italian parking fine

efc40

hi
this week i received a letter from debt collectors, CLI international debt collectors. On behalf of Polizia Municipale Di Sanremo

(this is the first letter of any kind that i have received over this matter)

it looks like its from Sanremo Italy about a parking fine while i was using a hire car from Avis, there is no date on the fine so i don't know when its from but the last time i was driving in Italy was September 2014. The balance of the fine is now £212 with interest, legal and collection costs added. In the letter it says "our client is already in possession of an enforceable order and to prevent prosecution in this country, you must pay the full balance due"

my question is can they prosecute me in the UK for this fine ? being that its nearly five years old and also this is the first Ive heard of it (honestly)

I was in Sanremo in 2014 but i am unaware that i parked illegally

Whats my best course of action ?

thanks

DCFC79

efc40 wrote: »

hi
this week i received a letter from debt collectors, CLI international debt collectors. On behalf of Polizia Municipale Di Sanremo

(this is the first letter of any kind that i have received over this matter)

it looks like its from Sanremo Italy about a parking fine while i was using a hire car from Avis, there is no date on the fine so i don't know when its from but the last time i was driving in Italy was September 2014. The balance of the fine is now £212 with interest, legal and collection costs added. In the letter it says "our client is already in possession of an enforceable order and to prevent prosecution in this country, you must pay the full balance due"

my question is can they prosecute me in the UK for this fine ? being that its nearly five years old and also this is the first Ive heard of it (honestly)

I was in Sanremo in 2014 but i am unaware that i parked illegally

Whats my best course of action ?

thanks

I take it it was just yourself who was driving the car and no one else ?


Maybe the Italians like to take time to do stuff. What I don't know is if there's a set time parking fines (like with speeding fines in the uk) or the letter need to be sent out.

System

They can prosecute you in Italy, in the UK it is a civil matter. I expect there's a translation issue and what they're meaning is they intend to enforce the debt in the UK which they absolutely can do.

Arklight

Italian things are very popular on the forum at the moment, aren't they?

Clive_Woody

Arklight wrote: »

Italian things are very popular on the forum at the moment, aren't they?

They do nice ice-cream.....and their pasta sauce is non too shabby either.

Mr.Generous

Write back and tell them you will be moving the car shortly.

Rangi

Just found this on Wiki. I paraphrase slightly but it says; There is also another statute of limitations, limiting the time for enforcing a penalty, to a period of time provided for by law: five years, when dealing with misdemeanours. I think after five years these sorts of thing become public record and chancers like Cli try it on. I think you're totally safe to ignore them.

Car_54

Rangi wrote: »

Just found this on Wiki. I paraphrase slightly but it says; There is also another statute of limitations, limiting the time for enforcing a penalty, to a period of time provided for by law: five years, when dealing with misdemeanours. I think after five years these sorts of thing become public record and chancers like Cli try it on. I think you're totally safe to ignore them.

I think that advice is from the US: we don’t have misdemeanours here. In any event, in the unlikely event of this coming to court in the UK it will be civil, not criminal, and the limit (AFAIK) is six years, not five.

Saniyas

Hi, could you advise what happened in regards to this as I have received something similar.

Thanks

Mutton_Geoff

It may be a ZTL fine. In Italy, many towns inc San Remo have these areas monitored by camera and it's really easy to miss the signs and get an automatic fine.


Makes no difference though. Do you intend to go back to Italy anytime?


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zona_a_traffico_limitato

Saniyas

Hi, I have no intention of going back. Incident took place in January 2017 in Milan and I ignored letters that came from Italy (one I signed for as it needed a signature and didn’t know it was from Milan Police). 4 weeks ago I received a letter from CLI saying I owe Milan Police £321.71 (including other costs) but sent me no evidence at all. 2 weeks later (ignored first letter) another letter received saying to get in touch asap and again ignored. Then on Thursday (3 days ago) another letter saying final notice. Letter says how they’ve done their checks knowing I live at current address and they have informed the creditor I have made no contact. However, they have asked me to make an initial payment and then forward a payment proposal. There is no mention of solicitor or court action as of yet.