UK DCA Chasing me for Traffic Fine in Italy!!

ItalianBrit

Hi everyone, I have received a "Notice of Collection Proceedings" from a company called Waters & Gate for the amount of just under £900. They have said that they have been instructed by The City of Pisa to recover full payment relating to traffic infringements but have not stated what they are and we have no idea either but it seems like a huge amount, even for just speeding (I cannot imagine what else it could be?)? We have never been to Pisa but I know that the City of Pisa region does stretch a long way out. We received a letter from an Italian authority back in December but it was completely illegible (looked like it had water or liquid spilled on it) and we didn't think too much of it until now!! 
My question is - does this DCA have any jurisdiction over an Italian fine in the UK? The only time we have driven in the north of Italy (we are from the south although live in the UK) was in our UK registered car so it wouldn't have been an Italian hire car (on the letter from W&G it states our UK reg number). 
Please help  - I am worried about someone knocking on my door or my credit rating being massively affected if we do not pay - so don't know if I should engage with them (and I suppose I worry that in doing so, I am then admitting liability) or ignore it? I have heard of something on another site called the 3 letter process but don't know if this is something that would work or not?!
 Any advice would be gratefully received - it is such a lot of money and I cannot understand why this would really be the first I have heard about it (surely the Italian authorities would have chased us before now if we did not respond to the aforementioned illegible letter in December?!).

pogofish

The reason you have not heard directly from Italy about it is because the Italian authorities cannot or will not take it any further and have offloaded it to a U.K. debt collector at the earliest opportunity.

So as a U.K. debt collector, post four of the Newbies Sticky covers Waters and Gate entirely, with nothing more needed to be said.

ItalianBrit

Thanks Pogofish - without wanting to sound ignorant, what is Newbies Sticky?

pogofish

The Sticky Thread that Newbies should read before posting. It’s at the very top of the board.

ItalianBrit

so sorry but I definitely did not see that and still is not appearing on my page? 

Umkomaas

In addition to reading the NEWBIES FAQ sticky (marked as 'Announcement' in a red rectangle), fourth post, simply type into the search engine (magnifying glass symbol) 'Waters & Gate' and read all the other cases reported here, none of which have materialised into anything. 

Then, get on with the rest of your life!

beamerguy

ItalianBrit said:

so sorry but I definitely did not see that and still is not appearing on my page? 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou#latest

ItalianBrit

Umkomaas said:

In addition to reading the NEWBIES FAQ sticky (marked as 'Announcement' in a red rectangle), fourth post, simply type into the search engine (magnifying glass symbol) 'Waters & Gate' and read all the other cases reported here, none of which have materialised into anything. 

Then, get on with the rest of your life!

Thanks so much :-)

Scrapit

In this case I wouldnt even read the confusing newbies thread, just ignore the letter.

Fruitcake

Reading the NEWBIES now will tell you where to come and what to do if you or anyone you know gets a scamvoice in the future from an unregulated scammer. 
Only the fourth post is relevant to your current situation, but knowing where to get help for an alleged parking event could be useful.

D_P_Dance

Try posting here,

https://www.expatexchange.com/italy/liveinitaly.html