Caught using a child ticket when I am 18 HELP PLEASE

[Emilyfieldsss]

Hello everyone, recently I have taken a trip from Wolverhampton to Manchester Piccadilly and had bought a child ticket, when I got to Manchester Piccadilly station the barriers were not working so everyone’s tickets were being checked by the security, one of the inspectors had suspected I am not a child and had issued a ticket irregularity report and said I would receive this in the post and should provide proof that I am a child. I am extremely worried About what I should do and concerned that this may be handled in court, I am a full time student and this would effect my personal life, any help and advice is very much appreciated!!!

 

[Krokodil]

Firstly you will need to wait for them to contact you. There's nothing you can do before that.

Secondly you need to start buying adult tickets. You have not been eligible for a child ticket since you were 15. I would suggest that you invest in a 16-25 railcard that offers you a discount of a third off of the price of most tickets.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

If the member name that you’ve used is close to your ‘real’ name, you might want to change it - do you want all of the internet knowing this about you?

Aside from that, even if the worst comes to the worst you probably don’t need to worry too much. The worst is that the railway take you to court and you are convicted of fare dodging. The immediate result of that would be that you would have to pay a fine, plus costs, plus compensation: overall this would be about £500. You would also have to tell employers and suchlike about the conviction (i.e. you would have a ‘criminal record’). But (a) for most purposes you will only have to mention this for about a year and (b) as long as this is the only time you have been prosecuted for this, our experience is that most employers accept that people occasionally make bad judgements: it’s only a problem for jobs and so on if there’s a pattern of you getting it wrong - or if you try to hide what you have done, as that suggests that you’re being dishonest, and employers don’t like having dishonest employees.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

Do you know which train company you're dealing with over this? I assume it's Northern (even though you probably travelled with CrossCountry) - if so that probably good for you as Northern are generally one of the more pragmatic companies when it comes to dealing with this sort of thing.

As for what will happen next I expect you will be sent a letter by the train company or an investigation company acting on their behalf. The letter usually takes a few weeks to arrive although it shouldn't take longer than six months. The letter will say that they have received a report, are considering prosecuting you and asking for your version of events before deciding how to proceed. It is important that you engage with and reply to this letter. You might want to include the following in your reply:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

Make sure your reply is short and concise, don't give a sob story - they've heard it all before. Most train companies are usually prepared to offer an administrative settlement (commonly known as an out of court settlement) for people who engage with the process and who haven't come to their attention before. There is no guarantee of this and the train company is within their rights to prosecute you in the magistrates court if they want to.

Be aware that the train company will be able to search your online ticket purchasing history and this could be a problem if you have a history of buying child rate tickets. If this is the case then you will need to be careful how you reply to the letter. You should answer the questions they ask for truthfully but you are not required to incriminate yourself either.

If you are offered a settlement the amount varies depending on the train company and circumstances but tend to be around £150 plus the outstanding fare. An out of court settlement might appear to be a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of accepting one.

Feel free to post a copy of the letter once it arrives (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply in this thread and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

 

[Emilyfieldsss]

Hello everyone, recently I have taken a trip from Wolverhampton to Manchester Piccadilly and had bought a child ticket, when I got to Manchester Piccadilly station the barriers were not working so everyone’s tickets were being checked by the security, one of the inspectors had suspected I am not a child and had issued a ticket irregularity report and said I would receive this in the post and should provide proof that I am a child. I am extremely worried About what I should do and concerned that this may be handled in court, I am a full time student and this would effect my personal life, any help and advice is very much appreciated!!!

Welcome to the forum!

Do you know which train company you're dealing with over this? I assume it's Northern (even though you probably travelled with CrossCountry) - if so that probably good for you as Northern are generally one of the more pragmatic companies when it comes to dealing with this sort of thing.

As for what will happen next I expect you will be sent a letter by the train company or an investigation company acting on their behalf. The letter usually takes a few weeks to arrive although it shouldn't take longer than six months. The letter will say that they have received a report, are considering prosecuting you and asking for your version of events before deciding how to proceed. It is important that you engage with and reply to this letter. You might want to include the following in your reply:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

Make sure your reply is short and concise, don't give a sob story - they've heard it all before. Most train companies are usually prepared to offer an administrative settlement (commonly known as an out of court settlement) for people who engage with the process and who haven't come to their attention before. There is no guarantee of this and the train company is within their rights to prosecute you in the magistrates court if they want to.

Be aware that the train company will be able to search your online ticket purchasing history and this could be a problem if you have a history of buying child rate tickets. If this is the case then you will need to be careful how you reply to the letter. You should answer the questions they ask for truthfully but you are not required to incriminate yourself either.

If you are offered a settlement the amount varies depending on the train company and circumstances but tend to be around £150 plus the outstanding fare. An out of court settlement might appear to be a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of accepting one.

Feel free to post a copy of the letter once it arrives (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply in this thread and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Oct 2023 ==

Welcome to the forum!

Do you know which train company you're dealing with over this? I assume it's Northern (even though you probably travelled with CrossCountry) - if so that probably good for you as Northern are generally one of the more pragmatic companies when it comes to dealing with this sort of thing.

As for what will happen next I expect you will be sent a letter by the train company or an investigation company acting on their behalf. The letter usually takes a few weeks to arrive although it shouldn't take longer than six months. The letter will say that they have received a report, are considering prosecuting you and asking for your version of events before deciding how to proceed. It is important that you engage with and reply to this letter. You might want to include the following in your reply:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

Make sure your reply is short and concise, don't give a sob story - they've heard it all before. Most train companies are usually prepared to offer an administrative settlement (commonly known as an out of court settlement) for people who engage with the process and who haven't come to their attention before. There is no guarantee of this and the train company is within their rights to prosecute you in the magistrates court if they want to.

Be aware that the train company will be able to search your online ticket purchasing history and this could be a problem if you have a history of buying child rate tickets. If this is the case then you will need to be careful how you reply to the letter. You should answer the questions they ask for truthfully but you are not required to incriminate yourself either.

If you are offered a settlement the amount varies depending on the train company and circumstances but tend to be around £150 plus the outstanding fare. An out of court settlement might appear to be a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of accepting one.

Feel free to post a copy of the letter once it arrives (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply in this thread and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

Hello thank you for replying, the train company listed on the report is transpennine express, I need some assistance with how I should word my reply to them as I have done this a few times before but this is the first I had come to their attention

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Oct 2023 ==

If the member name that you’ve used is close to your ‘real’ name, you might want to change it - do you want all of the internet knowing this about you?

Aside from that, even if the worst comes to the worst you probably don’t need to worry too much. The worst is that the railway take you to court and you are convicted of fare dodging. The immediate result of that would be that you would have to pay a fine, plus costs, plus compensation: overall this would be about £500. You would also have to tell employers and suchlike about the conviction (i.e. you would have a ‘criminal record’). But (a) for most purposes you will only have to mention this for about a year and (b) as long as this is the only time you have been prosecuted for this, our experience is that most employers accept that people occasionally make bad judgements: it’s only a problem for jobs and so on if there’s a pattern of you getting it wrong - or if you try to hide what you have done, as that suggests that you’re being dishonest, and employers don’t like having dishonest employees.

Thank you, and no my member name is made up haha but I really do not want this to be at court as I’m full time studying in sixth form and this can impact my personal life

 

[Hadders]

You need to wait to see exactly what the letter says before you reply.

When it arrives post a copy of it on this thread (with any personal details redacted) along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you.

I suggest including the points I mentioned in my earlier post in your reply.

 

[Emilyfieldsss]

You need to wait to see exactly what the letter says before you reply.

When it arrives post a copy of it on this thread (with any personal details redacted) along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you.

I suggest including the points I mentioned in my earlier post in your reply.

You need to wait to see exactly what the letter says before you reply.

When it arrives post a copy of it on this thread (with any personal details redacted) along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you.

I suggest including the points I mentioned in my earlier post in your reply.

Hello, I have recieved the letter. Phewwwww i got away with a fine of £196 as it was the first reported offense

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello, I have recieved the letter. Phewwwww i got away with a fine of £196 as it was the first reported offense

So, to be clear, is this a letter asking you to pay £196 and if you pay that ASAP they will not pursue any further action against you (such as legal action?)

More generally - if this does conclude the matter it is good news for you, but bear in mind that now the railway has your details on file so be sure to have the correct ticket for all future travel as they are likely to take a tougher line if something like this happens again. It might be a good idea for you to buy a Railcard to help reduce your travel costs in future by legitimate means.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Hello, I have recieved the letter. Phewwwww i got away with a fine of £196 as it was the first reported offense

Was this £46.50 (fare due) + £150 (admin fees + costs)?

 

[Emilyfieldsss]

Was this £46.50 (fare due) + £150 (admin fees + costs)?

Yes

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Oct 2023 ==

So, to be clear, is this a letter asking you to pay £196 and if you pay that ASAP they will not pursue any further action against you (such as legal action?)

More generally - if this does conclude the matter it is good news for you, but bear in mind that now the railway has your details on file so be sure to have the correct ticket for all future travel as they are likely to take a tougher line if something like this happens again. It might be a good idea for you to buy a Railcard to help reduce your travel costs in future by legitimate means.

Yes I have invested in a 16-25 railcard which gives me cheaper fares

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@Emilyfieldsss. Thanks for so advising. An expensive lesson for sure, but, once you've settled, so long as you "keep your nose clean" in the future, that should be the end of the matter.

 

[fandroid]

Yes

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Oct 2023 ==


Yes I have invested in a 16-25 railcard which gives me cheaper fares

Be aware that there is a minimum fare of £12 before 10.00 Monday to Friday. If buying online and intending to travel on a train before 10.00 don't shift the time of the journey forward until the Railcard discount kicks in! We have had people on here who have been caught doing that, and you don't want to be questioned by an inspector for a second time.

Sometimes it's best to just buy the normal fare ticket if it's below £12 anyway, if the app is wanting to charge you £12.

This minimum fare restriction doesn't apply in July and August,

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Oct 2023 ==

Lastly, some people have had trouble getting the app with the Railcard on it to properly display the card. Get yourself paper images of the railcard and the photo card and carry those too. They won't strictly be valid for travel but will help to show your bona fides if your phone app plays up