Misused 60+ oyster card - Received Intial letter from TFL

[Ae2022]

Hello all,

I was recently stopped by the TFL officer for using my mother's 60+ oyster card. I fully cooperated and mentioned that I have mention few times since June as thats when I mother went to holiday. I also mentioned that I was not fully aware of the terms of the card and wouldn't have used it had I known.

I have now received an initial letter from TFL to explain within 10 days. I have read multiple threads with similar items and drafted a begging letter to be sent to TFL. I would really appreciate if some of you can read through the letter and provide my feedback. I have tried to follow advises received on other threads and not share more than required and sound really remorseful. 

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond.

Firstly, I would like to sincerely apologise for the incident that has led to this offence. I am extremely ashamed at my act and would like to offer my deepest apology to TFL and its staff.

I fully acknowledge my mistake. I understand that TFL can provide their services when everyone pays their fare share and I cannot apologise enough for breaching this public trust. I understand that funding for discounted cards come from public money and therefore, it is absolutely wrong to misuse these privileges. I was not fully aware of the terms and conditions of the discount card (which I should have been) and was notified by the TFL officer and would not have committed this act had I known.

While nothing can justify my actions, I have been going through a difficult phase in my personal life since last year where my father suffered from an injury leading to complete paralyses and my 14 months old twins have been facing multiple health issues since being born. This has all been very stressful. I reiterate that these are not excuses for my mistake but led to poor judgement where I ended up making such a mistake.

I have always been a law abiding citizen and has never breached any law and have no previous offences with TFL or any other authority. I have always paid my travel fares with TFL. I am attaching a copy of my credit card statement from 2019 which shows series of TFL payments evidencing the same. I can assure you that I will continue to pay my travel costs.

I fully appreciate the seriousness of this offence and I am extremely worried that having a criminal offence on my record will have a detrimental impact on my career especially in the industry I operate in and can even lead to me losing my job. This will also have severe consequences for my very young family who depend on me as the primary bread winner.

I would like to make a humble appeal to TFL to allow me to settle this matter out of court and avoid going to prosecution given the adverse consequences it can have on me and my family. I would really appreciate if I can be given the opportunity to pay for any unpaid fares plus any charges and/or administrative cost which have been incurred by TFL due to this incident.

I would to reiterate that I am extremely sorry for my action which I deeply remorse. I would like to assure TFL that this would never happen again. I would also like to extend my apology to TFL staff for all the inconvenience this has caused. I am hoping to get an opportunity to make this right going forward.

 

 

[honeybee13]

Hello, welcome to CAG.

I think your letter isn't a bad first draft but I think it could be too long. We normally suggest that you write it to fit on one side of A4 paper.

How long is what you've written please?

HB

[Ae2022]

Thank you for the prompt response.

The letter right is a full A4 page. Can try and cut down some parts. Any feedback on which parts can be reduced. 

Also, is the content of the letter good enough to be consider for warning letter. Anything else i should emphasis on or include?

[honeybee13]

We can't predict how TfL are going to view your lettere, we just know what has worked in the past for some people.

Normally we would suggest adding something to say that you have bought a season ticket or similar, to show that you will be paying the correct fare.

HB

[dx100uk]

just cut down the number of times your grovel... you do it too many times in that letter.

you say you admitted use from june when stopped?

so how many times and will there be a regular pattern to you use?

dx

 

 

[Ae2022]

Thank you for your feedback.

I have updated the letter to cut down the length and grovel less as suggested. Please kindly let me know if this reads okay.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond.

Firstly, I would like to sincerely apologise for the incident that has led to this offence. I am extremely ashamed at my act and would like to offer my deepest apology to TFL and its staff.

I fully acknowledge my mistake. I understand that TFL can only provide their services when everyone pays their fair share and that discounted cards are a privilege which should never be misused. I was not fully aware of the terms and conditions of the discount card (which I should have been) and was notified by the TFL officer and would not have committed this act had I known.

While nothing can justify my action, I have been going through a difficult phase in my personal life where my father suffered from complete paralyses and my 14 months old twins have been facing multiple health issues since being born. This has all been very stressful for me and led to my poor judgement where I ended up making such a mistake which I deeply regret.

I have always been a law abiding citizen and have no previous offences with TFL or any other authority. I have always paid my travel fares. I am attaching a copy of my credit card statement from 2019 onwards which shows series of TFL payments evidencing the same. I can assure you that I will continue to pay my travel costs going forward.

I fully appreciate the seriousness of this offence and I am extremely worried that having a criminal offence on my record will have a detrimental impact on my career especially in the industry I operate in and can even lead to me losing my job. This thought keeps me awake all night as it will have severe consequences for my very young family who depend on me as the primary bread winner.

I would like to make a humble appeal to TFL to allow me to settle this matter out of court and avoid going to prosecution. I would pay any unpaid fares plus any charges and/or administrative costs to TFL arising from this incident immediately.

Once again, I am truly remorseful for my action and cannot apologise enough for what happened. I implore you for providing me a second chance and assure that this would never happen again.

[BazzaS]

You seem to be both suggesting:

a) you didn’t know it was wrong / against the T’s and C’s, and

b) made a poor choice because of your circumstances (which would imply you did know it was wrong).

I’m not sure you should try and argue both, as they seem contradictory: which was it?

(if it really was both, you might have to [briefly!!] explain how), whatever you state needs to ‘ring true’.

[Ae2022]

Thank you BazzaS. I had also questioned this and whether my reasons are conflicting. I have removed the fact that I was not aware of T&Cs as I think TFL would not accept that as a reasonable reason given it is a common knowledge that  photocard is only to be used by the designated person. 

Please see updated draft. Any comments, please let me know. Happy to make any amendments any of you deem fit. Do I need to grovel and apologise more?

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond.

Firstly, I would like to sincerely apologise for the incident that has led to this offence. I am extremely ashamed at my act and would like to offer my deepest apology to TFL and its staff.

I fully acknowledge my mistake. I understand that TFL can only provide their services when everyone pays their fair share and that discounted cards are a privilege which should never be misused.

While nothing can justify my action, I have been going through a difficult phase in my personal life since last year where my father suffered from complete paralyses and my 14 months old twins have been facing multiple health issues since their birth. This has all been very stressful for me and has left me in a very disturbed state of mind which led to my poor judgement where I ended up making this mistake which I truly and deeply regret.

I have always been a law abiding citizen and have no previous offences with TFL or any other authority. I have always paid my travel fares. I am attaching a copy of my credit card statement from 2019 which shows series of TFL payments evidencing the same. I can assure you that I will continue to pay my travel costs going forward.

I fully appreciate the seriousness of this offence and I am extremely worried that having a criminal offence on my record will have a detrimental impact on my career especially in the industry I operate in and will need to be disclosed at my work which can result in me loosing my job. This thought keeps me and my wife awake all night as it will be devastating for our very young family who solely depend on me as the primary bread winner.

I would like to make a humble appeal to TFL to allow me to settle this matter out of court and avoid going to prosecution. I would be happy to pay any unpaid fares plus any charges and/or administrative costs to TFL arising from this incident immediately.

Once again, I am truly remorseful and repent for my action and cannot apologise enough. I implore you for providing me a second chance and assure that this would never happen again.

[Ae2022]

I have emailed the apology letter to TFL last Friday but haven't had any response. How long should I wait before reaching out again. I know TFL response time can vary. Should I keep emailing periodically until I hear back. Please kindly advise.

[honeybee13]

I would normally say to wait until you hear back from them before you write again. At least give it a couple of weeks to see what happens.

HB

[Ae2022]

Hello,

 

Its been 6 weeks since I email TFL with my apology letter. There has been no communication from them. Should I follow-up or send another apology letter. Please kindly advise.

[dx100uk]

nope you wait they have 6mts

[Ae2022]

Great. Thank you

[Ae2022]

Hello,

Its been more than 4 months since I email my apology letter to TFL. Should I reach out or send another apology letter. Or should I wait until they communicate themselves. Please kindly advise as to what have other individuals done previously.

[dx100uk]

yours is not the next move

they have 6mts from the offence in total if not its dead then

dx

On 06/10/2023 at 16:41, dx100uk said:

nope you wait they have 6mts