Being prosecuted for having an invalid ticket

[luja06]

If the company has audited your ticket history - which they often do - then they will see this. So you have to be very careful what you say and not tell any more lies in your correspondence to them, because right now you’ve been caught and are essentially being subject to an honesty test.

So essentially i just need to be as honest as possible is what your saying? If it’s true they can access my ticket history, it’s going to look very bad because I used to abuse low price tickets a lot, like every day which makes me wonder that might be the reason they are keen to prosecute? If this is the case what the heck do I do? I don’t even take the train anymore, and to be honest, I was just trying to save money because I couldn’t actually afford to pay the fare. I know it was very stupid because I’m paying for it now. But I’m genuinely lost. I split between paying a solicitor £600 to bail me out of this or to chance it and write a very humble and apologetic letter. What would be your advice?

 

[John R]

Something about being sorry and assuring them that you'll change your ways might be appropriate. As far as the worries about what they might find are concerned, if they haven't mentioned anything yet then you shouldn't either.

So to be clear, don't say anything that suggests it was the first time you avoided paying the correct fare, but you don't need to admit having done it before either. Just talk about the one incident when you were caught. It is quite possible that they will in any reply address previous instances that they have spotted, and that will be the time to come clean and admit your track record.

Another point is that if you are offered a settlement that reflects the numerous times you have done this then it is quite likely to be expensive, and given your comments about not having much money, you might like to consider where you could find several hundred pounds at short notice, as they will want payment within a couple of weeks if they are not to go down the route of prosecution.

 

[luja06]

So to be clear, don't say anything that suggests it was the first time you avoided paying the correct fare, but you don't need to admit having done it before either. Just talk about the one incident when you were caught. It is quite possible that they will in any reply address previous instances that they have spotted, and that will be the time to come clean and admit your track record.

Another point is that if you are offered a settlement that reflects the numerous times you have done this then it is quite likely to be expensive, and given your comments about not having much money, you might like to consider where you could find several hundred pounds at short notice, as they will want payment within a couple of weeks if they are not to go down the route of prosecution.

It will be horrible financially, but If they offer an out of court settlement, and it’s a few hundred pounds, I can live with that. I’m fortunate to have family willing to support me. What I really want to avoid is going to court and getting a criminal record. A fine I can be ok and sleep at night. A criminal record will basically ruin my life and my travelling aspirations. I will thank God if he allows this to go away with a £400 fine im ok with that

 

[Hadders]

Just to clarify a few things:

• When you reply to the letter you need to be truthful, but you aren't required to incriminate yourself either. GTR's letter only mentions the incident on the day you were stopped so you should confine your reply to this incident only.
• GTR might decide you audit your ticket purchasing history and contact you about this. There is nothing you can do about that, you can't chage or get rid of the history, it is what it is. If GTR do decide to bring it up then you will have to address it at that point.
• There's mention of using a solicitor. Solicitors specialising in rail fare evasion don't come cheap (you won't get much change out of £1,000) and you will have to pay their fee regardless of whether they can negotiate a favourable outcome. Personally, I would send your reply to GTR and if the response is not favourable than that would be the point when I would consider engaging a solicitor.
• If you are offered a settlement expect to have to pay the cost of the outstanding fare at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. If they decide to check your ticket purchasing history then they will look to factor in the cost of any journeys they suspect you made with invalid tickets. They could go back up to six years so this could be very expensive. GTR are less likely to search purchase history than other train companies I could mention, but you do have to appreciate you are not in a strong position, having come to their attention on previous occasions.
• If a settlement is offered it will need to be paid in full within a few days of it being offered. Payment in installments isn't normally allowed.
• Technically a settlement is not a fine. Only a court can impose a fine as a punishment upon conviction (by pleading guilty or being found guilty at a trial). So you don't want to pay a fine, you want to pay a settlement. Paying a settlement will feel like paying a fine but it's important to understand the difference.

 

[luja06]

Just to clarify a few things:

• When you reply to the letter you need to be truthful, but you aren't required to incriminate yourself either. GTR's letter only mentions the incident on the day you were stopped so you should confine your reply to this incident only.
• GTR might decide you audit your ticket purchasing history and contact you about this. There is nothing you can do about that, you can't chage or get rid of the history, it is what it is. If GTR do decide to bring it up then you will have to address it at that point.
• There's mention of using a solicitor. Solicitors specialising in rail fare evasion don't come cheap (you won't get much change out of £1,000) and you will have to pay their fee regardless of whether they can negotiate a favourable outcome. Personally, I would send your reply to GTR and if the response is not favourable than that would be the point when I would consider engaging a solicitor.
• If you are offered a settlement expect to have to pay the cost of the outstanding fare at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. If they decide to check your ticket purchasing history then they will look to factor in the cost of any journeys they suspect you made with invalid tickets. They could go back up to six years so this could be very expensive. GTR are less likely to search purchase history than other train companies I could mention, but you do have to appreciate you are not in a strong position, having come to their attention on previous occasions.
• If a settlement is offered it will need to be paid in full within a few days of it being offered. Payment in installments isn't normally allowed.
• Technically a settlement is not a fine. Only a court can impose a fine as a punishment upon conviction (by pleading guilty or being found guilty at a trial). So you don't want to pay a fine, you want to pay a settlement. Paying a settlement will feel like paying a fine but it's important to understand the difference.

Ok thanks for the useful information. Your advice is much appreciated. Is it likely that they are prosecuting me due to my previous encounter with GTR?, and maybe coupled with the fact I tried to supply fake details and then on top of that audited my ticket history? I’m just trying to understand why is it they didn’t just send me a fine? I wouldn’t think they would spend the time and money trying to prosecute me unless my case is important to them and they want to prosecute me harshly? Or do you think they are threatening prosecution just as a scare tactic and would just prefer a settlement?

 

[Haywain]

Ok thanks for the useful information. Your advice is much appreciated. Is it likely that they are prosecuting me due to my previous encounter with GTR?, and maybe coupled with the fact I tried to supply fake details and then on top of that audited my ticket history? I’m just trying to understand why is it they didn’t just send me a fine? I wouldn’t think they would spend the time and money trying to prosecute me unless my case is important to them and they want to prosecute me harshly? Or do you think they are threatening prosecution just as a scare tactic and would just prefer a settlement?

You have received a standard letter and prosecution is the outcome if you don't respond. This is what happens when you are reported for what you did. It's not unusual and you are not receiving any special treatment.

 

[Hadders]

Ok thanks for the useful information. Your advice is much appreciated. Is it likely that they are prosecuting me due to my previous encounter with GTR?, and maybe coupled with the fact I tried to supply fake details and then on top of that audited my ticket history? I’m just trying to understand why is it they didn’t just send me a fine? I wouldn’t think they would spend the time and money trying to prosecute me unless my case is important to them and they want to prosecute me harshly? Or do you think they are threatening prosecution just as a scare tactic and would just prefer a settlement?

They have not decided to prosecute you - yet. Thet are asking for your comments before they decide how to proceed. Practically everyone involved in a case with GTR gets sent this letter - have a look at other threads involving GTR in this section of the forum. GTR won't just 'send you a fine' (remember only a court can ompose a fine). They will investigate the case and then decide how to proceed. There are three possible outcomes:

1. They take no further action - let's face it, this isn't going to happen
2. They offer you a settlement
3. They decide to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court

Normally they go for option 2 if you co-operate but given your history with GTR, option 3 is a realistic possibility.

 

[Snow1964]

Commercially option 2 (settlement) is best for them, get money in bank, no further admin time, move staff onto next culprit.

Option 3 (court) takes longer, requires lot more effort, and risk of court agreeing a payment plan so getting funds takes longer and amount not guaranteed.

What no one know is which option they choose, if you skipped paying for full journey from Brighton area to London for months, could easily be £1000+ in avoided fares. When get to that sort of amount they might (not will) take a commercial decision and accept big settlement quickly.

 

[Hadders]

Commercially option 2 (settlement) is best for them, get money in bank, no further admin time, move staff onto next culprit.

Option 3 (court) takes longer, requires lot more effort, and risk of court agreeing a payment plan so getting funds takes longer and amount not guaranteed.

What no one know is which option they choose, if you skipped paying for full journey from Brighton area to London for months, could easily be £1000+ in avoided fares. When get to that sort of amount they might (not will) take a commercial decision and accept big settlement quickly.

On the other hand, they might take the view that someone who has engaged in industrial level fare evasion over a sustained period of time should be prosecuted.

 

[luja06]

On the other hand, they might take the view that someone who has engaged in industrial level fare evasion over a sustained period of time should be prosecuted.

It’s hard to say if that’s why they want to prosecute me but it’s hard to say based off what you have told me. If I make it clear to them in my letter that I’m happy to pay whatever suitable amount they calculated I dishonestly stole off them, would thqt make them lean towards allowing a settlement? I need to maximise my chances of allowing this matter to be settled out of court. Is there anything in particular I should mention to them in my letter besides that I’m sorry and I want to settle the matter out of court?

 

[jfollows]

That’s the problem, they also want to believe you’re not going to do it again, you need to think about this and how you can be believable if you say this.

 

[Haywain]

It’s hard to say if that’s why they want to prosecute me

The idea that they want to prosecute you is from your own guilty consience rather than the letter. The onus is very much on you to influence what the next steps are, so concentrate on that.

 

[dosxuk]

It’s hard to say if that’s why they want to prosecute me but it’s hard to say based off what you have told me. If I make it clear to them in my letter that I’m happy to pay whatever suitable amount they calculated I dishonestly stole off them, would thqt make them lean towards allowing a settlement? I need to maximise my chances of allowing this matter to be settled out of court. Is there anything in particular I should mention to them in my letter besides that I’m sorry and I want to settle the matter out of court?

They're more concerned about stopping you from doing this again in the future than they are getting their money back. That's the overarching message you need to get through to them in your writing to them - that you understand you've broken the law, you've learnt your lesson and you won't consider doing it again. If all they read is "I'll give you the money you think I stole from you" then they're going to think you don't care about breaking the law, just want to get them off your back - and you'll be back to short faring next week.

You should have had no expectation to receive a penalty fare. That you've received them in the past is because they didn't think you were doing this deliberately and repeatedly. That those penalties haven't dissuaded you from this behaviour is a big red cross against your name and bring into doubt whether further non-criminal sanctions would result in a change of behaviour.

 

[luja06]

The idea that they want to prosecute you is from your own guilty consience rather than the letter. The onus is very much on you to influence what the next steps are, so concentrate on that.

I’m going to draft another letter tonight after work. Any/all proof reads would be helpful and appreciated

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==

They're more concerned about stopping you from doing this again in the future than they are getting their money back. That's the overarching message you need to get through to them in your writing to them - that you understand you've broken the law, you've learnt your lesson and you won't consider doing it again. If all they read is "I'll give you the money you think I stole from you" then they're going to think you don't care about breaking the law, just want to get them off your back - and you'll be back to short faring next week.

You should have had no expectation to receive a penalty fare. That you've received them in the past is because they didn't think you were doing this deliberately and repeatedly. That those penalties haven't dissuaded you from this behaviour is a big red cross against your name and bring into doubt whether further non-criminal sanctions would result in a change of behaviour.

Thank you sir I will make sure to drive this point across in my letter

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==

this is what I have come up with. Has anyone got any suggestions to
Improve my letter? Any and all responses are greatly appreciated by me and god bless all of you so far for helping me navigate through this.

 

[luja06]

Hi people. I posted a thread recently talking about how I received a letter from GTR saying they are intending to prosecute. I sent my response to that particular incident and now they have got back to me saying now they have investigated my case and established that I have avoided fares on multiple occasions. Unfortunately they are not wrong. I avoided rail fares every day for years, I just simply don’t know how extensive they have been with their investigation and what this means for me. In anyone’s experience, does this certainly mean that this will go to court and now I have no chance of a settlement? This has been highly distressfull and I simply don’t know what to do. I think going to seek legal support tomorrow, which is going to cost a lot of money. But I simply see no other way of getting out of this situation without going to court. Please help me. All/any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Blinkbonny]

The fact that they are willing to "discuss the matter further" implies that they are amenable to settling out of court.

If that was so, you wouldn't need an expensive solicitor on top of everything else that you will have to pay.

 

[Camsus]

I wouldn't dive into paying for a solicitor quite yet. Why not try responding as they have invited you to? GTR nearly always seem to be willing to settle, so I'd get back to them, stressing you are very sorry, as well as making it clear you will ensure to always buy the correct tickets going forward. Request the opportunity to pay a settlement and, hopefully, GTR will offer you one. Personally, I'd rather put my money towards the settlement than paying for a solicitor.

 

[enyoueffsea]

I avoided rail fares every day for years, I just simply don’t know how extensive they have been with their investigation and what this means for me

They will have access to your entire booking history, so you can expect it to be fairly extensive.

You can expect quite likely an expensive settlement.

In order to work that out (roughly) we’d need much more information and transparency than we got on the first page.

does this certainly mean that this will go to court and now I have no chance of a settlement?

No. But it’s not possible to give certainty without more information. Most of the time TOCs are happy to settle.

I think going to seek legal support tomorrow, which is going to cost a lot of money. But I simply see no other way of getting out of this situation without going to court

You can expect to pay upwards of £1,000 to get legal representation. That doesn’t include any settlement amount they negotiate with the TOC for you.

You can more than likely get a settlement yourself, with support on here. That said, it’s difficult to provide advice with 5% of the facts.

 

[WesternLancer]

They will have access to your entire booking history, so you can expect it to be fairly extensive.

You can expect quite likely an expensive settlement.

In order to work that out (roughly) we’d need much more information and transparency than we got on the first page.



No. But it’s not possible to give certainty without more information. Most of the time TOCs are happy to settle.



You can expect to pay upwards of £1,000 to get legal representation. That doesn’t include any settlement amount they negotiate with the TOC for you.

You can more than likely get a settlement yourself, with support on here. That said, it’s difficult to provide advice with 5% of the facts.

If you’re minded to get legal help you should use one of the specialist firms that get mentioned on here from time to time. Or at least get quotes from those firms.

 

[saismee]

I think OP should know (nobody seems to have mentioned it) that the convictions they are threatening are incredibly unlikely. If it went to court then you absolutely wouldn't get a prison sentence, and the conviction won't be recorded on the police national computer so it won't even show up in enhanced DBS checks.

Unless you're in an a job such as finance/accounting or similar, it won't really matter all that much. As a settlement offer is a courtesy from the TOC, they can ask any figure they'd like. The court requires evidence of a crime being committed (proof it was you who travelled), they can only work with the one instance where you had your details taken. It could be much cheaper than the settlement offer.

I realistically think that a solicitor is unnecessary for your case unless the offer is very high and your career requires that you don't get a conviction.

 

[luja06]

Thanks for the replies everyone much appreciated. I am now left with a question. How do I reply to the email that the fraud prevention team sent me? They have not specified any specific dates or instances in particular, I don’t want to incriminate myself, so do I ask them to specify what dates they are referring to? Adding that I’m happy to discuss from there? Also I’m quite worried because even though all of you said that it’s unlikely this case will go to court, isn’t the offence I have committed technically fraud? (Which is a sierous offence).
If anyone needs any specific details or information in order to help please ask. Thanks

 

[John R]

They’ve told you that they know you’ve done it on multiple occasions so you can assume they have the full picture. So there is no risk of incriminating yourself, the best course of action is to fess up and admit it, and ask for a list of cases that they have identified, so that you can confirm that you agree with it (assuming you do).

 

[saismee]

Remember to post a draft of your response here for forum members to proofread first.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks for the replies everyone much appreciated. I am now left with a question. How do I reply to the email that the fraud prevention team sent me? They have not specified any specific dates or instances in particular, I don’t want to incriminate myself, so do I ask them to specify what dates they are referring to? Adding that I’m happy to discuss from there? Also I’m quite worried because even though all of you said that it’s unlikely this case will go to court, isn’t the offence I have committed technically fraud? (Which is a sierous offence).
If anyone needs any specific details or information in order to help please ask. Thanks

You can apologise for ‘error of judgement in not paying the correct fare’ say that you are ‘anxious to resolve matters without court action’ and ‘would be prepared to pay any fares that are owed’ and ask them ‘if they could provide a list of occasions where they believed you had not paid the correct fare so that you could check this against your own travel records.

That way you are being cooperative and also asking them to supply the information which allows you to check what they believe.

 

[Hadders]

I think OP should know (nobody seems to have mentioned it) that the convictions they are threatening are incredibly unlikely. If it went to court then you absolutely wouldn't get a prison sentence, and the conviction won't be recorded on the police national computer so it won't even show up in enhanced DBS checks.

Unless you're in an a job such as finance/accounting or similar, it won't really matter all that much. As a settlement offer is a courtesy from the TOC, they can ask any figure they'd like. The court requires evidence of a crime being committed (proof it was you who travelled), they can only work with the one instance where you had your details taken. It could be much cheaper than the settlement offer.

I realistically think that a solicitor is unnecessary for your case unless the offer is very high and your career requires that you don't get a conviction.

I agree that a prison is not going to happen here but a conviction under the Regulation of the Railways Act is a very strong possibility and that does come with a 'full fat' criminal record and would show on DBS checks for the appropriate amount of time.

GTR will potentially go back up to six years. Previously these letters have resulted in settlements being offered - they already have sufficient evidence to prosecute if they want to. It might be possible to avoid having to speak to GTR about this if you carry out your own research of you ticket purchasing history (best done on the website rather than the app) and mention something like this in your reply:

I've checked my online ticket purchasing account and believe that between xx/xx/xx and yy/yy/yy I failed to pay the correct fare on zz occasions.

Only you can decide whether or not to use a solicitor. A solicitor cannot change what has happened and my view is prosecution is unlikely as long as you co-operate (and pay the settlement). If the settlement is looking as though it could be very large then it might be worth considering a solicitor as they might be better placed to negotiate the value but you would need to weigh this up against their cost.

 

[luja06]

I agree that a prison is not going to happen here but a conviction under the Regulation of the Railways Act is a very strong possibility and that does come with a 'full fat' criminal record and would show on DBS checks for the appropriate amount of time.

GTR will potentially go back up to six years. Previously these letters have resulted in settlements being offered - they already have sufficient evidence to prosecute if they want to. It might be possible to avoid having to speak to GTR about this if you carry out your own research of you ticket purchasing history (best done on the website rather than the app) and mention something like this in your reply:

I've checked my online ticket purchasing account and believe that between xx/xx/xx and yy/yy/yy I failed to pay the correct fare on zz occasions.

Only you can decide whether or not to use a solicitor. A solicitor cannot change what has happened and my view is prosecution is unlikely as long as you co-operate (and pay the settlement). If the settlement is looking as though it could be very large then it might be worth considering a solicitor as they might be better placed to negotiate the value but you would need to weigh this up against their cost.

The only problem is I’ve failed to pay the correct rail fare for years, many times. By admitting what specific dates I’ve avoided, I may be incriminating myself. Should I just ask for what dates ands journeys they suspect me of dodging? Hoping that they don’t send me a spreadsheet years full of avoided fares. What’s my best bet you guys recon.

 

[Hadders]

They know what dates you’ve evaded - they’ve searched your ticket purchase history!

If you want to keep this out of court then you’ll need to co-operate.

 

[WesternLancer]

The only problem is I’ve failed to pay the correct rail fare for years, many times. By admitting what specific dates I’ve avoided, I may be incriminating myself. Should I just ask for what dates ands journeys they suspect me of dodging? Hoping that they don’t send me a spreadsheet years full of avoided fares. What’s my best bet you guys recon.

Your best bet is probably that they do send you a spreadsheet. That’s better than a court summons instead I suspect.