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If you are facing a motoring conviction or penalty point endorsement, you could be at risk of losing your driving licence, your livelihood or even your liberty. Our solicitors can help – call us or complete our online contact form.
Help Me Keep My Licence Contact Us To Get Started
At Poole Alcock, our specialist team of driving offence lawyers defend individuals against prosecution for alleged road traffic charges, driving licence endorsements and fines. Whether the offence is minor or major, you should ens ure that you have a legal expert at your side who will understand your rights and make a qualified appeal.
A driving conviction could be life-changing. As a well-established leading law firm that has defended a number of traffic offence cases around the UK, you can be confident that your case will be handled by experienced solicitors throughout.
We understand how important staying on the road can be. If you risk accumulating 12 points on your licence and are facing a 6 month ban under the so-called “Totting Up” provisions, we can help prevent that from happening and so protect your freedom and livelihood.
We may be able to challenge the evidence or present “Special Reasons” why you should not be disqualified or have points endorsed on your Licence at all.
Even if no “Special Reasons” exist, our expert motoring lawyers may still be able to help you keep your Licence or persuade the Court to impose a shorter ban by arguing the loss of your Licence will cause “Exceptional Hardship”. This can be particularly relevant if you need to drive as part of your job.
Contact a member of our team today to find out how we can help you.
If you have already been disqualified from driving, we may be able to help you get your licence back by making an early application to the court. We have a very high success rate of getting licences returned after disqualification, a service which we can offer on a Fixed Fee or Hourly Rate basis.
To find out if you’re eligible for an early removal please contact our specialist motoring team.
Contact our Team Today If you acquired your driving licence in the last 2 years you will be aware that the accumulation of just 6 points on your licence will see it revoked and you will have to re-sit your driving test. This is easily done given the proliferation of speed cameras and other enforcement measures on the roads.
We have a great track record in defending these matters, either mounting a defence to the allegation or arguing that Special Reasons exist so that your licence should not be endorsed. Even if there is no foundation for such an argument, we can still persuade the Court to impose a short ban instead of imposing points on your licence – this will often see you back on the road much quicker than having to re-sit your test.
If you wish to discuss your case further with us, please contact one of our specialist solicitors or simply fill in our enquiry form below and we will get back to you shortly.
We offer our motoring defence services on an hourly rate or fixed fee basis and will discuss the best option with you.
Our hourly rates depend on the seniority of the fee earner involved and are as follows (all costs quoted are exclusive of VAT, which is charged at an additional 20%):-
We offer the following services on a fixed fee basis and we set out below the likely fixed fee dependent on the nature of the work involved:
Having expert representation at Court, even if you inted to plead guilty, can mean the difference between keeping your licence or not. Our expert motoring lawyers can offer representation at plea hearing and a consultation with you in advance of this for a fixed fee of £1,000 plus VAT.
Subsequent hearings such as sentencing hearings will be charged at an additional £200 plus VAT per hearing.
Magistrates hearings for driving offences where a guilty plea is entered will usually conclude on the day of the hearing, however there may be circumstances outside of our control which mean that a case is adjourned. Often this is where the sentencing cannot take place immediately due to the availability of the probation service, who may be required to prepare a report. We would expect that in these circumstances the case would usualy satill conclude within 1 month of the plea hearing.
Representation in the Magistrates Court for plea hearing will include the following:
Many people charged with motoring offences simply wish to put forward a guilty plea and ensure that most important points are put to the Court prior to sentence.
We offer a Written Representations only service at a reduced rate of £500 plus VAT for those clients who wish to have their case presented in the best light but do not feel it necessary to have a Solicitor present at Court with them.
Our written representations service includes:
Please note that our written representations service is NOT available in cases where you intend to put forward an exceptional hardship argument or a special reasons argument.
Please note that we will NOT attend Court with you with our written representations service.
Exceptional hardship and special reasons arguments can be put to the Court in certain circumstances to persuade them to allow you to keep your licence in circumstances where you would otherwise face a mandatory ban. Where you have 12 points or more on your licence an exceptional hardship argument can allow you to keep your licence if successful. Successfully arguing Special Reasons can allow you to keep your licence with a drink driving conviction in limited circumstances.
These arguments can be complex and require additional preparation in order to put the strongest possible case.
Our fixed fees for hearings of this nature start at £1,200 plus VAT for hearings up to half a day. If the hearing lasts for more than half a day then this will attract a further fee of £600 plus VAT.
Representation in the Magistrates Court for an Exceptional Hardship or Special Reasons Hearing will include the following:
Please note that representation at any additional hearings such as adjounred sentencing hearings will be charged at £200 plus VAT.
12 Penalty Points or More – Exceptional Hardship
If you are involved in a contested trial in relation to a motoring matter then your fixed fee will start at £1,500 plus VAT for non-complex half-day trials.
Full day trials will attract a fixed fee starting at £2,500 plus VAT for non-complex cases.
For trials that last for longer than a day, representation will typically be charged at a fixed fee of £2,000 plus VAT for each additional day and £1,000 plus VAT for each half day.
Representation in the Magistrates Court for Trial will include the following:
All of our qualified lawyers are experienced trial advocates and capable of conducting your trial to an excellent standard. However, if you wish to instruct a barrister to conduct your case then their fee would be in addition to our fee for preparing the case for trial.
If you are found guilty following a trial then an additional sentencing hearing may be necessary if the Court is unable to deal with sentencing on the same day. Representation at a sentencing hearing following trial would attract a further fixed fee of £200 plus VAT.
The fees quoted above represent a minimum due for non-complex matters. Cases which require significant amounts or preparation may attract fixed fees higher than this.
Please note that additional costs of third parties such as expert medical or accident reconstruction reports are not included in the above fees. Such costs will be discussed with you and agreed prior to any instruction.
Many cases involve more than one appearance at Court and you will be quoted accordingly for additional Court representation over and above the first Magistrates Court hearing, be it on a fixed fee or hourly rate basis. The requirement for an additional hearing may be outside of our control. Often the Court will list a case for “Mention” in order to resolve an issue that has arisen ahead of the trial. For example, if a witness has indicated that they cannot attend trial on the date that it is listed for, or if the Prosecution has failed to provide all of the evidence to us ahead of the trial.
The above fees may be increased if there is additional travel involved attending a Court outside of Cheshire.
Fill in our enquiry form and a member of our specialist motoring team will get in touch to help you.
Issue 4 of Poole Alcock Insight is here! Grab a coffee and enjoy Augusts edition of our free Emagazine. https://t.co/qOHgJ9313q
Posted 18th August 2020
Weve had a 5* review from Ian: Kate Heath and team - once again, amazing https://t.co/QNvMmTlgu2
Posted 29th July 2020
