Personally – I would always dispute. Let’s not forget that the city is a business and the infractions are a source of revenue for them. make them work for their money. Bargain, negotiate, reduce it as much as possible.

In the end, unless they dismiss the charges, you will still be taking the blame and admitting fault. You will just be admitting to a lessor charge (from my own experience)

PLEASE NOTE: I am not a paralegal. I am just passing along information based on my own experiences.

Whether you choose to fight with a paralegal or to do it yourself is based on a few things:

a) your comfort level
b) the ticket amount (if it is small – i would suggest fighting it yourself)
c) the severity of the ticket

Now as per my field of expertise, insurance companies seldom look at the demerit points. The broker may keep an eye on them, but to be honest if you have been convicted 3 minor tickets in 1 year your rates are going to be affected.Your premiums won’t be affected by 2-3 demerit points. There is a new endorsement to Bill 203 however that will affect drivers who blow between .05 and.08 on their breathalyser tests – I will research the insurance implications and write about it soon.

The insurance companies and brokers can’t monitor every single driver’s records all the time (although some have bought a package that gives them the ability to get the Motor Vehicle report in batches: meaning that they pull all of their clients records every year) – they may pull random checks of their clients during annual audit season so unless you tell them they won’t generally know. (Don’t forget that if the ticket comes as part of an accident – the insurance company will definitely know).

The tickets will turn up if you are shopping around – but again, your current insurance company may not know about that. You should also note that if you choose to fight the ticket you will have to be aware that the offense date will change (unless it is dismissed) because it is technically not on your record until the ticket is settled. So if you fight it today and plea guilty to a lesser charge next year, the offense date will be next year and then you will have the ticket on your record for 3 year following that date.

Good luck with your ticket and if you would like a quotation for your home and auto, please feel free to contact me.

From an insurance insider point of view, how much does the insurance company know? How much are premiums likely to go up for a 2 or 3 demerit point violation?