"TfL Fare Evasion - Friend's Blocked Card (Used Multiple Times) & Previous Penalty"

• Date of Incident: 3rd June 2026.
• The Incident: I was stopped by an inspector using a card that belonged to my friend. It turned out the card was blocked/on the deny list.
• The History: I have since found out the card was used multiple times, and my friend knew it was blocked.
• My Record: I have one previous TfL penalty fare on my record, which was paid in full.
• What has happened so far: I received the letter from TfL on 9th June. I replied with an explanation via post on 10th June. I also sent a follow-up email on 10th July.
• Current Situation: It has now been about 1.5 months and I have not received any reply or further post from TfL.

1. Given the repeated card use and my past penalty, how likely is it that TfL will offer an out-of-court settlement rather than going straight to court (SJPN)?
2. Is there anything else I should be doing right now while I wait for the letter?

1. Where did I travel from? I traveled from Wembley Park to finchley station
2. How did I get in? My friend tapped and we both came together inside.
3. Why did my friend loan me the card? My friend told me you can use this card since I don't have money.
4. Did they know it was banned? I only found out after I was caught that my friend knew the card was blocked. At the exact time I took the card and tapped it, I had absolutely no idea it was banned. I trusted my friend and thought it was a normal, working bank card.
   

   Starmill said:

   Where did you travel from? How did you get in with a card that had been banned? And why did your "friend" offer to pay for your travel by loaning you a bank card which they knew was banned?
   
   You must realise that travelling with a bank card which is both a) not yours and b) banned is incredibly suspicious?

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Akash Singh said:

How did I get in? My friend tapped and we both came together inside.

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AlterEgo said:

How did you get the barriers to open with a blocked card?

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"To be completely honest, I forced my way through the gate. I know this makes my situation incredibly serious and looks terrible combined with the blocked card and my previous penalty fare.
I am deeply ashamed of what I did, and I am not trying to make excuses. My absolute top priority right now is avoiding a criminal record because a conviction will destroy my future UK visa sponsorship. I desperately want to resolve this without a court conviction. How should I approach TfL now to try and secure an out-of-court settlement despite forcing the gate?"

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Starmill said:

Please could you try to write without using large language models (such as ChatGPT or Gemini) in your answers? It's not necessary to have a perfect grasp of English or perfect grammar to get help here so try not to worry about using perfect language, but replying using AI will make it harder.


So to be clear did one or both of you push through the ticket gate or was it opened for

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Akash Singh said:

Be honest I o

AlterEgo said:

So the idea you didn't know the card was blocked was a lie. Else, why would you force the gate?

Did you tell TfL you forced the gate in your submission to them?

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Yes , everything honestly I shared with tfl officer

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Starmill said:

Was the card actually given to you by your friend, and not a stolen or found card?

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Akash Singh said:

how likely is it that TfL will offer an out-of-court settlement rather than going straight to court (SJPN)?

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Egg Centric said:

Was the card in the name of your friend? How well do you know your friend? From where did your friend get the card?

We can't give you advice on any future UK visa etc by forum rules, we can certainly help assisting with your navigating TfL although this may not be hugely helpful in terms of the final result, from what you have said so far it does not look good for you but more details may change that. At this initial stage we can best help by testing your story tbh until we're all clear on what the truth is. What are your current circumstances? How did you pay the previous penalty fare?

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dosxuk said:

TfL do not offer out-of-court settlements. For incidents that are not dealt with immediately by way of a penalty fare, they only issue written warnings or take the case to court.

There appears to be more likelihood of getting a warning if you engage a lawyer, but this is by no means guaranteed.

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John R said:

You can, but from cases we see here it is likely to cost you several hundred pounds. And there is no guarantee that they will be able to change the outcome.

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Akash Singh said:

Okay, thankyu
Can you suggest me anything to do for me in this situation now

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AlterEgo said:

You could contact a fare evasion solicitor who may be able to help, else, all you can do is wait for the next letter from TfL given you already responded to them. It isn't in your interests to chase them up; they are both victim and prosecutor here.

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Akash Singh said:

Thankyu so much for your guidance and time.

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Akash Singh said:

Can you suggest me anything to do for me in this situation now

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