PLEASE HELP!! NIP letter from Chiltern Railways

[lgy0001]

I feel totally ashamed for creating this post...

I received the letter from Chiltern Railways for they caught me for a short fare ticket - I was traveling from Bicester North to Marylebone but my ticket was from Wembley Stadium. I admitted that this was not my first time, due to my last low-income job in London I regularly did it from Oct 2022 to Aug 2023 for less than 20 times. I always realised this was wrong and feel ashamed. Once I found another London job in May this year, I started purchasing monthly travelcards without a break until now.

However, on the day that I was caught, I did not realise my travelcard was just expired yesterday until I was at the station in the early morning. I did not have sufficient money in my bank and I could not borrow from anyone at 7 am, hence I took the risk to purchase another short fare ticket and then I was caught.....

I feel totally ashamed and cannot forgive myself. I did a lot of research from here and keep waiting for the letter to arrive. Now it's here. I draft a reply email to Chiltern to admit mistakes and ask for forgiveness. I will appreciate it if anyone can help me to review my draft to ensure that it's appropriate?

Thank you so much!!

-----------------------------------------

Customer Reference: [ ]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in response to a letter of "Notice of Intended Prosecution" I received from you dated 25th November 2024, which I received on the 2nd December 2024.

I can confirm that the report is correct - I did travel on 22nd August 2024 from Bicester North to London Marylebone with a ticket valid only from Wembley Stadium to London Marylebone. I now recognise that what I did was illegal and completely unacceptable. I would like to sincerely apologise for my behaviour.

I am also ashamed to admit I have not paid the correct fare on other occasions since October 2022. I have no excuse for my stupid decisions, and I realised such behaviour was illegal and not fair to my fellow passengers who are all paying the correct fares. Hence, since May 2024, I started purchasing monthly London Travelcards from Bicester North to London Marylebone for my journeys to London to work. I continued to renew my monthly London Travelcard from May 2024 to August 2024.

However, on 22nd August 2024, I only realised my London Travelcard had expired yesterday (21st August 2024) when I arrived at Bicester North Station at 6:45 a.m. At that moment my bank account did not have sufficient funds to renew the London Travelcard, and I decided to purchase a short-fare ticket to complete my journey, which I totally regret. After being caught by the ticket inspector from London Marylebone station, I borrowed money from my family to renew the August Travelcard on the same day to complete my return journey to Bicester North.

I fully understand the seriousness of this matter and assure you that I have learned from this experience. I am committed to ensuring that this does not happen again. Since then, I have continued to renew my monthly London Travelcard without a break. I added a reminder in my calendar for every expiry date of the Travelcard to prevent missing the due dates. I also paid full fares for all my non-London journeys where the London Travelcard is not applicable. I do not believe this to be deserving of forgiveness, but I hope my actions show my sincerity and determination to never let this happen again.

I would be extremely grateful if Chiltern Railways would be willing to settle this matter out of court, whether via a financial settlement or however Chiltern Railways deems appropriate. I am willing to pay all outstanding fares plus your administrative costs in dealing with the matter. I wholeheartedly regret my actions and I hope I have demonstrated that I have learned my lesson. I hope you accept my most sincere apologies for time wasted and inconvenience caused, and recognise that it will never happen again.

Yours sincerely,

 

[Titfield]

With all due respect this is way too wordy and repetitive.

The salient points (that you are apologetic and contrite, that you have learned your lesson, that you will not repeat the short faring and that you are enquiring if they would consider offering you an out of court settlement for the fares avoided and admin costs) can be expressed in far fewer words.

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes. If you can edit it down a bit I think that would help. But retain the key points apologising, showing you understand what you have done is wrong, and requesting a chance to settle without court action.

 

[lgy0001]

Thank you for thr feedback. I'vr trimmed down a bit... Pls see if it turns better?

----------------

Customer Reference: [ ]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in response to a letter of "Notice of Intended Prosecution" I received from you dated 25th November 2024. I can confirm that the report is correct - I did travel on 22nd August 2024 from Bicester North to London Marylebone with a ticket valid only from Wembley Stadium to London Marylebone. I now recognise that what I did was illegal and completely unacceptable. I would like to sincerely apologise for my behaviour.

I am also ashamed to admit I have not paid the correct fare on other occasions since October 2022. I have no excuse for my stupid decisions, and I realised such behaviour was illegal and not fair to my fellow passengers who are all paying the correct fares. Hence, since May 2024, I started purchasing monthly London Travelcards from Bicester North to London Marylebone for my journeys to London to work. I continued to renew my monthly London Travelcard from May 2024 to August 2024.

However, on 22nd August 2024, I only realised my London Travelcard had expired yesterday (21st August 2024) when I arrived at Bicester North Station at 6:45 a.m. At that moment my bank account did not have sufficient funds to renew the London Travelcard, and I decided to purchase a short-fare ticket to complete my journey, which I totally regret. I renewed the August Travelcard on the same day to complete my return journey to Bicester North.

I fully understand the seriousness of this matter and assure you that I have learned from this experience. I am committed to ensuring that this does not happen again. I have continued to renew my monthly London Travelcard without a break. I added a reminder in my calendar for every expiry date of the Travelcard to prevent missing the due dates. I also paid full fares for all my non-London journeys where the London Travelcard is not applicable. I hope my actions show my sincerity and determination to never let this happen again.

I would be extremely grateful if Chiltern Railways would be willing to settle this matter out of court, whether via a financial settlement or however Chiltern Railways deems appropriate. I am willing to pay all outstanding fares plus your administrative costs in dealing with the matter. I hope you accept my most sincere apologies for time wasted and inconvenience caused, and recognise that it will never happen again.


Yours sincerely,

 

[Hadders]

The latest version is much better. Wait and see if anyone else has any further comments before sending it to Chiltern.

 

[lgy0001]

The latest version is much better. Wait and see if anyone else has any further comments before sending it to Chiltern.

Thank you! And I hope if anyone can provide further advice for my letter.

Thanks again!

 

[LCC106]

Have you already admitted verbally that you have short dates on 20 occasions? @Hadders what would you recommend?

 

[John R]

Have you already admitted verbally that you have short dates on 20 occasions? @Hadders what would you recommend?

The general view is that if the question of previous occurrences is not mentioned in the letter it should not be necessary to reference them. However, care should be taken not to lie, and say something that implies it was a first offence.

I don’t think the fact that they admitted to it when stopped changes this view. After all, the rail company had the opportunity to ask about other instances (and they frequently do) in its letter, and has not done so.

 

[30907]

The general view is that if the question of previous occurrences is not mentioned in the letter it should not be necessary to reference them. However, care should be taken not to lie, and say something that implies it was a first offence.

Starting para 2 halfway through - "Since xx May 2024 I have purchased monthly Travelcards for my journey...." is truthful but leaves an opening when/if Chiltern pursue previous travel patterns.

As others have said, train companies are concerned to stop people cheating - I suspect the income from out of court settlements, court compensation etc is relatively small compared to the increased income from people paying the correct fare.

 

[lgy0001]

The general view is that if the question of previous occurrences is not mentioned in the letter it should not be necessary to reference them. However, care should be taken not to lie, and say something that implies it was a first offence.

I don’t think the fact that they admitted to it when stopped changes this view. After all, the rail company had the opportunity to ask about other instances (and they frequently do) in its letter, and has not done so.

Thank you.

If I sightly change the opening of paragraph 2 to “I am also ashamed to admit I have not paid the correct fare on other occasions. I have no excuse for my stupid decisions... “ as a more generic response. Would it be helpful?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Dec 2024 ==

Have you already admitted verbally that you have short dates on 20 occasions? @Hadders what would you recommend?

No the inspector didn’t question me further about the fare history after they check my travelcard just expired yesterday

 

[Hadders]

Have you already admitted verbally that you have short dates on 20 occasions? @Hadders what would you recommend?

It's difficult to comment because we haven't seen the letter Chiltern sent you. If it says that they have submitted requests to retailers like Trainline then they will quickly discover that you've regularly short fared and so it would probablybe best to 'fess up' to what you've done.

 

[lgy0001]

It's difficult to comment because we haven't seen the letter Chiltern sent you. If it says that they have submitted requests to retailers like Trainline then they will quickly discover that you've regularly short fared and so it would probablybe best to 'fess up' to what you've done.

Thank you. I’ve attached the letter in my beginning post. They only have a standard sentence says “… which has revealed that you may have avoided the correct rail fare on other occasions.”

 

[Hadders]

Thank you. I’ve attached the letter in my beginning post. They only have a standard sentence says “… which has revealed that you may have avoided the correct rail fare on other occasions.”

The letter says they have contacted ticket retailers so they will quickly discover that you've done this before. My view would be to be truthful about what you've done if you want the best chance of keeping this out of court.

 

[lgy0001]

The letter says they have contacted ticket retailers so they will quickly discover that you've done this before. My view would be to be truthful about what you've done if you want the best chance of keeping this out of court.

Thank you. I have mentioned in my email that I admit I have not paid the correct fare on other occasions. Should it be enough or I shall mention more details such as from October 2022 to November 2023?

 

[AlterEgo]

Thank you. I have mentioned in my email that I admit I have not paid the correct fare on other occasions. Should it be enough or I shall mention more details such as from October 2022 to November 2023?

You should probably list the occasions - at this stage they are just conducting an honesty test on you.

 

[Hadders]

Thank you. I have mentioned in my email that I admit I have not paid the correct fare on other occasions. Should it be enough or I shall mention more details such as from October 2022 to November 2023?

You could say something like 'I have checked my online ticket purchasing history and I believe I have evaded paying the correct fare on xx occasions since yyyy'.