What is a DR20 endorsement?

DR20 is the DVLA code for driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink. It carries 3 to 11 points and stays on the driving record for 11 years from the date of the conviction. The points count towards the 12 point totting total for 3 years from the offence date, which is a different clock from the 11 year print period. Use the number on your record, which will sit inside the published range. The code is what a licence check shows an insurer or an employer.

How many points does DR20 carry?

3 to 11 points, which is the range DVLA publishes. A fixed penalty, where one exists for the underlying offence, uses a single number inside that range. A court can use any number in the range, or can disqualify instead of points where the offence guideline allows it. A new driver is revoked at 6 points, so a code at the top of its range can cancel a new licence on its own.

How long does DR20 stay on a licence?

11 years from the date of the conviction. It counts towards totting for 3 years from the offence date. After that it can still be visible until the 11 year point. Drink and drug codes use conviction as the start of the 11 year stay. Most other codes, including this one if it is a 4 year code, use the offence date. Insurers ask about unspent convictions, which is not the same clock.

What does DR20 do to insurance?

No official code specific premium change is published. The Highway Code says insurance costs are likely to rise considerably after conviction for a serious driving offence.

How is DR20 different from DR10?

DR10 is alcohol above the prescribed limit. DR20 is unfitness through drink. Both stay 11 years from conviction and both sit in the drink family. DR20 can be used when impairment is proved without relying on the 35 microgramme England and Wales limit row. Do not relabel one as the other on an insurance form.

Does DR20 tot me up with points?

DVLA publishes 3 to 11 points. The ordinary drink driving court process is a ban. Totting is a 12 point arithmetic over 3 years from offence dates. A DR20 ban is a disqualification, not a 12 point tot. The code still prints for 11 years. Answer insurers about the conviction, not only about a points total.

Can I take a drink-drive course on a DR20 ban?

GOV.UK's course page is written for drink-drive offences where the ban is 12 months or more. If the court offers the course on your drink-drive ban, decide at the hearing. Completing it usually cuts the ban by a quarter. It does not shorten the 11 year DR20 stay. Northern Ireland has a different process.

Does DR20 apply in Scotland?

Unfit through drink is still an offence. A GB licence can still carry DR20. Scotland's lower prescribed limit is a DR10 conversation more than a DR20 one, because DR20 is impairment. The GB record still carries an 11 year stay for DR20. The England and Wales sentencing calculator is not a Scottish tariff.

Endorsement code

DR20: Driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink

Summary: DR20 carries 3 to 11 points and stays on the driving record for 11 years from the conviction.

3 to 11 points

Published points

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Penalty points endorsements: endorsement codes and penalty points (as of 10 September 2026)

11 years

From conviction

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, How long endorsements stay on your driving record (as of 10 September 2026)

Not published

Official code specific premium change

Department for Transport, The Highway Code: Annex 5, penalties (as of 10 September 2026)

Checked on 10 September 2026.

When must DR20 be declared?

Answer an insurer's questions about unspent convictions. A road traffic endorsement may become spent after 5 years for an adult or 2 years 6 months if under 18, but another sentence can make the period longer.
The time an endorsement remains on the licence is not a universal insurance declaration period.
If an insurer asks about unspent convictions, answer the question accurately.

How can DR20 affect insurance?

No official code specific premium change is published. The Highway Code says insurance costs are likely to rise considerably after conviction for a serious driving offence.
No official source publishes a fixed premium increase for this code, so no percentage is shown.

What does a DR20 mean on a driving licence?

DR20 is driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink. DVLA publishes 3 to 11 points and a stay of 11 years from the date of the conviction. It is the impairment twin of DR10. DR10 is a reading above the limit. DR20 is unfitness, which can be proved without that reading, or alongside it. Both stay 11 years from conviction. Both sit in the drink family that insurers treat as serious.

The ordinary court outcome is still a ban of at least 12 months on a first relevant driving-over or unfit offence of this family. A second relevant conviction in 10 years lifts the minimum to 3 years. Do not treat DR20 as a 'lesser drink drive' because there is no microgramme on the notice. Unfit is the point.

DR10 and DR20 can both appear in the same investigation if the facts support both. Use the letters on the record. Do not pick the one that sounds technical.

DR20 stays 11 years from conviction, the same long bar as DR10. It is not a 4 year code.

Example

A DR20 after a collision, no evidential breath reading

Code: DR20, unfit through drink
Stay: 11 years from conviction
Compared with DR10: Same 11 year family, different proof

Unfitness can be proved by driving, by a preliminary test, and by other evidence, not only by a 36-plus breath row.
The code still prints for 11 years from conviction.
A rehabilitation course, if offered on a drink-drive ban of 12 months or more, usually cuts the ban by a quarter. It does not cut the 11 years.
Insurance and employment questions follow the letters, not the missing microgrammes.
A new driver who is banned still cannot drive, and still has to get a licence back through the published process.

DR20 is not a softer DR10. It is a different route to the same 11 year family and an obligatory-style drink ban.

How should I declare DR20?

Give the letters, the conviction date and the ban. 'Drink related' on a form that asks for the code is not an answer. No official premium percentage is published. GOV.UK's drink driving page says costs will increase significantly and that an employer will see the conviction.

Scotland and Northern Ireland still produce drink codes on a GB or NI record. The high risk offender medical is a DVLA process in Great Britain and a different process in Northern Ireland.

A company car does not absorb DR20. The driver is banned.

Published range 3 to 11 points, stay 11 years from the date of the conviction.
Unfit, not a reading code. DR10 is the reading code.
11 years from conviction, valid for 10.
A course can shorten a 12 month-plus ban. It does not shorten the record.

What do people get wrong about DR20?

That it is not drink driving because there was no breath number. Unfit is drink driving. That it drops off at 4 years. It does not. That it is better for insurance than DR10. No official split is published. That a medical prescribed drink is a defence. Alcohol unfitness is not a specified-drug medical-defence conversation.

What happens if I ignore an unfit-through-drink charge?

Unfit does not wait for a breath number you never gave. The case is still a court case. Ignoring the summons can mean a hearing in your absence and a ban that starts without you in the room. A specimen refusal, if that is also charged, has its own guideline and can make you a high risk offender.

There is no postal 3 point offer for DR20. People who treat it like a speeding ticket miss the obligatory-style drink ban. Get advice before the first hearing. A guilty plea at the first opportunity can still reduce the sentence under the separate plea guideline.

After the ban you still need a licence back. DR20 stays 11 years from conviction. A course, if the court offers one on a drink-drive ban of 12 months or more, is decided at the hearing.

How does DR20 affect insurance and work compared with DR10?

No official premium split is published. Both are drink family codes with an 11 year stay. Give the letters. Do not describe DR20 as 'not a real drink drive' because there was no microgramme. Unfit is the drink drive that is about impairment.

Employers and border officers who see drink on a record do not always distinguish DR10 from DR20. GOV.UK's warning about insurance, work and travel sits on the drink driving penalties page. This code is in that family.

A company car and a hire car are lost for the ban and harder after it. Scotland and Northern Ireland still produce drink codes. The GB 11 year stay still prints.

How do I read DR20 on a licence check?

DR20 is unfit through drink, 11 years from conviction. A reader who only knows DR10 may ask whether you were over the limit. Answer with the letters. Unfit is impairment. It is still drink. Do not upgrade it to DR10 or downgrade it to a caution that does not exist on the record.

If DR10 and DR20 both print, give both. If only DR20 prints, give DR20. A missing breath number is not a missing conviction.

The ban, the course, and the 11 year print are the same family of practical problems as DR10. Employment and insurance questions should be answered with the same care. No official premium split is published.

Read DR20, conviction date, ban.
Check whether DR10 is also present.
On a form that asks for codes, type DR20. Do not type 'drink related'.
Remember the 11 year print when someone says 'it will be off in 4 years'. That is the speeding family, not this one.

Who do I contact about a DR20, and by when?

Unfit through drink is still a court charge. The police and the magistrates' court (in England and Wales) are the contacts. There is no postal 3 point offer. A specimen refusal, if also charged, has its own guideline and can make you a high risk offender. Tell the solicitor both charges.

A course on a drink-drive ban of 12 months or more is offered, or not, at the hearing. Decide then. After the ban, DVLA or DVA is who you contact for the licence back. DR20 still prints for 11 years from conviction. An insurer in year 6 will still see it.

If there was a collision, the other driver's insurer is a third contact. Do not assume the criminal case is the only letter you will receive. Keep the dates. Missed civil deadlines are a separate problem from the 11 year code.

Common questions

What is a DR20 endorsement?: DR20 is the DVLA code for driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink. It carries 3 to 11 points and stays on the driving record for 11 years from the date of the conviction. The points count towards the 12 point totting total for 3 years from the offence date, which is a different clock from the 11 year print period. Use the number on your record, which will sit inside the published range. The code is what a licence check shows an insurer or an employer.
How many points does DR20 carry?: 3 to 11 points, which is the range DVLA publishes. A fixed penalty, where one exists for the underlying offence, uses a single number inside that range. A court can use any number in the range, or can disqualify instead of points where the offence guideline allows it. A new driver is revoked at 6 points, so a code at the top of its range can cancel a new licence on its own.
How long does DR20 stay on a licence?: 11 years from the date of the conviction. It counts towards totting for 3 years from the offence date. After that it can still be visible until the 11 year point. Drink and drug codes use conviction as the start of the 11 year stay. Most other codes, including this one if it is a 4 year code, use the offence date. Insurers ask about unspent convictions, which is not the same clock.
What does DR20 do to insurance?: No official code specific premium change is published. The Highway Code says insurance costs are likely to rise considerably after conviction for a serious driving offence.
How is DR20 different from DR10?: DR10 is alcohol above the prescribed limit. DR20 is unfitness through drink. Both stay 11 years from conviction and both sit in the drink family. DR20 can be used when impairment is proved without relying on the 35 microgramme England and Wales limit row. Do not relabel one as the other on an insurance form.
Does DR20 tot me up with points?: DVLA publishes 3 to 11 points. The ordinary drink driving court process is a ban. Totting is a 12 point arithmetic over 3 years from offence dates. A DR20 ban is a disqualification, not a 12 point tot. The code still prints for 11 years. Answer insurers about the conviction, not only about a points total.
Can I take a drink-drive course on a DR20 ban?: GOV.UK's course page is written for drink-drive offences where the ban is 12 months or more. If the court offers the course on your drink-drive ban, decide at the hearing. Completing it usually cuts the ban by a quarter. It does not shorten the 11 year DR20 stay. Northern Ireland has a different process.
Does DR20 apply in Scotland?: Unfit through drink is still an offence. A GB licence can still carry DR20. Scotland's lower prescribed limit is a DR10 conversation more than a DR20 one, because DR20 is impairment. The GB record still carries an 11 year stay for DR20. The England and Wales sentencing calculator is not a Scottish tariff.