Hi everyone.
Has anybody had any experience of appealing the London underground penalty fare notice?
I have a young person's railcard (still in school). Two weeks ago, I somehow lost it on the way home (had used it in the morning to buy the return ticket). A ticket inspector issued me a penalty fare notice of £40 saying I could not show him the card. I explained that I had it in the morning when buying the ticket, but didn't know it's lost. But he issued the notice regardless, and said I could appeal the notice if I do show that I do have a railcard.
I requested a replacement card which arrived a couple of days later and sent a copy to the appeal service (Independent Revenue Collection and Support). But to my horror, the appeal was rejected. They said that the card had to be shown at the time of travel, showing it later doesn't count. But my point is that the card was lost and I didn't have any way to show it at that moment. I didn't even know the card had been lost until the inspector asked for it. I wasn't intending to dodge the fare. The appeal service said now I could appeal to Transport for London directly, but I am not sure the likelihood of success and whether it's worthwhile for the effort?
Has anyone had successful experience for such a notice? Any advice would be appreciated.