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Traffic ticket from Italy never arrived

Posted by on

Hi, all--

We rented a car during our last trip to Italy in November 2016. In March 2017, we received a notice from Avis, from whom we rented the car, that a fine had been assessed. The letter informed us of the typical charge from Avis and that the fine itself would be explained in a communication that would come later, directly from the issuing authority.

Here's the problem: We never got anything from the authority about the fine or the infraction. I've checked my credit card statements, and the only charge related to this was the Avis processing charge. So, no ticket, no charge, no nothing.

I searched online and saw that people who don't pay can get turned over to collections (we haven't been), and also that there is a statute of limitations of 360 days on issuing traffic citations to foreigners in Italy. So I'm wondering if maybe they didn't get around to processing and sending the citation to us. Either way, is there a way for us to check whether there's an outstanding charge against us?

Thanks!

Posted by
21274 posts

Sometimes they might figure it is not worth the trouble to send you the ticket. If that is the case, count yourself lucky. I would not do a thing until you get an official notification.

Posted by
3812 posts

Did Avis told you where you were fined?
Are you still living at the same address you used to rent the car?

Posted by
16200 posts

Not all cities send those notices overseas and not all cities utilize international collection agencies. The City of Florence does, for example, but many smaller jurisdictions don’t bother with foreign residents.

Posted by
2 posts

Dario--it looks like the citation is from Ravenna. Yes, we're at the same address. I have wondered if it might have gotten lost in the mail.

We're going back to Italy in November, so I'm just curious if it will come up then.

Thanks for your replies, all.

Posted by
4535 posts

You won't be placed on some immigration watch list for your next visit, even if you hadn't paid the ticket.

Given the amount of time exceeds their allowed limit, it seem they just dropped it figuring it wasn't worth it to them to follow up on someone outside the EU.

Posted by
1321 posts

We had the same experience. We were in Italy September 2017 sometime later that year I received the notice and bill for the "processing" and was told that the ticket would be mailed out to the address on file. I even inquired a few times when the ticket never showed up. They did tell me it was speeding ticket from some small town I don't even remember driving through. Anyway, I stopped worrying about it and I hope it's just because that small town isn't interested in mailing out the ticket.

Posted by
7272 posts

Same thing happened to me in Germany. Had to pay Avis its administrative fee, but never heard from the municipality.

Posted by
11673 posts

Our ticket arrived a long time after the rental car company alerted us and charged us a fee, many months. It was difficult to pay it as well as they didn't give us the correct number to transfer funds. Don’t worry about it.

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