Exceptional Hardship Arguments

Exceptional hardship arguments are a type of legal argument that can help those who have been convicted of a driving offence to avoid a mandatory driving ban. These disqualifications may be imposed due to "totting up" rules, which apply when drivers accumulate 12 or more penalty points on their driving licence within a three-year period.

A driver may be able to raise an exceptional hardship argument to persuade the court not to impose the disqualification, or to reduce its length. You must prove that a disqualification entails hardship to others, not only to the driver, to successfully challenge a totting up ban. Normally, exceptional hardship arguments can be divided into emotional and financial hardship - for example, if the driver cares for relatives or needs to drive for their job and that the loss of licence has an impact on innocent individuals.

However, it is vital to seek legal advice from our experienced solicitors for help to demonstrate exceptional hardship. We can draw together the necessary documentation and other evidence, as well as provide legal representation and the advice needed to improve your chances of achieving a positive outcome.

To speak to one of our motoring law experts, call us on 0345 872 6666, or fill in the enquiry form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

What Counts As Exceptional Hardship?

Exceptional hardship goes beyond the inconvenience or difficulties that typically accompany a driving ban. It must demonstrate that a disqualification from driving for the minimum period specified by the law would cause unusually severe consequences for the driver or others who depend on them. It is important to look at the ultimate effects of what losing your driving licence might cause (for example, the loss of a house in in the future) and consider all of the potential consequences a driving ban would have during the disqualification period. Our solicitors can discuss your circumstances and help you to understand whether exceptional hardship applies in your case.

Examples of exceptional hardship include:

• If a driver needs to drive for their job (and losing the job will seriously affect their wellbeing and have an impact on innocent indviduals).
• If they care for someone who can not drive and requires it to function, for reasons such as disabilities and health conditions.
• Putting other jobs at risk that could damage a company.

In practical terms, an exceptional hardship application may be based on the fact that the driver is responsible for providing essential community services, transports elderly family members, or would face loss of employment due to the driving ban.

It is important to note that even if one of the above circumstances applies to you, it does not mean that your claim will be certain to pass, and these are all still points of relativity and contention that will be discussed. Our driving offence solicitors understand the importance of these factors to daily life, and are well equipped to help you through the emotional and stressful experience of defending your livelihood.

How to Build an Exceptional Hardship Case

A successful exceptional hardship argument is built on good preparation and good presentation, and our solicitors can help you with this. All relevant information relating to your personal and professional circumstances should be put before the court in order to give you the best opportunity to save your licence.

That is why we will take a thorough and detailed statement from you, and assist you in gathering other material that will be used to support the arguments that will be put before the court. You may need to provide evidence like financial documents, medical records and other key documents to fight a driving disqualification, and our solicitors can help to build your case. Our experience of dealing with exceptional hardship arguments will allow us to guide you through this process and extract information that you may not necessarily realise is helpful to your case.

Material that might help your case includes:

• Financial information detailing the ways in which you would struggle without your licence or job
• Medical papers from the people you care for
• Evidence and statements from your employer/fellow employees that detail reasons why your contribution to the business is essential

The court is often presented with arguments regarding the possibility of a person losing their job as the result of a disqualification. Although this is a perfectly valid argument, the court will sometimes need slightly more compelling and convincing arguments as to why they should not impose a disqualification. For example, if you could take public transport to work and thereby keep your job, this may not constitute exceptional hardship. The impact your disqualification would have on an innocent party is a perfect example of a strong case that demonstrates that a driving ban would significantly impact someone else who relies on your help.

What Happens if Your Exceptional Hardship Case Is Successful?

If the court is persuaded not to disqualify you, the chance they will be giving you to continue to drive may be your last chance. The court will still endorse your licence with penalty points, which remain ‘live’ for the purposes of any future court proceedings for a period of three years. You would then be driving around with 12 or more penalty points until they expire for court purposes.

If you successfully rely on an exceptional hardship and within three years find that you are facing another disqualification due to ‘totting up’, you will not be able to rely on the same set of facts that you relied upon on the previous occasion.

How We Can Help

When you are accused of a driving offence, the court’s position will be that you find yourself in this situation due to committing a series of motoring offences in what it would regard as a relatively short period. With so many of us leading busy lives with too much to do and not enough time to do it, accumulating penalty points is easily done. Our job will be to convince the court to give you another chance.

Sometimes the consequences of a disqualification can be so extreme that the penalty is no longer proportionate to the offence. This is a conclusion that sometimes the court does not easily come to on its own. That is where we come in.

You will need supporting evidence presented in court along with a strong argument in your favour. JMW's experts will explore every potential impact of a driving ban to demonstrate the exceptional hardship you would face. It is best to have a solicitor accompany you when you attend court and present your case in the strongest terms to give you the best chance of success.