I got caught using my mums freedom pass. need advice

[unknown101]

Any feedback? i have 8 days to reply to them. i do want to take my time with this before i send it off..but i feel like the longer i leave it. the worse my chances will be. :S

[honeybee13]

I'm not sure why you think taking time over the letter affects your chances?

 

You're addressing the letter as To whom it may concern. If the letter has someone's name at the bottom of it, you should address your reply to them.

 

I know it was wrong but I was unaware at the time of how serious it was. I thought I would just be issued a warnning, I did not realise it would result in the pass being confiscated and me being faced with procecution and a criminal record. had I known this, I would never of done it.

 

I'm not sure this sounds good. You aren't saying you thought it wasn't a problem, you're saying that you thought was a less serious problem. This might need re-thinking.

 

It's I would never have done it, not I never would of done it.

 

HB

 

[unknown101]

yes. im not good with writing letters.  i suffer from deslexia so spelling and gramma is not my strong point.so it makes it very dificult for me. which is why i came here. im doing my best. 

 

the letter i received in post does not have a name in it. just investigations appeals of prosecutions team. do i start with that then?

 

i said "I know what i did was wrong " addressing that i know it was a problem.  but not aware that the problem was as serious as it was.  which is true.

[unknown101]

taken your feedback and changed the letter again slightly. any comments please

 

Dear Sir or Madam

 

I have received your letter of

 

I sincerely apologise for my actions and am now extremely regretful for what I did.

 

I know it was wrong, but I was unaware at the time of how serious it was. I thought I would just be issued with a warning. I did not realise it would result in the pass being confiscated and me being faced with prosecution and a criminal record. Had I known this, I would never have done it.

 

I am extremely sorry for using my mother’s Freedom Pass. I am unemployed and not in a good financial state, which has forced me to cut back on expenses wherever I can.

I feel bad also that what I did has taken away my mothers only means of transport around London.

 

I was completely honest with the officer who questioned me at Liverpool Street and since then I have used only my Oyster card on London transport.

 

I wish to apologies again to TFL. I have never been in trouble with the law before and I intend to ensure that I won’t be ever again.

 

I would be grateful if you would take all this into consideration when deciding how to proceed with my case and hopefully it could be settled out of court. It goes without saying that I will pay immediately any penalties incurred by my actions.

Thank you

 

Kind regards,

[dx100uk]

where's the bit about being the only potential earner....you cant just say hey i had no money so deliberately conspired to use it, which is the case you are portraying here.

 

you must paint a plausible reason as to why you found yourself this, whole family financial responsibility is one of them.

[unknown101]

Sorry but i was incorrect about being the only potential earner of the house hold. My mother has a state pention which is an income.  

[honeybee13]

So your mother has a pension but you're the potential earner of the household if you get a job, is that right?

 

HB

[dx100uk]

only earns basic state pension as is ??yrs old...heart strings time, lay it on thick..

 

dx

 

[unknown101]

yes if i was to get a job i would be the only earner of the house hold.

 

yes she gets the basic state pension.  is this something i should mention in the letter?

 

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by unknown101

[honeybee13]

I think we're getting bogged down in definitions here. In a way earnings and pension are the same thing, they're both income coming into the household.

 

Could you remind us why you felt you needed to use your mum's Freedom pass to travel please?

 

HB

[unknown101]

like i said in the letter im unemployed i have little money . thats  it.

[honeybee13]

Something has just occurred to me. This may have changed but time was that if you were on Jobseekers Allowance, they gave you a travel card.

 

Are you on JSA?

 

HB

 

 

[stu007]

Further to the above post#37

 

For info have a wee look at this link: (go down to 4. Support for the Unemployed)

 

Support to help with the cost of transport - GOV.UK

WWW.GOV.UK

 

[unknown101]

No im not on universal credit.

[honeybee13]

JSA?

 

HB

[unknown101]

JSA is Universal credit, they just changed the name for it.

[honeybee13]

Thank you.

 

The reason I mentioned it is partly to make sure you're aware of it, but also because TfL might query why you didn't use your discount card instead of your mother's.

 

HB

[unknown101]

YW.  i was unaware universal credit did that, but I was not on it.

 

as for my letter, I just want to give a genunie honest respons, which is what i'm trying to do.

Edited July 30, 2022 by unknown101

[honeybee13]

That's a good thing, but we always say you don't need to tell them anything they don't know already. No need to incriminate yourself by adding information that's unknown to them.

 

What did you tell their revenue protection officer on the day?

 

Does that help?

 

HB

[dx100uk]

You need to put why you did it and that you are the sole potential money earner for the whole family and how difficult things have been . I'll knock something up during the early part of the week. I'm very busy herding sheep till then 24/7 during daylight hours this time of season

 

Dx

[unknown101]

on the day i was honest.

 

i was a bit shook up and tiered so i dont remember every single detail..but for the most part i know i did not lie.

 

i remember them taking me to one side. then asking me for my details and explaining to me that tfl would send me a letter.

 

i said it was my mums pass. and that i was unaware that only the original owner could use it.

 

I dont remember them asking me how many times i used it. but i guess if they did ask me this i said a couple of times.

 

as i said from the start i never lied to them about anything. i was completely honest with the officer.

 

for me to say im the only potential money earner for the whole family would be a lie and easily disproved.

 

i dont want to get myself in any more trouble then I already am. i just want to be honest and be done with it.

 

its not like i used it that much for a long period of time unlike some of these threads i have read.

[honeybee13]

So did you tell him that you thought you'd only get a warning rather than being taken to court?

 

HB

[unknown101]

no i did not as i was shock at the time my mind was not in the right place.

 

i remember the officer telling me if I was aware that only the original person can use the pass. and i said to them. "actually no I was not aware of that".

 

i remember them saying there has been an uprise in people using stolen passes that dont belong to them. they never said anything about court.

 

i said to them i just dont want to get fined and i pleaded to get the pass back but they would not give it back to me and told me my mother would get a new one sent out to her in the post. 

 

i only found out about the court thing once looking up about it online here and then getting the letter.

 

the letter does not state anything about going to court.

 

it just says legal proceedings may be taken against me.

[honeybee13]

They mean court proceedings.

 

HB

[dx100uk]

Excuse me asking but as in another thread here whereby it became important.  Is your family from the UK and you born here and lived here all your life ?