Fine from over 1 year ago, no contact, no warning

[Jeb Bush]

I recently received a £200 fine notification on my payslip with no explanation. When I asked my manager she had to ask payroll to find the reason. Apparently the company was instructed to garnish my wages which she had not been told about. So the company has taken £200 without any prior notification to me, just a deduction from my payslip. I contacted the contact number of the letter they received who informed me to call another number but that the fine is regarding an unpaid fare TFL fine from over 1 year ago that totalled ~£470.

I have been on hold with the number for over 45 mins this morning with no reply. How can I dispute this fine or at the very least push the date back one month as I have not budgeted for a £200 unannounced loss.

 

[soil]

Sorry you need a fuller history.

What is the TFL fine for?

Did you in fact fail to pay your fare?

Did you receive any court documents about this fine at the time?

It is not clear from your post if you were notified of a £470 court fine, which you then ignored, in which case you are bang to rights to have it deducted from your wages, or if you are just hearing about this now for the first time since the £200 deduction from your wages, and had no idea you had been convicted of fare evasion.

 

[Merseysider]

Was the unpaid fine in relation to something you've done, and were aware of, or are you innocent of the alleged act and believe your details have been wrongly given by someone else?

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Are you sure this is an unpaid fine from TFL? Does it usually take over a whole year for these things to occur? I can't believe TFL could ask for an attachment of earnings (or whatever the correct term is) without exhausting all contact with you first

Can you be absolutely certain that you never received any correspondence which you may have ignored or forgotten about?

 

[Jeb Bush]

The TFL fine is supposedly for fare evasion but I couldn't get the details so I am trying to contact the number provided to gain more information. Bear in mind this over 12 months ago. I never received any letter, phone calls, door knock etc. and it seems strange to me that they clearly never had contact from me but they apparently knew where I work and didn't send a letter to my work to inform me so I could dispute it. Instead they simply fine me over 1 year later.

I believe I can apply for a statuary declaration? I've contacted citizens advice, I will keep trying the number I was told to call but waiting for over 45 minutes with no response makes me wonder how long I will have to wait again.

 

[Jeb Bush]

Are you sure this is an unpaid fine from TFL? Does it usually take over a whole year for these things to occur? I can't believe TFL could ask for an attachment of earnings (or whatever the correct term is) without exhausting all contact with you first

Can you be absolutely certain that you never received any correspondence which you may have ignored or forgotten about?

Yes, I have spoken to someone who had a similar experience when they moved and therefore never got the post yet were fined as if they had ignored it. Ridiculous.

 

[LAX54]

If you read the last sentence, looks like he did know about the fine, but maybe thought if it was ignored it might go away ?

 

[soil]

I am not sure who you have been contacting, it should be the magistrate's court not TFL. You do need to make a statutory declaration as a matter of urgency, as there are time limits.

 

[jopsuk]

where does the "12 months" start? If this was truly unexpected, why is there a time frame?

 

[AlterEgo]

The TFL fine is supposedly for fare evasion but I couldn't get the details so I am trying to contact the number provided to gain more information. Bear in mind this over 12 months ago. I never received any letter, phone calls, door knock etc. and it seems strange to me that they clearly never had contact from me but they apparently knew where I work and didn't send a letter to my work to inform me so I could dispute it. Instead they simply fine me over 1 year later.

I believe I can apply for a statuary declaration? I've contacted citizens advice, I will keep trying the number I was told to call but waiting for over 45 minutes with no response makes me wonder how long I will have to wait again.

Were you stopped for fare evasion/failing to display a valid ticket or Oyster card?

Is this your case or someone stealing your identity?

 

[Greenback]

Thoise are very imprtant questions from AlterEgo. At the moment, I can't work out whether you were stopped at some point for a ticket irregularity, or whether someone else has given your details when stopped.

You do seem to be more annoyed that you weren't contacted about a court appearance than about being prosecuted in error. Please correct me if my interpretion is wrong.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Yes, I have spoken to someone who had a similar experience when they moved and therefore never got the post yet were fined as if they had ignored it. Ridiculous.

How remiss of the prosecutors not have developed psychic powers allowing them to forecast when defendants have moved and not made proper arrangements for mail forwarding.

Regarding your problem, irrespective of how you came to be prosecuted, you need to take action to stop the collection.

If you truly had no knowledge of the court action before the letter to your employers, you must make a Statutory Declaration no later than 21 days after you found out about the matter.

Use the contact details on the Attachment of Earnings letter sent to your employer to find the sentencing court, date of sentence and the charges.

Next, find a local solicitor, make an appointment and pay a small fee to make the declaration - they will know what to do given the court details and charges. Send the declaration "Signature Required" or hand deliver the declaration to the sentencing court. This will prompt a new summons from the court with a new hearing date and details of the charge.

Come back and post once you have details of the charge. You may remember if it was you, or if someone has used your details.

 

[Haywain]

I think it is worth pointing out that the OP wants to delay collection rather than avoid payment. This suggests that while collection of the fine in this manner may be unexpected, the fine itself is not.

 

[Puffing Devil]

I think it is worth pointing out that the OP wants to delay collection rather than avoid payment. This suggests that while collection of the fine in this manner may be unexpected, the fine itself is not.

Reading this from the OP:

How can I dispute this fine or at the very least push the date back one month as I have not budgeted for a £200 unannounced loss.

It does not look expected, as they want to challenge it. It looks as if they may be looking at worst case scenarios by pushing the fine payments back. It could be the OP was stopped and prosecuted, but didn't see any of the court documents. If so, my Stat Dec advice above applies.

 

[6Gman]

Yes, I have spoken to someone who had a similar experience when they moved and therefore never got the post yet were fined as if they had ignored it. Ridiculous.

Whenever I have moved house I have arranged for post to be redirected. Seems quite important.

 

[455driver]

Whenever I have moved house I have arranged for post to be redirected. Seems quite important.

Or make a list and notify everyone beforehand, or both!


Not to do with this case but a general question-

We hear a lot about statutory declarations resetting the clock etc, but I wonder how a statutory declaration would stand if it became clear that the person making it had been less than helpful in keeping the company aware of a change of address?

 

[reb0118]

Whenever I have moved house I have arranged for post to be redirected. Seems quite important.

I believe that there is a small fee for this so that explains why some people do not bother. Some some it may be a false economy.

 

[Fare-Cop]

We hear a lot about statutory declarations resetting the clock etc, but I wonder how a statutory declaration would stand if it became clear that the person making it had been less than helpful in keeping the company aware of a change of address?

If the Court is satisfied that the defendant did not know of the original hearing date for whatever reason, they will allow the Statutory Declaration and set the matter back to the start of the hearing process.

Once the defendant is aware of the charge/s and if they plead guilty, the Court may be able to deal with the matter at the time of the Statutory Declaration hearing, whether at the originating Court or not.

If the defendant pleads 'not guilty' the Magistrates will adjourn the matter to trial back at the original Court at a later date.

If it were known that the defendant had been 'less than helpful' as you put it, a good prosecutor might point to 'contributory negligence' as a factor in the failure to deal with the matter promptly, but it would not of itself add to evidence of any offence.

 

[pdsalford]

I believe that there is a small fee for this so that explains why some people do not bother. Some some it may be a false economy.

In my experience it is totally unreliable as well.

 

[Fare-Cop]

It is important to divorce 'blame' from TfL entirely

It doesn't matter who prosecuted or what for, the money is now owed to the Court and it is they who are chasing payment.

Puffing Devil is absolutely right, the OP needs to contact the Court to see what they have on record.

If it is a TfL case and the OP is truthfully saying that they know nothing about the Court hearing, then seeking an opportunity to make a Statutory Declaration is the first step.

If the OP it truthfully saying that they have been a victim of an impostor who used their details and the offence was not committed by them then they also have to make a Statutory Declaration to that effect.

Go to the Court who issued the liability order and explain, it is essential to be absolutely truthful as the penalty for perjury is much more severe.

If the OP did know about the alleged offence, but 'thought it would go away if ignored' then it is still essential to contact the Court to apologise and to see if they can arrange a payment plan.

The Court makes these decisions, not TfL or any other TOC.