Fines to under 18's

bevmanchester

Hi
My daughter who is 17 got on a tram without paying she received a fine, she doesnt go to college and doesnt have a job, does anyone know if they should issue the fine to the child or the parent.
As the fine came to her she hid the letter and now the fine has almost doubled and they have sent a debt collectors letter, this is the first i have heard of it, she had never done this before and was scared of my reaction to the fine as it is not how i have brought her up, hence hiding the letter...
she is in no position to pay
if they want me to pay, they should have sent me the fine originally i think?

I dont mind the fine....as she did wrong but..
i dont want to pay the fees just because she is young and niave..

vaio

Pretty sure parents aren’t responsible for the sins of the children and if the child has no assets (or presumably income) I don’t really see what they can do.

You could write explaining this and offering to pay the original fine on her behalf if they waive the added on fees.

Happychappy

17 in the eyes of the law she is an adult and the liability is with her, so down to her to sort it and cough up.

Just like arresting 16 year old's, mummy and daddy get dragged along to sit with sweet little darling, 17 there !!! is grass and no mummy and daddy ; )

LeeSouthEast

Yes they can fine a 17 year old. Same as the Road Traffic Act (for the purposes of fines) applies to 16+.

Livingthedream

bevmanchester wrote: »

I dont mind the fine....as she did wrong but..
i dont want to pay the fees just because she is young and niave..

At 17 she may be young and niave, but she should know right from wrong, she must have known that if she got caught riding the tram without paying she would be in trouble.

I don't know what area the tram operates but if it was TfL tram (London) then it could have been a lot more serious as she could have been prosecuted for 'fare evasion'.

My advise would be to pay the 'fine' and doc it weekly from any allowance that you give her or as she's not working, if she gets dole money ask for a weekly contribution to reimburse you.

I found this Thread which is similar to yours, if you can ignore a lot of the arguing it might be of interest.

sassy_one

May not be the correct advice, specially for a young adult to follow BUT, I think you'd be safe to ignore there letters and demands for payment as it's a Civil fine.

Also, it will not affect her credit rating as she doesn't have one till she's 18 years old and they can't mark her record for a debt incurred at 17 years old.

Up to you if you wish to pay it, or just throw the letters away or even recycle the rubbish....

LeeSouthEast

I'd find out where and who issued it first.. before using the blanket 'ignore it' advice stick.

Livingthedream

sassy-one wrote: »

May not be the correct advice, specially for a young adult to follow BUT, I think you'd be safe to ignore there letters and demands for payment as it's a Civil fine.

This all depends on who issued the Unpaid fares notice/Penalty fare (its not a fine only the Courts/Police can issue a fine) if it was TfL (London) then if you just ignore their letters and demands then they cancel the Unpaid fares notice/Penalty fare and prosecuted under TfL Bylaws for fare evasion which is a criminal offence.

Again this all down to those trams she was on, London are very strict not to sure on Manchester, Blackpool or Nottingham.

Hammyman

bevmanchester wrote: »

Hi
My daughter who is 17 got on a tram without paying she received a fine, she doesnt go to college and doesnt have a job, does anyone know if they should issue the fine to the child or the parent.
As the fine came to her she hid the letter and now the fine has almost doubled and they have sent a debt collectors letter, this is the first i have heard of it, she had never done this before and was scared of my reaction to the fine as it is not how i have brought her up, hence hiding the letter...
she is in no position to pay
if they want me to pay, they should have sent me the fine originally i think?

I dont mind the fine....as she did wrong but..
i dont want to pay the fees just because she is young and niave..

She is above the age of criminal responsibility and she is liable for the fine, not you, hence she was sent the letter. She's not paying the fees because she is young and naive, she is paying the fees because she broke the law (regardless of whether it was a TfL tram or not) and then didn't pay the penalty on time and is now in further deep poo.

Personally, I think the best thing you can do is nothing. It'll teach her responsibility for ones actions and that things don't go away by burying ones head. Maybe she should get a job so she can pay it.

Livingthedream

Hammyman wrote: »

the fine

Its's not a fine but at the moment an invoice, which if not paid could be pursued through the small claims court, or cancelled and a fare evasion case raised and pursued through a magistrates court.

Hammyman wrote: »

because she broke the law

Technically she hasn't broken any laws yet, she just got invoiced for the journey she didn't pay for + late fees.

Hammyman wrote: »

regardless of whether it was a TfL tram or not

Transport for London have the strictest and most current fare evasion bylaws going, they put Railway bylaws to shame. So if it's not a TfL tram you have less chance of been prosecuted.

anewman

Yep see what the police do if a 17 year old lad is caught in bed with a 15 year old girl. Peculiarly this doesn't happen when the lad is 15 and the girl is 17, but that's just sexism in action. Point being a 17 year old can legally be held accountable for their behaviour.