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mackinla
By mackinla | AA Member | 1 Post | 14 March 2012 at 9:27pm

We hired a rental car in Italy and on picking up the vehicle we travelled with the GPS thru areas which were forbiden to traffic and not being able to understand the language or the signs we were photographed and given infringements notices and were totally oblivious. The rental car company took the money out of our credit card without our signature or permission and we thought we had paid for the fines as it was a considerable amount. Now the italian police are sending us infringement notices that these fines have not been paid. the rental company has no rec ords of our charges. We have documents of the charges by the rental company plus our credit card statements, what do we do next. we would like to go back to Italy but are worried that the police would have our file . We have already paid out 2 lots of NZ$117 ie $234 to the rental company, and the italian police want 4 lots more of about EURO113 for each of the 4 offences. Where do we stand, would you have any idea? thanks.

ABayliss
By ABayliss | AA Expert | 2169 Posts | 15 March 2012 at 4:58pm

If the rental car company has charged your credit card, are you sure it is for the infringements, or is it for some other reason? (We often hear of rental companies charging for damage noticed at a later date).
If it does relate to the infringements, while it would have been preferable for you deal directly with the Italian authorities rather than the rental car company, as the company has already charged your credit card, and assuming your bank is unable to overturn the charges (which is worth asking your bank about), the rental car company is already involved, so they need to pay the fines that relate to the credit card deductions.
Speak to (or email) the rental company insisting that they pay the police fines they have charged you for and also request that they don't pay the other two fines, as it's best for you to deal with them.
Next, (assuming you can sort that mess out), pay the other two fines along with a letter explaining that the rental car company has paid the other two fines on your behalf.
Obviously, if your bank is able to overturn the charges, the advice is for you to deal with the authorities and pay all the fines yourself.
It's unfortunate that the rental company didn't just give your details to the authorities for you to deal with the matter, as it's their involvement which has complicated this matter.