Key Takeaways
- Service Overview: Connects users with lawyers to fight traffic tickets, boasting a 97% success rate. Requires minimal effort from clients.
- Costs and Guarantee: Fees range from $59 to $599, depending on location and charges, with a money-back guarantee for unsuccessful outcomes.
- User Experience: Offers an easy process involving uploading ticket photos and providing details, but some users report long case resolutions and communication issues.
- Professional Legal Help: Attorneys are experienced in traffic law, ensuring qualified legal representation for traffic infractions.
Recommendations: Overall, I recommend giving Off The Record a try. It is well-known among most car channels, with many positive experiences. If you’re skeptical, give your local traffic attorney a call – many offer free quotes and fixed-bid pricing.
With an alleged 97% success rate, Off the Record is an app that connects clients with lawyers to help them fight speeding tickets and keep a squeaky-clean record.
As a driver, you’ll inevitably have to deal with them. Apart from being costly and harmful to your driving record, dealing with the bureaucratic and legal side of a ticket can be highly stressful and time-consuming.
But does Off the Record’s actual service live up to the marketing hype? Read our review to find out!
What Is Off the Record, and Is It Legitimate?
Founded in 2015, this Seattle-based service helps people around the United States get their tickets dismissed through a convenient mobile app.
It uses a smart algorithm to connect clients with local lawyers who are best equipped to handle the entire process from start to finish — after issuing a ticket for Off the Record, you won’t need to lift a finger for anything related to your case.
The app boasts a 97% success rate, making its services equivalent to those of a top-notch law firm.
However, it’s important to note that the ticket doesn’t always get entirely waived. Sometimes, it gets reduced to a non-moving violation. It’s still a success because you pay the fine but keep your insurance rate.
Upsides to Off the Record
Off the Record isn’t the only service of its kind. However, several key features set it apart from much of the competition.
- Full Money-Back Guarantee: Off the Record promises a full monetary reimbursement for any lost court cases.
- SmartMatch Algorithm: The service uses a smart algorithm to match you with local lawyers who are most likely to help you win the case, minimizing the hassle of finding an adequate lawyer.
- Minimum Effort: After sending your ticket to Off the Record, you don’t have to do anything other than wait — you don’t even need to show up to your court date.
Downsides to Off the Record
Despite the app’s positive features, there are some important downsides that you need to keep in mind.
- Available Only in the US: Off the Record’s services are US-exclusive.
- Potentially Long Waiting Times: Customers often complain about long waiting times to resolve their cases in many Off the Record reviews.
- Possible High Costs: Trying to get your ticket waived through Off the Record may likely end up costing you more than the ticket itself.
Why Is Having a Clean Record Important?
While small traffic violations may not seem like a big deal, having a clean traffic violation record can impact you in serious ways.
Even a minor offense, such as a recent speeding ticket, can dramatically increase your insurance premiums, costing you a lot of money in the long run.
Additionally, many jobs will require proof of a clean record, especially ones where you’re expected to drive a vehicle. This is particularly relevant for delivery and ridesharing gigs.
Some gigs where having a problematic traffic record may disqualify you from applying include:
- DoorDash: While a first speeding ticket won’t disqualify you from applying for DoorDash, multiple traffic offenses may lead to an instant rejection.
- Grubhub: Grubhub will disqualify you from applying in cases of multiple traffic offenses.
- Lyft: Lyft’s screening process will instantly disqualify you in the event of only a single DUI charge in the past seven years.
- Uber: In the event of more than three minor traffic violations in the past three years, which include speeding, DUI, and traffic light violations, Uber will disqualify you from its screening process.
How Does Off the Record Work?
To begin processing your ticket, there are three main steps you need to take.
Step 1: Take a Photo of Your Ticket
After downloading the app and creating an Off the Record account, the first step is to snap a photo of your ticket through the app’s built-in camera.
This way, the staff will know exactly what type of case they’ll be dealing with.
Step 2: Provide Extra Information on the Ticket
After uploading the photo, you’ll need to provide a few extra details about your ticket, such as the court responsible for your case. This is done through a series of quick answers to questions prompted by the app.
With the information provided through these two steps, Off the Record will set a service fee for you to pay before you can proceed.
Step 3: Receive a Match and Talk With Your Traffic Attorney
After paying your fee, Off the Record matches you with one of the highly-rated traffic attorneys in its database based on their location and proximity.
After clearing out any remaining information, the lawyer will pick up your case and solve it as quickly as possible, informing you about every step of your ticket’s progress as it happens, so you can just sit back and relax.
How Much Does It Cost to Fight Your Ticket via Off the Record?
Off the Record’s services may cost anywhere between $59 and $599, depending on your state, county, and your exact legal charges.
While the upper range of the price seems like a lot, bear in mind that there’s a full money-back guarantee for any outcome that doesn’t result in a full waiver or at least a reduction to a non-moving violation.
Brett’s Take: Thoughts From an Expert
Off the Record works perfectly on paper, and for the most part, it’s a reliable and effective solution to your traffic ticket woes.
While the service fees can get expensive, the company’s track record of success guarantees that opting for them is a safer option than hiring a random attorney.
The money-back guarantee also serves as an effective incentive to choose Off the Record. Even if the service fails to deliver, you’ll get a full refund of your expenses, making its high price worth it when you succeed.
The app’s proprietary SmartMatch approach works like a charm, too, and it’s guaranteed to help you find a lawyer close to the court handling your case.
At the same time, this can be a potential flaw, as you have no freedom in choosing an attorney to represent you.
This aspect also leads to what’s likely the biggest pitfall of the service. Most of the clients who’ve had an unpleasant experience with Off the Record complained about the company’s slow case resolution and poor communication.
These problems depend on the lawyer the algorithm assigns; Off the Record has little control over them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Off the Record’s Attorneys Qualified to Handle Traffic Infraction Cases?
Yes. The attorneys hired by Off the Record all have years of experience handling traffic infractions, and many of them exclusively practice traffic law.
Is There a Cancellation Policy?
If you change your mind and decide you don’t want to fight your ticket via Off the Record after all, there’s a 24-hour window allowing you to cancel your case and receive a full refund. Beyond that time, however, you can no longer withdraw.
Wrapping Up
Off the Record is an excellent solution for getting your traffic ticket waived or reduced to prevent your insurance premiums from increasing or preserving a clean record.
The high price, which sometimes surpasses the traffic violation fine itself, may make the service not worth it in some cases. Still, if you need to clean your record, it’s one of the most reliable options you have.
If you have your own experience with Off the Record that you want to share, feel free to make yourself heard in the comments!
