Traffic Fine in Netherlands
 

Hi!

I mostly rent cars from Hertz, with an occasional Avis rental. But this summer, I decided to rent from Sixt a couple of times.

One rental was 8 days from TXL, and I drove the car into the Netherlands.

Two weeks after the rental, I received an email with an invoice from Sixt, claiming that I had committed an infringement at a specified time. Sixt charged EUR 25 for handling this claim. They also wrote: "Please pay the fine amount to the authority. They will contact you by regular mail soon. You will receive a new deadline to settle the payment." The fine was supposedly charged by "Centrale verwerking Openbaar."

Now, the situation is that as far as I know, I never broke any traffic laws at the specified time or at any other time during the rental. Moreover, I haven't received any letter with details about the fine or any invoice to pay the fine. So, is this just a scam that Sixt pulled on me to get an extra EUR 25? What are my options in this case?

Thankful for any suggestions!

This is probably a speed camera ticket. Sixt received the ticket, provided the Dutch authorities with your contact info, and charged you a €25 fee. This is standard procedure for rental companies, not just Sixt. Were you in the Netherlands at the time cited in the letter from Sixt? How long has it been since you got the email from Sixt? Might take a few weeks for the letter from the Dutch authorities to reach you. For info on paying your fine online (and to see the traffic camera picture), see here: https://www.cjib.nl/en. You will need the letter from the Dutch gov't to access your info.

Thanks for the reply!

I got the letter on 23 July, so it's 6 weeks ago. Really strange that there's no letter yet.

If you are concerned that the notice from Sixt is a fraud, you might call Sixt to confirm that it was legitimate.

As to the notice, it could easily take 3-4 months. Local authorities likely use surface mail.