Oyster penalty

easy_tiger

Hi guys,

Annoyingly there is no phone number to speak to a real person at IRCAS to sort out my query, so i was hoping someone here could please advise me.

At the end of January, on my way into work on my overground train, an inspector came round and saw that i hadn't tapped in at my home station. This was a pure accident, there are no barriers at my station, I had literally just topped up my money on my card and then forgot to tap in. My journey history shows that I don't make a habit out of this having failed to tap in only once.

Anyway... I apologised and explained that it was an accident. I said I was happy to pay the on spot fine (£20 i think) and that I would appeal it. The ticket inspector told me (in fact he encouraged me) to not pay the fine on the spot as i had ID on me, but to send an appeal and then go from there.

I sent my appeal that evening via the IRCAS website. I hadn't heard anything since until this morning I received a letter saying I now owe £55!!

The letter says that they received my appeal and that I hadn't sent as requested an outstanding balance or further information to enable further assessment.

I did not receive any notice via post or email to pay the outstanding balance or provide more information for further assessment!

So what do I do now... it says i have 14 days to pay the £55, but I want to tell them that I didn't receive anything about paying the the balance or providing info.

Any advice greatly appreciate. Thanks

pendragon_arther

Get in touch with these http://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/about/introduction_london_travelwatch . They won my appeal a few years ago.

yorkie2

easy_tiger wrote: »

Hi guys,

Annoyingly there is no phone number to speak to a real person at IRCAS to sort out my query, so i was hoping someone here could please advise me.

At the end of January, on my way into work on my overground train, an inspector came round and saw that i hadn't tapped in at my home station. This was a pure accident, there are no barriers at my station, I had literally just topped up my money on my card and then forgot to tap in. My journey history shows that I don't make a habit out of this having failed to tap in only once.

I agree this sounds like an accident, and the inspector agreed too. The correct action for this sort of mistake is a £20 Penalty Fare (or twice the single fare to the next stop, if greater). If it was not considered to be a mistake, it would be a prosecution leading to a fine and potential criminal record (depending on legislation used).

easy_tiger wrote: »

Anyway... I apologised and explained that it was an accident. I said I was happy to pay the on spot fine (£20 i think) and that I would appeal it. The ticket inspector told me (in fact he encouraged me) to not pay the fine on the spot as i had ID on me, but to send an appeal and then go from there.

I sent my appeal that evening via the IRCAS website. I hadn't heard anything since until this morning I received a letter saying I now owe £55!!

Looks like some correspondence got lost in the post?

There are no grounds to appeal, though.

easy_tiger wrote: »

The letter says that they received my appeal and that I hadn't sent as requested an outstanding balance or further information to enable further assessment.

I did not receive any notice via post or email to pay the outstanding balance or provide more information for further assessment!

So what do I do now... it says i have 14 days to pay the £55, but I want to tell them that I didn't receive anything about paying the the balance or providing info.

Any advice greatly appreciate. Thanks

The Penalty Fare of £20 is still due (and I encourage you to pay it ASAP), but you could contest the rest on the basis of not receiving the relevant correspondence, if you're up for a battle that may cost you more than £35 worth of your time...