Free Traffic Legal Advice

I recently received a letter from a debt collection agency in North Shields demanding payment of £335.10 relating to a traffic infringement with their client, The City of Modena in Italy. The letter had an incorrect house number on it, but it arrived anyway.

I contacted this company to tell them that I had not been in Modena for more than two years, and they could not explain. A copy of a traffic infringement from 15 February 2023 was sent to me. This document requires a fine of EUR 67.90 to be paid within 5 days, EUR 92.80 within 60 days or EUR 175.80 thereafter.

It would be surprising for an incorrectly addressed letter not to reach me. On that same Italian trip I had two other penalties (I think their roads are rigged) and both reached me in good time.

The agency said that as I had not received the original notification, they would not charge £335.10, but I could settle for £140.

I replied that this was unfair and I have offered £55 - this being the amount that I would have paid had I been notified in time.

I am now being told that the agency does not own the debt and has no leeway. Their client will only accept £140; if I pay less, they will commence proceedings to recover the balance.

I'm happy to pay £55.

Any advice or suggestions are very welcome.

Thank you.

Commence proceedings for what? What cause of action?

In any case, unless they’re lawyers, they can’t commence any proceedings for their client.

"collection proceedings".

Quote from: straight on April 10, 2025, 11:59:32 am

I recently received a letter from a debt collection agency in North Shields demanding payment of £335.10 relating to a traffic infringement with their client, The City of Modena in Italy. The letter had an incorrect house number on it, but it arrived anyway.

I contacted this company to tell them that I had not been in Modena for more than two years, and they could not explain. A copy of a traffic infringement from 15 February 2023 was sent to me. This document requires a fine of EUR 67.90 to be paid within 5 days, EUR 92.80 within 60 days or EUR 175.80 thereafter.

It would be surprising for an incorrectly addressed letter not to reach me. On that same Italian trip I had two other penalties (I think their roads are rigged) and both reached me in good time.

The agency said that as I had not received the original notification, they would not charge £335.10, but I could settle for £140.

I replied that this was unfair and I have offered £55 - this being the amount that I would have paid had I been notified in time.

I am now being told that the agency does not own the debt and has no leeway. Their client will only accept £140; if I pay less, they will commence proceedings to recover the balance.

I'm happy to pay £55.

Any advice or suggestions are very welcome.

Thank you.

A debt collection agency cannot take any action in the UK to recover a penalty on behalf a foreign authority.

Since Brexit there is no provision for EU authorities to obtain keepers details from DVLA and therefore yours have been obtained unlawfully.  Companies doing this are being investigated so ignore any correspondence.

Details were obtained from the car hire company. As mentioned before, the address was incorrect.

Is the hire company based in the UK or abroad? See notes above. Your details have been illegally obtained. Collection action usually means sending endless threatening letters until you pay up, which many unfortunately do.

Hire company is based in Italy.

Is the hire company based in the UK or abroad? See notes above. Your details have been illegally obtained. Collection action usually means sending endless threatening letters until you pay up, which many unfortunately do.

I'm not so sure, if the car hire company took a copy of OPs driving licence, then those details may just have rolled downhill with the penalty (and then sale of said penalty to the debt collectors). That would tie in with an incorrect house number if it were a poor photocopy.

Quote from: Southpaw82 on April 10, 2025, 12:05:50 pm

Commence proceedings for what? What cause of action?

In any case, unless they’re lawyers, they can’t commence any proceedings for their client.

"collection proceedings".

That’s not a cause of action.