TFL - Tapped the wrong card

[tflop]

Hi all

I’d appreciate some help please, this is a bit of a long post but it’s kind of a long story

In July I travelled from Dalston Kingsland station to Stratford International.

I tried to tap in at the barrier with my credit card at Dalston like usual, but it wouldn’t work for some reason & the machine wouldn’t flash green. So I switched to my debit card and it worked. But key point - I totally forgot that I did this switch-around for the next like 2 months

That day when I arrived at Stratford, I got stopped by someone from TFL and she asked to scan my card. Totally forgetting I had switched cards earlier, I tapped my credit card. The TFL woman the told me my card was ‘blocked’ and she couldn’t give me any additional info, and she took my details. She said I would need to call TFL to confirm whatever the issue was. I moved on, thinking this was just a weird misunderstanding, because in my mind I had definitely tapped in (even though I forgot I did it with another card)

A few days later I called TFL like was suggested to fix the ‘block’ issue. I explained what happened at Stratford to the guy on the phone and he told me my credit was blocked and I had actually been charged a penalty fare of £15 about a week ago. I hadn’t even noticed this, but he said he would refund me for the penalty fare (without my asking) and he’d unblock my credit card, and all was fine. Though when I asked why exactly it was blocked, he couldn’t explain why

About a week later I got a letter from TFL saying I was reported to TFL for the incident at Stratford and legal proceedings “may” be taken, and that I could respond to explain myself.

I responded to this saying that the TFL woman at Stratford told me my card was ‘blocked’ but didn’t explain anything else so I had no idea what I supposedly did wrong. But also, at this stage, I still had not remembered the fact that the TFL woman at Stratford scanned the card that hadn’t been working properly, so in my mind, TFL had just randomly decided my card was blocked and were now trying to prosecute me for it

Then today I received a letter saying I have been charged with a criminal offense for “Byelaw 17(1) - No person shall enter a compulsory ticket area unless he has with him a valid ticket.”

Here is the statement of facts from the letter: “On Wednesday 23rd July 2025 travelled from Dalston Kingsland station to Stratford station. During the course of this journey she offered for inspection a Bankcard with contactless payment which was not valid for the journey being taken. The card had been declined for use by TfL.”

It’s my friend who suggested I check my TFLGo app and that’s when I finally saw that I actually did pay for the trip, just with my debit card.

I’m wondering what the most likely outcome here is? I plan to contact the prosecutor to explain this and also respond to the plea within the given timeframe but will they still take me to court over it?

 

[Starmill]

I don't follow. Did you tap out at Stratford International with the debit card you'd tapped in at Dalston Kingsland with?

 

[tflop]

I don't follow. Did you tap out at Stratford International with the debit card you'd tapped in at Dalston Kingsland with?

Exactly that. After she told me my credit card was blocked, I stopped trying to use it and only used my debit card from then on until I got my credit card unblocked again.

 

[AlterEgo]

Exactly that. After she told me my credit card was blocked, I stopped trying to use it and only used my debit card from then on until I got my credit card unblocked again.

How did you get into the system if the card was blocked?

 

[tflop]

How did you get into the system if the card was blocked?

Not sure what you mean by system

 

[AlterEgo]

Not sure what you mean by system

The station. How did you get past a barrier in the first place at Dalston Kingsland? Using the debit card?

 

[tflop]

Oh in my post I said:

I tried to tap in at the barrier with my credit card at Dalston like usual, but it wouldn’t work for some reason & the machine wouldn’t flash green. So I switched to my debit card and it worked. But key point - I totally forgot that I did this switch-around for the next like 2 months

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Sep 2025 ==

The station. How did you get past a barrier in the first place at Dalston Kingsland? Using the debit card?

Oh in my post I said:

I tried to tap in at the barrier with my credit card at Dalston like usual, but it wouldn’t work for some reason & the machine wouldn’t flash green. So I switched to my debit card and it worked. But key point - I totally forgot that I did this switch-around for the next like 2 months

Forgot to click reply

 

[fandroid]

The OP has explained that they did both tap in and tap out for the journey in question and that journey is recorded on their journey history, and payment taken for the journey

We now need to help them to persuade TfL to drop the prosecution.

 

[AlterEgo]

Oh in my post I said:

I tried to tap in at the barrier with my credit card at Dalston like usual, but it wouldn’t work for some reason & the machine wouldn’t flash green. So I switched to my debit card and it worked. But key point - I totally forgot that I did this switch-around for the next like 2 months

Ah, so you have been tapping in and out with the same card. Then there is no issue. Exactly where were you stopped on the station at Stratford?

 

[Starmill]

The OP has explained that they did both tap in and tap out for the journey in question and that journey is recorded on their journey history, and payment taken for the journey

We now need to help them to persuade TfL to drop the prosecution.

As the same card has been used, it ought to be relatively easy for the OP to pull their journey history in PDF format. Do you have this saved somewhere? If you have the bank statement from the date of the specific journey in question, you ought to be able to match the fare to the amount debited by TfL for the day in question - depending on if you tapped the card for other travel on the same date.

I would say you get these pieces of evidence together and draft a letter setting out that the fare was paid correctly for the journey they're contacting you about. If you would like it to be proof read this can be done here before you send it.

 

[Tetchytyke]

We need to see the correspondence. You say you have been “charged”, is this a letter from the court?

If so you should reply to say you are “not guilty”.

You may wish to separately contact TfL’s prosecutions team with the evidence of you having paid the fare. I trust that was paid on a debit card that is in your name.

If TfL don’t withdraw the prosecution then yes, you will need to go to court.

 

[Haywain]

The timelines here are difficult to follow. You talk about swapping cards and forgetting about it for “like 2 months”, and the penalty charge on the credit card being “about a week ago”. How did your credit card get blocked if you were not using it?

 

[tflop]

Just wanted to come back and make an update on my previous post in case anyone finds themselves in a similar situation, since when I was first looking for advice there weren’t many examples like mine. I did try to just edit my original post but couldn't find a way to do that.

To summarise, in my original post, I was asking what to do about the fact the TFL were moving forward with court action despite the fact that I hadn’t committed the offence I had been accused of.

After I got the Single Justice Procedure Notice (charging me for violating “Byelaw 17(1) - No person shall enter a compulsory ticket area unless he has with him a valid ticket," I sent an email to the address they gave, explaining what had happened and attaching a screenshot from my TFL Go app showing that I did pay for the journey (which was what they were saying I hadn’t done), but I had paid on my debit card & not the credit card I (accidentally) showed to the inspector. I also submitted a not guilty plea online.

I didn’t get any reply to my email, but over a week later I got a letter saying that TFL needs to 'investigate further' and that I needed to attend court with evidence.

At the magistrates court, before the hearing, I spoke to two TFL solicitors. They asked how I intended to plead and seemed surprised when I said not guilty, which made me think they hadn’t seen the plea I submitted online. So I explained the entire situation again and showed them my journey history on the TFL contactless website, including the card number and timestamps. They checked everything and eventually confirmed that it lined up with the inspector’s record. After that, they finally said they would be dismissing the case.

They then asked if I wanted to stay to hear the case & hear the magistrate formally confirm it was dismissed, but I said no and left since I’d already been waiting quite a while before that. I asked if I’d get confirmation of the dismissal and they said I would, but they didn’t actually send this until I sent another email asking for it about 4 weeks later.

So that’s the outcome. It was dismissed once I could show the journey had been paid for. But I do think the case should never have gone to court in the first place. I had already explained what happened and sent evidence by email weeks earlier, but none of it was really acknowledged & the solicitors seemed very confused by my not guilty plea so I think they just assume everyone who comes in is guilty, despite the fact I was asked to come in despite my not guilty plea.

Hope this helps someone else who ends up in a similar situation. If you genuinely did pay and just used the wrong card or made an honest mistake it is possible to defend it, even if the process makes it longer than it should be.

 

[WesternLancer]

Just wanted to come back and make an update on my previous post in case anyone finds themselves in a similar situation, since when I was first looking for advice there weren’t many examples like mine. I did try to just edit my original post but couldn't find a way to do that.

To summarise, in my original post, I was asking what to do about the fact the TFL were moving forward with court action despite the fact that I hadn’t committed the offence I had been accused of.

After I got the Single Justice Procedure Notice (charging me for violating “Byelaw 17(1) - No person shall enter a compulsory ticket area unless he has with him a valid ticket," I sent an email to the address they gave, explaining what had happened and attaching a screenshot from my TFL Go app showing that I did pay for the journey (which was what they were saying I hadn’t done), but I had paid on my debit card & not the credit card I (accidentally) showed to the inspector. I also submitted a not guilty plea online.

I didn’t get any reply to my email, but over a week later I got a letter saying that TFL needs to 'investigate further' and that I needed to attend court with evidence.

At the magistrates court, before the hearing, I spoke to two TFL solicitors. They asked how I intended to plead and seemed surprised when I said not guilty, which made me think they hadn’t seen the plea I submitted online. So I explained the entire situation again and showed them my journey history on the TFL contactless website, including the card number and timestamps. They checked everything and eventually confirmed that it lined up with the inspector’s record. After that, they finally said they would be dismissing the case.

They then asked if I wanted to stay to hear the case & hear the magistrate formally confirm it was dismissed, but I said no and left since I’d already been waiting quite a while before that. I asked if I’d get confirmation of the dismissal and they said I would, but they didn’t actually send this until I sent another email asking for it about 4 weeks later.

So that’s the outcome. It was dismissed once I could show the journey had been paid for. But I do think the case should never have gone to court in the first place. I had already explained what happened and sent evidence by email weeks earlier, but none of it was really acknowledged & the solicitors seemed very confused by my not guilty plea so I think they just assume everyone who comes in is guilty, despite the fact I was asked to come in despite my not guilty plea.

Hope this helps someone else who ends up in a similar situation. If you genuinely did pay and just used the wrong card or made an honest mistake it is possible to defend it, even if the process makes it longer than it should be.

Thanks for setting this out. I think it’s helpful for people to be able to read this.

Sorry about the time this must have all taken up.

 

[Western Gaffer]

At the magistrates court, before the hearing, I spoke to two TFL solicitors. They asked how I intended to plead and seemed surprised when I said not guilty, which made me think they hadn’t seen the plea I submitted online. So I explained the entire situation again and showed them my journey history on the TFL contactless website, including the card number and timestamps. They checked everything and eventually confirmed that it lined up with the inspector’s record. After that, they finally said they would be dismissing the case.

They then asked if I wanted to stay to hear the case & hear the magistrate formally confirm it was dismissed, but I said no and left since I’d already been waiting quite a while before that. I asked if I’d get confirmation of the dismissal and they said I would, but they didn’t actually send this until I sent another email asking for it about 4 weeks later.

Perhaps I'm just untrusting but in your shoes I'd definitely have stuck around to validate that they'd do what they said they were going to do, rather than taking their verbal word for it!