Misuse student card but have to going back home country soon

[theused2003]

Hi all,

I got caught by tfl inspector on 10th September because i use my husband student card 18+ and just got the verification letter yesterday.

In my case, i've used it many times because my oyster card was missing. I only used it for travel with bus to pick up my daughter at school.

The problem is i will going back to my home country this December (permanently, because my daughter moving to the other school in my home country).
Do I have to explain this in my verification letter? Is this case can be solve around 3 months or remotely from my home country?

I'm confuse because i dont want to look like runaway from this problem. I want to be clear before my departure. I hope i can get advice from here too because i think i will not get solicitor because of my financial condition as student dependent.

 

[185143]

Are you ever planning to return to the UK? Even just for a holiday or a work trip?

I'll let others comment on the best strategy either way. Because obviously the last thing you want is to get arrested or refused entry on arrival after a court conviction and unpaid fine you didn't know about.

 

[theused2003]

Yes, I will planning return to UK maybe in the future.

Are you ever planning to return to the UK? Even just for a holiday or a work trip?

I'll let others comment on the best strategy either way. Because obviously the last thing you want is to get arrested or refused entry on arrival after a court conviction and unpaid fine you didn't know about.

Yes, i will back to UK maybe in the future, I dont want to runaway from this case, but i want to solve this case as soon as possible, because my family issue. Iam confuse that I have to explain my departure in december and ask to doing this case remotely in my verification letter or not explain them because I dont wanna seems like runaway from this problem

 

[gray1404]

You could write back to them advising them that he will be returning to your home country shortly. I would not necessarily tell them it is in December as that does give them enough time to prosecute you.

Hopefully then upon realising you will not be here for them to pursue the matter they will either just drop it or offer you an out of court settlement.

 

[tonycockram]

Are TfL offering out of court settlements now?

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all,

I got caught by tfl inspector on 10th September because i use my husband student card 18+ and just got the verification letter yesterday.

In my case, i've used it many times because my oyster card was missing. I only used it for travel with bus to pick up my daughter at school.

The problem is i will going back to my home country this December (permanently, because my daughter moving to the other school in my home country).
Do I have to explain this in my verification letter? Is this case can be solve around 3 months or remotely from my home country?

I'm confuse because i dont want to look like runaway from this problem. I want to be clear before my departure. I hope i can get advice from here too because i think i will not get solicitor because of my financial condition as student dependent.

welcome - I can see your problem

Have you had a 'verification letter already'?

If so you may want to upload a copy of it (but be sure to cover up your name and address and any ref number / use of your name in the letter before doping so). People here may be able to help you with your reply.

My understanding is that the purpose of the Verification letter is to
a) check that it was actually you involved (some people will give false details to inspectors or other people's names for example)
b) allow you to set out any 'mitigation' as to why they should not take you to court for using a ticket / Oyster card that was not permitted for you to use - and if that reason is acceptable within the grounds for mitigation that they accept
That is set out in their prosecutions policy here if you want to read it:

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/revenue-enforcement-and-prosecutions-policy.pdf

I doubt that they would consider using someone else's card acceptable because your card was missing (why did you not get yourself a replacement card?) - so unfortunately it is likely that you need to be prepared for them to take the matter to court and prosecute you - this is a relatively minor offence and they prosecute many thousands of people in London each year for this sort of thing.
But clearly you will not want to come back to the UK to spend a short time in a court if you have left the UK for the foreseeable future.

The court process can be done in different ways:

- either via being summonsed to go to court in person
- or via a paper based process (all by letter) called the SJPN (Single Justice Procedure) - you do not have to go to court in person to do that if they offer it to you.

However, it is still possible that sending court papers abroad in hard copy is not reliable for you to get them quickly enough or be sure they do not go missing.

So I would include in your reply to the verification letter some information that you will be leaving the UK in the near future, and you do not have plans to return to the UK after that. Personally I would include a date and an address abroad (though I note post by @gray1404 pointing out benefits of not doing so in detail)

They might then either:
- drop the matter and not take court action against you (I suspect this is not that likely I'm afraid)
- use the SJPN process to resolve it more quickly as it does not involve you going to court in person and is done by post (but you still have to receive the paperwork)
- try to complete things quickly before you leave the UK

If you want to share a draft of what you plan to say in your reply to the verification letter people here may be able to help you get the wording as effective as it can be before you send it back to TFL

 

[Haywain]

Are TfL offering out of court settlements now?

No.

 

[theused2003]

I've got verification letter yesterday. Based on this threads, i think there are pros and cons to explain my departure in next december. But i prefer to state the departure and my ticket in my verification letter.

Is it can be like i push tfl to faster my case or not? Is it can be solved remotely?

 

[AlterEgo]

You cannot push them to resolve a case faster. They are conducting a criminal investigation into you.

 

[WesternLancer]

I've got verification letter yesterday. Based on this threads, i think there are pros and cons to explain my departure in next december. But i prefer to state the departure and my ticket in my verification letter.

Is it can be like i push tfl to faster my case or not? Is it can be solved remotely?

You will have to politely ask them if they can conclude the matter before you leave the UK and see what they say in reply

I suggest you draft up a reply to TfL's verification letter and post your wording here before sending it, for people to check and help you get it as good as it can be.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Thursday at 13:06 ==

You cannot push them to resolve a case faster. They are conducting a criminal investigation into you.

But there is a way of wording the reply in such a way that TfL consider what they wish to do in response. Whether they then actually do that is another matter. The OP has nothing to lose by asking

TfL seem to process cases quite quickly so it may be resolved before December anyway, though of course it is not possible to know that or for any of us here to guarantee it.

 

[Egg Centric]

Do you have an address in the other country yet? If so I'd be very tempted to message them to ask them to update your address to that now.

Worst case scenario is you just end up dealing with it as if you were in the UK. Best case scenario is they drop the case as it's not worth prosecuting foreigners. I have no idea how likely that is but it's surely worth a punt.

If you are prosecuted (which remains the most likely scenario) is this other country far, ie how expensive is it for you to fly back for a quick trial? And how is the postal system there?

 

[theused2003]

Do you have an address in the other country yet? If so I'd be very tempted to message them to ask them to update your address to that now.

Worst case scenario is you just end up dealing with it as if you were in the UK. Best case scenario is they drop the case as it's not worth prosecuting foreigners. I have no idea how likely that is but it's surely worth a punt.

If you are prosecuted (which remains the most likely scenario) is this other country far, ie how expensive is it for you to fly back for a quick trial? And how is the postal system there?

Yes, i have address at my home country, i will tell them my home country address.
My home country is very far away, the flight tickets price around 400pounds just for one way.
i'll never try international postal service in my home country, but i think it takes long time to get the parcel/paperwork from UK to my home country
I hope this case can be solve when Im still in UK, but i dont want to push them too. I hope it can be solved remotely

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes, i have address at my home country, i will tell them my home country address.
My home country is very far away, the flight tickets price around 400pounds just for one way.
i'll never try international postal service in my home country, but i think it takes long time to get the parcel/paperwork from UK to my home country
I hope this case can be solve when Im still in UK, but i dont want to push them too. I hope it can be solved remotely

I suspect that they will have a 'procedure' for dealign with people in your circumstances.
With London being a very international city they will have had situations like this arise many times before - and will probably have a procedure that they operate based on what they know typically works best for them.
So if you tell them you are leaving UK for the foreseeable future to go and live in x country - you can see how they respond

As I said, you need to have a go at drafting up your reply to their verification letter

 

[tatitiliti]

After you get the verification letter, I would advise you tell TfL that you are leaving permanently for your home country and tell them your address in your home country, as close as possible to their deadline for your reply and your departure date so nothing is served against you in the UK in your absence.

That way, the matter will probably be dropped against you now as there’s no way they’ll chase you in a foreign non-EEA country and, when you return to the UK in the future, you should be in the clear.

 

[bb21]

In my case, i've used it many times because my oyster card was missing.

Did you use it for free travel as your husband has a season ticket, rather than using it to pay for individual journeys at full fare?

 

[AlterEgo]

After you get the verification letter, I would advise you tell TfL that you are leaving permanently for your home country and tell them your address in your home country, as close as possible to their deadline for your reply and your departure date so nothing is served against you in the UK in your absence.

That way, the matter will probably be dropped against you now as there’s no way they’ll chase you in a foreign non-EEA country and, when you return to the UK in the future, you should be in the clear.

"Probably" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

"I am leaving for good soon I promise" is not a universal magic set of words which you can say to get the matter dropped, I wager. My betting is they simply proceed, and let the the court system sort out tracking down the OP.

 

[Egg Centric]

"Probably" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

"I am leaving for good soon I promise" is not a universal magic set of words which you can say to get the matter dropped, I wager. My betting is they simply proceed, and let the the court system sort out tracking down the OP.

Probably, but still worth rolling the dice versus the essentially guaranteed prosecution otherwise. Be nice if the OP updates us so that we can see one way or the other.