TfL have already said the won't settle ooc. With that being said, I plead not guilty and I'm just going to go there and say everything truthfully. Hopefully, I won't be punished to severely since I feel like I got scammed by that person anyway.

This is an anonymous forum, and I have absolutely NOTHING here that can prove who I am. It hurts me to see that nobody seems to believe that I really didn't alight the bus. What would I gain from lying on here? I'm going to say this for the last time: The bus was approaching my stop, the inspector asked for my date of birth but NEVER asked for my name or address. After he asked those questions, I even told him that it's my stop and that I'll be getting off - the inspector nodded his head and let me get off casually. I got off the bus with absolutely no rush at all and the inspector was PERFECTLY fine with me getting off after nodding his head saying that I can. Did I produce a valid ticket? Well I DID have an oyster card which I believed to be valid. Only when I received the letter did I realise that the account which was made for me was provided with the incorrect details. I don't know whether pleading not guilty was the correct move or the wrong move. I am an 18 year old who has never had any trouble with the law OR any experience with it. But my father advised me to do this after I told him what happened and so I decided to trust him. Now I'd like to think that I'm not a stupid person, at least for my age. But I do know that I definitely made a mistake. So at the very least I would just like to ask for this advice. If you could just assume that I am telling the truth here. I never was asked for my name and address. I also gave the date of birth which the person on social media told me will be on the system in order for my card to be valid. How will the court handle this situation anyway? From the very start, I've been worried that it's my word against the ticket inspector. My word is taken even less seriously because I'm at fault for making this mistake. But I really am being truthful. I don't know what to do at this stage - If I was asked any question I would have certainly provided the answer but I WASN'T asked for my name/address. I was only asked for my date of birth, and the inspector wanted to see the oyster card that I was using (I assumed he was looking at my name.. Why would I withhold my name when the inspector had it literally there in front of him?) at this point I don't know. When I first received this summon, I wasn't that worried about it. That's because I know for myself that I was unaware that I wasn't allowed to have the card I was using, I was eligible for ALL of the discounts on the card anyway so why would I get it illegally? And I thought if I just explain my side of the story it would be fine. But now I realise that although I know that I'm being truthful, I have no evidence other than my own word which has put me in this situation. So if you are still here to give me advice for this: what do you recommend I do? Is it looking bad for me even if I am telling the truth?

From the start of this thread you've expressed your annoyance about helping me. Constantly saying how everything I'm doing is wrong. I was accused something which I DIDNT DO. My father who is familiar with the law has also noticed that and has advised me to plead not guilty. I made this thread because I knew taking in other opinions and advice will be helpful to me, but I will obviously have my father as my main adviser in this situation. And now you're acting like the victim because I decided to take my father's advice in a situation where I'm being accused of something I did not do? I was always listening, taking in every piece of advice I could and keeping that in mind. You've showed how much of a burden it was for you to help me and give me advice and you think I will do 100% as you say even when my FATHER advises me against it? If this is what you consider constructive help, you should have left some time ago...

Well TfL said they don't settle out of court, and said that if I didn't know that the oyster card was not valid then I wouldn't have provided wrong date of birth and alighted the bus. I didn't respond to that, but I never alighted the bus and that's what I thought the date of birth would be on their side of the system. Well my dad has said that they are accusing me of this, even saying that i alighted the bus to avoid providing details, but this is not true. I sent off a not guilty plead to the court and I believe they will reschedule a new date. I am waiting for the new date. Honestly, I don't know how it's looking for me. I just want to put this behind me.

I called up TfL on Wednesday and asked about settling out of court. They said I will need to email them about it so I did that on the same day. Today I sent off the court letter to court with my plea. I was never given a letter asking for my side of the story though, some users here said that I should've received one prior to the court letter but I never did. I emailed TfL briefly explaining my story, apologising and asking for settling out of court. Sent the email 7 days before the actual court date, but my father said that if they do want an out of court settlement then they can always cancel the court even after I sent my letter with the plea. I'm not sure what my chances are for OOC. To be honest I think they won't accept it just from my gut feeling, hopefully I'm wrong though. I'd rather have a confirmation that the case will settled out of court, get drunk and put this all behind me. But this may just turn out to be a very stressful year for me.

It seems like forum will be going down soon for at least 2 days. I want to contact TFL today. I was wondering what number I should call to discuss OOC?

I thank you for helping me and giving me guidance, but I haven't received any advice for what to say when I actually call TFL and try to settle out of court. I just want to know how I should approach the subject when I call them and what parts of my story I should say.

I plan to call TFL tomorrow, or on Tuesday if I feel like I'm not prepared enough tomorrow. I will attempt to settle out of court. I'm not sure what to say honestly. I'm assuming I'd have to be very brief and get straight to the point, but it's difficult to properly explain this situation from my side whilst also making it brief. I've explained this situation to my father and he has encouraged me to plead not guilty. He says I've been s c a m m e d, since I paid for an application to be made for a student 16+ oyster card, but yet I received an invalid one which is not what I thought I will be getting. Why do you advice pleading guilty? (If it does come to court). Hopefully everything can be settled OOC and even if I have to pay that fine + application, at least I won't have a record and I can take this as a lesson rather than something that will actually affect me.

Hope this makes things a bit more clear

If I plead not guilty I will definitely attend the court. I wanted to know; if I do plead guilty, does it definitely result in a conviction or something that goes on my record, or can I plead guilty and get off with just a fine and no record? I do realise that I certainly made a very stupid mistake by getting the card online. It was something that was very irresponsible of me and I regret it terribly. Not only because I am now in trouble for it, but also because I allowed myself to fall for something which should have been otherwise obvious. I should have been more vigilant and knew better, but instead I just made this stupid mistake. I never had any intention of causing trouble for TFL. Yet this sequence of events has put me in a bad spot and I have now disappointed myself and my family. I've always been a quiet and boring person so this came as a shock to everyone I know and I geniuenly and truthfully feel like this is the biggest mistake I've made in my life. I am willing to pay off anything TFL feels like I owe them, but the possibility that a mistake like this can result in a record which will follow me and affect my future is absolutely gut wrenching to the point where I started having panic attacks thinking about it all. I just want to know what I can do in this situation, to stop me from getting any conviction or criminal record.

I only received one letter, which had lots of paper work and it was from the court. I will send pictures as soon as I can. I'm not sure if the letter was asking for my version of events or if it was just a statement. I will check and get back to you. Also, is it still possible to settle out of court when the court date is less than 2 weeks away? Furthermore, if TFl do agree to settle out of court, is it still possible that I'll get convicted or anything will show up on my record? Thank you for your help, I will be providing more information regarding the court letter.

Also regarding this, is pleading guilty really the best course of action for me? I do admit that my actions were extremely irresponsible and I deeply regret them, but I don't think I'm actually guilty of what I am being accused of? I mean - As far as I know I'm being accused of using a fake oyster card which I was not entitled to and intentionally tried to make it appear valid, then alighted the bus when asked for my name and address. I was entitled to these discounts/free travel, didn't intentionally try to make it appear valid (It's just what I thought would be on the system), and didn't alight the bus when asked for my name or address, since I wasn't asked for my address. even though I don't know much about law, I can at least see my actions and compare them to what I am being accused of. From what I know, pleading guilty leads to a conviction for whatever it is that I'm accused of, but if I did not do those things shouldn't I be pleading not guilty?

3 days before the court date, which is on the 6th of March. So they have to receive it at least by the 3rd of March

I did get a letter which is asking me for a statement. I don't know what to write on it really, other than just apologise for everything and admit that I was extremely irresponsible.