I know someone will call me on this but I have done it a few times and it has worked! After you get the ticket, say it's $100, and you plan to pay it. Send in a check for $105. By law they have to refund you the $5. Until they do that they can not forward the information onto your insurance company. Most municipalities have a bogged down system of paperwork to begin with and if they have to send you a check, well it could take forever. I have done this 3 times in 10 years and I have never seen a refund check and my insurance has not been bumped at all! D Anyone else ever try this?
Protect your insurance rates from tickets!
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Don't count on that working in all places. Your best bet is to just not get the ticket in the first place. If you do, go to court and hope for a reduced fine with no points. Don't bullshit the judge or officer. You know you earned the ticket, they know you earned the ticket. Just let them have the money in exchange for no points and move on.
Also note that just because your insurance didn't go up that the points aren't actually on your driving record. Depending on the nature of the ticket and how frequently you get them, it may not have an impact at all. It's different between having established insurance and getting a ticket versus trying to get new insurance with tickets on your record. Some insurance companies will let a ticket slide every couple of years if they are minor.
Also note that just because your insurance didn't go up that the points aren't actually on your driving record. Depending on the nature of the ticket and how frequently you get them, it may not have an impact at all. It's different between having established insurance and getting a ticket versus trying to get new insurance with tickets on your record. Some insurance companies will let a ticket slide every couple of years if they are minor.
Going to court and getting your points thrown out will prevent you from losing your license, but it does not prevent your insurance company from rasing your rates. The points your insurance company assigns you and the points the State gives you are independent of each other. The insurance company gets your driving record, then picks what is points and what is not. For instance, my state gave me 3 points for disobeying a red light, but my insurance company only issues 2 for that offense. Since I have no other tickets, my insurance didn't raise my rate. If you go to court, and they change your speeding ticket to, say, a noise complant, or a "fix it" type ticket, then your insurance probably won't charge you. However, just because the court dropped your points, if your record reads "speeding", the ins company can charge you.
Also, i've seen this "overcharge" thing listed a number of times as a hoax. Try it, but don't count on it..
Also, i've seen this "overcharge" thing listed a number of times as a hoax. Try it, but don't count on it..
ebbtide. valid points (no pun intended). i know in mass. my insurance has not been effected. i have no points added in 10 years. i'm sure you are right about it being different from state to state. however, it doesn't hurt to try. the bottom line is, don't drive stupid and you don't have to worry about it wink
Maybe this is one of those urban ledgens, but I heard something very similar. Only they said that when you get the refund, to not cash the check. Theory is that they cannot close the account until the credit has been taken care of, and if the check is not cashed, then insurance doesn't find out about it. I got my first speeding ticket on my way home from Florida 
, and I over payed by $4, just to see if it would work. I just sent my payment last week, so no news yet, but I'll keep eveybody posted.
, and I over payed by $4, just to see if it would work. I just sent my payment last week, so no news yet, but I'll keep eveybody posted.I've also heard a trick involving rescheduling your court day. Supposedly if you reschedule your court day to one other than the officer's next court day, he can't present evidence against you, and you win by default. I don't know if it works, because I've never had a ticket but I guess it's worth a try.
-faast
-faast
Ebbtide, your killing me man! I know for a fact my insurance has not gone up and I have no points. But hey if the Mass RMV says it ain't so then it ain't so! Remember, we're talking about a state that paid $15 billion dollars for a $2 billion dollar road project (Big Dig) so I wouldn't put to much faith in what Mass RMV says. We already pay the second highest rates in the country, so I am always willing to try anything to keep that bill from going up!
well now its my turn to eat some crow. eddtide is right, this does not work anymore. in 1999 (3 years after my last ticket) the Mass RMV instituted a new policy of automatically fowarding any motor vehicle infraction to insurance companies prior to the disposition of the charge. it is now up to the insured to dispute the insurance companies adding points if the insured fights the charge and wins. i stand corrected. oops i bow to the god ebbtide!
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