I have disputed a charge from Avis Budget for an alleged traffic violation while my wife and I were vacationing in Volterra, Italy in April 2019. Supposeably, the violation was issued by Volterra – Polizia Municipale . I did visit Volterra, but I was not issued a traffic citation.
I did not violate any law, didn't receive notification and think of no reason for claim. We have visited Italy several times and even parked in a city provided parking garage, which you paid attendant as you left garage so it can not even be a parking ticket.
Avis Budget direct me to Volterra – Polizia Municipale for questions about the validity of the fine or charge. Calling doesn't work because of language barrier and I have tried several email addresses found on this forum and web but they reject
[email protected]
[email protected]
Does anyone know their email address?
Posted by
11569 posts
We parked in a garage a little down the hill from the main part of the town in Volterra, on the right side of the road as you driving up. Is that the one you parked in? Or perhaps you passed through a ZTL unawares while driving to a different parking garage. That happened to us in Perugia when we overshoot the garage entrance and had to turn around to access it. It was an expensive few feet.
Usually you get a fee from the car rental company for handling this first ,followed by the actual ticket from the Italian police. Some tickets came almost a year after the trip.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33819 posts
The charge from Avis Budget is unlikely to be the actual ticket. This is frequently discussed here as you will have seen as you hunted around. Welcome aboard.
As you will have seen, there are very few interactions with people when you break a traffic law in Italy - it is almost always impartially camera controlled. The cameras, near or after signs for bus-lanes, ZTLs, and other places that passenger cars are not permitted to drive take a photo, or several photos depending on what they are for, of the number plate and the driver of the car. The system logs the location and the exact time, and then the police determine if a violation was committed. Then they write to the owner of the car to collect the money owed.
In the case of a rental car they write to the rental company to get the name and address of the drivers. This is provided by the rental company and then the rental company charges the renter the amount specified in the contract they signed. It is usually around 40€ or 50€ for them to provide that information.
Is that about the amount you have been charged? If so, that is only the first shot across the bows. If you committed several offences you will be charged for providing your information for each offence. It is unlikely your dispute with the credit card will succeed because you agreed to the charge in the contract.
The actual ticket will come later, from the police or their agent. If you pay it promptly it won't go up. If you don't it will.
They have just about a year to send you the ticket after they find out who you are.
Does that sound like what is happening?
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11875 posts
Did you try this one--
E-mail: [email protected]
Posted by
Dublin, CA
12 posts
We had this exact thing happen to us 4 years ago in Volterra. We didn't realize we got the violation either. We drove down a street that was restricted for through traffic at the time. We didn't find out for 11 months until a ticket came in the mail. I asked the Rick Steve's travel forum users for help. The response I got that was most helpful is below.
That's the IBAN and international Swift code.
Banks usually do not need anything else to send and receive money. Is Western Union a real bank?
Try "Tesoriere Comune di Volterra" if the swift code you received is IT35S0637071221000010078198 CRV OIT 3V. "Comando polizia municipale Volterra" if the code is IT91Y0637071221000018000000 CRVOIT3VXXX .
If none of them works write to: [email protected] (local police) AND [email protected] (mayor).
You'd better write an Italian sentence in the subject field, something like: "Informazioni per pagamento multa. Intestatario conto corrente?"
The email communication to the police/mayor was most helpful as they gave me the appropriate wire information to pay the fine.
Best of luck!
Kim
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17418 posts
You were not issued a traffic citation at the time, because it is all done by cameras, as Nigel explains. You do not get pulled over and stopped by a policeman who writes out a ticket.
You may believe you did not violate any law, but it is very easy to so so without realizing it if you are not careful and do not understand the signage.. It may be that you inadvertently drove into a ZTL ( zone of limited traffic) or possibly drove in a bus lane without understanding the markings on the road. Or maybe drove slightly over the speed limit at some point.
You will most likely receive an actual ticket which will explain the violation. The charge from Avis was an administrative fee for providing your name and address to the municipal police. You actually consented to this charge when you signed the car rental contract, which you probably did not read in its entirety ( no one does).