Agents...
 

a family member got nicked for 139 in a 100 and she decided to use one of those popular companies to help fight the ticket.

1- the company was a bit disorganized at first. her court date was already sent out and she had known about it, but she called the company they said they were booking the date. It was explained that the court date is already a go and the company took the info from her (lucky she did the work for them)

2- they went to the court house for her, fought the ticket and got it dropped from 4 points to 3 points. In my eyes i dont see a difference nor does she, nor will the insurance co's im sure. Its her first ticket in 11 years and now she fears the insurance company giving it to her.

3- they pay for the fine that is still set out, but she is still stuck with now 3 points on her record.....


My overall impression...well, i would use an agent for Toronto or Peel, but she was busted out near cobourg. After all was said and done the agent said to her the odds of being successful are far less when its in the boonies.
They advertise a 95% success rate, this is not success (well, maybe in their eyes..$$$ = success) .. :laugh:

Ive taken all my tickets to court. And all ive lost when fighting (improper muffler). Only time i got lucky was when the court misplaced the ticket/wasnt filed.. some mishaps.

i guess, for state of mind it might be worth paying one of these robots to go out there and fight, either way they cut a profit. Even if the fine was dropped $100 they still pocket $300. Its a win win situation for them.

Anyways, whats your thoughts on these representitives :confused:

You should put a depends category... If I got caught doing 80 in a 60, of course I wouldn't hire a company. But if I got caught with a bigger ticket, like the one you're describing, I probably would.

:D thats life man

police is :supergay:

the prosecutor will ALWAYS offer you a lower fine if you just plead guilty and not waste their time

i used them for mine....and have had good luck with them so far

I would never use a agent. The times I've seen them they plea down things anyway, to which the defendant could have done themselves and saved $300 plus.

Even worse....using a lawyer. Most lawyers I know going to represent a defendant, re-hire an agent, then charge for the agent and a retainer fee..double whammy!!

99% of the time even the worse case scenario, one can always beg, plead with prosecutor prior to trial to obtain a agreement to a lesser charge (they do it criminal court, so they will for a simple traffic ticket) And on day of trial if officer does not show, usually withdrawn.

Try to plead to any non-moving violation as they do not carry points.

SAVE MONEY, represent yourself!!!!!!

I had to use a paralegal once to fight 2 tickets. He was able to drop one and reduce the other. I can't complain too much.

But even though "IT WAS NOT ME" ain't that right 2Tone :confused:

all of this is just one big giant cash grab. in relation to cost of living and wages, expenses such as insurance and car related expenses rises approximately 6%-20%/year while most people in toronto only get a 2% increase in pay/ yr. Sooner or later the government has to step in cause this crap is getting way outta hand. hell i even know ppl who have to choose whether they feed their kids or pay for rediculous crap like this. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

I would have to DISAGREE with those terms of being a CASH GRAB or Tax Grab while in reference to tickets, agents and court costs.

My reasoning for this is it is ALL PREVENTABLE. Tickets are a result of driver error and bad driving habits and can be avoided by driving properly.

All collisions (unless a bridge breaks and falls on top of a car) are a result of driver error, whether it be following too close, speed, improper lane change, running a light, failing to stop at a stop sign or a big error in winter....driving too fast for road conditions.
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In my opinion each offence you receive, you should lose your licence on the spot for 1 month, with no fine. This would certainly bring driver awareness up to par, if you know you would lose your licence for a month you would certainly drive more cautiosly and respect that a licence is a priviledge and not a "right" as many forget. Get caught while under this 1 month suspension and then get a fine of $500 and loss of licence for 6 months.
Get caught in the 6months again, jail for 30 days.
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On the other hand....insurance is way out of line, but most of that is due to our growing society in sue, sue, sue, sue everyone, thus claims are higher for all of us to pay off those lawsuits, because "my neck is sore OR "pain and suffering". I can see a lawsuit for a disfigurement or death, but the rest is ridiculous.

i'll probably never have to.. i'm a "good" law obeying boy :cool:

She said, and agrees that the Agent (Ontario Traffic Tickets) is a total money grab.

They made $240 for aprox 1 hours work (remember, she did allthe court filing and even had to remind them of the court date as they didnt have it documented.)

So, lets see..

They charge $400 to fight, say they will win 100% or they will pay the fine.

They drop it 1 point from 4 to 3.. they then consider it a loss but get the fine reduced in court to $160.

They then pocket the rest...its actually a pretty good racket as well.

Ive fought all my tickets personally, lost and won.. But even when loosing on big point tickets ive personally ended off better than that.

So again, Ontario Traffic Tickets is NOT worth it. :smilie_da

i deal with one traffic lawyer, and this man never failed on me. i had tickets for 160 in a 90, 80 in a 40, driving with no license, and so on.
if someone can get you outta a ticket this man can.
his name is ed blaha and his # is 416 930-7747 /416 658-6636
call him if you need a tciket to fight, he usually charges about 225 per ticket

A database of our experiences with paralegals and lawyers would be a great resource to have.

:thumbsup :thumbsup 2 thumbs up for a great idea