Expired railcard fraud

[sugardreams]

Hi everyone,


I hope you can help me with some advice regarding a situation I encountered while traveling on a Chiltern train recently.

When asked for my ticket and railcard by a ticket officer, realised I didn’t have internet access to download the railcard app to show my railcard. The ticket officer asked for my personal details to complete a report, she said I will be able to prove that I had railcard on me when they contact me and I provided my address. After she left, I managed to connect to WiFi and discovered that my railcard had actually expired nearly two years ago! I haven’t been traveling with train for over 6 months before this incident ans I was abroad and didn’t realised how fast time flies.

Feeling anxious, I renewed my railcard immediately while on the train. However, since I only had two stops left to my destination, I couldn't find any staff on board to clarify the situation in person. I'm now anticipating that I will receive a letter from the train company regarding this incident.

After reviewing my ticket history, I found that I've purchased tickets with my expired railcard 15 times over the past two years (all just after my railcard has expired and I haven’t been using train for a good while since then) ! While four of these tickets were refunded due to changes in plans, most were for cheap short trips within Birmingham, costing only around £4.90 for a single fare. I only traveled to London three times with the expired railcard, which costs £39 one way.

From what I've gathered here, when I receive the letter, they will ask for my side of the story. I plan to acknowledge my mistake and propose to resolve the matter outside of court. Will they accept that? I am worried about being prosecuted.

I would appreciate any advice on the following:

1. What key points should I include in my response email to them?

2. How much should I expect my fine to be if they angree to sort out of court and how can I calculate this amount?

3. Will they definitely check my ticket history and be aware of the other journeys I made without a valid railcard?


I know this sounds a bit ridiculous, but I've been preoccupied with family matters abroad and lost track of time. Just returned back to the UK and got unlucky. I honestly thought my railcard was only a few months overdue.


Thank you in advance for any guidance you can provide!

 

[SimplyLovely]

I honestly thought my railcard was only a few months overdue.

Sorry I’m confused, at first I thought you didn’t realise it was expired at all, but this makes it seem like you did know it was expired, it was just the length of time it was expired that surprised you (which shouldn’t matter anyway, expired is expired)

 

[RailsNetwork]

In your email response, you'll want to (as you rightly said): apologise for what happened, that you've learned from the incident & that you are keen to settle outside of court by offering to pay the outstanding fares & any administrative fees.

As for how much it'll be, it'd be the full undiscounted fare (Anytime Single) for every journey made with the expired railcard. Then there'll be their administrative costs on top of that, usually around £150-£175. I'd suggest going through all of your journeys made since the railcard expired, finding the anytime single rate and totaling the amounts up.

 

[John R]

Re the trips from Birmingham to London, the amount they are likely to ask for will depend on which operator you used, but it could be up to £94 for each single journey taken, as that is the highest Anytime Single fare which is valid on all operators.

 

[sugardreams]

In your email response, you'll want to (as you rightly said): apologise for what happened, that you've learned from the incident & that you are keen to settle outside of court by offering to pay the outstanding fares & any administrative fees.

As for how much it'll be, it'd be the full undiscounted fare (Anytime Single) for every journey made with the expired railcard. Then there'll be their administrative costs on top of that, usually around £150-£175. I'd suggest going through all of your journeys made since the railcard expired, finding the anytime single rate and totaling the amounts up.

Thank you so much for explaining that. Do you think they will likely to agree to set out of court if I cooperate with them or there are other challenges I might face? Just unsure how serious my case is and if there’s a point to consult a solicitor asap. Thank you in advance.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

Chiltern will almost certainly offer an out of court settlement if youc co-operate with them and haven't come to their attention before. They will write to you in the next few weeks and I suggest sending a short. concise reply mentioning the following points:

- 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

Expect to have to pay the full cost of the all fares avoided since the railcard expired at the full Anytime rate plus an admin fee, typically £150. You will need to pay the settlement in full within a few days of it being offered, payment in installments isn't allowed.

When it arrives post a copy of Chiltern's letter in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you.

 

[sugardreams]

Thank you so much for explaining that. Do you think they will likely to agree to set out of court if I cooperate with them or there are other challenges I might face? Just unsure how serious my case is and if there’s a point to consult a solicitor asap. Thank you in advance.

Also, I have traveled by train approximately 30 times during the period my railcard was expired. However, only about 11 of those journeys were booked using the railcard, while I paid full fare for the others. Will I be charged fairly for just the 11 journeys made with my expired railcard, or will I be charged for all the journeys I took over the two-year period? Thank you for your assistance!

 

[sugardreams]

Welcome to the forum!

Chiltern will almost certainly offer an out of court settlement if youc co-operate with them and haven't come to their attention before. They will write to you in the next few weeks and I suggest sending a short. concise reply mentioning the following points:

- 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

Expect to have to pay the full cost of the all fares avoided since the railcard expired at the full Anytime rate plus an admin fee, typically £150. You will need to pay the settlement in full within a few days of it being offered, payment in installments isn't allowed.

When it arrives post a copy of Chiltern's letter in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you.

Hello. Thank you so much for your response. Maybe you can advise on that as well ? - I have traveled by train approximately 30 times during the period my railcard was expired. However, only about 11 of those journeys were booked using the railcard, while I paid full fare for the others. Will I be charged fairly for just the 11 journeys made with my expired railcard, or will I be charged for all the journeys I took over the two-year period? Thank you for your assistance!

 

[John R]

You will only be “charged” for the cases where you selected a railcard discount but your railcard had expired.

 

[Titfield]

Forum members only suggest using a solicitor if either the case is self evidently extremely serious or where the initial response from the Train Operating Company to an apology etc (as outlined in the advice given by @Hadders) suggests that an offer of an out of court settlement is unlikely. Solicitors cost in the range of £600 - £900 (from the cases we have seen on here).

TOCS usually only proceed to court when either the case is extremely serious (eg short ticketing on an industrial scale) or where fraud (and this has a very specific meaning) has taken place or where the passenger has failed to engage.