£1300 fine!

[cheesybananas]

Last month I realised I accidentally brought the wrong rail card which wasn’t valid for my journey.
Today I received a letter saying if I don’t have mitigating circumstances I will be fined £100 for costs and also £1200 for “fare avoided to avoid legal proceedings.” This seems an obscene amount, any advice??

 

[methecooldude]

Last month I realised I accidentally brought the wrong rail card which wasn’t valid for my journey.
Today I received a letter saying if I don’t have mitigating circumstances I will be fined £100 for costs and also £1200 for “fare avoided to avoid legal proceedings.” This seems an obscene amount, any advice??

We need a lot more information:

• We need to know all relevant facts in order to assist you, including, for example:
  • The stations* where you actually started & finished your journey
  • The stations* where you changed trains (if applicable);
  • If you presented a ticket(s), the information* stated under "Ticket type", "From", "To", "Route", and any other relevant details;
  • Details of any Railcard(s) held;
  • When and where ticket(s) were purchased, including whether this was prior to the journey commencing;
  • What happened in any encounter with railway staff;
  • Upload copies of any paperwork (with personal details redacted) with your post.
• We need to know what outcome(s) you would consider satisfactory

 

[WesternLancer]

Last month I realised I accidentally brought the wrong rail card which wasn’t valid for my journey.
Today I received a letter saying if I don’t have mitigating circumstances I will be fined £100 for costs and also £1200 for “fare avoided to avoid legal proceedings.” This seems an obscene amount, any advice??

Can you explain what railcard you brought and what railcard you have if any?

Could your previous on line purchase records indicate you may have a history of buying tickets with the wrong railcard.

Please upload an anonymous copy of what you have been sent.

 

[cheesybananas]

I was meant to buy a family & friends railcard but somehow brought a network rail card so from their point of view I had x4 tickets for me and my family but not the railcard. No I have never done this before this is the first time I have travelled on a train in years.

 

[AlterEgo]

We need a lot more information:

• We need to know all relevant facts in order to assist you, including, for example:
  • The stations* where you actually started & finished your journey
  • The stations* where you changed trains (if applicable);
  • If you presented a ticket(s), the information* stated under "Ticket type", "From", "To", "Route", and any other relevant details;
  • Details of any Railcard(s) held;
  • When and where ticket(s) were purchased, including whether this was prior to the journey commencing;
  • What happened in any encounter with railway staff;
  • Upload copies of any paperwork (with personal details redacted) with your post.
• We need to know what outcome(s) you would consider satisfactory

Please provide this information so we can see what's been going on @cheesybananas

 

[Gloster]

Do remember that once you have been stopped they can, and usually will, investigate your purchasing history going back a year or two, sometimes more. They will not just limit themselves to the period when you had the recent confusion. If they find anomalies they may ask you to pay the full Single Fare for each and every journey that they think were anomalous; a return journey will count as two singles. No allowance will be made for what you did pay or any railcards held. They then add on their costs.

 

[WesternLancer]

I was meant to buy a family & friends railcard but somehow brought a network rail card so from their point of view I had x4 tickets for me and my family but not the railcard. No I have never done this before this is the first time I have travelled on a train in years.

So what was the journey? Where from and too

 

[Puffing Devil]

No I have never done this before this is the first time I have travelled on a train in years.

Do remember that once you have been stopped they can, and usually will, investigate your purchasing history going back a year or two, sometimes more.

Clearly the OP has already made it clear they have no history.

@cheesybananas We do need more details - the journey you were on, the tickets purchased and the letters you've had from the Train Company. Without this information, all you'll get is well-meaning speculation, not solid advice.

 

[James H]

I was meant to buy a family & friends railcard but somehow brought a network rail card so from their point of view I had x4 tickets for me and my family but not the railcard.

Do you mean that you bought tickets, selecting the Network Railcard discount instead of F&F?

Did you actually purchase a railcard (annual discount card) of any type?

Your words above are not clear.

 

[duffield]

£1200 might be perfectly reasonable for one journey, e.g. four people, return from London to Edinburgh, 2 x 4 x anytime single fare comes to just under £1600.

On the other hand, if it's for a local journey of 20 miles, it would seem outrageous.

 

[island]

On the other hand, if it's for a local journey of 20 miles, it would seem outrageous.

And if the journey was in the Network Railcard area and at such a time that the fare was exactly the same and there was no loss to the railway, it would be worse again.

 

[Haywain]

This seems an obscene amount, any advice??

You can only get good advice by providing us with more information. This would need to be details of the journey, and the number of people travelling and what type of tickets were held. It would also help significantly if you could post the letter you have received with your personal details redacted.