Check if your driving license has more penalties than your neighbors' using our penalty postcode search tool
In a recent analysis conducted by number plate dealer, Regtransfers, it has been revealed that certain towns and cities in the UK have a high concentration of motorists with penalty points on their driving licences.
Leading the pack is London, which holds the highest number of licences with endorsements for one area in the UK, with a staggering 1.76 million penalty points. The capital accounts for over 14% of the country's total number of penalty points, more than triple the next highest city (Birmingham). On a per capita basis, London tops the table with 212 penalty points per 1,000 licences.
Halifax, Huddersfield, and Plymouth are not far behind, with these cities appearing among the areas with the highest share of drivers with points on their licence. In Huddersfield, more than one in 10 licences (10.1%) registered in the area have one or more penalty points. Around nine in 10 registered licence holders in Huddersfield, Plymouth, and Truro have one penalty point on their record. Halifax tops the list with the highest proportion of drivers carrying existing offences.
The average number of points per licence holder in these areas is four, with Oxford having the highest average number of penalty points per motorist at five. However, it's worth noting that Oxford is not among the top 10 areas with the highest proportion of drivers carrying existing offences.
Mark Trimbee, chief executive of Regtransfers, suggests that the data might highlight areas where driving education and good driving habits might be falling short. He acknowledges that points can be issued anywhere in the UK, not just the driver's registered address.
Despite the availability of data, it's important to note that the specific number of drivers in your postcode area who have points on their driving licences, compared to the average in your town or city, is not publicly available. This is due to privacy and data protection concerns, and obtaining such information may require a Freedom of Information request or checking with your local authority for more granular statistics.
The new analysis was based on the latest driver records from the DVLA's database, last published in May. As of May 2025, Britons currently have 12 million active penalty points. With this data in hand, it's clear that there's room for improvement in driving habits across the UK.
[1] Graticule provides postcode geographic data but not driver licence endorsement statistics by postcode. [2] The UK government’s DVLA data release includes some postcode area breakdowns of endorsements (points), but this data is generally aggregated at broader postcode area levels and may not be detailed publicly for individual full postcodes for privacy reasons. [3] If you want this specific comparison, you would likely need to request detailed data from the DVLA under a Freedom of Information request or check if your local authority provides statistics about driver licence points on more granular levels. Such information is generally not published for public consumption at postcode-level due to privacy and data protection concerns.
- The findings from Regtransfers' analysis indicate that the utilization of data-and-cloud-computing technology could be instrumental in monitoring driving habits and providing insights into areas where insurance premiums might be higher due to the general-news topic of crime-and-justice, such as the high concentration of motorists with penalty points in certain cities like London.
- As data privacy and protection are of utmost importance, obtaining specific driver license endorsement statistics by postcode for comparison purposes requires submitting a Freedom of Information request or checking with your local authority for more granular statistics, thus limiting the scope of data-and-cloud-computing services like Graticule.
