JuliaVitkova

hi all, i would like to ask you if anyone has an experience with getting a parking ticket in Italy. we did not get it directly, but now, 3 weeks after coming home, we received an email from a car rent company (Locauto), that there is a parking ticket which the police is sending directly to our address and they (Locauto) already withdraw 48,8 EUR for administration fees from our debit card.
could they do it? how come the police did not leave the ticket behing the windscreen wipers? how do they prove our malparking?
Thanks a lot for any help

jamikins

I don't know how parking tickets are issued in Italy but in your car rental contract there will be a term that states they can charge you a fee for providing your address to the authorities.

Rubicund

There are many threads on here on this subject and yes, the rental company are obliged to pass your details on to the authorities and charge you for the pleasure.

When you get the ticket, you have several choices:

Ignore it--You may then get chased by debt collectors for the money
Pay it if you know you were in the wrong
Contest it if you don't think you were wrong

They may send you a picture of the offending parking.

Whathello

Differetn countries, different ways.
I do check for fees from rentals - 48€ is huge, I usually get 25€, and yes they could take it from my cc, it is written in their contract.

Ticket from the authorities come (much) later but it is very easy : they give you a site and you can pay by cc.
I have a tendandcy too believe police officiers : they are usually sworn in. But you can always dispute charges. They might even invite you to a tribunal session.

Next time pay attention to where you park.

Mimar

Often these tickets are generated by a photograph, not by police walking around ticketing cars. From the photograph they can get the license and go to the car rental company to identify who had rented the car on that date.

In Italy it's often generated by an incursion into a ZTL (zona traffic limitato), where only locals are allowed to drive. The historic centers of Italian towns are often ZTLs -- to keep them historic. As a general rule, when driving in Italy, stay out of the center of town. Park on the outskirts and walk in.

Whathello

Op said parking.

Christina

that's true, in the US, there are tons of photo driving violations where I live, also. Not for parking as we don't have that many restricted zones, but I think in Italy that also do that by photo camera, as you need a special sticker or something to park in ZTLs.

With photo violations, there is no person to stick tickets under your windshield.

https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.co...with-ztl-zones

you're guilty, I'm sure, if you drive in a foreign city, you need to find out what signs mean and the rules. It's a lesson.

I don't think that fee is unusual, I think Europcar charges about that. In the US, they do the same thing, in fact, some car companies in the US have in the agreement that they'll just pay the ticket and charge you, which is sort of convenient.

bvlenci

The fact that there was no ticket on the windshield (which has always been the case when I've got a parking ticket in Italy) makes me believe that it was rather: 1) a ZTL violation; 2) traveling in a bus lane; or 3) a speeding ticket. These are produced by cameras, and sent to the offender at home, after the rental company has provided the address, for a fee. The actual ticket may arrive months later. Italian municipal authorities now use US collection agencies if the ticket doesn't get paid.

kybourbon

>>>received an email from a car rent company (Locauto), that there is a parking ticket which the police is sending directly to our address<<
>>> Op said parking.<<<

Did the rental company actually say parking ticket? Like bvlenci, I would think it was a violation triggered by camera.

Even in the US there is a fee in the rental contracts about having to provide your info to the police if they request it. Yes, the rental companies charge your credit card that fee. Get your contract out and you will find it in the small print (people never read the small print). The actual ticket you will owe to the police will probably be $100-200.

5alive

The ZTL is a good guess.

I'm not sure Italy will accommodate you on this, but here is my general advice on photo-camera tickets. Ask to see a copy of the photo. They should be able to email it to you. Here's why:

We were visiting in Southern California and received a photo red light ticket for Los Angeles.

We immediately noticed two things in the photo: The date/time stamp was for a week after we had flown home. The driver was a man we did not know.

It was the guy who rented the car after us. The rental company employee keyed in the wrong date.

Ticket is probably yours... but worth asking the question.

parnikolareas

I just receive 8 mails for the same reason (Locauto, Italy, 8 traffic fine). Locauto withdraw 8x48,8 = 390euros from my card in the same second!!!

I didnot see policeman. I didnt had ticket on my glass. Its impossible to follow me the police camera for 8 times.
I think that Locauto just know the position of the car from GPS and can identify the violation.
Locauto takes the money but there is no payment request from the authorities!
Please inform me:
Have you receive (after the mail of Locauto) payment request from some autority? (Police or municipality).

Traveler_Nick

Are you sure you got a parking ticket?

Ztl,bus lane,speeding,red light running are all handled by cameras these days.

bilboburgler

If the rental company has hit you with a bill, then you have yet to receive the Italian Government's bill.

8 in a row, easy.

J62

After a recent trip to Italy I got an email ticket from the city of Florence for speeding about 1mo after the trip. A week later I got a charge from Hertz.

Where did you drive in Italy?
What speed were you traveling? If you exceeded the posted speed limit then it is very possible that you went past 8 speed cameras in a row.

janisj

Since the OP specifically mentions a parking ticket, I assume you are addressing the OP - right? Well - she posted one time ever and that was more than 2 years ago . . .

Traveler_Nick

No I was addressing parnikolareas who just received eight tickets

parnikolareas

I received from the LOCAUTO company 8 mails and in the same second they withdraw 8x 48,8 EUR from my card
for administrator fees. (To send my personal details in the authorities).
I think that is anti-tourist policy from this company.
I dont know nothing about the kind of violation. Just day,time and city. We went to 4 cities. I have 2 or 3 violation
in every city. (Milan,Verona,Venecia and Bologna). In Bologna the violation are 3 with differential time 10 min.
(Maybe I had stopped the car with alarm on. I was near the center but there where other cars in the same way)

I ask JuliaVitkova: After the mail of LOCAUTO, did you received payment request from the authorities with the details of violations?

Traveler_Nick

Bologna might be a ZTL issue. Or it could be anything really

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/vi...999999958&z=13

Did you travel in those areas?

Same idea for Verona and Venice (I assume Mestre)

Milan is going to be something else. Could be bus lane or speeding or running a red light

J62

JuliaVitkova is not going to reply. She posted one time, and only one time over two years ago in 2017. Has not been back on fodors since then.

StCirq

You're not going to hear back from Julia. But you are going to hear from the Italian authorities. It might take months, but you will hear from them, and if you don't pay the fines you may face future consequences trying to rent a car in Italy.