Travelled without valid Railcard - Response time

[Hydrangea]

Hello!

I would like some advice or some reassurance about my situation.

I have looked through some threads with
similar/same problems that I am currently going through.

My response to the letter (I have attached an image and cropped/scribbled out the addresses and name) was sent to the email provided in the letter on Friday the 27th, September.

Even though I have already sent my response, I will post it here for context and potential advice:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for granting me with an opportunity to reply to your letter of “Debt Recovery and Prosecution Unit” letter, sent on the 23rd of September, 2024, relating to an incident that occurred on the 28th of August, 2024.

On the 26th of August, I purchased train tickets for the 28th of August through the Trainline app to travel to Manchester Victoria station from Liverpool Lime Street Station. I was aware of my digital 16-25 railcard being expired (April 2023 - April 2024) and had no intentions of applying it during ticket purchase. However, I was unaware of the app’s automatic application of the 16-25 railcard to my ticket and carelessly missed the opportunity to remove the option. Upon arriving at Manchester Victoria Station, the ticket inspector pointed out that my railcard was expired. It was only at this point I was made aware I purchased a ticket with the 16-25 railcard. I apologised to the inspector and cooperated with providing personal information.

I have never been involved in an incident like this before and have/will always use a valid railcard for my tickets. Therefore, I would like to sincerely apologise for this careless oversight of not checking before purchasing. To ensure this will never happen again, I have/will renew my 16-25 railcard (please see the attached image of my current renewed railcard) and will carefully check over the details before purchasing tickets in future travels.

I understand the severity of this incident, as well as the costs. I apologise once again for my carelessness. I learnt an important lesson from this incident and will avoid making this mistake again in the future.

Can you please consider the above and let me know the next steps.


Yours sincerely, (name redacted)

Below “Yours sincerely, (name)”, I included the details (surname, forename etc.) requested in the letter, including the reference code (scribbled out)

I am aware it might take time to receive a response, but I am getting more and more anxious as days go by. How long do responses take usually? I am worried about them not receiving/seeing my email or the response is not good enough.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Hadders]

It usually takes a few weeks for Northern to respond. Northern will almost certainly offer you an out of court settlement.

 

[some bloke]

I am worried about them not receiving/seeing my email or the response is not good enough.

Hello Hydrangea,

Your email seems to me very good.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Oct 2024 ==

It comes across to me as pleasant, and plausible in showing an honest mistake.

On the possibility of them not seeing it: if you receive a letter which doesn't acknowledge your email, you could resend it telling them the date you sent it, which should resolve that problem.

 

[Hydrangea]

It usually takes a few weeks for Northern to respond. Northern will almost certainly offer you an out of court settlement.

-Thank you for the reply! That is reassuring to hear!

Hello Hydrangea,

Your email seems to me very good.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Oct 2024 ==

It comes across to me as pleasant, and plausible in showing an honest mistake.

On the possibility of them not seeing it: if you receive a letter which doesn't acknowledge your email, you could resend it telling them the date you sent it, which should resolve that problem.

-Thank you for the reply! I am glad to hear the response is good and that there is a way to resolve the problem, if the email was not seen.

Hopefully I will get a response back soon. The anticipation is really doing a number on me.

As it is my first time using forums like this, I will try to remember to come back to update on the situation.

Thanks again!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Oct 2024 ==

Update: I got a reply from Northern saying that they are assessing my situation and will send a letter.

After days of worrying, a weight has finally been lifted, not completely because it is not over yet, but thank goodness they replied.

 

[Hydrangea]

Update: I received a fixed penalty notice letter! It is asking for £115.00, which will be payed as soon as possible.

The threads in this forum were really helpful and I am glad I found them. Thank you again, @Hadders and @some bloke for the replies, they were very reassuring and helped ease some of my worries.

 

[Hadders]

Thanks for letting us know the outcome. Sounds like a decent outcome int he circumstances.