Disputing the allegation or disputing the fine?

When you go to dispute a traffic ticket, ICBC will ask you to indicate whether you are disputing the allegation, or simply the fine amount. There is a difference between these two things, and it is significant.

If you only dispute the fine amount, you’re saying ‘I’m guilty of this offence, but I don’t want to pay the fine that’s indicated on the ticket.’ The problem with this is that if the ticket carries points, or could trigger a driving prohibition, the ticket is going to have those consequences no matter what fine the justice imposes in traffic court.

The other problem is that if you dispute the fine, and you actually meant to dispute the allegation, you may not be able to change your type of dispute later on. This is because you’re required to file a dispute within 30 days, and if the dispute is not properly registered as being a dispute to the allegation, then many justices in traffic court will not permit a change to the manner or method of dispute.

Disputing the allegation means that you’re saying you did not commit the offence. This keeps the ticket from going on your driving record and keeps you from receiving any of the points, as well as keeps you from having to pay the fine until the dispute is resolved to dispute the ticket going on your record.

If you go to court and you decide you only want a fine reduction, you can advise the court that you are pleading guilty to the offence, and seek the fine reduction at that point.

The fact that you went to court and made an allegation dispute, cannot be used against you in determining whether or not to give you a fine reduction at that point. You have a constitutional right to defend yourself in court and the constitutional right that you have to defend yourself includes the right not to be punished for disputing a violation ticket.

One thing about disputing fines is that many in the Motor Vehicle Act are mandatory minimum fines, meaning that a Judicial Justice in traffic court doesn’t actually have the ability to lower the fine. For example, any kind of speeding ticket cannot be lowered, because the fines set out for speeding offences are mandatory minimum fines. Therefore, if you dispute the fine amount, there is nothing that a Judicial Justice can do to lower your fine.

Because it’s not clear on the face of the ticket whether a fine is or isn’t a mandatory minimum, many people don’t realize when they file a fine dispute that what they’re going to have to pay is actually listed on the ticket.

It would be nice if violation tickets reflected whether a fine amount was a mandatory minimum so that drivers were aware and could properly inform themselves at the time that they were registering their disputes. If you’re curious whether a fine is a mandatory minimum, you can always contact our office, and we can check for you.

For tickets that do not have mandatory minimum fines, disputing the amount can be done one of two ways. It can either be done with a hearing in court, or in writing, where you provide written reasons why the fine amount should be disputed, or why you should be provided time to pay.

If you’re doing a written hearing because you don’t want to take a day off work, or a day out of your life to come to court, then it is recommended that you attach as much information as possible, to confirm your financial circumstances to the application for the fine reduction.

For example, if you’re disputing the $368.00 fine for distracted driving, which is not a mandatory minimum, you may want to provide information to confirm why the fine should be reduced. For example, you’re enrolled as a full-time student and therefore not working, or you recently went through bankruptcy. The more information you provide, the more likely it is that you’re going to get a fine reduction and how substantial that reduction will be.

If you’re disputing the fine amount, you are not likely to get a reduction in the fine by providing excuses or raising potential defences to the charge. That’s really meant for an allegation dispute. So if you believe that you didn’t commit the offence, or you have a defence to it, then you need to dispute the allegation.

Deciding what to do can be difficult for people. Our recommendation is when in doubt, to dispute the allegation because that gives you the broadest range of options when it comes time to go to court. And although in disputing an allegation you will be required to attend a court hearing, it still may have a better outcome for you than simply disputing a fine amount, especially if it’s a fine that can’t actually be disputed.

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