Speeding Fine

 

Does anyone know, if you get a speeding fine, in Spain in a hire car and they track you down, via the car registraton and then

the car hire company.  If you only have a holiday home in Spain and are a non-resident, do you still need to pay the fine??

As they don't actually have your spanish address, how can they track you down??

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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/19/2007.

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Hi Anna

I can't answer your questions I'm afraid, but I'm very interested in any replies.  I have recently received such a fine.  I thought it was a hoax and am still unsure.  It was sent registered post but was a photocopied document and didn't look authentic at all.  It seems that my address was found via the car hire company,  using the registration of the hire car ( from July last year).  I've sent a copy to a Spanish friend ( as my Spanish is not too good) who is none the wiser about its authenticity.  There is no telephone or email contact given to check out the validity of the fine.  There is an address, but it's not possible to pay the fine because it doesn't say who to send it to.  How do we send a cheque or postal order to an unknown person or department?

I'm flying out again very soon and hiring a car.  I have no idea if the 'fine' is legal or not.  I am concerned that if it is real, I may be prevented from hiring a car as it hasn't been paid.  Any info would be a great help.

Thanks, Jane.

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Jane, your case sounds very strange to me, maybe there's a new scam going on that we all need to know about?

Anna, I have not rented a car in Spain for many years, so I can't give a definitive answer, BUT; on a recent trip to UK I rented a car, and the contract made it very clear that any parking, speeding fines etc. received by the rental company corresponding to the time that I was responsible for that car, would be automatically charged to my credit card. I would be extremely surprised if it is any different here in Spain, or for that matter, anywhere else in the world. Even if you pay for the rental in cash, surely all car rental companies these days require a credit card number to reserve, and as a security deposit?

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I just knew I had read about this scam some time back.

Have a look at these links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_3559000/3559134.stm

http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=28962&seen=1

I think that ALL speeding or road fines in Spain are done "on the spot" as Jaensis says.

I have heard of this happening to someone who lives in Spain but is British.

She gets stopped all the time now by the local Policia, they even invited her to "pay in kind" once!

Nice.............

This message was last edited by FibbyUK on 2/6/2007.

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They send the fine to the registered address on the credit card that you used to book the car. The fine is in English and in Spanish and they increase the fine if you do not pay. Beware.

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Hi folks, as usual thanks for the speedy responses.

Yes, they car hire company does have my address, not only from the registered address of my credit card, but also from my registration with them and from my driving licence.  The document says the fine will increase from 70 euros to 100 if not paid within 30 days - but - how do you pay???   If it's authentic - why not debit the credit card?  Why a photocopy document with no contact details?

Thanks for the link Fibby -i've printed the details and will try to find out from the contacts given there. 

It couldn't be a spot fine - it says I was doing X in an X limit, so must've been a camera - if at all. 

Any ideas if I'll be stopped hiring if it is authentic and hasn't been paid?

thanks again,  Jane

 

 

 

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It's a SCAM, check my posting below!

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Not necessarily a scam Fibs - they got cameras here too now unmarked mobile cars and static - thanks for the initiative GB - if they cannot stop you on the road - ie if you leave the autopista or something and go off in another direction then a trafico car would not be able to flag you down and deal with the fine. However my suggestion would be to contact the hire company direct and ask them what they know about it. certainly the details of who had the car will have been given to the police if an offence was recorded and that will be how they have tracked you down. There should be a record with the hire company that police have contacted them. If you are not sure about the payment then wait until you return to Spain for the sake of 30 Euros I guess its a risk worth taking - I suspect they wont clap you in irons at passport control on the way in. If you decide to pay it do so by credit card and then you can claim it back from the provider if it proves fraudulent - think thats the case anyway but you might need to check with your provider. 

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One hears of so many traffic scams in Spain that it is quite worrying.  Perhaps the most concerning are reports of criminals dressed up as police in marked cars stopping tourists and giving out 'on the spot' fines, or worse.  How prevalent is this?  In the UK the Government fleeces us at every opportunity anyway, so being stung by some other criminal organisation may not be as bad as we think.

Interesting to think that they might record your fine and get you at the border.  In the UK, my son lives in the middle of a city and doesn't have a car, so decided to rent one recently for a trip having not driven for some time.  200 yds down the road he was caught doing 35mph in a 30 mph limit and fined.  However the police sent the fine to the car hire company who took 3 weeks to pass it on and lost him the opportunity to pay £40 for early settlement which by then cost him £80!  Not only that, to avoid 3 points on his license he has to take a day off work and pay a further £75 for a 'speeding retraining course' in the next town (a £10 train journey away).

In the USA they record any traffic transgressions of foreigners on their immigration record and threaten to stop you entering on your next visit if you don't pay the fine immediately.

In our local paper today, it is reported that our city council don't chase foreign motorists for fines as it might discourage them from from coming again!  Where is the assylum?

Anyway it seems that wherever you live these days they are out to get you, although here we seem to let foreigners off whereas in Spain they target them.

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Dont let them claim on the social immediately off the boat either here. Quite refreshing really!

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True and very laudable too, although I was actually referring to tourists.  However, I was not being critical, just contrasting different approaches.

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Hi folks, just back from a very quick 24 hr trip to Spain.  Thought I'd better tell you the fine was real.  I wasn't stopped hiring a car but thought I'd check out the fine whilst there - yep - had to pay 100 euros through the post office - now have official receipt.  Beware - they'll find you !!

Jane

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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/19/2007.

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Thanks Janice - yes, I was thrilled!

but there is an upside - I noticed a real difference in the driving standards on many roads. Much less driving in each other's boots and mostly keeping tp speeding limits - never seen before!!

Jane

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Crikey, reading all this lot, maybe I was wrong about the Scam, but I did read it in the papers.

Obviously a scam has operated at some time, so I will be alert from now on!

thanks,

 

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It has been reported in the British press that EU countries are allowed, and encouraged, to chase up traffic fines in member states.  DVLA and equivalents have been ordered to provide details of drivers to countries requesting such information.  It has also been reported that the UK will provide the information freely but doesn't actively pursue foreign drivers because of the lack of co-operation from other countries.  Same old story by the sound of it.

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We live in Canterbury and in last weeks 'Gazette' the local council admitted that they don't persue drivers of foreign cars for parking fines because they are afraid that they might not return to visit the city.  So now we are encouraging law breakers to visit so they can do it again.  Lock me up, it's safer inside away from these lunatics!

 

Mike

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This happend to us 2 year ago, by an unmarked police speed camera car on the CV851.  The camera is mounted on the inside of the windscreen and they do not put any signs on the road to warn you, like they have to in the UK!!  It took 3 months for the fine to arrive by registered post in the UK, costing us 140 euros.  We paid the fine at the post office in Spain and can re-assure everyone that there was not a come back, as we got an official receipt. 

We now make sure that we always keep to speed limits - so be careful!

 

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My friend in Spain has been stopped twice by police cars to give her instant fines. I do wonder if they get paid into the court or do they stay in the police officers pockets?

Once she was asked if she would like to pay "in kind", they pointed to the beach area!

Shocking!

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