Yesterday I had a decidedly interesting bill from Hertz, the people who we rented a car from on our trip to France in the summer. The bill is for an administration charge, for supplying my details to “the relevant authorityâ€? in Switzerland for a penalty charge. All well and good, but it doesn’t actually say what the penalty is for, aside from “Trafficâ€?, nor where it actually occurred – for that part the bill just quotes the reference number for the penalty notice.

Whilst it’s entirely possible that I may have broken some rule or other, what is slightly suspicious is that we weren’t actually in Switzerland for all that long. We picked the car up at about 3:30pm, and headed straight for the border – we were driving in France literally within minutes of leaving the airport.

Anyway, after exchange the bill is only about half what the rental companies charge over here – at about £20. I’ve sent an e-mail off to Hertz customer service, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t have much more detail. I’d only really be bothered (and I suspect will only actually find out what I did when it does) if an actual ticket turns up, and that really depends whether the Swiss signed up to the EU process whereby they can get the DVLA to issue tickets, or whether the Swiss chase up the ticket.

Now I guess it’s just a question of waiting.