The Italians are after me for a two year old driving ticket I thought I paid, what do I do?

March 6, 2017 1:03 PM

The Italians are after me for a two year old driving ticket I thought I paid, what do I do?

In May 2015, I went to Italy for three weeks. Rented a car and drove everywhere. I put things into Google Maps and just followed where it told me to go. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that Google Maps don't care about of the limited driving rules for Centro Storico (old city) centers and directed me right through them. After finally noticing the signs I figured this out somewhat quickly and talked to a number of locals and police about it, they said I probably got a photo ticket but that they were reasonably priced so not to worry. I tried not to do it again.

I got one ticket through the rental car company and talked to them about how to pay it. I thought I handled everything I needed to. It was pretty easy and everybody was nice.

Then about six months ago I started getting these odd documents in Italian that made no sense to me. I took it to a friend who speaks italian and they said it was for some kind of ticket but that it didn't seem to say how much I owed or what I did wrong. It was confusing.

Suddenly today I get a call from an American collection agent saying they are calling because I have to pay them 350 Euros for a sign I didn't see in a remote Italian principality back in 2015 or I will be sorry. They said that the original fee was 130 Euros (The ticket I remember paying was only 40, so I have no clue what this ticket is!) and the rest is fees and that it will continue to double and if I refuse to pay they will send it to their lawyers and proceed.

They are naming the time and place of my vacation accurately and I *KNOW* I did make some driving mistakes in Italy. I'm happy to take responsibility for that, but coming at me two years later it feels like extortion. I don't HAVE the money right now, and I'm angry that I'm being threatened over this now when I would've happily paid it two years ago.

What should I do? Have you been in this situation? I'm tempted to offer to pay the principal of the ticket and then fight the fees... but what happens then? What can a principality in Italy do to ruin my life over a ticket? Anything? Nothing? Should I be laughing or crying here?

Over 40 million people go to Italy on vacation every year and get these tickets, I know I can't be special here. It's an insane experience that's making me less wistful to return, though... :/

Helllp.

posted by miss lynnster to Travel & Transportation around Italy (6 answers total)

Collection agency? Ha. They can't do crap. They bought the debt (if it even exists -- I wouldn't be surprised if they just troll the rolls of traffic tickets for Americans and then bet that some people will just pay it). Tell them you need more evidence of the initial charge. They'll write it off because they'll spend more than 350 Euros trying to get the money from you.
posted by Etrigan at 1:10 PM on March 6, 2017 [2 favorites]

If it's an American company handling the debt collection, they're required to send, in writing, proof of the debt. See this oft-linked answer from scody with details.

Agreed that this sounds awfully fishy though. IANAL, but it seems like this wouldn't be enforceable outside of Italian jurisdiction anyway.
posted by Aleyn at 1:21 PM on March 6, 2017 [4 favorites]

Check your credit reports for a while-- if this ticket doesn't show up I'd ignore the calls and letters. (That's not advice, it's just literally what I would do.) The calls and letters are designed to make you feel trapped and guilty so you pay them something, anything, whether or not true debt is legit, their practices are legit, or they can even prove a word they're claiming.

Again, not advice but experience: if you engage with them in any way other than written request for verification they will never go away. They'll be like, we got a live one! Jackpot!

Did you google the agency? The internet is full of folks exposing agencies' practices but these agencies change their names often so they can be difficult to trace (gee, wonder why.)
posted by kapers at 7:10 PM on March 6, 2017

This hasn't happened to me but I have family in Italy and it is true that the bureaucracy is so bad that traffic violations sometimes don't show up in the mail until a year later. I would contact the American company asking for proof of the debt AND the Italian National Tourist Board in the city closest to yours. The tourist board won't advocate for you but they'll at least be able to tell you if what you received is legit and the consequences if you don't pay it.
posted by blackcatcuriouser at 7:50 PM on March 6, 2017

I have a hard time seeing how this would affect your life in any way should you choose to ignore this entirely.
posted by danny the boy at 11:24 PM on March 6, 2017 [1 favorite]

Scammy scammy scam scam. Ignore with extreme prejudice.
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 6:29 AM on March 7, 2017