European fines
In May/June I took my motorhome to Eastern Europe, and yesterday & again today have received documents from an organisation called Euro Parking Collection plc in which they are trying to fine me on behalf of Hungarian authorities for not having vignette. However, i bought all needed vignettes for the countries visited. They were bought from tolltickets GmbH and I have proof of purchase . My question is,have you heard of any such company of am \i being the subject of a scam?
Also is it possible for Eurpean authorities to try and collect fines in the UK
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Never having heard of it, I googled it and THIS is the result I got. Within it is info about what it does, and clicking on Hungary I got THIS
No idea whether it is above board or not. Perhaps you've already googled it yourself, but it does say that:
If you have received a notification (Penalty Charge Notice) from EPC and you believe that you had a valid authorisation at the time, please check that all details are correct on the counter foil (e-Vignette/e-Matrica) and please contact EPC with a copy and also a copy of your Vehicle Registration Document (all pages).
On the counter foil it is written that you must keep it for at least 1 year after its expiry. If you no longer have the counter foil, you can ask for a copy at the sales point where you bought it.
Since May 2017 UK drivers can be fined for driving offences abroad, previously the UK was exempt. Article by the AA here
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It does seem to be a company that collects parking fines on behalf of local authorities including in Hungary if you Google them. Did you keep the vignette? People have different views on how individuals should deal with such organisations but I would have thought it would do no harm to write to them with your evidence and see what they say. Was the vignette properly displayed? Was it the right weight classification?
David
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I can't edit my post now, but having checked it appears that none of the links work, think I entered the links in the wrong box (senior moment!). I'll put them in again in this post:
Link for Euro Parking Collection: https://www.epcplc.com/
Link for their Hungarian page: https://www.epcplc.com/hungarian_road_tolls
Link for AA article about fines abroad: https://www.theaa.com/european-breakdown-cover/driving-in-europe/driving-offence-abroad
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The AA maintained that the best course of action for anyone who receives a demand from Euro Parking Collection is to ignore it. However, it claimed: "EC-wide conventions on both the mutual recognition of driver disqualification and mutual recognition of financial penalties are planned for the future." This means that if a court in, say, Sweden upholds a council's claim against a British offender, a bailiff in the UK will be able to act on that judgment.
And that means it won't be long before a host of companies such as Euro Parking Collection spring into action throughout Europe to chase us down, no matter how far we live from the scene of the crime.From this link:-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/2719359/Parking-in-Europe-Fine....htmlAA comment
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I would want full details of the offence (s) before I supplied them anything. That way you would at least know if it was genuine. If they can give times / dates / location of the alleged offences, and these tie up, it would tend to suggest it is not a piggy back type scam. Where a scammer claims to be a legitimate company. If they are able to supply the info then I can see no harm in providing copies of your proofs of purchase. Particularly if you are planning on going back to the country, it would be in your interest and peace of mind to get it sorted.
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Be very interesting if you could feedback their response, hope you get it sorted.
David
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I was in Eastern Europe earlier this year visiting several countries requiring a vingett only one was the type you stick on your windshield Bulgaria I think the rest including Hungry were of the automatic type once purchased.Is it possibil that you overstaid your time?
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Even if they do trace you via the registered keeper the fine is for the driver and unless you supply the driver details ( which you have to do in the UK for speeding ) then they can't enforce. Unfortunately speeding is one of the offences that can be enforced Europe wide according to the regulations but I doubt it is likely. As for the tolls they are not enforceable Europe wide.
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Just what has lawyers seeking damages for personal injury got to do with recovering a possible violation of driving on a road that requires a vignette.
What poor advice.
If the OP has proof of purchase and was on the road within the vignettes allotted time, then no worries. Although if I was certain of having all proof needed I would have ignored it and provided it at a later date if things came to a head.
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