Investigation

[edwardb]

Hi all

I’m in a situation and I need some advice

I have processing disorder and Tourette’s syndrome, I travel into London Liverpool Street via greater Anglia 4 times a week,

I’m a apprentice so my travel gets organised by my employer, but we have had a big miss communication on paying for my travel, they got my a zone 1-2 travel Oyster card and got told I could use this for all my travel, so I’ve been using it for about a year now. But I’ve now found out after being stopped that I can’t do this and I’m being investigated, I’ve sent them a email explaining my situation and that I do have disabilities that a played a massive part in this miss communication and I’m waiting on a letter or a email.I really don’t want to go to caught,

Any advice would be helpful thank you

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Try not to panic - it seems most TOCs want to settle out of court if you engage constructively with them when they send the initial letter.

If you received paperwork when stopped upload it here with any personal details (including the reference number) obscured.

Do you have any email / paper trail showing that your employer pays for your travel and this might have led to a miscommunication? If so gather this together ready to use when you receive a letter. Whilst it won't absolve you of responsibility it could potentially act as mitigation. Similarly a doctor's note about your daignosis of processing disorder and Tourette’s syndrome

Depending on your employer could you speak to a mentor / line manager / HR person about this?

If you have joined a trade union speak to your workplace rep and / or the local branch as many unions offer free legal advice services. As an apprentice you should also have a training provider who oversees your training. It might be worth speaking to them

 

[AlterEgo]

Hi all

I’m in a situation and I need some advice

I have processing disorder and Tourette’s syndrome, I travel into London Liverpool Street via greater Anglia 4 times a week,

I’m a apprentice so my travel gets organised by my employer, but we have had a big miss communication on paying for my travel, they got my a zone 1-2 travel Oyster card and got told I could use this for all my travel, so I’ve been using it for about a year now. But I’ve now found out after being stopped that I can’t do this and I’m being investigated, I’ve sent them a email explaining my situation and that I do have disabilities that a played a massive part in this miss communication and I’m waiting on a letter or a email.I really don’t want to go to caught,

Any advice would be helpful thank you

Please show us any and all correspondence you have received and sent with your details redacted. Where have you been travelling into London *from*?

Your bigger issue here is you will have to pay for the fares you haven’t been paying.

 

[edwardb]

Please show us any and all correspondence you have received and sent with your details redacted. Where have you been travelling into London *from*?

Yea they said. thank you for your help.

Good afternoon

Thank you for your e-mails, we will take into account everything you have stated, and we will be back in contact in due course

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==

Please show us any and all correspondence you have received and sent with your details redacted. Where have you been travelling into London *from*?

From wickford Essex

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==

Try not to panic - it seems most TOCs want to settle out of court if you engage constructively with them when they send the initial letter.

If you received paperwork when stopped upload it here with any personal details (including the reference number) obscured.

Do you have any email / paper trail showing that your employer pays for your travel and this might have led to a miscommunication? If so gather this together ready to use when you receive a letter. Whilst it won't absolve you of responsibility it could potentially act as mitigation. Similarly a doctor's note about your daignosis of processing disorder and Tourette’s syndrome

Depending on your employer could you speak to a mentor / line manager / HR person about this?

If you have joined a trade union speak to your workplace rep and / or the local branch as many unions offer free legal advice services. As an apprentice you should also have a training provider who oversees your training. It might be worth speaking to them

Thank you for your help,

My work as employer as kinda ****ed me others and said they won’t help as it’s my miss understanding,

I’ll wait for a letter from them and hoping they understand,

In my email to them once I get the letter do I attached my doctors note of me having theses disability’s straight away or wait for them to ask

Thank you so much for your help

 

[AlterEgo]

Yea they said. thank you for your help.


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==


From wickford Essex

Show us what you sent them please. This is importantly, this is quite a lot of money involved.

If it’s Wickford it’s £33.30 per day, return that has gone unpaid. This is a lot of unpaid fares; what exactly gave you the impression your Oyster card was valid from there? You have to tap in when you start any journey, and Wickford is some distance outside the Oyster zones and a very long way from anywhere your ticket is valid.

 

[edwardb]

Show us what you sent them please. This is importantly, this is quite a lot of money involved.

If it’s Wickford it’s £33.30 per day, return that has gone unpaid. This is a lot of unpaid fares; what exactly gave you the impression your Oyster card was valid from there? You have to tap in when you start any journey, and Wickford is some distance outside the Oyster zones and a very long way from anywhere your ticket is valid.

This is what I sent them


hope you are well.



I am writing in response to the current investigation. I understand this is my second incident, and I want to sincerely apologise. This situation was the result of a miscommunication with my company regarding travel arrangements, and not an intentional act of fare evasion.



I would also like to explain that I have ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome, and a processing disorder. These conditions can significantly impact my ability to understand certain instructions and communicate clearly, especially under pressure. As a result, I sometimes struggle to explain myself properly or fully understand ticketing procedures, which have contributed to this situation. This has knocked my confidence a lot but I understand now.



I would never intentionally avoid paying for my travel, and I deeply regret any misunderstanding that has occurred. Going forward, I will now be receiving support from my carers, who will help me manage my travel and ensure everything is in order, and I ensure you this will not happen again.



I am more than willing to cooperate fully and would be very grateful if you would consider resolving this matter without court action. I am happy to provide any further information or supporting documentation if needed.



Thank you for your time and understanding.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==

Show us what you sent them please. This is importantly, this is quite a lot of money involved.

If it’s Wickford it’s £33.30 per day, return that has gone unpaid. This is a lot of unpaid fares; what exactly gave you the impression your Oyster card was valid from there? You have to tap in when you start any journey, and Wickford is some distance outside the Oyster zones and a very long way from anywhere your ticket is vali

Please show us any and all correspondence you have received and sent with your details redacted. Where have you been travelling into London *from*?

Your bigger issue here is you will have to pay for the fares you haven’t been paying.

My impression was that I could tap in at wickford, that is what my old manager told me ( he has now left and have no contact ) and tap out at Stratford which was my intended destination

 

[AlterEgo]

This is what I sent them


hope you are well.



I am writing in response to the current investigation. I understand this is my second incident

Second incident of what? What was the first one? Did the company themselves tell you they were aware of another incident? What did they send you first, before you sent this?

, and I want to sincerely apologise. This situation was the result of a miscommunication with my company regarding travel arrangements, and not an intentional act of fare evasion.

Okay, *what* was the miscommunication? If you can show them that the company misled or confused you (did you receive a letter or email explaining what it’s for? Did the company tell you they’d pay for your commute or is this more like a duty pass so you can attend jobs around London?) …this will help.

I am more than willing to cooperate fully and would be very grateful if you would consider resolving this matter without court action. I am happy to provide any further information or supporting documentation if needed.



Thank you for your time and understanding.

Do you agree that there are unpaid fares? What do you hope to achieve as a result of the reply? That’s they’ll just say “oh okay then, nothing to pay”? This is a very unlikely outcome; you will need to pay for the fares which are unpaid and so you should have offered to do this. If you were in work five days a week for a year you’d need a season ticket which would have cost you upwards of £4,000 to make this journey, for example.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==

My impression was that I could tap in at wickford, that is what my old manager told me ( he has now left and have no contact ) and tap out at Stratford which was my intended destination

So no proof of this miscommunication? Or any paper trail, or email? Just someone said you could do this?

How have you been tapping an Oyster card at Wickford, which is outside the Oyster zones?

 

[enyoueffsea]

I’m a apprentice so my travel gets organised by my employer, but we have had a big miss communication on paying for my travel, they got my a zone 1-2 travel Oyster card and got told I could use this for all my travel, so I’ve been using it for about a year now.

I’m not convinced this is miscommunication on behalf of your employer. Where is your work location/base? Is it Essex or London?

If it’s London, it’s inconceivable to believe your employer would pay for your commute to and from work. “You can use this for all your travel” is clearly relating to the travel you carry out on work business.

This is very different to “here is a pass to cover your commute to work every day”.

I appreciate you suggest your diagnoses may impact your interpretation of information and communication but it could be argued that would be more reason for you to double check what you are, or not, entitled to do.

How you have gone this long without being caught before raises some suspicion that you don’t do this every day or in the way you describe, to be honest. Especially if Wickford has ticket barriers you must be using something to pass through it, your Oyster card would not work.

 

[edwardb]

I’m not convinced this is miscommunication on behalf of your employer. Where is your work location/base? Is it Essex or London?

If it’s London, it’s inconceivable to believe your employer would pay for your commute to and from work. “You can use this for all your travel” is clearly relating to the travel you carry out on work business.

This is very different to “here is a pass to cover your commute to work every day”.

I appreciate you suggest your diagnoses may impact your interpretation of information and communication but it could be argued that would be more reason for you to double check what you are, or not, entitled to do.

How you have gone this long without being caught before raises some suspicion that you don’t do this every day or in the way you describe, to be honest. Especially when Wicklow has ticket barriers so you must be using something to pass through it, your Oyster card would not work.

I travel home to wickford, where there is no ticket barriers

 

[AlterEgo]

You mention in your correspondence to the train company that this is the second time you've been stopped. What happened the first time, exactly?