Italian speeding fine from August - Hertz rental

Rowley Birkin QC · 12-01-2018 11:53pm #1

Just received an email from Hertz (or a 3rd party representing Hertz http://safogroup.eu) regarding a speeding fine from August of last year.

I was in Italy at the time and the details of the car match so I'm not contesting the fine. I can't make out much else from the 1 page PDF they sent me from the municipality. The scan seems to indicate that there should be 4 pages.

I've spent a little time with Google Translate but I can't figure out how to proceed and pay the damn thing.

Has anyone had experience of this?

ltdslipdiff · 13-01-2018 12:30am

Was in Greve Chianti for the bro’s wedding last May. Rented car and took it handy in fairness,got blown off the road daily by the locals,overtaken on corners,sped past on the motorways. Then I get funny charges appearing on my card two months later,admin fees for handing over my details to the authorities. Two charges of €45 each no explanation until I went digging. Then another month or so later two registered letters from some local town council and a very grainy picture of me allegedly exceeding a speed limit just by the airport the day I arrived and the day I brought the car back!!! It’s a massive swindle to squeeze money from tourists and make the rental companies some more profit. I ended up paying the fines on line but managed to get the admin fee back from rental company. Fast forward to July and a family holiday to mallorca, said I’d rent from Avis and pay a bit more to avoid the potential messing around I got from Goldcar in Italy. Boom,Monday just gone,two charged from Avis on my card,that’s almost 6 months after the visit!! I’m in the process of going through all this sh!t again. It’s a complete con. Google it enough and you’ll find loads of people that don’t pay and don’t suffer any repercussions,and others like me that just pay for fear of being pulled aside on future visits or blacklisted with the rental companies.......

bonky2018 · 14-01-2018 10:10pm

The rule I use when using cars in europe is if the paper work say municipal then I ignore it

Lots of EU have municipal police which is just police that have powers in the local town or local municipal region

Its sorta like if Clonmel had Clonmell town had local police force who instead to be meter maids become jumped up meter maids ith guns and police cars with Municipal police on them .Those town police often have no power of arrest and have to call national police to do the arrests .So if the Clonmell local police gave you a speeding ticket and had no power to give points or do anything once you leave Clonmell why would you entertain these Clonmell police if your never going to be back in Clonmell and even if you passed there in the future they would have such bad records they wont be able to twig your on their books .
Its duke of HAZARD county local sheriff stuff on the make with looking at tourists to rip off

There exist a another type of SCAM where a company corporation can rent a room on a court house hire a Judge and send you a summons
you go to court house thinking its a real court but its as all maky uppy no real law just color of law stuff .The Judge says your guilty and pay the fine no real legal system .
We had one guy from North 0f Ireland get summons to court in Belafst over property dispute .He called the court and they said they had no record of the summons .They searched and came back and said a property company was issuing the summons had rented a court room and and Judge .He went to the fake court case to document this fake court case and judge said he had to pay the fine .He checked later and there was no records of any court case or court orderes against him his adress anywhere in the UK system and then told the Property company to rev up and and

THe EU is notorious for FAKE COURTS FAKE LAWS and Italy has been rippin g off tourists ever since rome existed

safogroup.eu looks to be part of the MAFIA inc of the eu want the second dip on your account and rip another tourist off

In ItaLY outside courts is hundreds of rent a witness who will say they saw whatever you want them to say for the right price

tourists in Italy beware buyer beware is the latin saying

dudara · 14-01-2018 11:09pm

I picked up a speeding fine once in Germany, which Hertz paid on my behalf and then recharged to my card. I received all the paperwork in the post as evidence. It's probably worth contacting Hertz to see if they have already paid it for you.

Tiger31 · 14-01-2018 11:09pm

Similar situation here.. in Spain, in a hired car, got two fines in the registered post for speeding (safety cameras !!) but never paid them.

What happens if I go to hire another car in Spain..... Do they hold records over say 5 years.

P.s. I do pay my local fines. 👮🏼😊

Rowley Birkin QC · 15-01-2018 9:04am

dudara wrote: »

I picked up a speeding fine once in Germany, which Hertz paid on my behalf and then recharged to my card. I received all the paperwork in the post as evidence. It's probably worth contacting Hertz to see if they have already paid it for you.

Just had a look and there is actually a €79 charge from Hertz in August that I'm not sure about. Hopefully that's it, I think there was some extra charge for bringing the car back to a different airport so it could be that either.

Weird that I only got the email now. Will bell Hertz and see what I can find out. Any Italian speaers here that could take a look at the PDF I received?

Irish Stones · 15-01-2018 9:06am

I'm Italian.
If you need help or assistance in translating or understanding the document you have received I'm here for you.

Rowley Birkin QC · 15-01-2018 4:11pm

Superb, thanks Irish Stones! I'll PM you the document now and I'm also going to ring Hertz.

Thanks again!

Rowley Birkin QC · 15-01-2018 4:42pm

Spoke with Hertz in Wexford and head Customer Service in UK. The €79 was a 1 way charge for pick up in Rome, drop-off in Naples.

They (and I) are none the wiser but they did say that there is no additional charge processed for handing over the details to the boys in blue. They also said that they wouldn't be paying the fine from my credit card, I'd have to square it with the police.

Irish Stones · 15-01-2018 5:11pm

Rowley Birkin QC,
I'm trying to call the local police of the city where the fine was issued but it seems nobody is there, probably they have a short shift in the afternoon.
I will retry tomorrow in the morning, and I will ask them to give me all details for the payment.
I will keep you posted as soon as I have news.

Rowley Birkin QC · 15-01-2018 5:33pm

Wow. Thank you so much Irish Stones, that is just fantastically helpful!

Irish Stones · 16-01-2018 9:42am

So, I called them, and the office for tickets and fines receives calls from customers only after noon.
I will retry in two and a half hours time (it's 9:45 am here) .
Take no wonder at this lazy attitude, they're Romans... I think they secretly laughed at me when they heard a nothern accent on their phone :-)

xmasracing · 16-01-2018 9:48am

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

Just received an email from Hertz (or a 3rd party representing Hertz regarding a speeding fine from August of last year.

I was in Italy at the time and the details of the car match so I'm not contesting the fine. I can't make out much else from the 1 page PDF they sent me from the municipality. The scan seems to indicate that there should be 4 pages.

I've spent a little time with Google Translate but I can't figure out how to proceed and pay the damn thing.

Has anyone had experience of this?

Tell the to go whistle or sing opera or whatever Italians do.

redcup342 · 16-01-2018 12:59pm

bonky2018 wrote: »

The rule I use when using cars in europe is if the paper work say municipal then I ignore it

Lots of EU have municipal police which is just police that have powers in the local town or local municipal region

In Germany it's usually always from the Municipality, they log the points on a ghost license in Flenburg.

A UK Colleague had an experience whereby he was in Germany with a rental car on Dutch License plates (rented in Amsterdam I think),he just ignored the fine.

A few years later flying out from Cologne back to the UK he was stopped at the border control, taken off by the Police and spent a night in jail, he had to pay the fine plus penalties on top.

Same happened to a German guy I know living in Delft, drove a car on German plates, ignored some fines and got arrested in Schiphol, missed his flight, spent a few hours in a cell and had to pay the original fine + penalties on top.

If something happens in Germany and the Netherlands though while you are driving a car on Irish plates I'm pretty sure the fine goes nowhere and they have no way to link it back to you as the Irish authorities won't share your Passport/ID Card details (whereas when you had a rented car they would have passed on your Passport/ID information and it will flag up at border control)

AFAIK in Germany a new passport = a new record (e.g. you Registered with the City on 1 passport and then renew it and travel on a new one)

I'd say pay it and forget about it, you don't want the worry, never know when you'll want to go back to Italy.

Rowley Birkin QC · 16-01-2018 3:05pm

Thanks so much Irish Stones.

Definitely going to pay it, no question there. I'm usually in Italy 1-2 time per year and always rent a car so it's not worth the potential hassle of ignoring it.

Irish Stones · 16-01-2018 4:51pm

Phew, here I am!
I have to say that it hasn't been easy, mostly due to the bad attitude of Romans towards the rest of the world... they always help others as least as possible.
I started calling them at 12:35 pm, got to talk to someone only at 4 pm...

I called the office in charge, but they have a reduced staff due to seasonal flu. The same staff work at the counter in the morning and over the phone in the afternoon. And nobody would take my call... I called not less than 35 times to have a reply, just to tell me that it wasn't the right office for this kind of issues and they gave me a new phone number.
Do not worry, typical Italian procedure, it's always the wrong office.

This other office told me that the rental company will send you a full police report within the next 300 (three hundred) days. The single page of four that you received is only to let you know that a fine has been issued. Hertz will send you another report complete with payment details.
From the day you receive that full report you will have 5 days to pay a fine reduced by 30%, that is the first amount in brackets that you see in the document you have. Past these 5 days and within 60 days, the fine will be second amount in brackets that you find in your document.
No accessory penalties will be applied, which means no points on your license, because you exceeded the limit by less than 10 km/h. The speed that they detected has to be reduced by 5 km/h for the device accuracy, according to a minister decree.

What is really funny is the name of the raod where you were caught, it is translated as "Skull Avenue", but expressed in the Roman dialect.
Damn Romans! Dealing with them is always a true nightmare!!!

Hope this has been helpful. If you need further assistance, just let me know :-)

Rowley Birkin QC · 16-01-2018 5:54pm

Wow, sorry for inflicting so much trouble on you Irish Stones but thank you so much for taking the time to get in touch on my behalf. That really was above and beyond. If you need me to interact with any highly frustrating Irish public services for you, do let me know and I'll be happy to do so!

I've been trying in vain to repay your kindness through Pizza via a just-eat.it voucher but it seems I can't manage to do even that! Will PM you with another option!

Seve OB · 16-01-2018 6:00pm

Going above and beyond there Irish Stones, fair play to you.

Irish Stones · 16-01-2018 9:20pm

Rowley Birkin QC, everybody,
I want to say to all of you thanks for thanking my post.

Another thing that I want you all to know is that it's been a great pleasure to help one of the members of this fantastic forum.
I had received help from some of you in the past, it was fair to return part of the favour.
Furthermore, I love Ireland and Irish.
I and my wife are Italian and live in Italy, but our favourite destination for our holidays is your country, where we've been 19 times so far, and we have always felt like home. Your friendliness and kindness are top, we've been helped and supported so many times. I will never be thankful enough.
I have, still have, a huge debt of gratitude with you and your country.

Rowley Birkin QC,
Thanks God you haven't managed to send that voucher, I would have felt in double debt.

I do hope to be of more and further help to other members in the future. Just let me know.

All of you, take care :-)

Italian speeding fine from August - Hertz rental

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