A vacation with expensive consequences: Anyone who was in Italy by car could still receive unpleasant debt collection mail. However, it can also be prevented.
Munich – Anyone who goes on holiday abroad by car should better know the different toll rules in the different countries. In the case of Italy, such rules cause both astonishment and horror among holidaymakers every year. Because debt collection mail may come from Bella Italia – even years after the trip.
According to this, they end up in Germans’ mailboxes ADAC Year after year there are numerous additional demands for the use of Italian motorways. A prominent sender is often the Italian debt collection agency “Nivi SpA”. His civil law claims should only become statute-barred after a whopping ten years.
ADAC warns of the classic toll traps on Italian motorways
Those affected quickly ask themselves: “What did I do wrong?” It’s about unpaid tolls, which, according to ADAC, can arise like this:
- – An error during the card payment Using a bank card or a so-called Viacard, a card used to pay toll fees, could prevent the fees from being paid. Nevertheless, the barriers will be opened to visitors to Italy. They only receive a receipt at the push of a button. It says “Mancato pagamento” in Italian, which means “not paid”.
- – Before driving on the Italian motorway, one could Broken toll station machine prevent a toll card from being drawn. Nevertheless, increased fees would apply if the distance traveled could no longer be verified.
- – If the toll staff goes on strike, it could also be the case Barriers simply open and drivers are waved through. Even in this case, the fees still have to be paid subsequently.
- – Caution also applies to the so-called “Telepass Trail”: This is often accidentally used by foreign guests, although it is primarily intended for Italian drivers with a special license plate. Your fees would be billed automatically, so there would be no toll booth on this lane.
- – Italian motorways, which have no toll station at all, would also cause problems again and again Fees collected electronically become. Direct payment on site is not an option for guests of the country.
So what do you do if there are problems at a toll station? The ADAC recommends that you find out about fees later at service stations of the “Punto Blu” motorway company and pay them if necessary. They can be found at larger rest stops. You can also pay directly to the motorway company within 15 days. It’s better to pay the fees before the mail from the debt collection office arrives at home.
Don’t ignore additional demands from Italy – keep receipts for the toll
The ADAC also reports cases where the toll has already been paid, but payment requests from debt collection companies still end up in the mailbox. It is therefore always advisable to keep all payment receipts from your vacation in Italy. They serve as evidence in a debt collection case. If there are no more, it is important to provide a credible explanation, if possible with witnesses, that and how payment was made.
If you now believe that ignoring such letters can help, the ADAC warns you that you should expect further mail, including from German debt collection companies. Then even higher costs could be enforced.
In general, it is also worth finding out about traffic rules in Italy. They can differ from ours and can also result in high costs due to harsh penalties. Nobody needs that after a relaxing vacation. (zy)
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