TFL Penalty fare Notice someone gave them my name instead of theirs

[Marie Pereira]

Hello, I received a reminder letter from IRCAS which are acting on behalf of TFL for a Penalty charge notice, the letter is address to me in a way that it is has my middle name and surname correct (but does not have my first name) which I use in all official correspondence, the road name is also correct but the actual house number is wrong, but our postman delivered this to us as it has our family name on. I was not on this bus and haven't used it for at least 6 months and then only the once. I presume that the person knows me as they used a my middle and surname and also knew the road which I live on but got the house number and the last bit of the postcode wrong. I was at work on that particular day and did use my oyster card but on a different route. Can someone please let me know what I should do as I do not want this to escalate. I would like it if someone could let me know if all buses are equiped with CCTV and what do the inspector ask people to prove who they are etc. The letter was dated 6th July and I only reeived it last night due to errror on the address and is now over the 14 day limit, but I can not contact the company by email or phone as it is only an automated system.

[Old-CodJA]

Hello, I received a reminder letter from IRCAS which are acting on behalf of TFL for a Penalty charge notice, the letter is address to me in a way that it is has my middle name and surname correct (but does not have my first name) which I use in all official correspondence, the road name is also correct but the actual house number is wrong, but our postman delivered this to us as it has our family name on. I was not on this bus and haven't used it for at least 6 months and then only the once. I presume that the person knows me as they used a my middle and surname and also knew the road which I live on but got the house number and the last bit of the postcode wrong. I was at work on that particular day and did use my oyster card but on a different route. Can someone please let me know what I should do as I do not want this to escalate. I would like it if someone could let me know if all buses are equiped with CCTV and what do the inspector ask people to prove who they are etc. The letter was dated 6th July and I only reeived it last night due to errror on the address and is now over the 14 day limit, but I can not contact the company by email or phone as it is only an automated system.

 

As I understand the bus side of things, yes, almost all buses have CCTV, but don't rely on that being available to prove anything. It is rare for images to be held for long and they'll almost certainly say there is no film available (unless by pure coincidence the incident happened on the same bus and day when a really serious matter occurred and the images have been preserved for that purpose)

 

Inspectors do ask for proof of ID, but it is possible to pass yourself off as someone else if you have prepared in advance and know what you'll need to do, though these days, it is much harder than ever to get away every time.

 

The key thing here is that you say you were somewhere else, where your attendance can be proven at the material time.

 

Write directly to IRCAS & copy the letter to TfL Customer Relations. Explain your concerns regarding the innaccurate details in the original letter, get a note of your attendance at work stamped by the company on that day or signed by your shift supervisor / manager and send with your letter to advise IRCAS that you were not the traveller and that any further letters concerning this matter will be considered to be harassment.