Hi all, I am in need of advice.

Me and my boyfriend live together and share a car, it’s in his name.

He received an Anonymverfügung for a day when I was driving the car and was not in Vienna (the fine is from there). I am 100% confident it was a mistake, either number plate but also could be a date. It’s possible we have done this on another day.

I know if we wait they will search for a responsible person and that’s when I can contest it but I want to understand what are my chances of winning this?

1. The traffic violation was probably recorded by a police officer, so if they make a mistake writing down the number plate, do they have to have any other info, like a car model or colour? We drive a red car which is less common.

2. Boyfriend was at home (only evidence is all day long browser history lol), I was at work in Lower Austria but there is no official record. I was in an official workshop that would cover the time of violation, but it would be only eye witnesses, no official sign in or out times.

How would they even know if it was me driving? If he says it is that enough?

Do I need evidence I wasn’t there? Do they need evidence or just a police man writing down a numberplate is enough?

Also, what happens if I cannot prove it and end up paying the fine on my name, does this record impact anything, like insurance price or anything else?

We are not from Austria so I am trying to understand whether just paying the Anonymverfügung and forgetting it is the best, since I for sure don’t want to get a lawyer and don’t have any hard evidence I was not there. And my German language level is so bad they should fine me for that.

* tl;dr got an Anonymverfügung, it wasn’t me but I have no evidence. Should I contest? *

P.S. I tried calling the number on the letter but it’s an answer machine.

7 comments

  1. Anonymverfügung is an offer – quick, easy, no court, no general attorney involved, cheaper and no issues.

    Contesting could cause you more stress, money and time.

    So if there was a chance that any of you were driving to Prague/Budapest that day (as it says it was the location), you should just pay it.

  2. My grandma also got a letter for a fine like this and she was also sure she didn’t do it, but couldn’t prove it. She made an inquiry of what she should do and they advised her to just pay the fine (since it wasn’t that much), it’s a lot easier this way.

    Afaik there shouldn’t be any further repercussions with insurance or anything since you’ll be paying it yourself.

  3. I would only even think about contesting if you have bulletproof evidence, that the car was nowhere near the given location on the specified date and time.

    I.e. the car and not you, so a shopping reciept wont count.
    Furthermore “nowhere near” as in the car could not have been driven there in the time between any possible evidence and the time of the offense.

  4. You can write a friendly email to the contact person listed and explain that you believe that this is a mistake. This does not count as an official contestation.
    Give the reasons why you think it’s a mistake and ask if it’s possible for them to double check with the police officer who reported it. Like you mentioned, against the make, color of the car, etc.
    You could also check your Google Maps time-line (if you have it) and provide them with screenshots. I did that when something similar happened to me a while ago and I managed to completely avoid the fine.
    BTW, there won’t be any negative effects on your insurance or anything like that.
    Usually if you are polite and have good reasons for thinking it’s wrong, they will investigate a bit on their end. Even if they still want you to pay, you can ask them to lower the fine.

  6. Anonymverfügung is against the person the car is registered on. So he has to deal with it.
    Does not mean it’s his fault, but he is responsible for paying.

    It will not show up in your records.

    It’s quite possible that there is just an eye witness at the police. Not necessarily a photo.

    On the Anonymverfügung there should also be information what you can do legally. What the deadline for paying would be.

    If you pay right away the story ends here. If you don’t pay, challenge it or miss the deadline it gets escalated and probably more expensive.

    So I guess your next step would be to a) read and understand the legal information on the Anonymverfügung and b) check if you can get some proof that the car has been somewhere else at the date of the accused violation.

    If the 80€ is not much for you, just pay, hug you bf and enjoy your evening 🙂

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