If you don't pay it then they might get you when you re-enter the country.
Back in 2005 I mistakingly drove into the wrong lane for paying at the autostrada (I had no prepay token). Queue behind so they let me through. Two years later nearly and I get the bill and it's for a lot more than I should have paid.
I got in touch, explained what had happened and how far I travelled and they knocked the price down to about ?20. I knew I was in the wrong and always wondered when/if they'd track me down.
This only took a bit longer than the time to conclude who was to blame for the accident I was in the following year. That's Italy for you ;-)
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Eesa no problem. Ees simple. You noa pay wea smasha you face ! Capische ?
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>Eesa no problem. Ees simple. You noa pay wea smasha you face ! Capische ?<
No, that's Sicily...
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Why pay it at all ?
As it's a hire car I'd guess the hire company have simply paid up and charged the cost back to the OP's credit card.
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It does not read that way in the original post.
I would just get my card canceled and re issued just in case !
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I would just get my card canceled and re issued just in case !
That's fraud. Why turn a minor civil matter into a serious criminal one? A mistake was made and a fine is due. Just pay it.
For future trips the AA and RAC both offer members country guides with details of things like congestion charging and rules you might not expect to find.
That said, I hired a Mehari on Ponza (tiny island 50 miles off the Italian coast, where they filmed 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou') that had no working electrical accessories - wipers, any lights, horn, none of it. The dash had been spray painted at some point and all the buttons were fixed solidly in position.
When I reported this problem to the hire people they shrugged and said it was 'OK' as the island had no police force and all the locals knew that the hire cars had no lights. You weren't allowed to hire the car overnight - it had to be back by the end of the day.
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Since when is canceling a credit card fraud ?
"Why turn a minor civil matter into a serious criminal one? A mistake was made and a fine is due. Just pay it. "
There is something about this unquestioning attitude, and weak acceptance of something that in reality is trivial, and caused no problem to anyone, that I don't understand.
I could draw a parallel in history, but that goes past the bounds of this forum and is not appropriate.
Next time you are in your car and you look at your speedometer, I suggest that maybe when you see an indicated 34mph in a 30 limit, you should go directly to a police station and ask to be given 3 points and a fine because you just broke the law.
If you are now going to tell me that you have NEVER exceeded the speed limit, then don't waste your time, because I know that will not be true !
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Mr Tee
you could try cancelling the card, however it wouldn't work. The charge has been added against the card before it was cancelled and you are stuck with it. Non payment of CC charge then becomes a debt, debt becomes a credit risk, and so on
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Cancelling a credit card isn't fraud, but cancelling a credit card with the intent to avoid payment of a legitimate charge most certainly is. In any case as AE says, by now it will already be on the account, so cancelling the card to avoid payment also has credit rating implications.
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The OP said he had received a bill not a credit card statement. In cases like this where the car hire companies have been known to add bogus costs on later, canceling your card could prevent a lot of faff.
Motoring fines, incurred abroad from over zealous officials, who see often see Brits as easy meat are not enforcible after returning to the UK and I would wager that after a period of time, they would just get binned.
Of course, there is nothing to stop you paying and salving your conscience, but look, as a tourist spending money in a foreign country, driving in a congestion zone that I honestly did not know existed and had no way of knowing I was breaking the law,well it's not a hanging offense is it.
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Regulations are deliberately made difficult to understand, so that they can make as much money as possible from the drivers who are caught making the smallest mistakes. I'm fluent in Italian and I find it very hard to understand how the various schemes operate.
What the EU are aiming at is an EU-wide database, so if you drive 5 Km over the speed limit in Italy or you park in the wrong spot while on holiday in Spain, they can send you an inflated fine plus all additional costs to your address in the UK. Just try to imagine if they make a mistake. Who would you write or speak to? Some faceless bureaucrat in Brussels?
In the meantime, I'm told by continental relatives, both the French and the German do not release registration details of the cars registered in their own countries willy nilly like they do in both in the UK and in Italy. So, if their drivers commit offences abroad, they basically get away with them. unless the police stop them there and then.
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>Regulations are deliberately made difficult to understand, so that they can make as much >money as possible from the drivers who are caught making the smallest mistakes.
Ah the old conspiracy theory
>smallest mistakes?
I call it stupidity myself. I have driven 180,000 miles in the last 10 years. A fair proportion abroad. Never had a speeding ticket, (tho frequently breaking the limit), bus lane fine, yellow box fine etc.. Had 1 parking fine (in Positano Italy- I cant speak ANY Italian yet i knew i was doing wrong and "risked" it)
I have had one major accident in that time that was MY fault.
You are all paranoid, Its always someone else's fault or a devious plot out to get you. Typical of today's whining society.
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Obviously you AE are far more clever than the rest of us....
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Obviously you AE are far more clever than the rest of us....
I have to say I have come to that conclusion. or even perhaps no-one is out to get me?
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perhaps no-one is out to get me?
Of course not AE, there's only one person clever enough to do that anyway.
Here, have some more rope.
:o}
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What the EU are aiming at is an EU-wide database so if you drive 5 Km over the speed limit in Italy or you park in the wrong spot while on holiday in Spain they can send you an inflated fine blah blah blah.
Can you please post an accurate and reliable source for this information as it would interest me how they intend to implement it. By accurate and reliable, I mean not a tabloid newspaper.
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I have heard rumours of this aswell. They will struggle with any penalties on licences though. Italy until a few years ago didnt have them, then intoriduced them but they are the other way round to ours. You start off with 21 (IIRC) points, and lose them as you commit offences. It could be good if you want rid of points obtained on your licence over here, simply drive over there and get caught!
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>>Motoring fines, incurred abroad from over zealous officials, who see often see Brits as easy meat are
Blimmin heck, Mr Tee. They really are out to get YOU. They now have cameras which can identify Brits in Italian hire cars, and target them specifically.
Abroad: a ghastly place, don't go there, stick to Skegness or package holidays to Marbella.
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Since when is canceling a credit card fraud ?
>>
Cancelling a card knowing that a charge has been or is likely to be raised is fraud.
"Why turn a minor civil matter into a serious criminal one? A mistake was made and a fine is due. Just pay it. " There is something about this unquestioning attitude and weak acceptance of >>something that in reality is trivial and caused no problem to anyone that I don't understand.
If I go to another country I respect and obey their laws. If I break one and I'm caught it's good manners to pay the fine.
I could draw a parallel in history but that goes past the bounds of this forum and is not appropriate.
Yep, those Nazis and their congestion charging. Evil.
>>If you are now going to tell me that you have NEVER exceeded the speed limit then don't waste your time because I know that will not be true !
Not in the last 10 years or so - since my employer paid for me to receive driver training.
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The ''bill'' I got was a demand from Pisa police - if I don't pay within 60 days it goes up to 180 euros and if I don't pay that then to a court case. Various websites have lots of agrieved posts about this and Pisa is apparently the worst. Apparently Euro law means I can be chased in the UK so I will have to pay up. My post was just to warn others - If I manage to save anyone else from getting caught out and enriching Pisa police I will be happy!
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Can you get in touch and complain about the delay making this 30% more than it shold have been? No harm in trying/asking.
As I said higher up, I was fined for not paying on the toll road (but they let me drive off!) and they reduced it considerably when I explained the situation.
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Can you get in touch and complain about the delay making this 30% more than it shold have been? No harm in trying/asking. Thanks for the thought but the've got this covered in the legal small print . Exchange rate set on date they choose to send demand - however long !
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I've just received two notices from the Municipality of Pisa with request for payment of Euro 113 for each notice. After reading this thread, i can't see a good reason to pay them for something that happened 13 months ago. Is there a website that clearly shows what i should and shouldn't do? Don't they know there's a credit crunch on!!
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There are a number of websites about this if you google eg ' traffic fines in Italy'
One useful site is www.blogfromitaly.com/speeding-fines-in-italy/
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