TIL Fine Notice

[greengreengras]

Hi there, I am a student who has been moving around between my student house and my family home quite a lot. I was issued a fine for not paying my initial train ticket fare. I was given notice that if I do not pay the fine within 21 days I could be subject to court summons. I am currently in my family home however my TIL letter, which includes my Unique Reference Number, is at my student home. Now I have been trying to get in contact with TIL to get the number off of them so I can swiftly pay my fine, however I am now past my 21 day notice (by 1 day) and they are closed on weekends!!! Help!! I am aware of my mistake and I am happy to pay the fine, I have also left emails to their enquiries team just in case someone does get back to me. Is it likely I will get a court summons for paying a fine 1 or 2 days late?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Hi there, I am a student who has been moving around between my student house and my family home quite a lot. I was issued a fine for not paying my initial train ticket fare. I was given notice that if I do not pay the fine within 21 days I could be subject to court summons. I am currently in my family home however my TIL letter, which includes my Unique Reference Number, is at my student home. Now I have been trying to get in contact with TIL to get the number off of them so I can swiftly pay my fine, however I am now past my 21 day notice (by 1 day) and they are closed on weekends!!! Help!! I am aware of my mistake and I am happy to pay the fine, I have also left emails to their enquiries team just in case someone does get back to me. Is it likely I will get a court summons for paying a fine 1 or 2 days late?

Quick answer - don’t know.

Longer answer - it seems unlikely, but possible. So in my view you need to do everything you can to pay the penalty. Trying to get your reference number is one good approach. Another would be to write to TIL, enclosing a cheque for the penalty (or a postal order if you have no access to a chequebook - you get postal orders from the post office) and giving as many details as you can to identify the incident: your name, the address that TIL have been writing to, the date and time of the incident and the stations you were travelling between for example. Send the letter by the ‘Signed For’ service - this will cost more but means that you can demonstrate when your letter got to TIL. Hopefully TIL will find your reference, bank the money and that will be the end of the matter. Even if it isn’t you will be able to prove - if the matter goes to court - that you tried to satisfy TIL.

 

[MotCO]

I think one of the critical things is whether you emailed them before the 21 days were up explaining your situation and stating your intention to pay if they could supply the reference number. This would show your intent to engage with them.

The other option is to try to find out details of the payment system and see if you could pay them the amount without having to supply the reference number, or whether you could use a made up obvious reference such as 123456. At least TIL would have the money; they would simply need to link the payments to the fine. It might be easier if you paid them a penny more than the fine if the fine was a round sum - in that way they may be able to trace the payment more easily than if it was a common amount. You would obvously need to email them the details, but again it shows your intent to engage with them.

 

[greengreengras]

Thanks for your reply!! I am going to be at the property where the letter was sent to tomorrow, meaning the payment can be made before TIL opens again on Monday. I feel this may be the only option as I will struggle to send anything via post. A late payment by 2 days should be fine I am hoping, as I have never committed any sort of evasion offences (or any other offence for that matter) before. Again, thank you

 

[MotCO]

Thanks for your reply!! I am going to be at the property where the letter was sent to tomorrow, meaning the payment can be made before TIL opens again on Monday. I feel this may be the only option as I will struggle to send anything via post. A late payment by 2 days should be fine I am hoping, as I have never committed any sort of evasion offences (or any other offence for that matter) before. Again, thank you

Did the '21 days' quote an actual date payent was to be received by, or did it say something like pay within 21 days of the postmarked date of this letter? If the former, it may be that there are automatic systems set up which would determine if a payment date was missed; if the latter, you may be in luck. Either way, pay the fine ASAP, and argue the toss later.

 

[greengreengras]

I think one of the critical things is whether you emailed them before the 21 days were up explaining your situation and stating your intention to pay if they could supply the reference number. This would show your intent to engage with them.

The other option is to try to find out details of the payment system and see if you could pay them the amount without having to supply the reference number, or whether you could use a made up obvious reference such as 123456. At least TIL would have the money; they would simply need to link the payments to the fine. It might be easier if you paid them a penny more than the fine if the fine was a round sum - in that way they may be able to trace the payment more easily than if it was a common amount. You would obvously need to email them the details, but again it shows your intent to engage with them.

I have tried to search for some sort of payment details so I can at least send a payment however I am unable to do so unfortunately although I would be more than happy to do as you’ve mentioned. Again, thank you for your response!

Did the '21 days' quote an actual date payent was to be received by, or did it say something like pay within 21 days of the postmarked date of this letter? If the former, it may be that there are automatic systems set up which would determine if a payment date was missed; if the latter, you may be in luck. Either way, pay the fine ASAP, and argue the toss later.

It does state to pay within 21 days of the letter being sent. The date on the letter shows “16th July” however I saw the letter much later than this date due to the fact that I was not at the property at the time it was sent.

 

[MotCO]

I have tried to search for some sort of payment details so I can at least send a payment however I am unable to do so unfortunately although I would be more than happy to do as you’ve mentioned. Again, thank you for your response!


It does state to pay within 21 days of the letter being sent. The date on the letter shows “16th July” however I saw the letter much later than this date due to the fact that I was not at the property at the time it was sent.

Since a specific date is not mentioned, fingers crossed you may be alright if you pay it tomorrow. Good luck!

 

[greengreengras]

Since a specific date is not mentioned, fingers crossed you may be alright if you pay it tomorrow. Good luck!

My man! Thank you, i’ll provide an update if anyone cares tomorrow once all is said and done haha. And AGAIN, many thanks dude

 

[WesternLancer]

My man! Thank you, i’ll provide an update if anyone cares tomorrow once all is said and done haha. And AGAIN, many thanks dude

always good to know outcomes as others in future can read the thread who facew the same issue.

 

[greengreengras]

always good to know outcomes as others in future can read the thread who facew the same issue.

Thank you, I will definitely update the thread after this. I spent ages trying to find a thread with the same issue as mine but lucked out sadly, hopefully this can provide some info for others as you said!

 

[30907]

Thank you, I will definitely update the thread after this. I spent ages trying to find a thread with the same issue as mine but lucked out sadly, hopefully this can provide some info for others as you said!

Always better to start a new thread than to bump an old one, makes it easier to follow

 

[MikeWh]

Always better to start a new thread than to bump an old one, makes it easier to follow

Not if you're just updating the outcome. Then it is much easier to use the original.

 

[island]

The site usually won’t let you pay if you’re late, hence the suggestion to post a cheque and plead the post was delayed by Covid if they say it’s out of time.

Hopefully it worked out for you.

 

[greengreengras]

Hi guys, quick update on the situation. I went ahead and paid the fine successfully online and have not heard anything since so I’m guessing all went well!!

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Thanks for letting us know.