Driving while disqualified? From 1 November 2026, you may lose your own vehicle.

Driving while subject to a driving disqualification was already a serious offence. For offences committed from 1 November 2026, the law becomes stricter: the vehicle used may also be confiscated.

I. What is changing?

A person convicted of driving while disqualified does not only risk a new penalty.

Where the vehicle used belongs to the convicted driver, the court must, in principle, also order the confiscation of that vehicle.

Confiscation means that the convicted person loses ownership of the vehicle to the Belgian State.

The rule also applies in certain situations where a person drives again without having met the conditions for reinstatement of the right to drive, such as required tests or examinations.

II. When do the new rules apply?

The stricter rules apply to offences committed from 1 November 2026.

The date of the offence is therefore decisive. Where the offence was committed before 1 November 2026, the new mandatory rules do not become applicable merely because the judgment is delivered at a later date.

III. Will you always lose your vehicle?

Not necessarily.

The court may decide not to order confiscation, but it must give express written reasons for that departure.

Confiscation therefore becomes the general rule, but the court retains the possibility of departing from it where the specific circumstances justify doing so.

Ownership of the vehicle is also important. The new requirement targets a vehicle that belongs to the convicted person.

Where the driver was using someone else’s vehicle, this specific requirement does not apply in the same way. Other measures, such as immobilisation of the vehicle, may still be relevant.

IV. An effective defence starts with the facts

The exact period of the driving disqualification, how it was notified, the conditions imposed for reinstatement, ownership of the vehicle and the personal consequences of confiscation may all be important.

Any summons should therefore be reviewed immediately by a specialist lawyer.

Contact

Are you being prosecuted for allegedly driving while disqualified? Contact our road traffic law team at info@fairway.law.

We examine the validity and exact period of the driving disqualification, the applicable legislation and the arguments on which confiscation may be challenged.