Right, I can finally say that equilibrium has been restored.
I sent quite a rude letter to IRCAS a few weeks ago, informing them of a few home truths with regards to their failure to act appropriately in handling my case. Today, I received a non-standard custom reply from them.
With respect to requesting payment for both notices that had already been paid - the reason given is something to do with a duplicate entry being made for one of the UFNs, with one entry being shown as unpaid, hence the request for me to pay again.
I picked them up on the constant reference to Penalty Fares and the Penalty Fares Rules despite me having a UFN. Apparently, the nature of the business means that they need to send out standard replies with references to PFN/UFNs that cross over.
The errors on the notices were acknowledged - I was particularly assertive in grilling them over the fact that they rejected my appeals despite some conspicuous mistakes being made by the inspectors. They say that they accept this point, but EMT have advised that they have already refunded me. I made this clear to them in my letter and stated I only wanted them to write off the debt and mark the notice as cancelled.
Finally I've been advised that the two UFNs in question have been marked as "the unpaid fare should not have been issued" and will clearly appear as so in the eventuality that any future checks against my name be made.
They've apologised for being in the wrong and assured me of their best intentions at all times.
I can tell that more than the average amount of administrative time and effort was spent on me - the poor judgement calls and lack of due diligence by ticket inspection staff clearly causes a domino effect of headaches elsewhere. Maybe one of these days, they will learn not to judge a book by its cover.
My commute is on hold for a few months now but in the meantime, a new dispute of a more local nature has been initiated. My latest case study is on London area season tickets so will be campaigning for a favourable outcome on this one. For all their good points, London Overground are proving to be a bit of a nuisance with regards to ticketing. If past trends are to be followed, ELL2 is going to make my commuting costs skyrocket. The season ticket I use when working full time is a good price for the 3 or so stops I travel between along the line, so I won't be letting this one lie.