Transaction dispute

Hooloovoo

Robisere wrote: »

In the event of a speeding (or other) traffic violation in the UK, a Notice of Prosecution is issued. This contains the information necessary for the offender to attend court and submit a defence, should he/she wish to do so. That is the root and branch of justice and the law in England and Wales. You will have the option within that step, to view the evidence, in the case of a speeding offence that will be a photograph or photographs.

If the offender admits to the charge and wishes to enter a Guilty plea, the form within the Notice of Prosecution is used to complete details and send to the Constabulary address, in order to affirm this.

In the case of an alleged similar offence committed abroad and communicated to the alleged offender simply as a charge, without details of the alleged offence, this process is bypassed. I maintain that this is contrary to law. It may in itself be an offence. If it happened to me, you can be damned certain that I would fight it.

This is exactly how it happens abroad, too. As I said before the charge from the rental agency is just their admin fee for handling the paperwork, not the payment of the fine itself.

Here is what happened to me when I was snapped by an Australian camera:

1. The camera takes your photo. Same as the UK.

2. The government look up the details of the registered keeper of the vehicle and send them the notice of intended prosecution. Same as the UK.

3. The rental agency say "nothing to do with us" and fill in your details as the driver of the vehicle. Same as you are asked to do in the UK. The rental agency charge around £20 to £25 for handling this paperwork. They do not just plead guilty, pay the fine on your behalf, and then bill you.

4. The government, after determining the details they have been given relate to a foreigner, may or may not choose to write to you sending you the NIP. It depends on the seriousness of the violation.

Usually the first you know about the problem is at point 3 when the rental agency charge you the handling fee. You then can look forward to several weeks of worry regarding whether the NIP is going to fall through your letterbox or not. Assuming that the NIP arrives, you then have the choice of paying the fine or disputing the violation, just the same as with an offence back home. If nothing arrives, then it's safe to assume the government in question can't be bothered pursuing a foreigner and have dropped the case.

For Australia, if you get caught speeding expect to eventually receive the NIP when you get home. On the other hand, if you don't pay your online toll road charges, they'll probably let it drop rather than attempt to recover a few dollars.

I guess if I hadn't paid the fine nothing would have happened until I attempted to enter Australia again, at which point I would have been arrested by the border police. Since I do intend to return to Australia, I decided to pay the fine rather than forget about it.

Since the OP has been billed £75 - there is every chance he could be waiting for three traffic violations to arrive. Lucky him!

dic-w

SuperHan wrote: »

Have you contacted Budget to ask why they have charged you?

Maybe a bill was sent and you just haven't received it yet. Maybe it was in the T&C a bill would only be provided on request. It would make more sense to me to try and rectify the reason for the charge with Budget themselves, especially considering that the CC have determined it a legitimate charge...

I have tried emailing Budget but no reply. Once I get the info from my cc I will phone Budget. FYI its a mastercard.

meer53

Just call Budget head office in the UK.