Again, this list is not meant to be exhaustive, but please be aware of the following:
New Drivers:
If you accumulate six penalty points within the first two years of passing a driving test, the DVLA will, following conviction, write to you and revoke your licence which will mean that you will hold only a provisional licence and will have to retake your test. To avoid this, we have successfully argued before magistrates for a short disqualification instead ( the court cannot award points and a ban). Our solicitors will know to ask you about this and how the options are best suited to you.
Fixed Penalty or Court Challenge? :
We always advise our clients that there is a financial decision to make before embarking upon a challenge to a road traffic offence. In many cases the police will offer a fixed penalty and, where appropriate, a fixed number of points. Whilst we may be able to help in ensuring that you do not receive a disqualification following your plea of guilty, we cannot ever guarantee that you will avoid a conviction and it may cost you many times more than the cost of the fixed penalty to try. And to add insult to injury, the government's recently introduced "Victim Surcharge" - where any person receiving a fine imposed by the court now also has to pay an additional £15 surcharge - will be payable along with prosecution costs should you lose.
Unlike other firms who may imply that there are failure proof ways of avoiding a conviction in every case we accept from the outset that there are not. In certain cases there may be, but we will identify these quickly from the outset.
What is totting ?
The term "totting" is used to describe the accumulation of 12 or more existing licence endorsements. Generally licence endorsements are "existing" if they were imposed for an offence committed ( as opposed to convicted of) within three years of the commission date of your most recent traffic offence. A person who accumulates 12 points within that time falls to be disqualified for at least six months unless they are able to successfully argue that "mitigating circumstances" exist for the court to avoid having to do so. "Mitigating Circumstances" does not include hardship unless that hardship is exceptional.
Our solicitors all have vast experience in the identifying of "exceptional hardship" cases and their subsequent presentation at court and are often able to do this upon a pre agreed fixed fee. We do not confine ourselves to local courts either - our solicitors are happy to present these in whichever court your case is to be heard (although we may have to charge extra for our travel)
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