Peter
Lawyer · Budapest, Hungary
- 199 cases handled
- 10+ years in practice
- Speaks: English, German, Hungarian
- Law, University of Pécs
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4.94(17 reviews)
Fines and administrative penalties in Hungary reach foreigners in several forms: an administrative fine (közigazgatási bírság, kozigazgatasi birsag), often for a camera-detected traffic offence charged to the vehicle's owner; an on-the-spot fine (helyszíni bírság); a fine for a petty offence (szabálysértés); and a surcharge (pótdíj) for unpaid parking or for using a motorway without an e-vignette (e-matrica). Some older lists and lawyer pages call this service “Dealing with Fines & Administrative Matters”. English-speaking lawyers in Hungary help people who received a notice in Hungarian, or a demand from a collection agency at home, understand what it is and what can be done.
The type matters, because each follows its own path. An administrative fine is a decision of an authority, usually the police, and can be reviewed by a court. A petty-offence fine comes from a separate procedure with its own hearing. Parking and e-vignette surcharges are claims of the operator rather than penalties decided by an authority, so they are disputed first with the operator. Speeding and other driving offences have their own page, see speeding and traffic fines; alcohol at the wheel is a separate matter, see drink driving offences.
Hungarian authorities can identify the owner of a foreign-registered car through the exchange of vehicle data between EU countries, and motorway surcharges are often pursued abroad through collection agencies, sometimes long after the trip. Amounts and deadlines are set by regulation and revised often, so the current ones are read from the notice itself.
An unpaid petty-offence fine can lead to stricter measures, and if you are unsure whether an old matter has escalated, see arrest warrant check.
Reads and translates the notice, identifies the authority or operator, gathers evidence, files the objection or court request on time, and corresponds in Hungarian on your behalf under a power of attorney. The lawyer cannot promise that a fine will be cancelled.
Many are genuine, sent through EU data exchange or a collection agency. A lawyer can confirm the source before you pay.
A fine is a penalty decided by an authority. A pótdíj is a surcharge claimed by a parking or road operator.
An instalment request can be made for administrative fines; the authority decides on it.
When the car was sold, stolen or driven by someone else, or the notice is wrong, a challenge has a factual basis.
Usually not by itself, but it can be collected later and some unpaid fines escalate. A lawyer checks the status.
Sorted by experience in this service. Write to any of them — the reply comes from the lawyer, without obligation.
Lawyer · Budapest, Hungary
Lawyer · Budapest, Hungary
Lawyer · Budapest, Hungary
3 registered lawyers provide this service in Hungary. Describe your situation in a short chat — what happened, where, and how to reach you. Your enquiry is reviewed and passed to a lawyer who handles exactly this kind of case, with no obligation.
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The lawyer in Italy worked professionally and did good work, and I am happy with his service.
The lawyer responded quickly and was very helpful in dealing with a customs issue. She was the only person who answered me after I had contacted around five different agencies. I appreciate her promptness, knowledge and flexibility at a difficult and confusing time, and should I need legal help again, I will turn to her.
It was a good experience. The Italian lawyer was very professional and closed the case quickly.
I asked the lawyer to help me trace where my father was born in Hungary. The lawyer was very diligent and took up my request right away, since there was not much time before I travelled to Hungary. Sadly we did not manage to find the address, and that was in no way his fault: the records in Mezafalva lacked the information needed from the mid 1930s. Still, I highly recommend this service, and him in particular.
I am very thankful to the lawyer, and completely satisfied with the result.
He replied incredibly fast and soon found the answers I needed, so I started to feel less stressed. He went out of his way to make certain I understood the procedure and the legal terms, and the assistance could not have been better.
The lawyer handled my request very well, and his English was perfect. I am completely satisfied.
I cannot praise my solicitor enough. He was patient, caring and knowledgeable, and he updated me on everything, even outside working hours and while he was on holiday! I am thankful to the service for connecting me with him, and to him for going above and beyond every time.
Thanks to the lawyer I reached a compromise in a dispute over a deposit with my landlord in Budapest. He is a real professional who will do all he can to solve a legal problem, and while he worked on my case he stayed responsive and flexible. I recommend him to everybody who needs legal help in Hungary.
After my daughter died, I asked the lawyer to help me close her bank account in Budapest. He was extremely helpful in handling the bank. It was a difficult situation, since getting proper information from them was quite hard, but he kept firmly on top of the case and did everything he could to make sure everything necessary was done. He always kept me properly informed about progress, and he also supported me with the local steps I had to take here in Luxembourg with the Hungarian Consulate. He assisted with other Hungarian administrative papers that had come in for my daughter too, so that nothing stayed pending, and he took the time to contact the offices concerned to tell them she had died and to see that whatever needed doing with them got done. I could not have resolved this without him. He was very professional throughout, and I felt he got truly involved in the matter. His English was perfect, so we never had trouble understanding each other. I deeply appreciated his help, and it would be a pleasure to meet him one day and thank him in person. A better person and better support would have been impossible to ask for.
I cannot thank my solicitor enough. He was patient, caring and knowledgeable, and he kept me informed about everything, even outside working hours and while he was on holiday. Thank you to this service for putting me in touch with him, and thank you to him for going above and beyond every time.
He was extremely helpful from beginning to end. I live with chronic fatigue and very little energy, so at times I had to pause the probate process, occasionally for a few months. Whenever I felt able to continue, he picked it up again straight away and we moved a little further. He could always explain what was going on in words I understood, and he sent me copies of every document, including the Hungarian ones, telling me what they contained and sometimes giving me an English version. I found the charges very good value for money. I know he put in quite a few hours, and I said more than once that he should tell me if I owed anything more. I was completely satisfied with how it all went and could not have asked for more.