Need advice on MG11 statement issued at station Southeastern

[naveensihag]

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday while travelling to London from Swanscombe, I was caught with an invalid ticket at London Bridge station and was given an MG11 statement receipt.

My paper ticket was valid from Waterloo East to London Bridge making it around £6 cheaper for me. I understand this was a bad judgment on my behalf. But what can I expect in the coming weeks? I understand I will get a letter from Southeastern soon.

My ticket was printed at Swanscombe station with a valid 16-25 Railcard which the officer asked me to show and I did. She also asked me for my address which I provided and linked to my address was a penalty fair I paid back in 2022 when I was unable to provide an e-ticket because of my dead phone.

Once I get a letter, should I give my response to them in an email or a physical letter?

Thank you in advance for any help.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jun 2024 ==

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday while travelling to London from Swanscombe, I was caught with an invalid ticket at London Bridge station and was given an MG11 statement receipt.

My paper ticket was valid from Waterloo East to London Bridge making it around £6 cheaper for me. I understand this was a bad judgment on my behalf. But what can I expect in the coming weeks? I understand I will get a letter from Southeastern soon.

My ticket was printed at Swanscombe station with a valid 16-25 Railcard which the officer asked me to show and I did. She also asked me for my address which I provided and linked to my address was a penalty fair I paid back in 2022 when I was unable to provide an e-ticket because of my dead phone.

Once I get a letter, should I give my response to them in an email or a physical letter?

Thank you in advance for any help.

I'm also attaching the statement I got from the station. Any advice would be really helpful because this is the first time it happened to me.

 

[island]

Southeastern will be in touch in due course – usually a few weeks but can be longer. They almost always settle out of court and will want the full fare for the journey made, plus a fee of £100-200. Once paid, that will be the end of the matter with no criminal record or anything further.

It is very important that you pay the correct fare going forward.

 

[naveensihag]

Southeastern will be in touch in due course – usually a few weeks but can be longer. They almost always settle out of court and will want the full fare for the journey made, plus a fee of £100-200. Once paid, that will be the end of the matter with no criminal record or anything further.

It is very important that you pay the correct fare going forward.

Thank you so much for your reply.

Also wanted to ask if I try to contact their prosecution department before my letter arrives or is it advisable to wait for it because I read in some forms that it's like skipping a queue and might result in a faster response. Sorry but it's all really new for me, never had to deal with anything serious like this.

 

[Gloster]

If they have your correct name and address there is probably no advantage in contacting them: wait until the letter arrives, which could be in anything from a few days to several months. If you go away for more than a few days arrange to have someone trustworthy watch your post and if you move home get a redirection order put in force. When the letter arrives you will have only a limited time, probably around two weeks, to reply.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@naveensihag. Welcome to the forum. A clarificatory question... How exactly did you get hold of a (paper) ticket from London Waterloo East to London Bridge if you were actually travelling in from Swanscombe?

 

[naveensihag]

@naveensihag. Welcome to the forum. A clarificatory question... How exactly did you get hold of a (paper) ticket from London Waterloo East to London Bridge if you were actually travelling in from Swanscombe?

It was bought online and while selecting where to print the ticket, Swanscombe station was selected.

To be clear I don't travel to London very often, maybe once a month or sometimes in 3 months. I have a valid railcard which makes my ticket price around £9 for a trip but in order to save a few more pounds paper ticket was printed from a station closer to London Bridge. Which now I understand was foolish on my behalf.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jun 2024 ==

If they have your correct name and address there is probably no advantage in contacting them: wait until the letter arrives, which could be in anything from a few days to several months. If you go away for more than a few days arrange to have someone trustworthy watch your post and if you move home get a redirection order put in force. When the letter arrives you will have only a limited time, probably around two weeks, to reply.

Thank you so much for your advice, means a lot.

Can I ask once my letter arrives, should I email them my response via email which I believe is prosecutions.team@southeasternrailway.co.uk or should I post a physical letter to the address given?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Can I ask once my letter arrives, should I email them my response via email which I believe is prosecutions.team@southeasternrailway.co.uk or should I post a physical letter to the address given?

Have a look at the letter when you get it: if it only gives a postal address then it's probably best to send a physical letter there, but if it offers an email address I would expect it to be fine to reply to that.

 

[naveensihag]

Have a look at the letter when you get it: if it only gives a postal address then it's probably best to send a physical letter there, but if it offers an email address I would expect it to be fine to reply to that.

Appreciate your advice, and I will do that.

I will also post an update once I get the letter from Southeastern. Hopefully, they are willing to settle out of court cos a criminal record will gravely affect my job prospects.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@naveensihag. Welcome to the forum. A clarificatory question... How exactly did you get hold of a (paper) ticket from London Waterloo East to London Bridge if you were actually travelling in from Swanscombe?

It was bought online and while selecting where to print the ticket, Swanscombe station was selected.

To be clear I don't travel to London very often, maybe once a month or sometimes in 3 months. I have a valid railcard which makes my ticket price around £9 for a trip but in order to save a few more pounds paper ticket was printed from a station closer to London Bridge. Which now I understand was foolish on my behalf.

Thanks for the explanation. Possible that the rail company's investigation team will have a look at your ticket purchasing history to ascertain if there have been any other instances of tickets having been bought for very short distance journeys in Central London, which they may conclude were also obtained just to get through automated barriers as part of a somewhat longer trip.

 

[FenMan]

To the OP, it is likely your online purchasing history will be examined to find out if you have purchased similar tickets before.

South Eastern, if they are persuaded to offer you a settlement, will calculate how much you owe them, normally using Anytime Single ticket prices plus the cost of their investigation.

 

[naveensihag]

Thanks for the explanation. Possible that the rail company's investigation team will have a look at your ticket purchasing history to ascertain if there have been any other instances of tickets having been bought for very short distance journeys in Central London, which they may conclude were also obtained just to get through automated barriers as part of a somewhat longer trip.

Thank you so much for your reply.

To the OP, it is likely your online purchasing history will be examined to find out if you have purchased similar tickets before.

South Eastern, if they are persuaded to offer you a settlement, will calculate how much you owe them, normally using Anytime Single ticket prices plus the cost of their investigation.

Honestly, as far as I remember I did this twice in the past year but I always buy tickets from another online account which is linked with my friend's address instead of mine.

Can they still link it to me from a (paper) ticket that they confiscated yesterday?? Because someone in these forums wrote that if they scan your e-ticket, then it's possible but it's hard to track (paper) tickets.

 

[30907]

Thank you so much for your reply.


Honestly, as far as I remember I did this twice in the past year but I always buy tickets from another online account which is linked with my friend's address instead of mine.

Can they still link it to me from a (paper) ticket that they confiscated yesterday?? Because someone in these forums wrote that if they scan your e-ticket, then it's possible but it's hard to track (paper) tickets.

But you bought it online....

 

[Titfield]

Cash payments for tickets purchased at ticket offices / machines virtually impossible to trace.
Card payments for tickets purchased at ticket office / machines can be traced through the card.
Card payments made for bookings online can be traced either through the card or through the online account.

Tickets purchased through intermediaries online for example Trainline can be traced.

A booking or ticket scanned or photographed contains enough information for it to be traced back to how it was made or paid for and thus traced as per the above.

 

[naveensihag]

Cash payments for tickets purchased at ticket offices / machines virtually impossible to trace.
Card payments for tickets purchased at ticket office / machines can be traced through the card.
Card payments made for bookings online can be traced either through the card or through the online account.

Tickets purchased through intermediaries online for example Trainline can be traced.

A booking or ticket scanned or photographed contains enough information for it to be traced back to how it was made or paid for and thus traced as per the above.

Got it, Thank you so much for your reply. Will have to wait for the letter from the southeastern I guess.

 

[Hadders]

Thank you so much for your reply.

Also wanted to ask if I try to contact their prosecution department before my letter arrives or is it advisable to wait for it because I read in some forms that it's like skipping a queue and might result in a faster response. Sorry but it's all really new for me, never had to deal with anything serious like this.

There's nothing to be gained by contacting Southeastern before the letter arrives, it could even be counter-productive. You don't know what the letter is going to ask you and consequently you could inadvertently incriminate yourself.

Southeastern deal with hundreds of these cases at any one time and you will need to wait for your case to come to the top of ther pile.

When the letter does arrive, posta redacted copy of it in this thread along with your draft reply and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

 

[naveensihag]

There's nothing to be gained by contacting Southeastern before the letter arrives, it could even be counter-productive. You don't know what the letter is going to ask you and consequently you could inadvertently incriminate yourself.

Southeastern deal with hundreds of these cases at any one time and you will need to wait for your case to come to the top of ther pile.

When the letter does arrive, posta redacted copy of it in this thread along with your draft reply and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

I really appreciate your advice and yes I’ll wait for the letter.

Will definitely post it here once it arrives.

 

[AlbertBeale]

I really appreciate your advice and yes I’ll wait for the letter.

Will definitely post it here once it arrives.

The fact that someone was using a paper ticket for a journey from W'loo East to London Bridge is itself enough to alert staff; 99+% of people doing that trip would be using an Oyster (or contactless bank card).

Also, you asked whether your reply (when you get the letter from the railway) should be by post or e-mail; it's best to be guided by what they ask you to do when they write. (Though of course, if you're worried, you can do both when you respond - sending the same letter by each method.)

 

[naveensihag]

Yes I definitely understand it now. Thank you so much for your reply. Really means a lot.

I will for sure post my letter once it arrives here before I make any further steps. Hoping it doesn’t take months before I hear from them.

 

[samira]

Hi, have you received any letter?

 

[notmyrealname]

Hi.

If you've received a letter from Southeasten or anyone else, you need to start a new thread here and ask for people's advice. No two cases are exactly the same and you need advice for your particular situation.

 

[naveensihag]

Heyy everyone, so I just got the prosecution letter from Southeastern. And I'm attaching it here. I would really appreciate any help with my response to them.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Aug 2024 ==

This is what I'm thinking to reply but please let me know if it needs any amendments.




Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in response to the Notice of Intention to Prosecute letter dated XXX, which I received regarding the fare evasion incident reference XXX at London Bridge on June 13, 2024.

I sincerely apologize for this incident. I am ashamed of my actions and now understand that I should not have attempted to travel with an invalid ticket regardless of my personal circumstances. Since then, I have been diligent in purchasing the correct ticket for all subsequent journeys. I am aware that fare evasion costs rail companies millions of pounds every year, and I deeply regret having contributed to that.

Given the above, I would like to inquire if it would be possible to resolve this matter without going to court. I am willing to pay any outstanding fare and your administration costs incurred in handling this matter. I hope my willingness to settle will be taken into consideration.

Once again, I apologize for my actions and any inconvenience caused. I would greatly appreciate your understanding and consideration.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely

 

[30907]

Heyy everyone, so I just got the prosecution letter from Southeastern. And I'm attaching it here. I would really appreciate any help with my response to them.View attachment 163549

Welcome back. I suggest you look on this forum for posts by @Hadders who suggests some points to make.

You must be aware that they will have investigated your travel history and may have worked out that you have used an invalid ticket before. However, there is no need to admit to anything other than the incident they are referring to - wait for their comeback!

BTW the Penalty Fare is done and dusted - it was for a different sort of incident anyway.

 

[notmyrealname]

A minor spelling point. Apologize is American, I would change that to apologise if it were me.

 

[naveensihag]

A minor spelling point. Apologize is American, I would change that to apologise if it were me.

Thank you, I will change it. also, there is an email address provided in the letter, so should I just email them my response instead of posting it as a letter?

 

[signed]

Thank you, I will change it. also, there is an email address provided in the letter, so should I just email them my response instead of posting it as a letter?

I would do both email and first class mail if I were you, just to be sure your answer arrives

 

[naveensihag]

I would do both email and first class mail if I were you, just to be sure your answer arrives

Thank you for your reply. I'll do that.

 

[island]

A minor spelling point. Apologize is American, I would change that to apologise if it were me.

Actually, in the Oxford English Dictionary, "apologize" is listed as the primary spelling, with "apologise" an alternative.

I'd still change it though

 

[John R]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in response to the Notice of Intention to Prosecute letter dated XXX, which I received regarding the fare evasion incident reference XXX at London Bridge on June 13, 2024.

I sincerely apologize for this incident. I am ashamed of my actions and now understand that I should not have attempted to travel with an invalid ticket regardless of my personal circumstances. Since then, I have been diligent in purchasing the correct ticket for all subsequent journeys and I promise to continue to do so at all times in the future. I am aware that fare evasion costs rail companies millions of pounds every year, and I deeply regret having contributed to that.

Given the above, I would like to inquire if it would be possible to resolve this matter without going to court. I am willing to pay any outstanding fare and your administration costs incurred in handling this matter. I hope my willingness to settle will be taken into consideration.

Once again, I apologize for my actions and any inconvenience caused. I would greatly appreciate your understanding and consideration.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely

It's a good letter IMO. Not too short, not too long, and gets the key points over. You haven't even hoped that this letter finds them well (a sure sign of an AI generated letter, and extremely naff thing to say to someone who could be about to prosecute you.)

I'd just add the bit in bold though.

 

[naveensihag]

It's a good letter IMO. Not too short, not too long, and gets the key points over. You haven't even hoped that this letter finds them well (a sure sign of an AI generated letter, and extremely naff thing to say to someone who could be about to prosecute you.)

I'd just add the bit in bold though.

Thank you for your feedback and yes I'll add it at once.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Aug 2024 ==

Hello everyone,

I wanted to let you know that there has been an update after I emailed them my apology letter explaining what happened. I'm happy to say that I've settled with Southeastern Railways.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank every one of you for your help and advice. I really appreciate it.

I am also attaching the letter here for any future cases.

Thank you again.