Will be receiving letter, won’t be in the UK

[djsnsw100]

Hi, I was stopped by an RPO and was told to give my address and should be receiving a letter. I provided this but mentioned that I won’t be in the UK for the next few months, so gave my email address instead so it can reach me. He mentioned that it will be possible to send an electronic letter.
Should I get in touch with the train company to ascertain that they will send by email, as it is imperative to me catching the letter that I receive it as such as I won’t be in the UK in the next few months. Should I also ask to change the address to one of a family members who can receive the letter for me (if sent physically) whilst I’m away and send me a picture of it?

 

[John R]

Which train company is it? And how recently were you stopped?

 

[djsnsw100]

Which train company is it? And how recently were you stopped?

GA and a few days ago

 

[John R]

Thx. I can't find on their website a specific email address for their revenue protection/prosecutions dept, but others may be able to help. It would probably be worth getting in touch to give them details of an alternative address and reinforce the need to use that or email to contact you (but to limit the correspondence to that, rather than get into an apologies etc, as train companies typically ask you not to do so until contacted).

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi, I was stopped for short faring by an RPO and was told to give my address and should be receiving a letter. I provided this but mentioned that I won’t be in the UK for the next few months, so gave my email address instead so it can reach me. He mentioned that it will be possible to send an electronic letter.
Should I get in touch with the train company to ascertain that they will send by email, as it is imperative to me catching the letter that I receive it as such as I won’t be in the UK in the next few months. Should I also ask to change the address to one of a family members who can receive the letter for me (if sent physically) whilst I’m away and send me a picture of it?

Yes, I would indeed be tempted to write to them - give them the address of the relative who can check for your correspondence (essentially tell them to regard it as your new address) and also ask them if they can e-mail you.

You can't guarantee they will act on all this sadly but you should at least try in the hope they will.

I would also consider seeing if you can do a Royal Mail redirection to your relatives address - which would cover all your post (see the Royal mail website).

You only have to look at some threads where people fail to get these letters because they have moved house and then end up finding out they have been taken to court and found guilty when the Bailiffs find them or an attachment of earnings order gets sent to their employer to realise how much additional hassle it is to sort it all out simple because the post was not received originally. And it is likely to increase any admin costs for an out of court settlement if that is then achieved which would outweigh the cots of the Royal Mail redirection anyway.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I would also consider seeing if you can do a Royal Mail redirection to your relatives address - which would cover all your post (see the Royal mail website).

Currently £39.50 for a within the U.K. redirection (for up to three months). Redirection overseas is also possible, but the cost of this is much more expensive = £146.50.

 

[WesternLancer]

Currently £39.50 for a within the U.K. redirection (for up to three months). Redirection overseas is also possible, but the cost of this is much more expensive = £146.50.

certainly with that cost IMHO - esp the UK redirection - to avoid the hassle of non receipt of correspondence the consequences of which could be v serious if not responded to.

 

[djsnsw100]

Thanks for the advice all. Once emailing them asking to confirm if they will email their correspondence and to send a physical letter to my family member, if I don’t hear a confirmation by them from this, should I follow up on this weekly? Just want to ensure that they certainly receive my message and confirm my requests, as I wouldn’t want to end up in the situations that have been mentioned above.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks for the advice all. Once emailing them asking to confirm if they will email their correspondence and to send a physical letter to my family member, if I don’t hear a confirmation by them from this, should I follow up on this weekly? Just want to ensure that they certainly receive my message and confirm my requests, as I wouldn’t want to end up in the situations that have been mentioned above.

If they are not capable of replying to you about it then there is no great chance they will actually do it in practice. Keeping on telling them isn’t likely to make them more administratively efficient imho.

So pay Royal Mail for a postal diversion.

You were a deliberate fare evader. They are not going to be putting you at the top of their priority customer service quality list are they.

You got caught. Sorting it out is going to cost you time and money. Things you could have born in mind when short faring and avoiding paying for your share if the service you used.

This may sound harsh but think about how they will think.

 

[John R]

No, I think that would just irritate them. Once is enough to demonstrate that you have made every effort to advise them of your contact details.

 

[djsnsw100]

Hi all, so they got back to me saying queries about penalty fares should be directed to IRCAS.
The thing is I’m not sure if I’ll be receiving a penalty fare letter or another letter, so should I reply to the customer service agent to note the email address confirmation to the revenue protection team, as I’m unsure if a penalty fare letter will be sent?

 

[Bletchleyite]

If you were not issued with a Penalty Fare on the day you will not get one of those. They can only be issued in person, not retrospectively.

 

[djsnsw100]

If you were not issued with a Penalty Fare on the day you will not get one of those. They can only be issued in person, not retrospectively.

Thanks for the swift response.
Yes exactly, so she gave me advice based on a penalty fare (that being to reach out to IRCAS) which I don’t think is the case, so best thing to do is to respond back to her that it isn’t a penalty fare letter that I enquired about and to kindly pass on my message to the revenue protection team?

 

[Fermiboson]

No, on the basis that nothing said to customer service has ever been passed on to the revenue protection team.

If you want full certainty for receipt of the letter, I think Royal Mail redirection is your only recourse.