Uh oh, traffic ticket from Germany!

[NW-Bound]

Just got in the mail today a letter with the sender address as: Polizei, Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Just as I thought, it was a speeding ticket written by the police in Aachen. The letter is in French, which I can understand. They cited me for driving 62 km/hr in a zone of 50 km/hr. The fine is 25 euros. They included a photo, and it showed me as the driver.

Darn! I am going to pay this, but wonder how to go about it. The letter shows the IBAN/BIC numbers to do the money transfer.

On the Web, people said that their US bank charged as much as US$30 to do the transfer. I wonder if there's another cheaper way like using Paypal, or Western Union.

By the way, people also said that their car rental company also levied a charge of as much as US$30 for the trouble of complying with the police in providing owner's identity.

I wonder how many more of these tickets I will be getting.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Good thing you read French. I would have thought it was an invitation to speak to their legislature regarding my theory on fiscal policy.
How about calling the rental company asking them to pay it for you and to charge your credit card?

 

[Big_Hitter]

geeze what a hassle

 

[NW-Bound]

I was surprised to see that German police wrote to me in French. Upon a bit of reflection, it became obvious that it was because my leased car had a French licence plate.

Anyway, if I ask the car agency to pay for me, even if they are going to do it, they may charge me more than the ticket itself for the service. Still, it's an idea and I may check it out if I cannot do it myself cheaply.

 

[Nemo2]

Send them a money order?

 

[explanade]

You may get a bill from the rental agency for providing your name to the police.

I've gotten a ticket from a small Italian town for entering their ZTL zone, which I didn't pay, because I'd have to wire money to them and I didn't want to pay the transaction costs on top.

Some of the bigger Italian cities will give you the ability to pay online via credit card.

Also got a speeding ticket, probably from a camera, in France and I did pay that online.

Otherwise, I don't think they have much recourse. Maybe they will put your name on a list and if you try to enter the country in the future, they will try to collect. Or other theories like you won't be able to rent a car in that country.

But I've not had problems returning to Italy or renting a car there.

 

[travelover]

Send them a photo of the money.

 

[NW-Bound]

... I don't think they have much recourse. Maybe they will put your name on a list and if you try to enter the country in the future, they will try to collect. Or other theories like you won't be able to rent a car in that country.

But I've not had problems returning to Italy or renting a car there.

I have read that the German and the Swiss enforce their laws, unlike some countries that are more lax. I do want to return to Germany. And I also do not shirk from my responsibility.

Anyway, I went on Paypal, and they can do a deposit into their bank using the IBAN, but want the name of the bank that the letter does not provide. So, I have to abort the transfer.

Also, Paypal only asks for the IBAN, but not the BIC. There's also no place to put a memo containing the ticket number for reference. I do not want my fine money to not get credited.

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

Bummer. How about your local post office? They charge $8.25. Check for a banking account notice on the ticket. If not, you can call the police office- they will provide an english speaker if needed.

Or Xoom for $4.99

 

[NW-Bound]

Xoom (affiliated with Paypal) is the one I tried. It demanded the name of the bank, which the letter from the German police does not provide (only the IBAN/BIC).

Xoom also did not ask for BIC, and that makes me wonder if the money will be correctly credited.

PS. I just emailed the police using the email address provided. Will see what happens.

 

[explanade]

Check out Transferwise.

I used it earlier this year to wire money to reserve a pension in Austria.

 

[NW-Bound]

OK, thanks.

Just check out Transferwise, and it takes both the IBAN and BIC. The fee is lower at $3, compared to XOOM.

I don't know if Transferwise will insist on the German bank name, which I don't have.

Having sent an email to the German police, I might as well wait for their response.

 

[euro]

I pick them up with some regularity in Switzerland whenever I vacation there ( sometimes Germany too), but typically there is a credit card option.
The rental agencies do charge $30 per ticket for looking up your address but they will NOT get involved in the money transfer between you and the authorities in my(all-too-vast) experience ..

 

[braumeister]

Transferwise is a good service. I recommend it.

 

[cathy63]

Iban.com will give you the name of the bank.

 

[explanade]

Hmm, so there are a lot of speed radar cameras in Germany, Switzerland?

Going to Munich and Austria soon so I guess I'll have to be careful. I usually stay under the speed limit unless passing some cars.

But what's tricky is you're going 120 for stretches of highway and then the speed limit drops to 80 over a bridge or an interchange.

There are a lot of signs and some of it is for speed going on the exit ramp. Sometimes it's not always clear what the speed limit is suppose to be.

 

[NW-Bound]

I just tried Iban.com, and it gave me the name of the bank as Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale NL. Düsseldorf.

The bank name is really superfluous, as the IBAN should be unique. XOOM (Paypal) asks for the bank name just to double-check the long IBAN (22 digits) and protect again entry errors.

What I found more interesting is that Iban.com also gave me the BIC as WELADEDD, while the citation letter gives the BIC as WELADEDDXXX. Do the XXX at the end mean something?

 

[nwsteve]

I had a similar experience in France! The notice did include wire info as well as a credit card option with a surcharge less than my local bank wire fee. I then recalled wire services from my Fido account.
Depending on where you park your investment funds and status there, the brokerage may offer a free or low cost wire service. As a Private Client at Fido, wires are free.

 

[NW-Bound]

Hmm, so there are a lot of speed radar cameras in Germany, Switzerland?

Going to Munich and Austria soon so I guess I'll have to be careful. I usually stay under the speed limit unless passing some cars.

But what's tricky is you're going 120 for stretches of highway and then the speed limit drops to 80 over a bridge or an interchange.

There are a lot of signs and some of it is for speed going on the exit ramp. Sometimes it's not always clear what the speed limit is suppose to be.

I do not like to drive fast, and in fact was often tailgated by native drivers. I hated that. But often, I was too busy looking for street signs, and forgot about the speed limits. In addition, the speed limit is often implied. In urban areas, when not posted, it's usually 50 km/hr. And it's 130 km/hr on French highways when not posted.

 

[cathy63]

I just tried Iban.com, and it gave me the name of the bank as Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale NL. Düsseldorf.

The bank name is really superfluous, as the IBAN should be unique. XOOM (Paypal) asks for the bank name just to double-check the long IBAN (22 digits) and protect again entry errors.

What I found more interesting is that Iban.com also gave me the BIC as WELADEDD, while the citation letter gives the BIC as WELADEDDXXX. Do the XXX at the end mean something?

Yes, that's the branch number. Here's how SWIFT/BIC codes break down according to Wikipedia.

The SWIFT code is 8 or 11 characters, made up of:
4 letters: Institution Code or bank code.
2 letters: ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code
2 letters or digits: location code
if the second character is "0", then it is typically a test BIC as opposed to a BIC used on the live network.
if the second character is "1", then it denotes a passive participant in the SWIFT network
if the second character is "2", then it typically indicates a reverse billing BIC, where the recipient pays for the message as opposed to the more usual mode whereby the sender pays for the message.
3 letters or digits: branch code, optional ('XXX' for primary office)

WELA might be something-LAndesbank
DE is the country code for Deutschland
DD is probably the bank's code for Dusseldorf
XXX is the bank's main office

 

[braumeister]

Hmm, so there are a lot of speed radar cameras in Germany, Switzerland?

Everywhere in Europe.

A nice feature of my Garmin satnav that I take with me when I drive over there is that it will give me warning of where the speed cameras are located.

I think some smartphone navigation apps will also do that for you.

 

[gerntz]

it was a speeding ticket written by the police in Aachen.

Will be in Aachen in a couple of weeks. Why were you there? We'll be there to see Uncle Charlamagne's cathedral & throne.

 

[explanade]

Well I drove 1600 kilometers in 10-11 days in Spain.

So I'll see if I get a ticket.

 

[NW-Bound]

Will be in Aachen in a couple of weeks. Why were you there? We'll be there to see Uncle Charlamagne's cathedral & throne.

Aachen was on the drive from Cologne to Brussels. A friendly German I talked with in front of the Cologne Cathedral said I had to make a stop there to see the church. And indeed the stop was worthwhile, even if I got a ticket there.

And I also stopped at Maastricht, Holland.

 

[marko]

Otherwise, I don't think they have much recourse. Maybe they will put your name on a list and if you try to enter the country in the future, they will try to collect. Or other theories like you won't be able to rent a car in that country.

This is likely true. I do know that years ago one of my German colleagues got a US speeding ticket and blew it off. On his next visit to the US he was denied entry and had to go back on the next flight.