Appeal Service Notification Treated As Spam

nickersan

My 16 year old daughter recently got a penalty charge on the DLR; as she was convinced she swiped in with her Oyster Card, we appealed the penalty charge with the Appeal Service.

This appeal, as expected. was rejected, however notification of this decision was sent via email, which my email provider treated as spam.

19 days after the email notification was sent, we received a reminder from IRCAS via traditional post, telling us the appeal had been rejected but that because we'd failed to paid the £40 penalty in the alloted time, it had now doubled to £80.

I contest that we were not notified of the appeal's outcome until the letter was received and that the lower penalty should apply, but IRCAS are adamant that it is my responsibility to check the progress of the appeal both on the Appeal Service website and by monitoring my spam.  When filing the appeal, at no time were these responsibilities clearly stated.

There is a on going dialog with IRCAS.

As such I am wondering where I stand legally and what options we have?

giraffe69

It can hardly be news that some emails go to your spam folder (how many may be affected by your actions) so I believe it is your responsibility to check.

Kiko4564

Whilst it would be your responsibility to check, did they clearly and umambigiously state that the response to your appeal would be by email? If so then it was, but if not then I'd argue that you had no responsibility to check your emails at all.

If the latter is the case, then you should pay the uncontested portion of the sum i.e. £40.00 in this case, and provide an explanation as to why you have not paid the remainder as well as that in writing at the same time as you pay it. Then you can should file a further appeal if you can, carry on until you can appeal no further i.e. you have reached the final appeal stage.

I fail to see how they could take legal action in County Court against you or against her for non-payment of the notice. However she could theoretically be charged with fare evasion (which is a criminal offence under the Regulation of the Railways Act 1889), or a lesser Byelaw offence in the local Youth Court. This is unlikely in practice, and I'd expect such a case, if she was charged in error, to be summarily dropped as soon as the error is discovered, as I don't think TfL charge under 18s with Byelaw offences or the offence of fare evasion.

Even if she had been charged to court, and had lost her case at trial, or pleaded guilty, then I doubt that she would be penalised beyond an order for compensation of the fare due (if not already paid, or subsquently refunded), and possibly also an order for prosecution costs. This would be due to her young age. Anyway, hopefully it won't even come to that.

stragglebod

I would be vary wary about taking legal advice from @Kiko4564

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-42748351