Freedome Pass Misuse - Advise Needed

[ca6215]

Good morning Forum members.


Hope everything is well.


I ended up with an unpleasant situation last week Friday - I was caught by using my father-in-law's Freedom Pass on TFL network.

I was cooperating with the officer as much as I could and said that I have borrowed his Freedom pass, as father is not feeling well this week. And was using it from Monday till I got caught on Friday. The issue is, that in the journey history, TFL will see similar journeys made by my father in law, as he is helping me out at work. So they will not believe that the previous journeys are made by him. At this point, will they check CCTV? My father in law travelling back to Ukraine next week due to health conditions, which may complicate the case.


Two days ago I have received the letter (attached) to give them an answer in 10 days.

Obviously, I have committed a crime and ready to take responsibility for it. I am willing to pay the penalty and hoping to avoid court, but reading through the forum, avoiding court is highly unlikely.


In my case, would it be smarter to get legal advice or reply by myself with the following:


"Dear Sir/Madam,


I hope this email finds you well.


I am writing to you in a matter of the case ABC123.


I am truly sorry that I have caused this issue by borrowing my father in law's card, now I realize how huge this mistake was. I did not have bad intentions or to cause any harm to anyone.

I fully understand now that I have broken the law and I would be more than happy to pay all the journeys I have made with the card between Monday, 15th April and Friday, 19th April and pay the penalty for the issue I have created. I sincerely beg you not to escalate this case to a court matter, as this would very badly affect my financial situation within our family (especially my 3 y.o. child), as my income is about 70% of the family income. Therefore this would be a catastrophe if I lose my job because of a criminal offense on my file. I trust you will have understanding of the situation and make the right decision.


I can fully assure you I will never use anyone else's travel card or any means of travel except my own.


Looking forward hearing from you.


Best regards,

Name Surname"


Thank you in advance for the advises.

 

[Gloster]

Good morning Forum members.


Hope everything is well.


I ended up with an unpleasant situation last week Friday - I was caught by using my father-in-law's Freedom Pass on TFL network.

I was cooperating with the officer as much as I could and said that I have borrowed his Freedom pass, as father is not feeling well this week. And was using it from Monday till I got caught on Friday. The issue is, that in the journey history, TFL will see similar journeys made by my father in law, as he is helping me out at work. So they will not believe that the previous journeys are made by him. At this point, will they check CCTV? My father in law travelling back to Ukraine next week due to health conditions, which may complicate the case.


Two days ago I have received the letter (attached) to give them an answer in 10 days.

Obviously, I have committed a crime and ready to take responsibility for it. I am willing to pay the penalty and hoping to avoid court, but reading through the forum, avoiding court is highly unlikely.


In my case, would it be smarter to get legal advice or reply by myself with the following:


"Dear Sir/Madam,


I hope this email finds you well.


I am writing to you in a matter of the case ABC123.


I am truly sorry that I have caused this issue by borrowing my father in law's card, now I realize how huge this mistake was. I did not have bad intentions or to cause any harm to anyone.

I fully understand now that I have broken the law and I would be more than happy to pay all the journeys I have made with the card between Monday, 15th April and Friday, 19th April and pay the penalty for the issue I have created. I sincerely beg you not to escalate this case to a court matter, as this would very badly affect my financial situation within our family (especially my 3 y.o. child), as my income is about 70% of the family income. Therefore this would be a catastrophe if I lose my job because of a criminal offense on my file. I trust you will have understanding of the situation and make the right decision.


I can fully assure you I will never use anyone else's travel card or any means of travel except my own.


Looking forward hearing from you.


Best regards,

Name Surname"


Thank you in advance for the advises.

I suggest you obscure the case number at the top of the second image.

 

[ikcdab]

I think this is a fair reply.
I also think that you need to make clear when you were using the card and when your father in law was using it. At the moment it reads as if you had used it before, but only admitting to the dates you state.
So I would change the first paragraph to say


I am truly sorry that I have caused this issue by using my father in law's card between 15 and 19 April. I realize how huge this mistake was.....

 

[Haywain]

I hope this email finds you well.

Don't include this - it is insincere and meaningless.

 

[GadgetMan]

So if your father in law was making the same trips to "your workplace", then you must have been making trips previous to the week you were caught on your own oyster card? If so, you could send proof of your own paid for trips as evidence you haven't used the freedom pass for more than a week.

 

[ca6215]

If so, you could send proof of your own paid for trips as evidence you haven't used the freedom pass for more than a week.

I won't be able to send proofs..

That is why my best option is to seek legal advice with this?

 

[GadgetMan]

I won't be able to send proofs..

That is why my best option is to seek legal advice with this?

If you've been using it longer than the week you claim then be careful how you word your reply as you're already in enough trouble without digging an even bigger hole for yourself.

 

[tiago1234]

I found myself in this situation early this year, I misused a Freedom pass. Just like you, I came here to find out how to best approach. To me, it is at this stage that you MUST provide evidence for ANY mitigating circumstances. Just saying you lose your job may not be enough.
I did not use a solicitor myself because I have used it quite a lot over a span of month. From what I read, only involve a solicitor if its less that 10 journeys so I draft the letter myself.
I was very very lucky that TfL let me off the hook and I only get a warning.

 

[Titfield]

Oh dear. TfL will make the assumption that on all the dates the card history shows travel from a to b and b to a at certain times of the day, those journeys will have been made by you (and not your father in law).

Whilst the burden of proof is on them to prove your wrong doing, because they cant prove the earlier dates were you they will simply go for the dates you have already admitted to and use that as proof of wrong doing.

To be honest I am not sure that engaging a solicitor will alter the outcome ie if it goes to court (and that is TfLs usual course of action) you will be found guilty and be fined, have to pay a victim surcharge and whatever fares TfL claim. If you engage a solicitor you will have their fees on top.

I do not see why you would lose your job for sustaining what is in the grand scheme of things a relatively minor conviction.

If you search on this forum you will see many cases where the situation regarding tfl, freedom pass misuse and convictions is more fully explained. Likewise you can see the advice @Hadders gives in cases such as this.

 

[ca6215]

Yes, I have been using it longer, than I told to the officer who was interviewing me at the station. I paniked and lied.

Can they/will they dig deaper than it is? CCTV footage and so on? If I stick to my dates only..? WIll they invite my father in law to court as witness?

Thank you all for your time and advises.

 

[GadgetMan]

Yes, I have been using it longer, than I told to the officer who was interviewing me at the station. I paniked and lied.

Can they/will they dig deaper than it is? CCTV footage and so on? If I stick to my dates only..? WIll they invite my father in law to court as witness?

Thank you all for your time and advises.

I recommend you don't lie in your letter. You don't have to admit to using it for longer in the letter, but what you do write needs to be honest.

You could potentially end up being summonsed to court, lying in court has far harsher penalties than fare evasion.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Can they/will they dig deaper than it is? CCTV footage and so on?

Understandably, TfL don't reveal full details of how they detect fare dodgers, but from various television programmes, it is clear that
- they use CCTV to identify offenders and link them to the cards being misused, and
- they also link offences together

So you need to assume that TfL know everything: if you say anything that they can prove is not true then they'll assume that everything else you say isn't true either.

 

[skyhigh]

So you need to assume that TfL know everything: if you say anything that they can prove is not true then they'll assume that everything else you say isn't true either.

TfL usually prosecute offences like these, however, recently we have seen several examples of them only offering a final warning.

Lying (and being caught out) would destroy any chance of a warning or settlement.

 

[Hadders]

TfL take misuse of Freedom Passes very seriously and prosecution is the normal outcome.

We have seen a handful cases where final warnings have been given. This is highly unusual and I would not reply on this being the normal outcome.

Here's a link to TfL's Revenue Enforcement & Prosecutions Policy which you might find worth reading:

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/revenue-enforcement-and-prosecutions-policy.pdf

 

[AlterEgo]

Yes, I have been using it longer, than I told to the officer who was interviewing me at the station. I paniked and lied.

So why, now, some time after the fact, do you want to continue to tell the train company lies?

Lying in correspondence is likely to dig you a deeper hole than you’re already in. I wouldn’t mention the dates you’ve been misusing the pass at all.

 

[ca6215]

Good morning all,

Thank you for all your replies and advises.

I am about to send the following letter, please be so kind and proofread it for me:


"Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to you in a matter of the case ABC123.

First of all, I am truly sorry that I have caused this issue by using my father in law's card, now I realize how huge this mistake was. I did not have bad intentions or to cause any harm to anyone.

Now I fully understand that I have broken the law and I would be more than happy to cooperate and pay the penalty for the issue I have created and cover the expenses for TFL which are related to my case.

I sincerely beg you not to escalate this case to a court matter, as this would very badly affect my financial situation within our family (especially my 3 y.o. child), as I might lose my job. My income is about 70% of the family’s income. Therefore this would be a catastrophe if I lose my job because of a criminal offense on my file. I trust you will have understanding of the situation and make the right decision.

I can fully assure you I will never use anyone else's travel card or any means of travel except my own.

Looking forward hearing from you.

Best regards,

Name Surname"


Thank you

 

[Brissle Girl]

My only comment is that you imply twice early in the letter that you didn’t realise it was wrong/against the law. Surely you did, in which case you should change the wording to be a more accurate representation.

 

[Pushpit]

Which means removing this sentence, which adds nothing and is clearly untrue:

"I did not have bad intentions or to cause any harm to anyone".

Also it's "offence" in British English rather than USA English, paragraph 4.

Otherwise it looks a sensible letter to me.

 

[reb0118]

I would also remove the reference to your "criminal offence" file. It may be tenuous but referring to a file in this way could be seen as implying that you already have a criminal record. I assume that was not your intention and you do not wish to sow any doubt in the mind of the person reading your letter.