Details instead of penalty fare

[torqkill]

I was travelling home from work after a long day. I saw the barriers open and walked through, very foolish. There was a tfl inspector and I expected to be issued a penalty fare. Instead, he phoned TFL and then he took my details including a description of me.

I am now expecting a letter in the post. I wondered if people could tell me why I didn't just get a penalty fare, which I would have just paid. I make the same journey almost every day, I always tap in and out, my oyster journey history shows this. I spend around £100 a month with a very consistent commute pattern.

I was issued a penalty fare several years ago, which I paid. I hadn't tapped in at Victoria and walked straight into a revenue inspector, very silly of me. Could this be the reason why? I'd have thought it being one penalty from over 3 years ago that I wouldn't be classed as any kind of repeat offender.

Does anyone also know what the next steps are? Is there a chance of settling out of court or just getting a warning?

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

There is no automatic right to a Penalty Fare. TfL take a robust approach to fare evasion and their normal response is to prosecute under the TfL Byelaws. TfL don't offer out of court settlements but in limited cases they do sometimes give a formal warning.

They will send a Verification Letter to you in the next few weeks asking whether you confirm or deny the offence. This letter is you opportunity to tell TfL about anything you want them to take into account before they decide how to proceed. I suggest reading TfL's Revenue Enforcement & Prosecutions Policy to understand the sort of things the sort of things that TfL take into account when deciding whether or not to prosecute.

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

When it arrives, post a copy of the Verification Letter and your draft reply in this thread (but do redact any personal details) and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

 

[pwharley]

I was travelling home from work after a long day. I saw the barriers open and walked through, very foolish. There was a tfl inspector and I expected to be issued a penalty fare. Instead, he phoned TFL and then he took my details including a description of me.

Was this before you boarded any train?
If so, the offence would be entering a Compulsory Ticket Area without a ticket (assuming the station is covered by a CTA scheme). Can you advise the name of the station where you encountered the Inspector and where he/she was?

 

[torqkill]

It was after I boarded the train, he was going down the train checking everyone's cards. It was in Overground train.

Welcome to the forum!

There is no automatic right to a Penalty Fare. TfL take a robust approach to fare evasion and their normal response is to prosecute under the TfL Byelaws. TfL don't offer out of court settlements but in limited cases they do sometimes give a formal warning.

They will send a Verification Letter to you in the next few weeks asking whether you confirm or deny the offence. This letter is you opportunity to tell TfL about anything you want them to take into account before they decide how to proceed. I suggest reading TfL's Revenue Enforcement & Prosecutions Policy to understand the sort of things the sort of things that TfL take into account when deciding whether or not to prosecute.

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

When it arrives, post a copy of the Verification Letter and your draft reply in this thread (but do redact any personal details) and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

From reading through that guidance it appears as if my previous penalty fare will outweigh any mitigating circumstances, of which there aren't many. Saying I had a very long and stressful day in my NHS job probably won't cut it, I walked straight through the barriers, as will be seen on any CCTV.

With that being in mind, and depending on what the letter says, I just want to be as compliant as possible with any process.

Hoping I can avoid the maximum penalties, but I have no idea

Was this before you boarded any train?
If so, the offence would be entering a Compulsory Ticket Area without a ticket (assuming the station is covered by a CTA scheme). Can you advise the name of the station where you encountered the Inspector and where he/she was?

It was after I boarded the train, he was going down the train checking everyone's cards. It was an Overground train.

Also if anyone could tell me what a fine relative to salary means, I'd be very grateful. As in, what's their calculation for deciding that? And also, can any fines be paid monthly or so they expect it all in one go? Thanks

 

[AlbertBeale]

If you got a Penalty Fare before, when simply trying to avoid payment, then you were lucky.

Penalty Fares - where they exist and are a possibility - are intended for people who seem to have made a genuine error, not for deliberate fare evasion. (The extra cost of a PF being intended as a deterrent to people being careless.)

Where people travel without a valid ticket in cases where it seems they were simply trying not to pay, reporting for possible prosecution is the norm. If it's TfL, rather than another railway company, the chance (once you hear from them) of successfully asking them to consider an out-of-court settlment instead of a prosecution is - as has been said above - very low indeed.

And there's no point in telling them "but I pay my fares usually" (which you point out above); the fact that there were other occasions you weren't dishonest doesn't make your dishonesty on another occasion any less. If you pay for your shopping for weeks, then one day you shoplift, telling a court, "but I often do pay for my shopping" will cut no ice in terms of saving you from conviction for the time you did shoplift.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

What station did you board the train at? Victoria

"Fine relative to salary" means that any fine (if issued) will be based upon your salary. A fine can only be issued by a court.

 

[John R]

What station did you board the train at?

"Fine relative to salary" means that any fine (if issued) will be based upon your salary. A fine can only be issued by a court.

Wait for the letter and hope Tfl agree to an out of court settlement. Others here will tell you how likely/unlikely this might be

TfL don't do Out of Court Settlements. In very exceptional circumstances they issue a final warning, although I can't see anything in the OP's case to suggest that it might be one of the exceptions.

 

[torqkill]

Further to this, when asked for my details when stopped, I gave my correct name and address to the inspector, but I gave my date of birth in the American format. Correct month and day, just the wrong way round.

To avoid any risk of being accused of giving false details, I sent a follow up email the following day to the fare evasion email address giving the time and location of the stop and confirming all of my details with them (full name, address, date of birth in UK format, phone number).

They've now responded saying:

They cannot find the case in question.
They're asking for the following:
The TfL Case Number.
Address given at the time to the Inspector

I never received a case number or any kind of reference from the inspector. And the address in my follow up email was the same as the one I gave the inspector. They also have my address from my oyster card which he scanned.

So I'm very confused as to why they can't find any record.

Any advice on how to respond?

 

[AlterEgo]

It could be that the inspector hasn't submitted their report yet, hence there is no record of any case.

 

[torqkill]

Ah right. It was 1 week ago. Do they usually take that long?