Travelling in Italy (Fiscal Code)

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

I am travelling to Italy in a couple of months and have booked a hire car. Slightly dreading the crazy Italian drivers, but hopefully won't be too bad out in the sticks.

The confirmation documents for the car suggest that I need to present a 'Fiscal Code' when I pick it up. Anyone have any idea if it's actually needed as a UK citizen? I assume not, but Google doesn't seem to give a particularly straight answer.

[whelk]

Suggest N/A

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_fiscal_code

[Sheaf Saint]

31 minutes ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

I am travelling to Italy in a couple of months and have booked a hire car. Slightly dreading the crazy Italian drivers, but hopefully won't be too bad out in the sticks.

I did it a few years ago and it wasn't too bad where I was (north Italy, near Lake Garda), but I wouldn't want to attempt it in any of the bigger cities. Especially Rome.

One bit of advice I'll give you is you just have to be assertive when pulling into traffic, cos nobody will ever stop and let you in such as is common in the UK. You have to learn to just dive into any gap you can see, and nobody bats an eyelid or gets mardy about it because it's just expected that's what you have to do.

[Turkish]

I hired one in Puglia a few years ago, it was fine to be fair although the biggest city we went to was Lecce which wasn't that big, i wouldn't fancy doing it in the big cities. 

As Sheaf says you need to be assertive and just pull out into any gap otherwsie you'll sit there for ages, also parking is weird as they seem to dump their cars in any gap there doesn't seem to be any set parking spaces, although that might be a thing in Pulgia as it's quite rural. 

I dont remember a fiscal code but be careful and only use a reputable company as there are quite a few scam merchants in Italy would will screw you over heard some horror stories of people being charged thousands there for scratches and marks that were already on there but they hadnt checked the documents properly. 

Where you heading? IMO the best country to visit in the world. 

[buctootim]

I've driven in Naples a few times, which is supposed to be the worst Italian city for driving. Treat it like an Italian queue in a bank or shop. There will be lots of cutting in and what Brits see as bad manners but they arent trying to kill you, dont want to crash and are mostly good drivers. It's also nothing personal.  If you want a relaxed holiday just let them go, don't be too macho or competitive about it. The North is more 'European' than the south but out in the country anywhere its absolutely fine.

I think you only need a fiscal code if you're an Italian citizen or resident. If you're being asked for one sounds like you are booking on a local site. I've always found Rental Cars or holiday autos to be good. If you take the rental cars comprehensive insurance you dont have to worry about any surcharges after - although wherever I go I always make a show of videoing the whole car in front of them just in case.  

 

Edited May 7 by buctootim

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

1 hour ago, Sheaf Saint said:

I did it a few years ago and it wasn't too bad where I was (north Italy, near Lake Garda), but I wouldn't want to attempt it in any of the bigger cities. Especially Rome.

One bit of advice I'll give you is you just have to be assertive when pulling into traffic, cos nobody will ever stop and let you in such as is common in the UK. You have to learn to just dive into any gap you can see, and nobody bats an eyelid or gets mardy about it because it's just expected that's what you have to do.

That's where I am going. Picking the car up in Verona and going round Garda and local areas. The roads don't look overly scary from what I can tell, but we will see when we get there. Understand there are a lot of restrictions on where you can go in Verona itself but everywhere else is hopefully self explanatory.

Won't try and be too macho about being cut up etc. I'm more of roll my eyes and quietly tut when people do that to me in the UK rather than blaring the horn too much so should be Ok.

Hiring the car through Rental Cars (with Avis) so assuming the stuff about Fiscal Code is just standard and doesn't apply.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Drove in Puglia last June & wasn’t too much of a problem. Only issue I had was with a ridiculous self service petrol station where you had to pay at an ATM thing first, & a £39 charge from the hire company on my credit card randomly a few months later. Parking was easy & driving around not too bad. 

[Fan The Flames]

We picked up a car in Naples we got given the shittiest banged up Lancia, aware of the horror stories we spent half an hour photographing all the dents and scratches with the Italian kid dealing with us rolling his eyes. We expected a fight handing it back but didn't have any issues. Drove on the Almalfi coast, so I can see why they gave us the banger, tight winding roads with mad local drivers.

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

That's where I am going. Picking the car up in Verona and going round Garda and local areas. The roads don't look overly scary from what I can tell, but we will see when we get there. Understand there are a lot of restrictions on where you can go in Verona itself but everywhere else is hopefully self explanatory.

Won't try and be too macho about being cut up etc. I'm more of roll my eyes and quietly tut when people do that to me in the UK rather than blaring the horn too much so should be Ok.

Hiring the car through Rental Cars (with Avis) so assuming the stuff about Fiscal Code is just standard and doesn't apply.

roads round there are fine. We went there last summer, spent time on Lake Garda, Verona, Venice and Padova, used public transport mainly but you wont have any problems there. 

[the colonel]

I've driven quite a few times in Italy, Sicily drivers are the worst. 

The trick is to drive as they do. They don't understand driving with curtesy and hesitation.

[suewhistle]

You won't need the Codice Fiscale. Be careful of ZTL zones, limited traffic zones often in historical centres and bigger cities, where you will be fined if you enter them.

This for example: https://www.accessibilitacentristorici.it/ztl/Veneto_en/verona.html

I managed 7 years without an accident but that was in the North. Go through the Mont Blanc tunnel or similar and bingo!, on the other side they use their indicators. 🙂

 

[Lord Duckhunter]

Fucking hell. Been back over a year, and just received a speeding ticket in the post from driving in Puglia. Snap Dragon signed for it, so can’t say it hasn’t been received. Haven’t got a clue whether I was speeding or not or what evidence they have. 
 

Does anyone know if it’s enforceable? Google has various different opinions, some saying they have 12 months from offence, whereas others saying it’s 12 months from when hire company give them your details. 3 points & €168 fine. Can’t see how points can be applied, but fine maybe can be. Can they instruct UK debt agency & will they bother. The other question is what happens if I don’t pay & drive in EU again. Italy will obviously be an issue, but is there an EU wide mark on my name & address that could be an issue if I try to hire or are stopped by plod in eu country.
 

Lots I’ve read suggests they just send the letter hoping you’ll pay but don’t bother chasing, but I don’t want any issues in future. A year later seems a bit of a piss take to be honest. 

[whelk]

Typical Tory. Obeying the law is for others, how can I get out of this?

[Farmer Saint]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Fucking hell. Been back over a year, and just received a speeding ticket in the post from driving in Puglia. Snap Dragon signed for it, so can’t say it hasn’t been received. Haven’t got a clue whether I was speeding or not or what evidence they have. 
 

Does anyone know if it’s enforceable? Google has various different opinions, some saying they have 12 months from offence, whereas others saying it’s 12 months from when hire company give them your details. 3 points & €168 fine. Can’t see how points can be applied, but fine maybe can be. Can they instruct UK debt agency & will they bother. The other question is what happens if I don’t pay & drive in EU again. Italy will obviously be an issue, but is there an EU wide mark on my name & address that could be an issue if I try to hire or are stopped by plod in eu country.
 

Lots I’ve read suggests they just send the letter hoping you’ll pay but don’t bother chasing, but I don’t want any issues in future. A year later seems a bit of a piss take to be honest. 

Yes it is enforceable within the EU - as soon as you next step foot in Italy you'll be taken to a police station and made to pay, and rental companies in the rest of the EU will have that info. Reciprocal laws and all that jazz - another Brexit failure (alongside fucking bottle caps). Your insurance in the UK will also be invalid until you accept it and report the points to your insurance company. Just pay the money and take the points, and stop committing crimes and think you can get away with it.

Edited August 10 by Farmer Saint

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

Your insurance in the UK will also be invalid until you accept it and report the points to your insurance company. Just pay the money and take the points, and stop committing crimes and think you can get away with it.

The points aren’t enforceable on a UK licence. Ive spoken to my insurance company & the points only apply to Italian licences as their system is totally different to ours (they deduct points from a starting point, rather than add points to a clean licence). They will only be applied if I ever apply for an Italian licence.
 

As you’re so wrong about that, I can assume you haven’t a clue so will be ignoring your “advice” on this particular subject. 

 

[The Kraken]

[Farmer Saint]

17 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

The points aren’t enforceable on a UK licence. Ive spoken to my insurance company & the points only apply to Italian licences as their system is totally different to ours (they deduct points from a starting point, rather than add points to a clean licence). They will only be applied if I ever apply for an Italian licence.
 

As you’re so wrong about that, I can assume you haven’t a clue so will be ignoring your “advice” on this particular subject. 

That's not what happened with me in 2014, so there we go. Perhaps it is a Brexit benefit after all. 

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

On 10/08/2024 at 14:39, Lord Duckhunter said:

Fucking hell. Been back over a year, and just received a speeding ticket in the post from driving in Puglia. Snap Dragon signed for it, so can’t say it hasn’t been received. Haven’t got a clue whether I was speeding or not or what evidence they have. 
 

Does anyone know if it’s enforceable? Google has various different opinions, some saying they have 12 months from offence, whereas others saying it’s 12 months from when hire company give them your details. 3 points & €168 fine. Can’t see how points can be applied, but fine maybe can be. Can they instruct UK debt agency & will they bother. The other question is what happens if I don’t pay & drive in EU again. Italy will obviously be an issue, but is there an EU wide mark on my name & address that could be an issue if I try to hire or are stopped by plod in eu country.
 

Lots I’ve read suggests they just send the letter hoping you’ll pay but don’t bother chasing, but I don’t want any issues in future. A year later seems a bit of a piss take to be honest. 

I can't help, but I am almost certain I got caught speeding when I was out there in May. I thought that I'd probably got away with it, but maybe I shouldn't be so sure...

[Lord Duckhunter]

17 hours ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

I can't help, but I am almost certain I got caught speeding when I was out there in May. I thought that I'd probably got away with it, but maybe I shouldn't be so sure...

Yep, looks like you’ll have to pony up. From what I’ve read they’re all over it. 
 

Done a bit of research after ignoring Farmer Gerald’s misleading info and most solid info is this:

 Looks like they have 30 days from the offence to get your details from hire company. Hire company then have 30 days to reply (and they’ll charge you for providing your details to plod). If you live outside Italy they then have 365 days to notify you (and they charge €47 extra for notifying a non resident). The hire company aren’t legally obliged to tell you they’ve provided your details, but some will. The first notification will probably be a charge on the credit card you used to book hire car. 
 

They’ll ask for licence details but won’t allocate points. However, if you don’t provide details, they’ll fine you for that as well. 
 

You only get 5 days from signing for letter (it will come by recorded delivery) to pay the reduced amount. 
 

Still don’t know the consequences of not paying, so coughed up.