Penalty Fare Letter, Not My Name Though!

[pepsikat]

Hi. I wonder if anyone could give me some advice?

I received a letter from Northern Trains Limited today as regards 'Penalty Fare Reminder' £105.20

The name is not mine and not even slightly similar and I live alone. In fact I haven't used a train in about 10years so there isn't any confusion.

I suppose someone gave the wrong address on purpose however I would have thought some kind of proof would be needed if a person gives out an address?

Is there anything I should mention in my letter to them?

Thanks for any help on this.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

I suppose someone gave the wrong address on purpose however I would have thought some kind of proof would be needed if a person gives out an address?

That is a thing some people do, in fact there's an ongoing thread about it.
That's quite likely the case.
Since you've done nothing at all wrong it's probably best you just reply truthfully, they'll definitely have seen these circumstances before.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately, there are people who give false names and addresses - which means that people like you get caught up in the system.

As you're not the person who the railway really want to talk to, you would be within your rights to ignore the letter completely. But if you do that, the railway will think that it was actually you who dodged your fare, and they will pursue you further. So it makes sense to spend a little time on explaining that it's not you.

A short but courteous letter telling them that should be enough. If the railway have said when the fare-dodging took place, it might be worth spending a few minutes seeing if you have anything to prove that you were elsewhere at the time - just in case that's useful later.

The railway may also write to you again, asking for something like a copy of your passport or driving licence. If they do that, it will be because they have a description of whoever used your name and address, and they want to confirm that you don't look like the description they have.

One thing that you don't have to do, and which the railway shouldn't ask you to do, is identify who the fare-dodger is. So don't worry about trying to think about who can have misused your name and address.

 

[pepsikat]

Welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately, there are people who give false names and addresses - which means that people like you get caught up in the system.

As you're not the person who the railway really want to talk to, you would be within your rights to ignore the letter completely. But if you do that, the railway will think that it was actually you who dodged your fare, and they will pursue you further. So it makes sense to spend a little time on explaining that it's not you.

A short but courteous letter telling them that should be enough. If the railway have said when the fare-dodging took place, it might be worth spending a few minutes seeing if you have anything to prove that you were elsewhere at the time - just in case that's useful later.

The railway may also write to you again, asking for something like a copy of your passport or driving licence. If they do that, it will be because they have a description of whoever used your name and address, and they want to confirm that you don't look like the description they have.

One thing that you don't have to do, and which the railway shouldn't ask you to do, is identify who the fare-dodger is. So don't worry about trying to think about who can have misused your name and address.

Hi, thanks for the useful info.

Actually they only used my address, the name is completely unknown to me. I actually wonder if it might be a typo on the house number or maybe even postcode.

So just stating an address is sufficient for fare dodgers? wow.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Hi. I wonder if anyone could give me some advice?

I received a letter from Northern Trains Limited today as regards 'Penalty Fare Reminder' £105.20

The name is not mine and not even slightly similar and I live alone. In fact I haven't used a train in about 10years so there isn't any confusion.

I suppose someone gave the wrong address on purpose however I would have thought some kind of proof would be needed if a person gives out an address?

Is there anything I should mention in my letter to them?

Thanks for any help on this.

I suppose that technically the correct response would have been not to open the letter but to put it back in the post saying "not known at this address" on the envelope.

However, since that might have led to escalation by the railway company - including a court case you never knew about - it is perhaps best to try to nip it in the bud now. (Though of course any fine etc from a court wouldn't ultimately affect you since it wouldn't be in your name ... but there still might be bailiffs turning up if court officials don't check who lives at an address before sending out enforcement people.)

Sometimes the "correct" approach isn't always the on which leads to the easiest resolution. Especially since organisations often don't act on returned "not known" post.

 

[jfollows]

All the advice is good.
You don't need to prove that it wasn't you; Northern Trains have to prove that it was you, which they can't.
That said, they also know that this happens all the time, and if you engage with them constructively but firmly you should get the right outcome, which would be better than ignoring although you'd have a right to do this.
If, as Fawkes Cat suggests, they write to you asking for some "proof of identification" or whatever, our experience is that it's usually better for you to go along with this request because it usually closes down the investigation against you - of course you'd be within your rights to tell them to get lost but this probably only extends the pain for you in reality. The bottom line is that someone else has defrauded Northern Trains and incriminated you and it's usually the best way to get out of the problem.

 

[fandroid]

Don't forget that the letter is addressed to another name entirely. I don't think the OP should engage any further than writing to say there is no-one of that name at the address (and hasn't been for .......years). Take a copy of the letter and return it whole to the train company. Even apologise for opening it! Don't get caught up in the farcical process of proving that you are someone that they had previously had no record of. I can't imagine what bizarre circles that might end up going in.

The train company would have to have a very fertile imagination to believe that someone gave a false name but a correct address.

 

[pepsikat]

Don't forget that the letter is addressed to another name entirely. I don't think the OP should engage any further than writing to say there is no-one of that name at the address (and hasn't been for .......years). Take a copy of the letter and return it whole to the train company. Even apologise for opening it! Don't get caught up in the farcical process of proving that you are someone that they had previously had no record of. I can't imagine what bizarre circles that might end up going in.

The train company would have to have a very fertile imagination to believe that someone gave a false name but a correct address.

Thank you, I especially like the idea of apologising for opening it!

 

[swt_passenger]

So just stating an address is sufficient for fare dodgers? wow.

Yes, because in this country we are not required to carry proof of name and address around with us.

 

[Krokodil]

I suppose someone gave the wrong address on purpose however I would have thought some kind of proof would be needed if a person gives out an address?

People try it a lot.

So just stating an address is sufficient for fare dodgers? wow.

The RPI may Google the address to check that it exists (which in this case ot does). They may also call up an agency who can check the supplied details against the electoral roll. This is still not foolproof though. Railway RPIs don't have access to the Police National Computer or anything like that.

 

[Snow1964]

Don't forget that the letter is addressed to another name entirely. I don't think the OP should engage any further than writing to say there is no-one of that name at the address (and hasn't been for .......years). Take a copy of the letter and return it whole to the train company. Even apologise for opening it!

Yes, totally agree. It will probably read better if you say you didn't look at name as live alone and thus expecting all post to be for yourself, only after opening it did you realise it was for someone you had never heard of. You are returning their letter as it looked important but clearly was intended for someone else at different address.

Although you dont have to take action and reply, if they follow up, still don't get a reply, they might put it on a court list, and last thing you want is to have to explain to bailiffs in few months time.
Unfortunately these things work on basis that until someone points out the error they assume name and address is correct, so easiest to kill it now by replying.

 

[Hadders]

Moderator Note:

We've gone hopelessely off-topic discussing opening post addressed to someone else so I've split that discussion into a new thread:

Opening Post Addressed to Someone Else

I suppose that technically the correct response would have been not to open the letter but to put it back in the post saying "not known at this address" on the envelope. However, since that might have led to escalation by the railway company - including a court case you never knew about - it is...

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