Fine from Italy!!

mfceiling

So the mother rang me today - back in Tyrone.

A letter landed today for me from the Italian police with a fine of 106 euros for driving on a road in Florence that wasn't to be driven on.

Wasn't aware that I did at the time as I was lost and was trying to get out of the city.

The offence took place last year on August 14th.

Wondering what to do. Bin it and claim I never received it. Pay it and be done. Forget about it completely.

Only worry would be if I went back on hols and was ever stopped.

By the way, it was a hire car and the only extra charge from the hire company was about 2 months after we came home - almost 50 quid on the credit card - never queried it at the time as I reckoned it was a parking or speeding offence.

Any help?

No Pants

mfceiling wrote: »

By the way, it was a hire car and the only extra charge from the hire company was about 2 months after we came home - almost 50 quid on the credit card - never queried it at the time as I reckoned it was a parking or speeding offence.

So...are you thinking that the hire company billed you for the fine, yet never passed it on?

CiniO

This 50 quid was most likely administrative charge from hire company for releiveing OP's details to the police, so they could issue a fine.

bear1

I had this happen to me too.
They have these special zones in certain Italian cities where only taxis and buses can drive.
You can drive on these streets only if you have a hotel there for instance, you would need proof of this of course.
The signs are quite small so it isn't easy to tell if you are driving in a forbidden area or not.
I received the same fine for the same amount, however it was with my Irish registered car.
I decided not to bother paying it as by the time I received the fine they had already added another fine on top of it for not paying on time.
I subsequently started receiving more notices and then a debt collector letter.
Ignored that too.
Then they stopped sending them, that was about 3 years ago.
Have been back to Italy since by car, albeit I have another car now and I have been stopped by police and no word was ever said about it.
I'm not saying avoid the fine but this was my experience of it.

ironclaw

If you are planning on going back to Italy I would pay it. They have your details and years down the line it might come back to haunt you if you were stopped. I wouldn't want an unpaid fine on my record. Unlike here where 'shure its grand' is the order of the day, some police forces take a dim light on this sort of thing. Some might term that an overreaction but I'd rather pay a €100 (Or whatever fine) than find myself with a massive fine, potential handcuffs and the requirement of legal representation in a foreign country.

HandsomeDan

Sounds like a typical Italian racket.

Fúck em, don't pay it.

cpoh1

ironclaw wrote: »

If you are planning on going back to Italy I would pay it. They have your details and years down the line it might come back to haunt you if you were stopped. I wouldn't want an unpaid fine on my record. Unlike here where 'shure its grand' is the order of the day, some police forces take a dim light on this sort of thing. Some might term that an overreaction but I'd rather pay a €100 (Or whatever fine) than find myself with a massive fine, potential handcuffs and the requirement of legal representation in a foreign country.

Brutal advice with no legal or logical standing.

I have had fines in the past from italy and have never had subsequent problems in the country (travel there twice a year for the last 7 years).

All they have is your name and address, you wont get pulled at passport/airport and you wont get pulled at a policia/carbinieri checkpoint either because they keep fines on their system based on the reg plate, and driving licence details. As an irish citizen they have no way to tell if your irish licence has had a previous offence.

OP ignore the fine if you are ok with the morals behind not paying it.

HandsomeDan

cpoh1 wrote: »

Brutal advice with no legal or logical standing.

I have had fines in the past from italy and have never had subsequent problems in the country (travel there twice a year for the last 7 years).

All they have is your name and address, you wont get pulled at passport/airport and you wont get pulled at a policia/carbinieri checkpoint either because they keep fines on their system based on the reg plate, and driving licence details. As an irish citizen they have no way to tell if your irish licence has had a previous offence.

OP ignore the fine if you are ok with the morals behind not paying it.

Kewl. Is the Spanish system set up similarly?

H3llR4iser

cpoh1 wrote: »

Brutal advice with no legal or logical standing.

I have had fines in the past from italy and have never had subsequent problems in the country (travel there twice a year for the last 7 years).

All they have is your name and address, you wont get pulled at passport/airport and you wont get pulled at a policia/carbinieri checkpoint either because they keep fines on their system based on the reg plate, and driving licence details. As an irish citizen they have no way to tell if your irish licence has had a previous offence.

OP ignore the fine if you are ok with the morals behind not paying it.

There's more: the fine was given in Florence for a violation that has to do with a ZTL (zona a traffico limitato, limited traffic area), which means that it was issued by the local police - the fine is marked "Comune di Firenze" and has stuff like "Vigili Urbani", "V.V.U.U." or "Polizia Locale" in it, right?

That means that, 99.99% of the times, the main national Police (the ones with "smurf blue" cars) don't know about it and have nothing to do with it. The only bit of trouble that could come to you is through the rental company - either if Firenze's city council keeps harassing them (and they annoy you in turn and apply charges), or more likely, you might be refused rental in the future.

mfceiling

cpoh1 wrote: »

Brutal advice with no legal or logical standing.

I have had fines in the past from italy and have never had subsequent problems in the country (travel there twice a year for the last 7 years).

All they have is your name and address, you wont get pulled at passport/airport and you wont get pulled at a policia/carbinieri checkpoint either because they keep fines on their system based on the reg plate, and driving licence details. As an irish citizen they have no way to tell if your irish licence has had a previous offence.

OP ignore the fine if you are ok with the morals behind not paying it.

Cheers for that. I have a valid UK licence but i could easily change it to an Irish one. Funny thing was that it didn't have to be signed for so it could have got "lost" in the post.

I think i remember reading that after 6 months of an offence being committed in Italy, that if you haven't received notification then it becomes invalid...

Cee-Jay-Cee

mfceiling wrote: »

Cheers for that. I have a valid UK licence but i could easily change it to an Irish one. Funny thing was that it didn't have to be signed for so it could have got "lost" in the post.

I think i remember reading that after 6 months of an offence being committed in Italy, that if you haven't received notification then it becomes invalid...

Send it back with 'Unknown at this Address' written on it.

ironclaw

cpoh1 wrote: »

Brutal advice with no legal or logical standing.

Fair enough. Just was basing it off previous experience in the US and the exotic rallies here in Europe. Granted however the fines were issued by the national police / State.

Learn something new everyday!

babydoc

Pay the fine. or you will regret it in the end

Scottie99

babydoc wrote: »

Pay the fine. or you will regret it in the end

Nonsense, others on this thread have quite clearly state they've had no issues. I too have never been chased up on fines..

cpoh1

Not sure about Spain but I have had no issues with fines from holland, germany and france (speed cameras and parking fines).

Once the rental company pass your details on their work is done, this is the case for europcar and locauto who i have used in the past in Italy. Some may charge a fee for doing so, but that hasnt happened to me before. Have rented with these guys since with no issues.

OP, if the fine came directly from the local police I wouldnt worry about the rental company or getting charged further.

cpoh1

Just re-read that last post and it gives the impression I drive like a loon when in europe!

I drive like a loon at home too

keithclancy

cpoh1 wrote: »

Not sure about Spain but I have had no issues with fines from holland, germany and france (speed cameras and parking fines).

Once the rental company pass your details on their work is done, this is the case for europcar and locauto who i have used in the past in Italy. Some may charge a fee for doing so, but that hasnt happened to me before. Have rented with these guys since with no issues.

OP, if the fine came directly from the local police I wouldnt worry about the rental company or getting charged further.

Holland I know definitely causes problems... have two colleagues that were held at Schiphol until they paid their fines.

Another colleague of mine flies from Brussels to avoid problems

Germany I've never had a problem, I got some letter saying I had points against my name in Flensburg.

For Holland I would only worry about it if the rental company had a copy of your passport, they will pass this on to the CJIB (Centraal Justitieel Incassobureau) and it will pop up when they scan your passport entering or while in transit through Schiphol.

Derek Zoolander

exact same thing happened to me before - I got two fines, one from rental agency for €80 and then one from the private company that the city of Florence outsource the fines to.

I paid the rental company one - didn't pay the one from city of Florence - it wasn't a police fine administered by a private company. This was 6 years ago been back several times with no issue.

CiniO

bear1 wrote: »

I received the same fine for the same amount, however it was with my Irish registered car.

Did they send you the fine to your Irish address (the one vehicle was registered on)?

How did they get this address?
I'd imagine they would have to contact Shannon to obtain your details, but seems strange it all worked.

CiniO

Derek Zoolander wrote: »

exact same thing happened to me before - I got two fines, one from rental agency for €80 and then one from the private company that the city of Florence outsource the fines to.

I paid the rental company one - didn't pay the one from city of Florence - it wasn't a police fine administered by a private company. This was 6 years ago been back several times with no issue.

From rental agency it wasn't a fine, but administrative charge for handling a fine paperwork (giving your details to the police).

bear1

CiniO wrote: »

Did they send you the fine to your Irish address (the one vehicle was registered on)?

How did they get this address?
I'd imagine they would have to contact Shannon to obtain your details, but seems strange it all worked.

Yeah I had wondered that too, but they got it somehow. Yes the address the car was registered to.
Shannon never mentioned anything to me about it anyway

CiniO

HandsomeDan wrote: »

Sounds like a typical Italian racket.

Issuing fines for driving on road on which was prohibited to be driven?
How can this be a racket?

CiniO

H3llR4iser wrote: »

The only bit of trouble that could come to you is through the rental company - either if Firenze's city council keeps harassing them (and they annoy you in turn and apply charges), or more likely, you might be refused rental in the future.

What would rental company have to do with it at that stage.
They already gave driver details to appropriate authority, and their particiapation in this case is over.
Whether OP will pay the fine or not, it's up to him, and rental company has nothing to do with it. They already did all they could (gave his details to the police).
It's not like if OP won't pay, then police will ask rental company to pay the fine. They won't.

CiniO

keithclancy wrote: »

Holland I know definitely causes problems... have two colleagues that were held at Schiphol until they paid their fines.

Another colleague of mine flies from Brussels to avoid problems

Germany I've never had a problem, I got some letter saying I had points against my name in Flensburg.

For Holland I would only worry about it if the rental company had a copy of your passport, they will pass this on to the CJIB (Centraal Justitieel Incassobureau) and it will pop up when they scan your passport entering or while in transit through Schiphol.

I got flashed at speed cameras in my Irish registered car in Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, and most likely UK.
Never received anything.
However flash in Belgium was last month, so there still might be something coming.

keithclancy

CiniO wrote: »

I got flashed at speed cameras in my Irish registered car in Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, and most likely UK.
Never received anything.
However flash in Belgium was last month, so there still might be something coming.

You won't receive anything for that one either, speaking from experience.

H3llR4iser

CiniO wrote: »

What would rental company have to do with it at that stage.
They already gave driver details to appropriate authority, and their particiapation in this case is over.
Whether OP will pay the fine or not, it's up to him, and rental company has nothing to do with it. They already did all they could (gave his details to the police).
It's not like if OP won't pay, then police will ask rental company to pay the fine. They won't.

In theory, it's as you say. The annoyance might come if the Florence city council hands over the fine to a private collector agency - they're no better than loan sharks down there, and they might go harass the rental company again. It's Italy, there isn't necessarily a logic nor a legality to everything, I'm afraid.

Although, for 106 euro hardly anything will come out of it. I'd say the OP can sleep peacefully.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

mgbgt1978

CiniO wrote: »

Did they send you the fine to your Irish address (the one vehicle was registered on)?

How did they get this address?
I'd imagine they would have to contact Shannon to obtain your details, but seems strange it all worked.

em, Cinio. How could an Italian Hire car possibly be registered to the OP's home address in Ireland ??????
They got his address from the Hire Co. as already stated by the OP.

CiniO

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

em, Cinio. How could an Italian Hire car possibly be registered to the OP's home address in Ireland ??????
They got his address from the Hire Co. as already stated by the OP.

Did you have a look at who I was replying to?

mgbgt1978

Apologies Cinio, I was speed-reading the Thread.:o