Hi all. In july my friend and 2 of her friends went to california for two weeks and got a hire car.

They got back and everything seemed ok. However, today they have received a letter from a company called 'The Toll Roads'

This letter says that apparently they evaded a toll on a road, and an amount is now due.

However due to the letter coming by airmail,

it has taken a considerable time to get to her.

As such the alleged amount as increased.

What i and she would like to know is, would this 'debt' be enforceable in the UK.

As this is the first time they have had any knowledge of it.

If it isnt, would the best course of action be to ignore it.

In quite a lot of countries the hire car companies pay the amount and then bill the hirer to the credit card used. This has obviously not happened and they have just given your friends address details to them.

I can't see it being enforced in the UK. I think these toll road are owned and run by a company, not the government of California. If it were a speeding offence or other Police related issue then I think US/UK have some arrangedment. But I would think that this toll road would be similar to a private parking ticket.

Apparently if you live in Califoria they would put some hold on the vehicle registration, but obviously with a hire car this would be difficult. I may be the case that The Toll Roads will contact the hire company in the event of non payment and your friend will get invoiced by them, threatening to charge her credit card. She should check the hire car companies terms regarding any unpaid tickets during the hire period.

Really depends on whether your friend is likely to return to California. If she will do, perhaps she should send an email to them to say that she has only just received their letter and will offer to pay the original reduced amount and not the further amounts they have added. If they reduce the amount down on their system, she will pay the reduced amount online.