your complaint. You will get a response within 15 days.
If your complaint is upheld, it is likely that the fixed penalty will be cancelled.
If you are unhappy with the outcome, you can still ask for the matter to be heard by a court rather than accepting and paying the penalty.
Making a complaint affects the statutory 28 days within which, either a request for a court hearing or a payment must be made.
Driver offence record
To help monitor repeated and/or serious cases of offending, DVSA will maintain information on all offences whether it:
If you have a vocational driving licence, you may be referred to the Traffic Commissioner if it has thought disciplinary action is necessary.
Vehicle operator notification letter
If the vehicle was operated by a GB operator, a notification letter will be sent to either:
Notifying the Traffic Commissioner
The main purpose of the letter is to allow organisations holding an operator‘s licence to be able to fulfil their legal obligations. That is, tell the relevant traffic commissioner of notifiable fixed penalties issued to their employee or agent.
Failure to do so:
Operators and fixed penalty notices
You will not receive fixed penalty notices unless you are:
Infringements, which may partly be down to you (and/or user of the vehicle or employer of the driver), may mean further enforcement action. It depends on the nature and circumstances of the case.
A prosecution may be brought, and where the breaches involve the holder of an operator’s licence, those matters will be reported to the Traffic Commissioner to consider disciplinary action
Operator Compliance Risk Score (OCRS)
OCRS is a mechanism used to calculate the likelihood of an operator being non-compliant.
It is not a rating system. It is used to inform DVSA examiners of the probability of an operator being compliant or not.
OCRS means:
When a driver is issued with a fixed penalty notice, the operator of the vehicle at the time may also be liable for an offence. So, a fixed penalty notice may be used as part of the operator’s compliance risk score.
At the moment, DVSA doesn’t use historical offences as part of the operator’s risk score.
This makes sure there is no effect on an operator’s risk score when it is impossible to determine the identity of the operator at the time of the historical offence.
An operator may be called to a public inquiry as a direct result of the number and type of fixed penalty notices issued to their drivers. This is the same as if the offences went before the court.
Where to get help
Contact DVSA if you have questions about fixed penalties or need the options available to you explained.
Get legal advice if you need more help.
Legislation
Information about the law on fixed penalties and financial deposit payments can be found in this primary legislation:
Further information can be found in this secondary legislation:
Offence penalty levels
From time to time, DVSA may refer to ‘offence bands’.
Each band shows the action that DVSA intends to take about a single offence.
The band meanings and action are:
Verbal warnings may be used if the breach is:
Court action is taken if the breach is:
A full list of fixed penalty offences can be found in the enforcement sanctions policy.
Source – DVSA
