driving a rental in italy and getting a ticket

artyeva

quick question:

we did a fair bit of driving around italy in november and despite our best efforts to navigate their heavy handed parking restrictions, we got a parking ticket in modena.

€35 for parking in a residential spot, and another €35 for parking in the same spot - because we weren't allowed to park there in the first place [!] after a few days of trying to pay it, we eventually found a lovely guy from the city council who advised us what to do - and we paid it in a main post office in the city. never bothered to keep the receipt cause we stupidly thought it was done and dusted.

today we get an invoice from the rental car company for €35. even though it's translated into english, i'm not really sure why the rental company are charging us for it, seeing as we've already paid.

''following the mandatory communication of your data relating to the commited violation, you will also receive the relative fine notice included the administrative sanction directly from the authorities, confirming to the procedures and terms established by the Italian law.''



there's an e-mail address and a phone number at the bottom but before i contact them tomorrow and try my 4 words of italian on them, does anyone have any experience of this?

DieselPowered

Rule of thumb with rentals is let them pay all fines and in turn they will charge your credit card accordingly (usually whether you like this or not as they probably explained something like this to you at the time of the rental pick up).

as you don't have the receipt it may be difficult to get the car rental company to believe you. Its not big money, but annoying all the same.

Good luck with the outcome.

ardmacha

Car rental companies generally charge an admin fee for having to deal with these matters, so this would be payable even if the ticket was paid.

born2bwild

Write this:
"Vaffa'nculo con la multa, stronzo!"

Max Power

Google Translate is your friend. If contacting them by email that is.

com1

Chances are the authorities sent a copy of the ticket to the rental company who then will charge you an administration fee to send your personal details back to the authorities.

By the way, chances, are you will be blessed with a number of communications from Italy regarding your motoring over the next year or so, complete with admin fees for each. I have yet to get away without at least 3 fines from any holiday there. Funnily enough I never had any issues anywhere else (US, Germany, France, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Portugal... yadda yadda yadda). There is a train of thought out there that a number of municipalities target motoring offences as a significant source of income, some of the fines I got would tend to support that theory

It is unlikely that the rental company will charge your card for motoring fines as it is not up to the rental company to assume guilt on your behalf.

artyeva

nope, nothing about fines or admin fees was mentioned when we picked up the car in bergamo airport.... why would the rental company be charging an admin fee if by the time this invoice is dated the fine had been paid 7 weeks? doesn't make sense to me.

i can understand if we had left the country without paying the fine, then after a certain amount of time elapses the fine is still unpaid then the rental company charging our card - but 7 weeks after it's paid?

com1 wrote: »

Chances are the authorities sent a copy of the ticket to the rental company who then will charge you an administration fee to send your personal details back to the authorities.

By the way, chances, are you will be blessed with a number of communications from Italy regarding your motoring over the next year or so, complete with admin fees for each. I have yet to get away without at least 3 fines from any holiday there. Funnily enough I never had any issues anywhere else (US, Germany, France, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Portugal... yadda yadda yadda). There is a train of thought out there that a number of municipalities target motoring offences as a significant source of income, some of the fines I got would tend to support that theory

It is unlikely that the rental company will charge your card for motoring fines as it is not up to the rental company to assume guilt on your behalf.

yeah, the guy from the council we found who eventually helped us worked as an accountant for them and had a few choice words to describe the beaurocracy and how it puts off tourists. definitey put us off from driving there again. that and their life threatening aggressive driving.

but again - an admin fee for the fine we paid 7 weeks previously? am i missing something really obvious here? not willing to pay it blindly and neither is mr artyeva. will have a go at drafting an e-mail to them tomorrow - anyone know anyone italian who could look over it for me?

the lack of receipt is a b*tch alright. the post office wouldn't accept cards as payment for fines either, so i had to pay in cash so we don't even have the record of it on the card statement. sneaky feckers.

ThreeLineWhip

Just ignore it.

ThreeLineWhip

born2bwild wrote: »

Write this:
"Vaffa'nculo con la multa, stronzo!"

Brilliant.

gutteruu

Got a parking fine last year from a council in northern Italy. I ignored it, got another letter with the fine doubled and very threatening details of what happens if I ignore it again. Hire company didn't pay a cent on my behalf, but forwarded on letters. Paid it via bank transfer after.

ThreeLineWhip wrote: »

Just ignore it.

I think if you do, the next time you set foot in Italy I could see you being dragged aside for a day or so until its all sorted. Not the best idea I would say!

ThreeLineWhip

The Italian bureaucracy is not that clever at the best of times. I would not be worried.

I am still waiting for all the letters from years ago from all the cameras I set off all over France and Italy. Been back many times and not a peep from anyone.

LLU

ThreeLineWhip wrote: »

The Italian bureaucracy is not that clever at the best of times. I would not be worried.

I am still waiting for all the letters from years ago from all the cameras I set off all over France and Italy. Been back many times and not a peep from anyone.

Whoah easy there Ayrton, not sure the ladies or boards.ie can handle that much testosterone.

OneWayBet

I got a parking fine in Italy about 5 years ago for parking in a residents only area without a permit (without realising). I just ignored it and never heard anymore about it. If I got another I would ignore it again.

cast_iron

Got a parking fine in Italy also.
Car hire company charged me €20 for the privilege of handing over me address. A registered letter arrived a couple of months later from the Italian authorities.
As the car was towed also, I had paid enough in fees and what not, so had no intentions of paying. So I binned it.
No word about it since, that's over 3 years ago now.

If you are bothered about any potential comeback if you return to Italy and somehow get caught, then pay it. If not, don't.

Fiskar

Pay it and move on. You are now the wiser. They will take it from your CC in any event. Lots of pain and no gain,

ThreeLineWhip

They will not take the money from a credit card. They have no authority to do so.

ironclaw

ThreeLineWhip wrote: »

They will not take the money from a credit card. They have no authority to do so.

They do actually. Its in the Hertz rental agreement for the US. I know that for a fact.

ThreeLineWhip

They can only take money for owner liability offences, i.e. parking.

For speeding and driver liability offences all they can do is tell the authorities your details. They do not pay these.

ardmacha

For speeding and driver liability offences all they can do is tell the authorities your details. They do not pay these.

No. But they will charge the admin charge to your credit card. But they will anyhow, so the OP doesn't have to do anything.

goz83

born2bwild wrote: »

Write this:
"Vaffa'nculo con la multa, stronzo!"

Vaffanculo con la multa, stronzo

^^^that's how its said. (f*** off with a fine, A$$hole)

DieselPowered

ironclaw wrote: »

They do actually. Its in the Hertz rental agreement for the US. I know that for a fact.

Its in most rental agreements in Europe too... parking, tolls, generally incured parking fines in the course of general driving get charg

Speeding fines I'm not sure how the agreement works with the credit card