Toll charge penalty - Italy

Roobi32

Hi,
Whilst in Italy last week we had some confusion at the first toll we came to, the barrier was up and all the cars in front of us were just driving through it, so we did too. At the next toll it asked us to insert a ticket (the one we now realise we should have collected from the machine as we passed through the first toll!) In the absence of a ticket we pressed the 'assistance' button where we were issued a toll charge payment request of around €68, presumably the maximum charge applicable because we did not have a ticket to prove we'd only travelled a short distance - (the cost for that journey should have only been €3.80 we later found out, as we made the journey several times after that).

Does anyone know if this charge can be challenged? We have to pay online using the charge notice issued to us at the machine. I have since read stories that whilst at the toll booth in question you can ask the toll assistant to check the cameras to prove where you came from, and that they can do this quite easily if you give them the location and time, however of course we did not know that at the time plus our poor Italian would not have allowed us to have such a conversation anyway. We had no opportunity over the next few days to query it, as we came across no actual people at any of the toll booths, only automated machines.

There is an extra admin charge if you don't pay within 15 days so we will have to pay soon, but I just wondered first if anyone had any similar experience and was successfully able to challenge the charge by proving they had not travelled the distance they'd been billed for?

Lesson learnt of course but if anyone has any advice or suggestions for challenging this cost remotely (we're now back in the UK), I'd be grateful! Thank you

Johno100

Hire car? Your vehicle? Are you intending to return to Italy any time soon?

Roobi32

Hi, it was a hire car. My friend is highly likely to return to Italy soon as it's her favourite place, and her details are registered with the car hire place too.

macman

You failed to present a valid ticket for your journey. On what basis do you seek to challenge that fine? I don't think pleading 'poor Italian' is going to work...

Roobi32

On the basis that the charge covers a journey/distance we didn't take. The fine is not a penalty for not having a ticket, it is a toll charge for the maximum distance possible because without the ticket showing you only travelled up the road, they have to assume you just came from the furthest away point - just like they would on the trains in the UK. I get that entirely. My question is whether anyone knows if it's possible to challenge the full charge by proving you did not travel the distance they are charging you for.

I mentioned nothing about trying to get out of paying the charge because of speaking 'poor Italian'. I was stating that had the opportunity come about at the time to explain what had happened, I don't think my Italian would have got me very far in communicating this effectively.

AdrianC

Roobi32 wrote: »

On the basis that the charge covers a journey/distance we didn't take.

You can't prove what journey you took, because you didn't collect a ticket at the point of entry.

The fine is not a penalty for not having a ticket

Yes, it is.

it is a toll charge for the maximum distance possible because without the ticket showing you only travelled up the road, they have to assume you just came from the furthest away point

Yup. Because without doing so, anybody doing the full distance would just bin their ticket and smile sweetly, "But I just joined at the last junction. Silly me!"

just like they would on the trains in the UK. I get that entirely.

Great.

Roobi32

Ah bless you, it's sweet that you're so passionate!

So the answer to my question as far as you are aware, is 'no - there is no other way to prove what route/distance you travelled (this can only be done by having collected the ticket at the starting toll), and so the charge has to be paid'. That answer will do, I expected it to be the case. It was only that on another forum site (from a few years ago, that is now inactive) someone had quoted the autostrade.it website as saying: "If a customer reaches the exit toll station without an entrance toll ticket, the toll to pay is calculated from the furthest toll station. However, the customer has the right to provide proof of the actual toll station he entered the motorway and to pay the correct toll." Several people had then commented to say they had emailed Autostrade in a similar situation and had the charge amended to reflect their actual journey. I was interested in whether anyone had a more recent experience of this working, and whether it was therefore worth pursuing or not.

CardinalWolsey

Did you make any purchases just off the motorway prior to joining it - i.e. anything that will demonstrate where you were at a particular time, e.g. a receipt for fuel. How about looking at your Google Maps Timeline (if you allow them to collect your location)?

Roobi32

Hi, thank you. That's a good point, we may well have stopped at a petrol station that morning. I will check with my friend and see if we have any receipts between us. Yes I had wondered about Google Maps timeline, but I think I assumed they wouldn't consider it acceptable 'evidence', but I suppose if we had a few smaller items of evidence that altogether made a good case for us not having travelled the distance charged for, they might accept it.