Hi all, I’m an international student and a recent graduate working now. Last week, I was caught using my boyfriends student Oyster card while going to work and TFL seized the Oyster card and took my details and said I’ll be receiving a letter. For some background, I’ve been through depression in the last few months due to being away from family and not being able to save money due to cost of living crisis as I need to support family back home and my bf’s oyster was already paid by him so he gave it to me to support me financially as I was really struggling. I know this is not an excuse as this was wrong but this is the first and only time he has given me his oyster and I have proof that I was paying my own travel all these while. I haven’t received any letter yet from TFL but the uncertainty is worsening my mental health as I dont want to receive a criminal conviction. Is there anyone who can tell me what kind of letter I might be getting in such a situation?
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Caught using student oyster
- Thread starter Maliha
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They’ll have logs of where and when the Oyster card was previously used. So, if there are previous journeys logged that were similar to the one you were making, then TfL may be sceptical that you were unlucky enough to be caught the first time you misused the card.
They’ll have heard it all before about depression, cost of living, etc, so (regardless of how true it is) there’s not much point in communicating that sort of thing to them.
Others will advise further, but it would be helpful if you told us what journey you were making, where you got caught, and how they caught you.
They’ll have heard it all before about depression, cost of living, etc, so (regardless of how true it is) there’s not much point in communicating that sort of thing to them.
Others will advise further, but it would be helpful if you told us what journey you were making, where you got caught, and how they caught you.
We have had some similar incidents, and the most recent is this:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/caught-using-a-11-15-card.248802/page-3
Post #12 shows the letter the person received, so that might give you an idea.
This will give you some general information about how TfL might proceed.
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/prosecutions#:~:text=You must submit a plea,to pay a higher fine.
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/caught-using-a-11-15-card.248802/page-3
Post #12 shows the letter the person received, so that might give you an idea.
This will give you some general information about how TfL might proceed.
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/prosecutions#:~:text=You must submit a plea,to pay a higher fine.
You’ll receive a letter which will say do you admit to the offence or not. Then also your boyfriend will receive a letter pretty much asking whether he knew you had the oyster or not. After this for me they emailed me saying we will move forward with their prosecution policy and now I’m just waiting.
The only advice I can give you is to not worry until you have to worry as it’s not healthy at all + tfl sometimes take time to reply.
The only advice I can give you is to not worry until you have to worry as it’s not healthy at all + tfl sometimes take time to reply.
Welcome to the forum!
TfL take misuse of Freedom Passes very seriously.
They will send you a verification letter which typically takes a couple of weeks to arrive. This letter will ask you to confirm or deny the offence and will ask you to give any mitigating factors. It is extremely important that you reply to this letter. Responses to the letter are given 'under caution' i.e. 'you do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.' TfL has three choices:
1. Drop the case altogether
2. Prosecute you for fare evasion (highly likely to be a prosecution under the TfL Bylaws)
3. Give you a final warning
TfL don't normally offer out of court settlements, which we often see with National Rail operators. I would expect them to persue a prosecution under the TfL Bylaws where misuse of a Freedom Pass is detected but there is always a chance that you miht get lucky.
Feel free to post a copy of the Verification Letter when it arrives (but do redact any personal details from it before posting it) along with your draft reply to it and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.
It might also be worth having a reasd of TfL's Revenue Enforcement and Prosecutions Policy:
https://content.tfl.gov.uk/revenue-enforcement-and-prosecutions-policy.pdf
TfL take misuse of Freedom Passes very seriously.
They will send you a verification letter which typically takes a couple of weeks to arrive. This letter will ask you to confirm or deny the offence and will ask you to give any mitigating factors. It is extremely important that you reply to this letter. Responses to the letter are given 'under caution' i.e. 'you do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.' TfL has three choices:
1. Drop the case altogether
2. Prosecute you for fare evasion (highly likely to be a prosecution under the TfL Bylaws)
3. Give you a final warning
TfL don't normally offer out of court settlements, which we often see with National Rail operators. I would expect them to persue a prosecution under the TfL Bylaws where misuse of a Freedom Pass is detected but there is always a chance that you miht get lucky.
Feel free to post a copy of the Verification Letter when it arrives (but do redact any personal details from it before posting it) along with your draft reply to it and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.
It might also be worth having a reasd of TfL's Revenue Enforcement and Prosecutions Policy:
https://content.tfl.gov.uk/revenue-enforcement-and-prosecutions-policy.pdf
I’ll come back here when I’ve received the letter- Status