Traffic fines
Back in September 2006 I wrote a post about how to settle those pesky speeding/traffic fines you may end up with either during or after a stay in Italy. I did not imagine that my little post would end up being viewed more than 2500 times and commented on around 100 times, but it has, and this seems to indicate that there is something of a problem.
Well, guess what. Someone from the European Parliament has been having a look at my post. Now, I did know that one of the commenters was planning to write to an MEP, but I had not heard anything more. So now, possibly, something may start happening and that something may even be done to clarify the situation - at least in so far as convincing those who receive the fines that they are indeed genuine and not, I hope, part of some elaborate scam.
If anything develops, I’ll let you know.
Tags: answers, cars, comments, Costs, driving in italy, fines, Information, Italy, offences, offenses, payment, police, problems, questions, restricted traffic zones, situation, traffic
Regarding traffic fines and possible scams, You may be interested in my current predicament.
After a honeymoon to Umbria in October last year, we’ve just received a parking fine from the police in Como. They got our details from Europcar, since we had possession of the hire-car in question on the alleged date of the violation in the town of Corrido. The thing is, we never went to Como - remaining about 300 miles away in the Orvieto area for the whole time.
Europcar charged me €36 admin, and the Corrido police then sent me with the fine itself of €42.60. So this is costing me €78.60.
I’d pay it if there was any possibility of it being true, but there isn’t. Europcar say I have to pursue it with the police directly. But I have asked them to check their records to see if anyone else took the car to Corrido around the same time.
To take it up with the police, I wouldn’t know how to start. The closest thing to proof that I have is photos of us in Orvieto on that day (date marked in the digital exif data) Any advice how i can get to the bottom of this?
Dear Alastair
I have a similar problem: A fine of 113 Euros for driving in authorized area (Via Roma) in the center of Pisa. The car was hired through AVIS. There is a photo on the internet showing only the car license plate, - you cannot see driver, place or time. I will not pay the fine. I think it is a fake.
A friend of ours who was in Pisa last year - also in a rented car got a similar letter with a fine - just like ours. The letter is dated 19/8 2008 - my letter is dated 20/8 2008. We are both said to have been in Via Roma! A remarkable coincidence?
At another place in this blog somebody notes that an EU politician intended to do something about the Italian “fining-systems”. It is high time to do something, I think.
Hi Peter,
Things are moving on the MEP front, and other wheels appear to be turning too.
Keep an eye on this blog for developments.
I’m still not sure whether the Pisa thing is a con - it could be, but proving this is not going to be at all easy.
All the best,
Alex
PS - could you send me the photo of the Pisa Via Roma photo to contact at blogfromitaly dot com. I know someone else who got a fine in this spot - it would be interesting to see how the photos compare.
Hi Peter (and Alex), this is very interesting.
I should update my story - I continued to dispute it and contacted the British Consulate in Milan. To my surprise a consular assistant got back in touch and was quite helpful - her email is Emanuela dot Pessina at fco dot gov dot uk (email address edited to reduce spam) - and she asked me to fax all relevant documents to her. She then contacted the Como police and said to fax the documents to them. This included photos of us taken on the date in question outside recognisable monuments in Orvieto.
A couple of weeks later I actually got a letter to my UK address from the Como police saying charges were dropped! And I was even more surprised when Europcar then also refunded the charge (they had previously said that under no circumstance would it be refunded).
So persistence works, don’t let them get away with it!
Good luck,
Alastair
Hi Alex Roe
It looks like a con to me. The Photo which I saw some 2 weeks ago only showed the license plate. To- day the link won`t work (?) A hypothetis: If somebody in the car company gave photoes of their car licenseplates to somebody in the policeorganization (e.g. accounts department)it would be possible to send false fines. Afterwards the accounts could be fiddled with (as the account numbers probably are the correct numbers of the Pisa Police).
My suspicions to the whole thing increased when one of our friends got a very similar fine - on the same road in Pisa!
I should like to hear your comments of the two fines. I have taken a photo of them and tries to send them without reduction in pixels. (But I have not tried sending pictures on af blog before.)
Best regards,
peter
Hi Peter,
Your hypothesis had crossed my mind too - only I had dismissed it initially on the grounds that such a plot would be too difficult to set up and run.
However, after reading all the complex Italian scams in the press here, I’m starting to wonder whether the Pisa thing could be a scam too - as I mentioned before.
Still, I don’t know if there is enough evidence to contact the Italian police and ask them to investigate - even if they would. The Italian police - there are two law enforcement bodies here - would probably turn round and say ‘pay the fine’.
Pisa may be a scam or maybe it is not.
Alex
Alastair - I’m very pleased to hear that you sorted this out.
I have heard of fines like this being sent out. A friend was caught a few years back - the fine showed the registration number of his car, but the model of car was a Mercedes - he had a Ford Sierra in those days.
It is not beyond the realms of possibility that registration plates are ‘cloned’ here from time to time. This may explain your odd fine.
At least you had the photos to prove them wrong - although it sounds almost as if the police were aware of cars with cloned number plates driving around the Como area.
Many thanks for letting us know how you resolved the problem, and I hope your report will help others.
All the best,
Alex
Had a great trip in Italy this summer, but the honeymoon is over… I rented car in Florence in July 08.
I just received four individual letters from AutoEuropa stating that I had received fines from the “Authority”. AutoEuropa is charging me 30 euros for each violation. I think this is a service fee. A friend told me that I will be receiving charges to my credit card from the “Authority” for the actual fine. I don’t know if this is for real or a scam. I would appreciate any help.
Hi Charlie,
Happy to hear about the great holiday in Italy, less so about the fine.
When you say ‘Authority’ which authority do you mean? Where were you when the alleged offence took place? Please let me know.
The service or admin fees are standard and there should be something about this in the small print often on the back of the car rental agreement.
You may also find more info from this long post and 300 odd comments:
http://www.blogfromitaly.com/speeding-fines-in-italy/
Kind regards,
Alex
dear charlie,
I dont think that they can use your credit card to pay the tickets. The auto agency has used it to pay the processing fee but you should expect and wait to receive the tickets translated in english from the municipale police at you home adress. It took 1.5 year to reach me. now I received them (today indeed) , two for driving in a ZTL withintwo hours, one before the dinner the other one after dinner, total 230 euros…
Hi Francois,
Thanks for your post. Sorry about your tickets. Are you going to pay the fines?
Your name sound French. If so you may be stuck with EU reciprocity between EU countries.
As a US citizen, I am tempted to ignore mine, if I ever receive them. A 1-1/2 years is a long time for them to expect you to pay.
Let us know what you decided to do.
Charlie .. near Washington DC
hello charlie,
Indeed I am living in Canada not EU anymore.
I found the copy of my contract and it is specifically written on it” Service Delayed charged: I acknowledge and accept from now on all expenses (fuels, deductibles/excesses, fines, dammages, extra) detected or found after the drop off of vehicule and I authorize the car rental company to charge them on my credt card” and I signed this document..
the weird things are: this rental company (Auto europa) charged me on my CC 50 euros per fine already to forward the fines to the police who sent me 1.5 year later the translated version.
If I dont pay, can they really charge my CC again??
Why wouldn’t the yhave done that initially?
francois