I am so scared: TfL contactless issue

[Ykb]

I received a letter from tfl asking for my side of an event.

I am new to London, just started university. I was travelling early in morning to school, on getting to the underground we were all directed to use the Overground, due to fire alert I touched in and on getting to London Liverpool street the barriers was not letting me out so I called on staff, he tried my debit card on his device and said I was travelling without a valid ticket, I told him that I use my debit card to travel all the time without any obstructions, showed him my statement on my mobile app that I travel almost everyday and I pay with my debit card. He took my details, then I received a letter from tfl, threatening to sue me.

I rang my bank and they told me that TfL tried to take out money from my account last night but other payment had gone through leaving not enough money for tfl.

I never knew all this happened in the morning, my balance was not on minus. I only put in money that I needed for the day before stepping out and was sure I had money before travelling.

Tfl tried again on the day of the incident and the money went through. I am still using the same debit card for travel.

What should I do? They said:

1. I can deny committing the offence, or
   
2. Accept committing the offence.

 

[PeterC]

Sounds as if your card had been blacklisted. If your budget is that tight it might be safer to use Oyster as nothing else is going to debit the card.
I haven't seen this particular use case on the board before but I am sure that somebody with the appropriate knowledge and experience will be along in fairly soon.

 

[WesternLancer]

I received a letter from tfl asking for my side of an event.

I am new to London, just started university. I was travelling early in morning to school, on getting to the underground we were all directed to use the Overground, due to fire alert I touched in and on getting to London Liverpool street the barriers was not letting me out so I called on staff, he tried my debit card on his device and said I was travelling without a valid ticket, I told him that I use my debit card to travel all the time without any obstructions, showed him my statement on my mobile app that I travel almost everyday and I pay with my debit card. He took my details, then I received a letter from tfl, threatening to sue me.

I rang my bank and they told me that TfL tried to take out money from my account last night but other payment had gone through leaving not enough money for tfl.

I never knew all this happened in the morning, my balance was not on minus. I only put in money that I needed for the day before stepping out and was sure I had money before travelling.

Tfl tried again on the day of the incident and the money went through. I am still using the same debit card for travel.

What should I do? They said:

1. I can deny committing the offence, or
   
2. Accept committing the offence.

As you are at University go to see your Students Union advice centre for some free help, as well as watch out here for more advice.

 

[najaB]

He took my details, then I received a letter from tfl, threatening to sue me.

Please note, TfL aren't likely to sue you (a civil matter), if they do take the case to court then it would be a criminal case.

What should I do? They said:

1. I can deny committing the offence, or
   
2. Accept committing the offence.

What offence have you been charged with? It should say something like "boarded a train with intent to travel without a valid ticket" or "travelling/attempting to travel on a railway without having previously paid the fare and with intent to avoid payment thereof".

 

[Belperpete]

It is important that you reply to the letter. At this stage they are just after an explanation from you of what happened. The letter appears threatening to make people realise the potential seriousness of the situation if they ignore the letter. I would recommend explaining clearly what happened, you have used your card many times before without problem, you had no intention of travelling without paying but you were unaware that you had insufficient balance on the card, apologise for what happened and that you will ensure that it doesn't happen again. It sounds like you have a student card that doesn't allow you to go over-drawn, in which case it would be worth mentioning that. State that you are happy to pay any money that you owe, and any reasonable admin costs.

I don't quite understand when you say Tfl tried again on the day of the incident and the money went through.
Are you saying that TfL tried a second time to get the missed payment, and succeeded (so you don't owe them anything). Or are you saying that you travelled a second time on the day in question (perhaps to get back home), and got properly charged for that travel (but still owe them money for the first journey).

I appreciate that as a student money may be tight, but the way that you are managing your card does appear a bit risky. If the money fails to go through onto the card, or if you have an unexpected charge on the card, then you are at risk of having no balance on the card with this result.

 

[Tetchytyke]

What does the letter allege you have done?

If you failed to touch in (easy enough to do in disruption) then this would be recorded as a failed revenue check on TfL systems. Coupled with a rejected payment, this might be enough for TfL to have blacklisted the card and generated a letter to you.

When you say the payment went through, was that the same payment or a different one?

I would suggest you start by checking your online TfL account to see your journey history and cross-check this with bank statements to make sure you've paid for everything. If you have no outstanding debt to TfL you could explain this in your letter.

If money is tight Oyster might be better for you. As a student you'd be entitled to a 16-25 railcard which, when also added to Oyster, provides a discount.