Investigation for travelling with false railcard

[jman99]

Hi, I’m asking for advice on behalf of a friend. She was stopped on a train once without a valid railcard, and now South Western Railways are investigating her for multiple journeys where they say she didn’t have valid railcards.

Keeping it vague on purpose:
She has used 3 different types of railcards and only actually has one. So has used invalid railcards for multiple journeys
She only ever had one type of railcard and doesn’t have the others they mentioned. They’ve asked her to provide proof or explain. She has 14 days to respond.

What’s the best next step? Should she respond herself, get legal advice, or something else? Has anyone been in a similar situation? Obviously a settlement out of court would be the best option so what’s the best way to go around this.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Haywain]

Obviously a settlement out of court would be the best option so what’s the best way to go around this.

If she wants to agree an out of court settlement and avoid prosecution for the once that she was stopped, the other matters will have to be dealt with as part of that. Therefore if SWR has brought those matters up in a letter she will have to deal with it more honestly than she has done so far in claiming those discounts.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

She has used 3 different types of railcards and only actually has one. So has used invalid railcards for multiple journeys
She only ever had one type of railcard and doesn’t have the others they mentioned.

Are you saying that inappropriately railcard discounted tickets were purchased and used to travel without paying the correct fare on multiple occasions? BTW, what was the typical journey made?

 

[SuspectUsual]

In general terms, the better the quality of information you provide, the better the quality of the advice people here can give you

We do appreciate it might seem a good idea to “keep it vague” but if you read other threads you’ll see they generally give pretty detailed information and we see no adverse impact in terms of what happens with the train company

 

[jman99]

Are you saying that inappropriately railcard discounted tickets were purchased and used to travel without paying the correct fare on multiple occasions? BTW, what was the typical journey made?

Yes and not sure about the typical journeys made but towards London.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jul 2025 ==

These issues I’ve explained have been brought up in an email, claiming investigation.

If she wants to agree an out of court settlement and avoid prosecution for the once that she was stopped, the other matters will have to be dealt with as part of that. Therefore if SWR has brought those matters up in a letter she will have to deal with it more honestly than she has done so far in claiming those discounts.

 

[jman99]

Hi everyone,

I’m seeking advice regarding a situation involving someone I know who’s now under investigation by South Western Railway.

She was stopped in March 2025 while travelling to London Waterloo using a ticket with a Disabled Persons Railcard discount, which she did not have. She mistakenly purchased a ticket with this railcard. That triggered a wider investigation into her ticket history.

They’ve now found that over a 1 and a half year period, she mistakenly purchased some tickets using various Railcard discounts, including 16-17 and 16-25, despite not holding valid ones. She had a 16-17 Railcard, but it expired years ago. She only recently purchased a 16-25 Railcard in March 2025.

Nevertheless her wrong doings before purchasing a railcard has lead to invalid discounts to many journeys, even though she paid for tickets just at wrongly discounted rates. She only used the Disabled Persons Railcard discount once (in March), but the rest were under the 16-17 or 16-25 categories when she had no valid entitlement.

The rail company is now asking her to provide proof of any valid Railcards during that time or to admit if she had none. They’ve given her until 14 days to respond. I’m currently helping her go through her full travel and ticket history to get an accurate count of how many journeys were affected — I will follow up with that once we have it.

We’re both aware this is a serious issue. She wants to take responsibility, but we’re unsure what the best next step is. She is prepared to pay the differences for the false journeys she has traveled. Should she respond admitting everything in detail? Would offering to repay the difference or fines help at this stage? Is legal advice necessary?
A settlement out of court is obviously the best outcome. What is the history for disputes with Southern Western Railway?

Any insight or experience anyone can share would be hugely appreciated. Thank you.

 

[jfollows]

The journeys improperly discounted will be treated as not having a ticket at all. The full single fare for each journey will be required if this it to be settled out of court. Sorry to be blunt, but please get any “difference in fare” payment out of your expectations.

They will generally agree to settle for this amount plus payment for their investigation effort, which will be of the order of £150.

 

[jman99]

The journeys improperly discounted will be treated as not having a ticket at all. The full single fare for each journey will be required if this it to be settled out of court. Sorry to be blunt, but please get any “difference in fare” payment out of your expectations.

Thanks for your knowledge. I’ll keep that in that mind, what’s the best way to respond that she wants to pay the full single fare for each invalid journey? Thanks

 

[jfollows]

Thanks for your knowledge. I’ll keep that in that mind, what’s the best way to respond that she wants to pay the full single fare for each invalid journey? Thanks

Along the lines of
- 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

Their interest is in recouping their costs and knowing it won’t happen again.

However this might be jumping the gun, wait for other advice also.

For example, the range of railcards claimed but not owned makes it appear on the face of it to be intentional; that’s not a bar to a settlement but think about how to phrase this. “Mistakenly” might be an understatement.

 

[jman99]

did you receive there communication thru email or in the post? I am going thru a similar situation.

Email

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jul 2025 ==

Along the lines of
- 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

Their interest is in recouping their costs and knowing it won’t happen again.

However this might be jumping the gun, wait for other advice also.

Very helpful thank you!

 

[Titfield]

Many TOCS will produce a spreadsheet of all the journeys they have concerns about and ask you to comment on them e.g. no railcard held.

You can compare that spreadsheet with your own tally drawn from the persons online booking account.

You do not need legal advice at this stage. If you update this thread with their later communications, forum members can advise when / if legal advice is required.

TOCs usually only proceed to court action when (a) there is a long and persistent record of fare evasion* (b) the passenger has been abusive (c) the passenger does not engage with the TOC to resolve the matters.

*We have seen what could be described as industrial scale fare evasion be resolved out of court so I would not be overly concerned about this at this stage.

If the person travels by rail on a regular basis and is entitled to a railcard (nb the various time and age restrictions) then purchasing one is a good idea both for future journeys but also because it demonstrates compliant behaviour in the future to the TOC.

 

[Hadders]

Based on what you've told us, 'your friend' has committed a criminal offence and SWR are entitled to prosecute in the Magistrates Court if they want to. Your friend would be found guilty and have to pay:

- A fine based on their income, normally discounted by a third for pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity
- A surcharge of 40% of the value of the fine
- Contribution towards SWR's court costs
- Compensation for the fare avoided

In addition you would have a criminal conviction which, for most purposes, would be considered as spent after a year.

If you co-operate with SWR there's a good chance they will offer an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of all the journeys made with invalid tickets at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for invalid tickets purchased. In addition, you will need to pay an admin fee tupically £150.

If you post a draft of your reply to SWR in this thread then forum members will proof read it for you.

 

[enyoueffsea]

Your ‘friend’ is incredibly clumsy, repeatedly adding a high value discount to their train tickets, coincidentally the most high value ones which exist, over multiple journeys without ever noticing.

Whilst she doesn’t need to incriminate herself in any correspondence with the TOC. She certainly will need to be a lot more honest.

This wasn’t a mistake and if she frames it as such, she will jeopardise the TOC settling out of court.

 

[jman99]

Here is an email draft let me know what you think :

Dear ,


Thank you for your email regarding my travel on the *th of March 2025 and the use of discounted tickets.


Below I have attached a screenshot of my 16-25 Railcard.


However, I acknowledge that prior to this, I travelled using a ticket with a discount I was not entitled to. I deeply regret my behaviour and understand that this is a serious matter which has caused concern and taken up your time and resources.


I take full accountability and want to sincerely apologise. At the time, I was dealing with financial hardship and unpaid wages, but I now recognise that this does not justify what I did.


This experience has been a wake-up call, hence purchasing the current railcard that I now have. I have learned from it and I am fully committed to ensuring it never happens again. I now understand how important it is to travel with the correct fare and documentation, and I will not take that responsibility lightly again.

I kindly ask that you consider allowing me to settle this matter outside of court. I appreciate the opportunity to respond and thank you for your time and understanding.


Kind regards,

 

[Hadders]

I think what you've written is ok. A couple of minor amendments:

After asking if they will settle out of court say you are willing to pay the outstanding fare and their administrative costs in dealing with the matter.

End the letter 'Yours sincerely' if written to a named individual (Dear Mr X), or Yours faithfully if not (eg Dear Sir or Madam)