Posta Elettronica Certificata (PEC)

What is a PEC?

PEC stands for posta elettronica certificata. It is essentially a certified email, which has a legal value, like a digital version of a registered letter (lettera raccomandata).

Posta elettronica certificata guarantees legal certainty of the sender’s identity as well as the date and time the email was sent.
A PEC also guarantees that the recipient receives the email and its contents. When the recipient opens and reads your PEC email, you will receive notifications.

Why is a posta elettronica certificata address useful?

PEC is widely used in Italy to send official documents to public administration organisations and private companies. In fact, it is mandatory for Italian companies, public administration organisations and professionals such as lawyers, notaries and accountants to have a PEC address. You can check an organisation’s or professional’s PEC address here.

Although there is no obligation to have one, a PEC email is useful if you have an urgent matter, particularly if you are abroad. The recipient will receive  your PEC email almost immediately. You will therefore get a faster response.

Certain Italian public administration bodies must respond to correspondence within thirty days of receiving it. Whereas it might take several days for a recipeint to receive a registered letter, sending a PEC email will speed up the process yet, it has the same legal value as a registered letter.

In Italy you can use a PEC for a wide variety of official matters such as, requesting official appointments, information or documents. You can also send legal contracts and invoices.

How do you get a posta elettronica certificata address?

To send PEC email, you need to set up a PEC account. Italian providers include LegalMail, ArubaPEC, Postecert, Register.it, Libero.

To obtain a PEC address, you will need to visit your chosen provider’s website and follow the instructions to open your PEC account. This consists of inputting your personal information and uploading a copy of your identity document. Sometimes you will need to add your Italian tax code (codice fiscale). You then choose an address such as yourname@pec.it and a password – just like any other email account.

Costs start from a few Euros a year for a basic PEC account, which usually includes limited storage. The more services you require, for instance you might want additional storage, the more you will pay.

Finally …

If you need help setting up a PEC address, we are here to help. For over 55 years, De Tullio Law Firm has been providing international clients with independent legal advice. We offer services in all the major fields of Italian law

Get in touch at info@detulliolawfirm.com

 

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