Notice of Intended Prosecution

[Crofty]

I received a letter today from IRCAS entitled Notice of Intended Prosecution.

it related to an alleged non payment of fare in January 2017 On Greater Anglia. It also states I have ignored letters sent on 9th and 27th February 2017.

This letter is the first I’ve heard anything about it. I have no details of the journey or the fare that was allegedly dodged. I have not received any previous letters and the address they have for me is correct. I know I have never dodged a fare in my life.

I’ve checked my back account and a payment went to both Greater Anglia and TFL on that day so I know I was travelling and I paid something! Other than that what can I do?

Does anyone know if there is a time limit of them contacting me and if I can appeal? I have no recollection of anything this could be at all.

Grateful for any advice.

 

[30907]

It looks as though IRCAS are chasing up old cases! This thread https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/statute-barred-penalty-fare.204378/#post-4579951
has similarities, but the main point is that they have 6 years to pursue a civil debt.
If you know what journey you actually made that day, it might be worth responding and asking for details of the alleged PF.
Don't tell them what your journey was, keep your powder dry, because if you have evidence you were at Norwich when they say you were at Cambridge Heath, they might struggle to get a court order (NB I am not an expert!)
Do you have any idea why two letters supposedly sent to you might have gone astray?

 

[mikeg]

But this is a notice of intent to prosecute, not a debt collection letter, for which the limitation is six months. Perhaps point out that they are out of time to prosecute, as well as challenging the rest of it.

 

[Western Sunset]

I'd have thought they were out of time now too.

 

[Crofty]

It looks as though IRCAS are chasing up old cases! This thread https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/statute-barred-penalty-fare.204378/#post-4579951
has similarities, but the main point is that they have 6 years to pursue a civil debt.
If you know what journey you actually made that day, it might be worth responding and asking for details of the alleged PF.
Don't tell them what your journey was, keep your powder dry, because if you have evidence you were at Norwich when they say you were at Cambridge Heath, they might struggle to get a court order (NB I am not an expert!)
Do you have any idea why two letters supposedly sent to you might have gone astray?

None at all but I seriously doubt they were ever sent In the first place. Frustratingly there is no way to prove that though

 

[Crofty]

But this is a notice of intent to prosecute, not a debt collection letter, for which the limitation is six months. Perhaps point out that they are out of time to prosecute, as well as challenging the rest of it.

Thanks Mikeg. Even if they claim they sent a letter within 6 months (the Feb)?

 

[furlong]

Something odd going on here. Are they using the wrong template for the letter? Or are they thinking of prosecuting for a serious offence for which the 6 month time limit does not apply? After this length of time the least they could do is include their evidence of the debt with the letter.

So a short reply along the lines of saying you don't believe you owe them any money, didn't receive any of the letters referred to, so please would they double check their records, and if they continue to think otherwise please supply a copy of their supporting evidence?

 

[furlong]

I'd suggest keeping it short and simple at this point though there are plenty of templates online for tougher responses - no knowledge of, don't accept owe, dispute the debt; cease all collection activity until the dispute has been investigated, provide sufficient evidence you are liable for the debt, ignoring these requests might constitute harassment etc.

 

[ainsworth74]

I think people are getting to hung up on the title or the letter without reference to the content. It's an attempt to scare/intimidate people into payment which is very common in the debt world. Arguably immoral but not seemingly illegal. The content of the letter makes it clear they're preparing to take action via civil courts probably via the County Court.

As usual I am not lawyer so this is just the opinion of a bloke from the Internet but...

To the OP - Whilst you are clear, most likely, of any worries regarding a criminal action they are not out of time to recover via a civil claim in the County Court. My suggestion would be to respond in the first instance asking for more information, in particular so that you can ascertain what basis their claim has.

 

[Crofty]

I think people are getting to hung up on the title or the letter without reference to the content. It's an attempt to scare/intimidate people into payment which is very common in the debt world. Arguably immoral but not seemingly illegal. The content of the letter makes it clear they're preparing to take action via civil courts probably via the County Court.

As usual I am not lawyer so this is just the opinion of a bloke from the Internet but...

To the OP - Whilst you are clear, most likely, of any worries regarding a criminal action they are not out of time to recover via a civil claim in the County Court. My suggestion would be to respond in the first instance asking for more information, in particular so that you can ascertain what basis their claim has.

Thankyou. As suggested I have responded asking for more information on the alleged offence, copies of the letters they claim they have sent and a breakdown of the fine. Will update when I hear back

 

[ainsworth74]

Excellent, look forward to hearing more.

On a pure point of technicalities you've not been fined (as only a court can do that) simply they are claiming that you owe a sum of money. I can appreciate that it might not feel different but it does make a difference to the legal postion!

 

[WesternLancer]

Thankyou. As suggested I have responded asking for more information on the alleged offence, copies of the letters they claim they have sent and a breakdown of the fine. Will update when I hear back

This sounds like a good course of action. Do come back to the thread for more help eg with draft responses - as they will probably declare their records show you were caught etc (it may be that someone gave your name and address at the time - eg did you live in a shared house, or place with communal letterbox or such where someone may have been able to steal your post to be able to give a fake name and address for example, then dodge fares and be prepared to say they were you?) - obv you have correctly blanked out the address details but presumably for example, the address this letter reached you at is the address you occupied at that time and (one assumes) the address they sent the original letters to (or claim they did)? Probably impossible to know of course unless they attached copies of said letters - which I doubt they did.

Clearly the massive reduction in travel is resulting in these companies trawling old cases to review and re-open on behalf of the train operators, not itself an unreasonable thing to do if you were in their situation and need to justify their retention fees - and probably tacit support for such an approach from the UK govt at the moment given the govt are paying to run a railway with almost no tickets being sold (given my experience of travelling yesterday including through London in the evening peak).