Italian driving offence - can they chase it here?

trentsc

During a chat with a friend today, he mentioned that he'd received three letters from the municipal police in Italy regarding driving his hire in a controlled zone in Pisa last year, and demanding 120 Euros for each of the three offences, alongside the "if you don't pay within 21 days it goes up to 198 Euros" threat.

My friend is minded to ignore them, on the basis that he lives in the UK and rarely travels abroad, and, as he puts it, "what can they do from over there".

Is this enforceable in England? Can they do anything from over there? Does anyone have any experience of parking/driving offences in Italy being chased here in the UK?

Many thanks in advance,

Trent

worried_jim

I can't see Italian court bailiffs turning up in the UK so I would just ignore. The UK doesn't collect from overseas residents so why should Italy.

s_b

I would be very careful if i was friend ignoring these fines

scotsbob

If the fines are for parking, or under 70 Euros, then they are unlikely to be enforced.
If they are for offences other than parking they will be enforeced with UK co-operation.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1216665/Holidaymakers-pay-EU-speeding-fines-home-UK.html

lovesgshp

I would tend to pay the fines, especially as they have found ways of getting around the DVLA etc.

Worth reading this article in full!!!
http://www.bella-toscana.com/traffic_violations_italy.htm

Trebor16

I'm surprised the hire car company haven't paid them and added them to his credit card statement, along with an admin charge.

hartcjhart

trentsc wrote: »

During a chat with a friend today, he mentioned that he'd received three letters from the municipal police in Italy regarding driving his hire in a controlled zone in Pisa last year, and demanding 120 Euros for each of the three offences, alongside the "if you don't pay within 21 days it goes up to 198 Euros" threat.

My friend is minded to ignore them, on the basis that he lives in the UK and rarely travels abroad, and, as he puts it, "what can they do from over there".

Is this enforceable in England? Can they do anything from over there? Does anyone have any experience of parking/driving offences in Italy being chased here in the UK?

Many thanks in advance,

Trent

Yes,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

pogofish

IIRC, its a UK debt collector who is issuing these demands on behalf of/bought off of the Italian authorities - There is some discussion on Pepipoo about them and a few more general press articles if you search.

There was also something on the company concerned issuing their demands on UK-style NTO-like forms, which raised quite a few eyebrows about enforceability.

My take on it was that you can almost certainly ignore these in the UK but if planning to return to Italy anytime soon, you could possibly be pursued for them.

mchale

I got flashed by a speed camera in Italy about 5 yrs ago, got a letter asking for payment of fine, ignored it and never heard any more about it.