DVLA's website used to be reasonably good for answering these sorts of questions but it's all amalgamated into a single government website that then links to the information that used to be on the 'old' government websites.

Points are active for 3 years (so count towards totting up), you can apply to have them removed from your licence (at cost) after 4 years and you have to declare them to your insurance (generally - it's due to the rehabilitation of offenders act) for 5 years.

Fuzzy - if I've understood your post right you've spent 20 years of your life banned from driving???