HI I have 3 outstanding accounts with Lowell. Totaling approx £3000. They are quite old accounts but not statue barred. I called today and offered to repay 40% of the total amount in order to help repair my credit file and clear these off. It would be on a repayment plan over 15 months. They agreed to this but advised that the debt will be marked as partially satisfied on my credit file and this doesn't look good on a credit file. I imagine there is some element of truth to this but obviously not as bad as unpaid! Is partially satisfied a bad indicator for potential new credit lenders i may use in the future? Thanks

Hi everyone, Please could I ask for your kind help with my response to the upcoming Tfl letter I am very worried about going court and getting a criminal record I was stopped by a Tfl inspector for using my husband's discounted student oyster photocard yesterday. Here is the situation: I have my own standard oyster card with monthly pass and my husband (aged 25) has his own discounted student oyster photo card with monthly pass (both zone 1-2). On 17 May my monthly pass expired (there is balance) which I forgot to renew on 18th morning I took my husband's card (his is on monthly pass) and asked him to buy the monthly pass on my card for me as he has more time during the day. He bought the monthly pass on my card immediately on that day however we forgot to swop when we came home in the evening on 19th I continued to use his card and got caught by the inspector on the bus. I told the inspector that it was a mistake. My concern is in order to avoid court and criminal records, I don't know if I should simply explain it is a mistake with no detailed explanation or if I should tell the whole story as above. I am worried that the case worker would think I am trying to evade bus fares by using my husband’s pass - from the look of my oyster card history I started to use his the day when my own pass expired but actually we spent the same amount of money if I had used my own pay as you go balance. As we use our own card separately with monthly pass I was not aware of the serious consequences, I didn't expect to be in such panic and the daunting thought of a possible criminal record. This is the first time I have been stopped by an inspector and I have not committed any other offences/crimes before. I would not say that I have NEVER used my husband's discounted oyster for convenience before this happened but my card was covered by a travel pass at the same time, which means we never thought of taking advantage of TfL. Could you please point me in the right direction? I am willing to pay reasonable costs and I don't want to go to court or get a criminal record which will severely affect the life we are building in UK. My husband and I have only been here for 3 years and as English is not our primary language we are not sure about the wording / style that can help us stay out of this. Your help is much appreciated…

Thank you to all who contributed to this forum. I have worked my way through as many post as I can, and it has helped me to calm down since getting cautioned by an inspector on the tube. It was very distressing for me and really affected my day to day activities for the first 48 hours or so. The letter that I had been expecting came today and one thing that struck me was how it does not ask me to comment on the incident. It merely asked me to fill out the form on the reverse side. It reads: 1. If you deny committing an offence, please explain why. Please note, xxx fare evasion offences are ones of strict liability. This means that a mistake or accident is not a defence. The fact you were on a ttt service without a valid ticket or pass is normally sufficient for a conviction. 2. If you accept committing an offence, please provide any exceptional reasons, including evidence, as to why ttt should not proceed with a prosecution. The whole episode was quite distressing when the inspector came. I wasn't expecting anything wrong and quite happily produced my card. Earlier that morning, I couldn't find my normal oyster card (which has a photo) and having emptied my bag, dug up another oyster card, I then picked up a friend's card (not photocard) on the table by mistake (which I realised only on hindsight) , which had a young person railcard loaded on it. However it strangely contained also another discount, but we do not know what it was (because my friend had asked me before what discounts are available). In any case, when asked about the discounts on the card, I panicked because it was only then I realised I took the wrong card and I acted as if the card was my own, and told them there's a young person railcard and possibly another thing. The inspector then asked if I had any photo ID to prove the second discount, but I didn't even know what discount was on it I was even asked by a different inspector how much I paid for that card. So they suspected me of fare evasion because of the second discount and then interviewed me under caution, and I told them everything I knew about that card, but I acted as if the card belonged to me (I still don't know why I did that). I am an international and so I'm very worried about losing my visa. My normal oyster should contain details of my travel history and the frequency of topping up, but I'm now not even sure if I have accidentally picked up my friend's oyster card by mistake on the days I could not find my normal oyster card (I don't travel on the tube every day). My friend says he doesn't think the card is registered as he doesn't have any log in details to check that card. The fact is that the card I used that day was invalid so I can't choose option 1. But what should I write?

Help Please, Was caught on 3rd of October with my sister in law discounted oyster card , at the time i didn't know it was discounted card. she wasn't using it anymore cause they issued her freedom bus pass. The day i borrowed the card, i couldn't find my card which is discounted as well from the job center so i had to borrow. when i explained to the inspector he didn't believe me and took my details anyway. 4 weeks later i received a letter to explain what happen and replied with sincere apology followed the explanation and told them that am unemployed. Today i received a letter to appear in court 2 months from today. I have 3 options 1.Guilty - Don't attend the court 2. Guilty - Attend the court 3. Not Guilty - Intend to call witness What should i do? Do i need legal representation? Will i get criminal record for this? Do i call tfl or write to them to settle the case? Any advice and information is appreciated.

Hi, I have read other threads in this section of the forum and found the feedback by senior members to be very positive so I was hoping if you would please help advise me on my case. At the end of June, I was on the bus when I was found using my father's discounted Oyster card by the ticketing inspector. Up until this point I was unaware that I had accidentally picked up my father's Oyster card until the ticketing inspector had asked me "Do you have the photocard for this pass? These passes are not transferable?" and I replied "It's my dad's" knowingly at that point I had picked up the wrong one. He took my name and address down and told me that he would be submitting a report to the Transport for London Prosecutions Team for their consideration. I replied "OK". Days later I received a letter from TfL regarding that day's situation and offered me to make comments. I explained apologetically about the situation and explained that this was the first time and usually me and my father kept our Oyster cards in the same place above the shoe rack by the front door and promised that this mistake would never happen again by keeping our cards in separate places. Another letter arrived days later requesting the serial number of the Oyster card I had intended to use (i.e. my own card) which I gave in my reply. TfL then said I had insufficient funds on my Oyster card that day and that it was invalid for my journey. (However, if I did have my own one I wouldn't be able to get on the bus anyway with insufficient funds so I would have got off the bus to top-up ) I now have been summoned to the Magistrates's Court for my "alleged offence" of "Being a passenger on a Public Service Vehicle operated on behalf of London Bus services Limited being used for the carriage of passengers at separate fares, did use in relation to the journey you were taking a ticket which had been issued for use by another person on terms that it is not transferable..". In response to this I have sent a settlement proposal to the person who authorised this charge at TfL explaining the situation again in the most apologetic way possible and asking to settle out of court. I sent the letter on the 13th Sept and have not since received a reply. The court appearance is on the 25th of Sept and by then I would have returned to university so I guess my only choices are that I plead guilty by post and accept the penalty fine and criminal conviction on my record (which I do not want as it will hinder my chances of future employment) or to continue waiting for a reply to my settlement proposal. What would be the best way to approach this situation? I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this thread and any responses will be greatly appreciated!