Driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence

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Driving Without a Licence Offences

Driving Without a Licence is officially called Driving Otherwise than in Accordance with a Licence, so this is how it will appear on your paperwork.

Facing allegation

You can face an allegation of driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence if:

You have a licence, but it’s expired
You don’t have the correct entitlement to drive the vehicle you’re driving
You have a provisional licence but weren’t supervised/displayed L plates, were on a motorway, etc
You don’t have a licence at all

Driving without insurance

If you are charged with driving without a licence, you will usually also be charged with driving without insurance. Driving without insurance is a more serious offence than driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence. See our page on this for more information.

If you would like to know more, please visit Driving without insurance.

Penalties

These depend on whether or not it is a licence you could have held but didn’t (for example, a licence that you forgot to renew) or if you drove a vehicle for which you did not have an entitlement (e.g. if you drove a large HGV but only ever passed a test for a car).

In the former case, the offence does not carry penalty points (although there’ll still be a fine, etc.), but in the latter, it carries 3-6 points or even disqualification. You should also be aware that it can have implications for your insurance, and therefore, if you are prosecuted for the second offence above, you may find yourself with an additional potentially more serious allegation of driving without insurance. You should also bear in mind the potential consequences of your licence if you already have penalty points on it.

Please see our FAQs on driving without a license offence below for more information.

Official Name

Driving Otherwise than in Accordance with a Licence.

Types
Drive otherwise than in accordance with licence (where could be covered). Drive otherwise than in accordance with licence (where no entitlement to drive)

Main Legislation

Section 87 Road Traffic Act 1988

Maximum Penalties

Driving Penalties: Drive otherwise than in accordance with licence (where could be covered). No points, non-endorseable. Drive otherwise than in accordance with licence (where no entitlement to drive). 3-6 points

Fine: £1000

Court

Magistrates only (unless an appeal)

Imprisonable? No

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Driving Without a License Offence FAQs

What if I made a genuine mistake and thought I had the correct licence?

Unfortunately, even if it was a genuine mistake, that won’t provide you with a defence to the allegation. If you were somehow misled into believing that you held the correct licence, it may be that a special reasons argument could be advanced to try and avoid penalty points.

If you believed that your licence entitled you to drive the vehicle but accept that you weren’t misled, then your belief is still important mitigation that the court should be made aware of as it could reduce the severity of the penalty imposed.

Will I get points for this as well as for having no insurance?

It wouldn’t usually be appropriate for the court to impose two sets of points for offences that arise out of the same circumstances. The court can still endorse your licence with both offences, but it should impose one set of points taking into account the totality of the two offences. Usually, they will impose points for the most serious offence which, in this case is driving without insurance.