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    • Hi LFI, Your knowledge in this area is greater than I could possibly hope to have and as such I appreciate your feedback. In your point 1 you mention: 1] there is a real danger that some part of the appeal will point out that the person appealing [the keeper ] is also the driver. I understand the point you are making but I was referring to when the keeper is also the driver and admits it later and only in this circumstance, but I understand what you are saying. I take on board the issues you raise in point 2. Can a PPC (claimant) refer back to the case above as proof that the motorist should have appealed, like they refer back to other cases? Thanks once again for the feedback.
    • Well barristers would say that in the hope that motorists would go to them for advice -obviously paid advice.  The problem with appealing is at least twofold. 1] there is a real danger that some part of the appeal will point out that the person appealing [the keeper ] is also the driver.  And in a lot of cases the last thing the keeper wants when they are also the driver is that the parking company knows that. It makes it so much easier for them as the majority  of Judges do not accept that the keeper and the driver are the same person for obvious reasons. Often they are not the same person especially when it is a family car where the husband, wife and children are all insured to drive the same car. On top of that  just about every person who has a valid insurance policy is able to drive another person's vehicle. So there are many possibilities and it should be up to the parking company to prove it to some extent.  Most parking company's do not accept appeals under virtually any circumstances. But insist that you carry on and appeal to their so called impartial jury who are often anything but impartial. By turning down that second appeal, many motorists pay up because they don't know enough about PoFA to argue with those decisions which brings us to the second problem. 2] the major parking companies are mostly unscrupulous, lying cheating scrotes. So when you appeal and your reasons look as if they would have merit in Court, they then go about  concocting a Witness Statement to debunk that challenge. We feel that by leaving what we think are the strongest arguments to our Member's Witness Statements, it leaves insufficient time to be thwarted with their lies etc. And when the motorists defence is good enough to win, it should win regardless of when it is first produced.   
    • S13 (2)The creditor may not exercise the right under paragraph 4 to recover from the keeper any unpaid parking charges specified in the notice to keeper if, within the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which that notice was given, the creditor is given— (a)a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement; (b)a copy of the hire agreement; and (c)a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement. As  Arval has complied with the above they cannot be pursued by EC----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S14 [1]   the creditor may recover those charges (so far as they remain unpaid) from the hirer. (2)The conditions are that— (a)the creditor has within the relevant period given the hirer a notice in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) (a “notice to hirer”), together with a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) and the notice to keeper; (b)a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the notice to hirer was given has elapsed;  As ECP did not send copies of the documents to your company and they have given 28 days instead of 21 days they have failed to comply with  the Act so you and your Company are absolved from paying. That is not to say that they won't continue asking to be paid as they do not have the faintest idea how PoFA works. 
    • Euro have got a lot wrong and have failed to comply with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Schedule 4.  According to Section 13 after ECP have written to Arval they should then send a NTH to the Hirer  which they have done.This eliminates Arval from any further pursuit by ECP. When they wrote to your company they should have sent copies of everything that they asked Arval for. This is to prove that your company agree what happened on the day of the breach. If ECP then comply with the Act they are allowed to pursue the hirer. If they fail, to comply they cannot make the hirer pay. They can pursue until they are blue in the face but the Hirer is not lawfully required to pay them and if it went to Court ECP would lose. Your company could say who was driving but the only person that can be pursued is the Hirer, there does not appear to be an extension for a driver to be pursued. Even if there was, because ECP have failed miserably to comply with the Act  they still have no chance of winning in Court. Here are the relevant Hire sections from the Act below.
    • Thank-you FTMDave for your feedback. May I take this opportunity to say that after reading numerous threads to which you are a contributor, I have great admiration for you. You really do go above and beyond in your efforts to help other people. The time you put in to help, in particular with witness statements is incredible. I am also impressed by the way in which you will defer to others with more experience should there be a particular point that you are not 100% clear on and return with answers or advice that you have sought. I wish I had the ability to help others as you do. There is another forum expert that I must also thank for his time and patience answering my questions and allowing me to come to a “penny drops” moment on one particular issue. I believe he has helped me immensely to understand and to strengthen my own case. I shall not mention who it is here at the moment just in case he would rather I didn't but I greatly appreciate the time he took working through that issue with me. I spent 20+ years of working in an industry that rules and regulations had to be strictly adhered to, indeed, exams had to be taken in order that one had to become qualified in those rules and regulations in order to carry out the duties of the post. In a way, such things as PoFA 2012 are rules and regulations that are not completely alien to me. It has been very enjoyable for me to learn these regulations and the law surrounding them. I wish I had found this forum years ago. I admit that perhaps I had been too keen to express my opinions given that I am still in the learning process. After a suitable period in this industry I became Qualified to teach the rules and regulations and I always said to those I taught that there is no such thing as a stupid question. If opinions, theories and observations are put forward, discussion can take place and as long as the result is that the student is able to clearly see where they went wrong and got to that moment where the penny drops then that is a valuable learning experience. No matter how experienced one is, there is always something to learn and if I did not know the answer to a question, I would say, I don't know the answer to that question but I will go and find out what the answer is. In any posts I have made, I have stated, “unless I am wrong” or “as far as I can see” awaiting a response telling me what I got wrong, if it was wrong. If I am wrong I am only too happy to admit it and take it as a valuable learning experience. I take the point that perhaps I should not post on other peoples threads and I shall refrain from doing so going forward. 🤐 As alluded to, circumstances can change, FTMDave made the following point that it had been boasted that no Caggers, over two years, who had sent a PPC the wrong registration snotty letter, had even been taken to court, let alone lost a court hearing .... but now they have. I too used the word "seemed" because it is true, we haven't had all the details. After perusing this forum I believe certain advice changed here after the Beavis case, I could be wrong but that is what I seem to remember reading. Could it be that after winning the above case in question, a claimant could refer back to this case and claim that a defendant had not made use of the appeal process, therefore allowing the claimant to win? Again, in this instance only, I do not know what is to be gained by not making an appeal or concealing the identity of the driver, especially if it is later admitted that the defendant was the driver and was the one to input the incorrect VRN in error. So far no one has educated me as to the reason why. But, of course, when making an appeal, it should be worded carefully so that an error in the appeal process cannot be referred back to. I thought long and hard about whether or not to post here but I wanted to bring up this point for discussion. Yes, I admit I have limited knowledge, but does that mean I should have kept silent? After I posted that I moved away from this forum slightly to find other avenues to increase my knowledge. I bought a law book and am now following certain lawyers on Youtube in the hope of arming myself with enough ammunition to use in my own case. In one video titled “7 Reasons You Will LOSE Your Court Case (and how to avoid them)” by Black Belt Barrister I believe he makes my point by saying the following, and I quote: “If you ignore the complaint in the first instance and it does eventually end up in court then it's going to look bad that you didn't co-operate in the first place. The court is not going to look kindly on you simply ignoring the company and not, let's say, availing yourself of any kind of appeal opportunities, particularly if we are talking about parking charge notices and things like that.” This point makes me think that, it is not such a bizarre judgement in the end. Only in the case of having proof of payment and inputting an incorrect VRN .... could it be worthwhile making a carefully worded appeal in the first instance? .... If the appeal fails, depending on the reason, surely this could only help if it went to court? As always, any feedback gratefully received.
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Oyster Card Hell


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I am being taken to court next week for attempting to use my mother's oyster card. Admittedly that was wrong but my action was due to the effects of powerful steroids I was taken at the time and this was backed up by my doctor's letters to TFL. My solicitor tried to reason with them stating that I had been in hospital with a debilitating illness and getting C. difficile whilst in there for 18 days, and was under a lot of mental and physical stress and so lacking judgment. Also that it was the first time I had been out in over 6 weeks. However, they think that after 3 weeks out of hospital I would have been fully recovered despite the fact that I was still on very high doses of steroids, had only just completed a course of iron tablets for the anemia and was still signed off work. They feel there is still a case to answer. It seems they don't care much for health professionals' opinions or medical evidence and is just hell bent on indiscriminate prosecuting.

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For a dishonesty crime, the prosecution needs to prove "mens rea" - guilty mind. If you are right, and they no longer need to prove intent to gain a successful prosecution for fare evasion then it can not be regarded as a dishonesty crime.

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  • 1 month later...
Just thought I'd update you on this. I have managed to settle out of court, paying TFL costs (over £200 mind!!). I called the office of the prosecutions manager so many times and put forward my argument so persistently that they agreed to drop it.

 

My tactics were to write to the prosecutions manager, Steve Iontton, and then follow up with a phone call. Obviously, you don't get to speak with him but i did get the attention of a guy there who's email i subsequently got and basically plagued until he probably crawled bleary eyed to his bosses desk to plead that he make me stop. Dialogue with TFL is hard to engage in because they basically don't want to talk to anyone once they've issued a summons. Once the matter is settled, the costs payed and the case dropped, i'm going to post this one particular guy's details on this forum for all who are in a similar position to use.

 

I never had a problem with a fine, just the ridiculousness of a court case over a mistake and a £1 fare. Expensive lesson learnt!

 

Thanks to everyone on here for the advice.

I have exactly your problem. My Oyster card did not record my touching the reader and I was assumed to be a deliberate offender, with no possibility of any mechanical error. I had no idea that the decision about a Penalty Charge Notice or prosecution rests with the inspector who stopped me.

Like you I have been a regular user of public transport over many years, and have never had any trouble let alone a criminal record before.

 

I would very much like to try to bother TfL before I am due to appear in court, and am astonished to be in this position.

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I have exactly your problem. My Oyster card did not record my touching the reader and I was assumed to be a deliberate offender, with no possibility of any mechanical error. I had no idea that the decision about a Penalty Charge Notice or prosecution rests with the inspector who stopped me.

Like you I have been a regular user of public transport over many years, and have never had any trouble let alone a criminal record before.

 

I would very much like to try to bother TfL before I am due to appear in court, and am astonished to be in this position.

P.S. Sorry, I meant to ask for your contact's details if possible please.

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P.S. Sorry, I meant to ask for your contact's details if possible please.

 

 

Here is the guy that i resolved my issues with at TFL, and his contact details. The reason i'm posting them on this forum are because it is extremely difficult to get to talk to anyone at TFL about court summons and prosecutions in general, and he was a nice guy.

 

Tim Caig

Court Advocate/Prosecutions support manager

Internal Auto - 43691

External - 0207 918 3691

E-mail - [email protected]

 

He was very helpful and I got the feeling that he was aware of a) the dubious nature of TFL's current campaign to punish absolutely everyone regardless, b) the flaws in Oyster technology, and c) the bad press that TFL are getting over this at present.

 

I should point out that my case was resolved 4 months ago so i don't know if he is still there. And i still had to pay costs!

 

Hope this helps all those that TFL are trying to prosecute for minor offences and/or mistakes or failure of Oyster technology.

 

Lilp

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WHAT WERE THE RESULTS, HOW MUCH DID U HAVE TO PAY? MY COURT CASE IS ON WEDNESDAY FOR USING SOMEBODY ELSE'S CARD WHICH I JUST HAPPENED TO FIND. tHAT GUY GOES TO MY COLLEGE, I'M SCARED THEY MIGHT KICK ME OUT!

 

Does anyone know how long it takes to get the results when pleading guilty and not attending the court case?

 

Don't try it!

 

 

I am being taken to court next week for attempting to use my mother's oyster card. Admittedly that was wrong but my action was due to the effects of powerful steroids I was taken at the time and this was backed up by my doctor's letters to TFL.
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WHAT WERE THE RESULTS, HOW MUCH DID U HAVE TO PAY? MY COURT CASE IS ON WEDNESDAY FOR USING SOMEBODY ELSE'S CARD WHICH I JUST HAPPENED TO FIND. tHAT GUY GOES TO MY COLLEGE, I'M SCARED THEY MIGHT KICK ME OUT!

 

Does anyone know how long it takes to get the results when pleading guilty and not attending the court case?

 

Don't try it!

 

I am being taken to court next week for attempting to use my mother's oyster card. Admittedly that was wrong but my action was due to the effects of powerful steroids I was taken at the time and this was backed up by my doctor's letters to TFL.

 

I paid £270 in court costs. If you're going to plead guilty try calling the guy I listed above to grovel your way out of it. You will get a criminal record if you plead guilty by post. Cite the doctor's letter when you speak to them. Ask them if they received it and if they have taken this into account. Chances are they know nothing about it, in which case take the line that if they are prepared to allege something so serious then the least they can do is take the time to consider the doctor's letter. Be polite, reason with them, apologise, offer the costs and don't complain that it's so much.

 

It worked for me, i hope it works for you.

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hi lilp

i just received a similar summons last week. do you think contacting your guy Tim Caig above can help me out too. my case that i had a valid oyster, but i didn't tap in. the inspector told me i would recieve a letter that asks me to explain why i didn't tap in, i never recieved such letter, now months later i get this summons. the bad thing for me is that i'm graduating from uni soon with a masters, now the job market is competitive enough, the last thing i need is a criminal record to go with. i haven't had a wink of sleep since receiving this letter last week. all these years spent studying will have gone to waste just for 90p.

i wouldn't mind paying a fair amount in fines in order to avoid a criminal record.

 

thanks in advance.

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hi lilp

i just received a similar summons last week. do you think contacting your guy Tim Caig above can help me out too. my case that i had a valid oyster, but i didn't tap in. the inspector told me i would recieve a letter that asks me to explain why i didn't tap in, i never recieved such letter, now months later i get this summons. the bad thing for me is that i'm graduating from uni soon with a masters, now the job market is competitive enough, the last thing i need is a criminal record to go with. i haven't had a wink of sleep since receiving this letter last week. all these years spent studying will have gone to waste just for 90p.

i wouldn't mind paying a fair amount in fines in order to avoid a criminal record.

 

thanks in advance.

 

You should have been sent a letter stating TFL's view of events and whether you had any comments to make. Phone that guy and explain that you never got that opportunity, that not swiping was an honest mistake and that you're sorry. Be nice, sound upset and regretful. Ultimately, you didn't pay the fare so a fine is to be expected. That said, this is where Oyster and their prosecutions are flawed - technically, if you don't swipe in it is meant to penalise you later by charging the maximum fare. Ask why this wasn't what happened in your case?

What i advise is that you offer costs, which at £270 are steep, but believe me, it's better than a criminal record. Good luck.

Edited by Lilp
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thanks for the quick reply first of all. i had a word with him, he said doesn't deal with cases involving buses. he did however give me a number to contact, i did and i explained my case, that on the day of incident i was on my way back to uni in birmingham, i never got their letter, so he offered the option to pay 102 pounds and they'll withdraw the case. i should get the letter within two days. i can breath easy now.

 

thank you and everyone else on this forum.

btw anyone with similar case should call this number: 0207-918-3467

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thanks for the quick reply first of all. i had a word with him, he said doesn't deal with cases involving buses. he did however give me a number to contact, i did and i explained my case, that on the day of incident i was on my way back to uni in birmingham, i never got their letter, so he offered the option to pay 102 pounds and they'll withdraw the case. i should get the letter within two days. i can breath easy now.

 

thank you and everyone else on this forum.

btw anyone with similar case should call this number: 0207-918-3467

 

Nice work. Seems it's cheaper to get f**ked over a bus than a tube train, but well done - it's a relief isn't it!

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  • 1 month later...

I have just had a similar situation on the buses. I didn't have enough money on my oyster to pay for the bus fare and was issued with a court summons. I called the prosecutions department at tfl and explained that it was an honest mistake, I was a student and that a criminal record would affect my chances of getting a job in the future due to one mistake. I was then told that if I paid an out of court settlement fee of £102, my case would be dropped.

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Just a note to bear in mind - TfL isn't a cover all for buses and trains in how they deal with alleged fare evasion. Entirely different law applies to each. It is worth knowing which law you are being taken to court under in order to prepare a decent defence.

 

Having a little bit of experience of this from an enforcement side (trains), I've always found that the majority of inspectors do need a little more than 'you didn't touch in' to take it to court. The poster who was using a card belonging to another would not only be guilty of fare evasion, this would probably be compounded by the fact that it's also technically theft. That kind of thing does make an inspector decide that perhaps there was an intent to avoid paying.

 

That said, there are some complete spanners out there in the role, much as in any industry.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...
I just got a penalty fare today. I had 80p on my oyster pay as you go, and the barriers in wimbledon let me in through. But when I was in zone 1, the ticket checker said I am not allowed to travel through zone 1, but instead use overground. But my destination being Stratford(zone 3) and the minimum fare being £1, I would have been in negative figures anyway. I paid £2(zone 3 to 3 via 1) when I eventually finished my journey.

I can't justify my fault for the penalty fare cause I would fill up my negative balance anyway when I top up next time, and there isn't any notice stating anywhere stating I need to keep a minimum balance while travelling! If there is at all a fault, it's TFL's cause they didn't program their ticket barrier to block a card having less than £1!(Some of the barriers in zone 1 do block if there is less than £2, so the fact that the barrier in wimbledon didn't block me made me think that I was alright)

 

I did pay the penalty fare of £20. Is my argument valid for an appeal? What about criminall conviction and court appearence every one's talking about? The penalty fare notice doesn't mention anything about this.

 

 

 

Whilst no-one pretends there are not some problems with this system, I think it is worth pointing out that travellers do have some responsibility too.

 

This post states 'there isn't any notice stating anywhere that I need to keep a minimum balance while travelling'

 

 

What the notices do state throughout the underground and DLR is that you must have a valid ticket before travelling. There are also constant announcements on London Underground urging you to touch in to avoid paying maximum fares or penalties.

 

I think much of the confusion arises when travellers do not recognise that a pay-as-you-go oyster is not a travel ticket.

 

It only becomes a travel ticket when you touch in if it has sufficient credit for the journey that you want to make.

 

In this case your intended journey was through zone 1 and therefore at the start of the journey, your card must have sufficient credit to cover the fare for that journey.

 

By its very definition, you cannot have a negative balance on a pay-as-you-go oyster.

 

Negative balance can only apply where you have a weekly or season ticket on an oyster and also have pay-as-you-go facility for those trips where you want to travel outside your normal journey and then only once. The next time that you travel outside your paid for ticket your card will be rejected until you put credit on it.

Edited by Old-CodJA
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  • 4 months later...

i havent got a penalty fare, but being a 15 year old and insufficient funds on the oyster by 10p, noone else that was around me with any money. and all i was trying to do was get home and not be a anti-social stereotype. Anyway, i jumped the barriers and the ticket sales guy at the counter caught me, and confiscated my oyster card. Whats gonna happen to me and what should i say.

Also, they are very condescending and aggressive people, i had to tell that guy at north harrow to stop shouting at me. Got his name, R Brown. Any advice?

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...Anyway, i jumped the barriers and the ticket sales guy at the counter caught me, and confiscated my oyster card. Whats gonna happen to me and what should i say.

Also, they are very condescending and aggressive people, i had to tell that guy at north harrow to stop shouting at me. Got his name, R Brown. Any advice?

 

My advice is not to jump the barriers, approach a member of staff & tell them you dont have the money to pay the fare home.

They can then take your details & bill your parents.

 

However thats academic now, they will probably send you some sort of penalty notice through the post, ask your parents to lend you the money to pay it.

Then you need to pay your parents back, I suggest a saturday job or perhaps a paper round.

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i only jumped because i couldnt see a ticket sales guy that would have let me through. Therefore i had no alternative but to jump the barrier. Until i found out there was someone there lol. Is there a way of getting my oyster photocard back, or can i just re apply or will they just send it back?

Edited by sonneybouy
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I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but there is always an alternative, no matter how difficult it might seem. Jumping the barriers is breaking the law.

 

I have noted your young age, but must say we all have to learn some of life's hard lessons at some time or other.

 

You do not have a right to travel on a train without a valid ticket.

 

As SRPO says, because of your age, you will probably get a demand for payment of a small penalty.

 

Technically, you could be prosecuted in a Youth Court, but TfL very rarely resort to such action where youngsters are concerned and it would have to be a very serious matter for them to consider it.

 

A better idea would have been to try ringing home to see if anyone could pick you up or pay your fare by other means?

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  • 5 months later...
hi all

 

could any1 please post the prosecution department phone no. or prpsecutin managers no.

 

thanks

moral

 

I've looked back through this thread and cannot see where you have posted previously, so the answer in short is no.

 

Cases detected on different parts of TfL are dealt with by different offices

 

Where in particular was the incident that you want to discuss detected?

 

Was it on a Bus or Train? Was it on the DLR or Tube? Was it on an overground train within the TfL area?

 

If we get the answer to those questions, we may well be able to put you in touch with the right office.

Edited by Old-CodJA
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