No. They've asked you to write / e-mail, so write or email.

If you call you might get flustered (you mentioned you panicked when questioned).

They might also ask questions they haven't already asked like "have you previously travelled without paying your fare" ; if they haven't asked this in what they've written you don't have to volunteer information they haven't asked for (just in case answering truthfully might be a problem......)

I quite liked the original "gavelling letter"

 

Combination of typoitis and auto-correct?

I've heard they like letters written on sand paper

frukes their scanners up lovely

dx

Dear Sir/Madam,

Many thanks for your letter dated [] of Reference [] and offering me the opportunity to reply back to you.

On [date], I took a train from West drayton to Shepherd Bush. I did not touch in when I entered the station as I was running very late and I had to give the presentation to the client. It was a new client and I was quite nervous in the morning due to that.

When I come out at the Shepherd Bush station, I also used the wrong card and that was because both the Oyster card and tesco card were in the same pocket. Once I was stopped by the revenue inspector, I realized that I used the wrong card. I did show my registered Oyster card to the revenue inspector and it did have enough money to cover the cost of travel. I immediately realized my mistake and apologized to the inspector. I would also like to offer you my sincere apologies for my actions on [date].

I spent most of my time on train and tube to prepare for my presentation to the client and I seriously apologize for my absent mindedness on the morning of [date].

I am extremely fearful of the potential consequences on my current and future employment as I work in information technology and they take criminal conviction very seriously.

I am also extremely worried about the impact of me having a criminal conviction on my record to the extension of my wife's visa as criminal conviction is taken very seriously.

This incident made me extremely worried and stressed and I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that I am feeling deeply ashamed and embarrassed with the whole situation. I am so sorry and I am disgusted with my behaviour on this occasion. I certainly learnt from this experience and I again reassure you that I will never ever let that mistake happen again in future.

I think of myself as a valuable part of the community and I would like to give back to community by providing my voluntary services to the charity of your choice.

I pledge you to allow me to make the necessary compensation to your company, therefore If possible, I would like to remedy this situation and avoid it being escalated further by way of an administrative settlement. I would like to offer payment of the appropriate outstanding fare and to cover any additional administrative costs you have incurred, due to my poor actions.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

too much waffle...

use your nervousness to your advantage.

it will have no bearing at all on your wifes' visa ..ditch that.

ditch the charity bit

dx

too much waffle...

 

 

use your nervousness to your advantage.

 

 

it will have no bearing at all on your wifes' visa ..ditch that.

 

 

ditch the charity bit

 

 

dx

home office do perform DBS check on both applicant and sponsor, if my criminal conviction flagged up on either of dbs checks, surely her visa will be rejected.

I thank you for your letter of [date].

its contents are duly noted and I would very much like to take up your kind offer of allowing me to explain the reasons for the unfortunate situation that I found myself in.

on the day of the incident my employment had tasked me to give a very important presentation to one of their most valued clients.

This, in my current role, was a potential leader toward further movement within the company, and if I were to be honest, was still not of a standard I was happy with.

I took a train from West drayton to Shepherd Bush.

I did not touch in when I entered the station as I was running very late due to the above.

I spent most of my time on train and tube still ruining through this presentation to the client.

I arrived at the Shepherd Bush station and mistakenly used my Tesco clubcard at the barrier, that and my Oyster card are kept in the same pocket.

Your system correctly alerted to the error and I was approached by the revenue inspector,

It was then I realised the card mistake and presented my registered Oyster card to the revenue inspector.

The Card was checked and this confirmed it had enough credit to cover the cost of the travel in question.

I would like to offer you my sincere apologies for my actions .

I am extremely fearful of the potential consequences on my current and future employment as I work in information technology and they take criminal conviction very seriously.

I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that I am feeling deeply ashamed and embarrassed with the whole situation.

I am so sorry and I am disgusted with my behaviour on this occasion.

I have certainly learnt from this experience and I again reassure you that I will never ever let such a mistake happen again in future.

I offer to you any reasonable monetary sums equivalent to any related fines and administrative fees you have incurred to allow me to keep my criminal record clear.

This would have a very negative effect upon my future employment as my presentation that caused this situation to occur was received very well and impressed my employers, it would be such a shame for this incident to wash that success away.

Once again, I apologise for my actions and hope you will take the matter for what it was and allow me to suitably resolve the matter to our mutual satisfaction.

yours

etc

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

Doesn't address the obvious question : how did the OP get from Network Rail to TfL ;the barriers may have been open at West Drayton but what happened at the interchange (Paddington? Ealing Broadway??)

Of course, they haven't overtly asked you that so if answering it may be damaging you may decide to skip over that. Did the Revenue staff enquire? (they'll marry up your answer with the report / notes they made).

No barrier at Ealing Broadway interchange.

My question to the op is:

you said that you used your Tesco card to exit at shepherd bush. Is this a contactless credit card?

Did it work the gate, so you touched and the barrier opened?

If so,

you have paid a maximum fare which is your fare for the journey, although more than standard fare.

Check your Tesco card statement and if there's a charge for that journey, you have paid.

If that's the case you need to send TfL a copy of your statement with the charge highlighted and simply tell them that you mistakenly used your Tesco card instead of the oyster but then produced the oyster card to the revenue inspector.

As this card had not been used at the barrier, the inspector reported you.

In simple terms,

you did fail to produce a ticket on request, but you had paid with your Tesco card.

If all checks out, prosecution would be very unlikely because you have paid for your journey.

Let us know if there's a charge on the Tesco card please.

I stupidly used my tesco club card to touch out instead of oyster card as both were in the same pocket.

My question to the op is: you said that you used your Tesco card to exit at shepherd bush. Is this a contactless credit card?

Tesco club card or tesco credit card (or even clubcard credit card .....!)

Hi dx,

Many thanks for drafting the letter for me, highly appreciate your efforts.

You truly a star.

Cheers

Tesco club card or tesco credit card (or even clubcard credit card .....!)

No, it was a normal tesco club card and not a credit card.

I don't know whether it gave a green light when I touched the card but definitely barriers were still open.

It was a long queue of people,

so either I managed to come out of barriers because of tailgating

or person behind me touched his card early enough to make the barriers open.

If barriers would have remain closed once I touched my card,

that could clearly show me that the card I am using not a oyster card

and could resolve the situation there and then without any involvement from RI.

I don't know where the technology is taking us?

a Tesco clubcard has only a magnetic swipe strip not a RF chip

I would suggest he saw you tailgate

and then things unfolded from there.

quite honestly i'd not bother explaining further.

you only need to answer the questions regarding travel for which they are indicating they want the explanation for

whether or not you travelled on another system to get that far and how you paid or didn't is somewhat immaterial.

No, it was a normal tesco club card and not a credit card.

 

I don't know whether it gave a green light when I touched the card but definitely barriers were still open.

 

 

It was a long queue of people,

so either I managed to come out of barriers because of tailgating

or person behind me touched his card early enough to make the barriers open.

 

If barriers would have remain closed once I touched my card,

that could clearly show me that the card I am using not a oyster card

and could resolve the situation there and then without any involvement from RI.

 

I don't know where the technology is taking us?

In this case, grovelling letter as suggested.

 

I offer to you any reasonable monetary sums equivalent to any related fines and administrative fees you have incurred to allow me to keep my criminal record clear.

Please advice what should be the reasonable amount I should offer them in my letter?

Please advice what should be the reasonable amount I should offer them in my letter?

You see what they say you'll need to cough up.

It'll likely be less than you'd be fined, but one disadvantage compared with a fine from a court, you'll need to pay it in one lump sum (no installment option!).

you mean likely to be less than 1000£ (Max fine)?

you mean likely to be less than 1000£ (Max fine)?

Certainly. Have a look at other, similar, threads to see what people have been asked to pay for 'administrative settlements'

oh a lot less

might even just be a couple £100

theres one here that was simply the fare and £40 admin

another @£240.

I had spoken to couple of my good friends and they are STRONGLY suggesting me to hire a solicitor instead of me writing to TFL, what do you guys think?

rubbish waste of money

yes if you'd been doing this for months possibly

but this was an honest mistake

if you read this forum

then you'll see 99% result is a very small sum to sort the matter.

dx

rubbish waste of money

 

 

yes if you'd been doing this for months possibly

but this was an honest mistake

 

 

if you read this forum

then you'll see 99% result is a very small sum to sort the matter.

 

 

dx

That's what I thought as well and these solicitors are asking at least 600£ to draft a letter.

I had spoken to couple of my good friends and they are STRONGLY suggesting me to hire a solicitor instead of me writing to TFL, what do you guys think?

Why do they say they suggest this? (& so strongly too!)

Have they dealt with this lots before?? (by comparison with the many cases CAG has helped with).

Are they suggesting a particular solicitor with special expertise in such cases / railway law?.

What extra are you getting for your money (and the risk TfL may react less favourably ......)?

Ohh, and given it is a Bank Holiday Monday, and you only got the letter Saturday evening ....I'm surprised you've been able to speak to a solicitor about it already for them to quote you £600.....

 

Ohh, and given it is a Bank Holiday Monday, and you only got the letter Saturday evening ....I'm surprised you've been able to speak to a solicitor about it already for them to quote you £600.....

This is the first time it happened to me and none of my friends (who suggested for solicitor) even involved with fare evasion. They did not suggest any particular solicitor but advised me to speak to them before I write to TFL.

Even I am not in favour to use the solicitor, but I thought I should run the idea on the forum and hence the question.

At least 3 solicitors I have spoken to yesterday have 24 hr helpline, I called them, left the message and they returned my call and one of them even sent an email with their T&C.