international collection

khizman

I went to Florida on holiday in July and while there I rented a Car, on the last day I filled the tank of the car up with diesel (I know I know, the pump handle was green, which here means unleaded)
I didn't know this at the time and the rental compay replaced the car.

I thought nothing of it, today I recieved a letter from some "claims managment" company based in the USA stating I owe them $500, attached is the repair bill for the car from a Toyota dealer in Orlando. It was basically a breakdown of what was wrong with the car , costings etc etc.

Bearing in mind I am in the UK and have never lived nor intend to live in the USA, what can they realistically do? If they give it to a collection agency, will they actually be able to "collect" internationally?

OliveOyl_2

I don't know the answer to this - sorry.
But I'd be interested in what the position is.

Friends of mine when they went to the USA last year saw some people have trouble re-entering the US because there were some outstanding traffic fines on their record...... So if you plan on going back *ever* you'll need to sort it out.

davek1

not at all. a debt incurred in the states is totally unenforceable in the UK.

there are only a couple fo countries where you can enforce foriegn debts Canada being one of them ( so be thankful you weren't there)

Just write to them and tell them to do their worst. Better still just ignore them

Dave

VFR-Rider

Did you not have to leave a credit card/ details for exactly this sort of event? Are you sure that the terms you signed won't allow them to charge this card?

as OliveOyl states... if you ever want to travel to the US again then this could well be an issue...