Out of court settlements

[MoniiMonzx]

Hi everyone,

Would anyone be able to tell me what my chances are of agreeing an out of court settlement with TFL?

I won’t go into too much detail here but I was caught using my mother’s freedom pass. I have received a letter from TFL asking me to provide my side of the story. I have included some mitigating factors in my email back to TFL.

I would like to know the likelihood of them settling out of court and if they do send me a court summons, is it worth getting a lawyer?

thanks.

 

[najaB]

Would anyone be able to tell me what my chances are of agreeing an out of court settlement with TFL?

With the amount of information you've provided, the most accurate estimate anyone can give you is somewhere between very good and none at all.

I would like to know the likelihood of them settling out of court and if they do send me a court summons, is it worth getting a lawyer?

Yes. No. Maybe?

 

[30907]

If you search "Freedom Pass" on this subforum you will discover that you are not the first to have been caught evading fares in this way. The various threads might be worth reading.
From memory, TfL may well only prosecute for travelling without a valid ticket on one specific occasion (a "Byelaw Offence") rather than anything more serious.
A little more information (without incriminating yourself) from you would help!
And if you were to tell us what you consider mitigating circumstances, we could express an opinion as to whether they are likely to carry any weight.

 

[tom73]

This previous thread may be useful
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-freedom-pass-and-got-caught-plz-help.152730/

 

[MoniiMonzx]

Thank you for your comments so far. Much appreciated.
Just to provide more context:
On this one occasion I had my mum’s Oyster in my bag. The day before she had asked me to hold some of her things in my bag as she didn’t have any room in hers. I usually carry my debit card that I use for travel in a plastic wallet similar to hers. I stupidly accidentally used her Oyster for travel one day. When caught by the inspector I provided all the necessary details.
I have since sent correspondence to the prosecutor and I have explained what has happened. She did mention that I had used the Oyster card more than once which is not correct. I apologised for my actions (I truly am sorry for my actions even though it wasn’t intended) and explained that I will be qualifying as a solicitor in the next two years and a criminal record would jeopardise this.
I am currently waiting to hear back from the prosecutor regarding her decision.

 

[MoniiMonzx]

If you search "Freedom Pass" on this subforum you will discover that you are not the first to have been caught evading fares in this way. The various threads might be worth reading.
From memory, TfL may well only prosecute for travelling without a valid ticket on one specific occasion (a "Byelaw Offence") rather than anything more serious.
A little more information (without incriminating yourself) from you would help!

This previous thread may be useful
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-freedom-pass-and-got-caught-plz-help.152730/

Thank you!

 

[30907]

On this one occasion I had my mum’s Oyster in my bag. The day before she had asked me to hold some of her things in my bag as she didn’t have any room in hers. I usually carry my debit card that I use for travel in a plastic wallet similar to hers. I stupidly accidentally used her Oyster for travel one day. ...
She did mention that I had used the Oyster card more than once which is not correct.
I will be qualifying as a solicitor in the next two years and a criminal record would jeopardise this.

Responding to these 3 points.

1. Your description of events means that you were travelling without a valid ticket, the Byelaw Offence I mentioned.
2. Did you use the card for one journey only before realising your mistake, or can the prosecutor show otherwise?
3. Your future career is irrelevant to the offence, and in particular a non recordable conviction under the Byelaws would be spent within a year.

 

[some bloke]

While it may be reasonable to hope that they would only prosecute under a byelaw, it's not easy to guarantee that they won't allege intent.

In view of your intended career, you might think it wise to at least take advantage of a free initial consultation from a solicitor who deals with crime.

 

[some bloke]

You could look up the SRA requirements if you haven't already done so.

It might be better to focus on how to minimise risk rather than speculating on what TfL may do.

One way of looking at the situation is this: If you do hire a lawyer, it might be an investment in a potentially valuable aspect of professional training. Another thing you could consider is that it may reduce worry.

 

[some bloke]

Maybe the SRA would be amenable to a phone call about their requirements if the website doesn't answer questions you have.

Some free legal advice may be available through a student union, or as a benefit with a bank account or insurance. Perhaps there might be something a lawyer would say which you could add at this stage to what you've already written to TfL. The relative value of consulting a lawyer may be higher, the less information you're prepared to provide here (such as the text of the letter you've sent). The devil may be in the detail!

 

[Brissle Girl]

To follow up on 30907's second point, if you are telling TfL that you only misused the card once, but they are telling you otherwise, then they are likely to think that you are not telling the whole truth now in correspondence with them. And that is unlikely to steer them towards an OOC settlement, both in terms of not being an isolated incident and in terms of not being honest now.

So you need to think of how you can provide evidence that you didn't misuse the card, eg by providing information of bank card transactions that would align with your normal day to day usage of the tube prior to the incident. And on the flip side, think about why they might think you did. An obvious way would be if there was a pattern of usage on the Freedom Pass consistent with the journey you were taken when you were stopped. And of course, as has been seen recently on the Channel 5 series, investigators are not averse to checking the time of gateline usage and then looking at the CCTV of the gateline to see who went through.

The fact that her card was an Oyster, and yours a Bank Card, probably doesn't help the claim that it was accidental usage either, and I would surmise that a sceptical investigator may be of that view too. Again, I'm not passing judgement on the usage, simply trying to see it in the eyes of the investigator who ultimately will be recommending whether to settle or progress to court.

 

[some bloke]

if you are telling TfL that you only misused the card once, but they are telling you otherwise, then they are likely to think that you are not telling the whole truth now in correspondence with them. And that is unlikely to steer them towards an OOC settlement

Good points from @Brissle Girl - and again, you might want to add to your statement (for example journey history as @Brissle Girl suggests) before their next decision.

If they suspect you are not telling the truth, that might increase the risk that they would prosecute for "intent to avoid payment". That's a risk you want to minimise, and if you can anticipate/answer potential concerns it might be best done earlier rather than later.

You might feel they don't want to be burdened with more information at this stage, but if you don't tell them something relevant now, that might create more work for them later.

 

[Brissle Girl]

... that might create more work for them later.

Which if they do offer an OOC settlement will increase the costs incurred which they will seek to recover from you in the settlement offer.