The New York Times has brought it to our attention that you can now buy speeding ticket insurance! Ticket Assurance will cover the cost of up to three moving or non-moving violations and two tow truck calls per year for $15.95 per month. The firm was founded by an Atlanta-area businessman who was inconvenienced as much by the process of dealing with taffic courts as he was by the fines he’d receive for speeding. “I didn’t want to take time out of my day to plead my case for something I knew was wrong,” says Terrence Byrd. “I thought there should be someone who should handle this.” So he started the firm which now has about 1,700 customers in 23 states. Subscribers are only covered for moving violation fines of $1k per year ($500 for non-moving), but Byrd says membership pays for itself if you receive $200 in fines per year. DUI, reckless driving and felony charges are not covered, nor are single moving violation fines of more than $350. All the restrictions take away much of the advantage over a radar detector, but if you know you are going to be speeding a lot, it might be worth the peace of mind.
Or you could save the cash, read my “Canonical How To Avoid Speeding Tickets” article. Then buy me a virtual beer, but only if you like it. I’m a cheap date.
–chuck
I read, years and years ago, in C&D (when it was still cool) about an attorney who set up something like this. He’d take tickets and for a small fee get them thrown out. His strategy was to fight like 100 tickets at a time getting them thrown out when the judge got tired of dealing with it.
This is certainly an interesting business idea. Kind of like those extended warranties on electronics; they wouldn’t offer them if they didn’t make plenty of money.
You may get the ticket paid but at some point your AUTO insurance is going to catch up with you, not to mention states that have a point system.
This is basically a scam. From the article:
“Only the costs are covered; the company does not fight tickets or get involved with the driver’s license points incurredwith moving violations.”
Nobody really cares about the cost of tickets, people care about their insurance going up or the points adding up to them losing their license.
This “service” protects against neither.
no_slushbox: My first thoughts exactly when I read this headline. It’s not the fines that concern people; it’s the higher insurance premiums and points on the driver’s license.
Agreed. It’s ALL about the insurance. A $200 ticket is actually $1200-$1500 extra profit for your insurance company spread over 3 years. Your local governments budget deficit is the best thing happening to their bottom line.
“I didn’t want to take time out of my day to plead my case for something I knew was wrong,” says Terrence Byrd. “I thought there should be someone who should handle this.”
How disingenuous. He pitches the thing as a way for people to save the time it takes to fight an unjust ticket … but his service will not fight an unjust ticket for you.
Plus, like everyone else has said, It’s The Insurance, Dummy!
You guys are right on the money, literally. A long time ago, I got a speeding ticket for 11 over. The ticket was $139, easily paid. The insurance increase was $100 a month for the next 3 years. A $139 dollar ticket wound up being a $3739 ticket. Seriously. Unless you’re doing triple digits in a school zone, the ticket itself is nothing to worry about.
Chuck: consider yourself less thirsty, I’ll buy you that virtual beer. I’ve used the “rabbit” technique for years, and it definitely works-especially on wide-open interstate, where it has saved me many hours of driving time.
This is an intriguing service, but like others, it’s my impression that what worries people the most is increased insurance premiums and “points”. Depending upon jurisdiction, it’s usually not too hard to get the points waived if one just pays his/her fines and does not create inconvenience for the judge, citing officer, or (especially) the court clerk. I know of a couple of people who receive frequent speeding citations that use this technique, and they consider the money spent paying fines to simply be the “fee” sometimes required for the privledge of driving fast! (I don’t condone this, and readily admit that I’m not balsy enough myself to take the chance, but it’s hard to argue with the logic!)
No one plans to get a speeding ticket.
They never plan for the second one.
Or the third….
I’m a lawyer who fights tickets in the NYC area and surroundings. Tickets fall into everyone’s “denial” mode, be they a CEO or a medical receptionist. They come to me late, or after the Court date. Everyone has a special story as to why/how/when.
Fight every ticket. Really. A 71/50 here in NY means a $250.00 fine and a $300.00 points tax. THEN the insurance company gets you. The legal costs are far less than the potential hit.
If you don’t want or can’t afford Counsel, do it yourself. Never “just pay” because Denial is making you want to ‘make it go away’. The trip to the Courthouse is always worth it.
I’d also add, everyone should go to court just for the plain reason that they can not possibly handle the case load.
Here in ATL, if you go, they’ll have a guy just about beg you to not take it to court… no points, nothing on the record for insurance increases, just pay the fine (or even a reduced fine). The courts are simply overloaded as it is. Everybody go! And be sure to take your time presenting your case if you do make it in the court house.
When I received my ticket, it included a state “surcharge” in addition to the actual fine. I was at fault and was going to pay for the ticket. But the surcharge just pissed me off. I went to court solely to waste the state’s money. I was found guilty, but I figure the cost to keep the building open, the judge, the cop, etc, way exceeded the cost of the ticket. Made sure I used plenty of toilet paper and towels, too. I can be a spiteful SOB if forced to. Using a day off was well worth it. Always go to court. Always.
I spoke with customer service and you can still go to court and try to get your ticket expunged if you want. They even say it on the website. For example, if you have a $200 ticket you can submit it to them and they will issue the money to you. You can also go to court with that ticket to get it reduced or expunged. So, in essence, you got a ticket, got it reduced/expunged (no points or insurance costs) and still be reimbursed for the original cost of the fine. So basically, they would have paid you $200 for going through the trouble of going to court. I think it’s a great idea and hardly a scam as no_slushbox said.