Short faring caught

[gs123]

Hi all

Back in May I was stopped at Farringdon station, I did have a ticket which they scanned but I had purchased a ticket from Blackfriars but I had actually got on at Oxted, they could see that I had not scanned in at Blackfriars. I was honest with them about I had done and they thanked me for my honesty. They explained that this would be sent to the fraud team who would look back at my account to see other occasions I have done this. I moved back to my parents home (oxted) in March and I had been short-faring from about this time, previously I lived in London were I was cycling and when I was using the train was either tapping in and out or paying the full fare.

Today I have revived an email from them asking for a reply in 7 days via email. I would really appreciate any advice, from reading through this forum I can see that I need to reply apologetically and take responsibility for my actions.

I’m not sure if this is relevant but I’m currently not in the country. I am away travelling in South America and will be for the next 10 months.

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all

Back in May I was stopped at Farringdon station, I did have a ticket which they scanned but I had purchased a ticket from Blackfriars but I had actually got on at Oxted, they could see that I had not scanned in at Blackfriars. I was honest with them about I had done and they thanked me for my honesty. They explained that this would be sent to the fraud team who would look back at my account to see other occasions I have done this. I moved back to my parents home (oxted) in March and I had been short-faring from about this time, previously I lived in London were I was cycling and when I was using the train was either tapping in and out or paying the full fare.

Today I have revived an email from them asking for a reply in 7 days via email. I would really appreciate any advice, from reading through this forum I can see that I need to reply apologetically and take responsibility for my actions.

I’m not sure if this is relevant but I’m currently not in the country. I am away travelling in South America and will be for the next 10 months.

Thank you so much in advance!

Welcome

It's good that they are dealing with this by e-mail if you are now overseas for a prolonged period.

The general advice on here is that it's not in your interest to agree to an interview if you can avoid it (since there isa risk of you admitting to more than you may need to in a verbal discussion) - that being said if you co-operate with them they may agree to settle it out of court without actually discussing things in person.

Outlined from helpful advice @Hadders often gives as below:

You need to draft a concise reply that covers the following (in the tone you outline)

- That you are sorry for what has happened, and you understand why what you did was wrong
- What you have learned from the incident and will not be repeating the behaviour
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- That you are keen to co-operate with their investigation
but you do need to address the fact that this has happened on more occasions than the time they caught you - which is probably why they want to discuss it with you - the multiple dates they refer to
- You could ask them if they wish to provide a list of dates they believe you did not pay the correct fare so that you can check this against your own records (in a spirit of co-operation not challenge)
- Offer to pay any outstanding fares that you owe and their administrative costs in dealing with the matter

A reply of this nature might mean they don't need to discuss it with you, which might progress it in a straightforward manner.

If you are offered a settlement expect to have to pay the cost of the fares avoided at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket purchased. In addition you will have to pay an administration fee, typically £150.

If you post your draft reply in this thread forum members will proof read it for you before you reply.

 

[John R]

I agree with the above that to avoid the need for a discussion with them you need to come clean as to the extent of your fare evasion, and offer to fully compensate them for the railway’s loss.

You should probably explain that you are out of the country, but I’m not sure I would tell them you are travelling in South America for nearly a year - that might count against you in terms of being an egregious case of fare dodging before setting off on a trip that most people could only dream of.

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes. I would simply say you are not in the uk for the next ten months and would appreciate it if communication could be via e mail.

But you should probably verify a postal address care of your parents in Oxted especially if that is the address you originally gave (you do not want court related papers if it came to that being sent to an address you have no ability to get monitored because untangling a court case you were unaware of will take you a substantial amount of time and hassle or money if you have to engage a solicitor to do it)

Presumably you have the ability to make a prompt and full payment to them if they offer a settlement via some access to your bank from overseas.

It sounds like you say you were short faring for about 3 months and you will know how many times per week you travelled. You should check your on line ticket buying records to see how many occasions exactly so you can work out how much to expect to pay.

They may seek to charge £20.20 anytime single fare from Oxted to Blackfriars for each journey they believe was short fared.

 

[Olivine]

I agree with the above that to avoid the need for a discussion with them you need to come clean as to the extent of your fare evasion, and offer to fully compensate them for the railway’s loss.

I’m not entirely sure this is correct. One does not need to self incriminate whatsoever and can simply offer to assist as WesternLancer has suggested, without starting to offer up travelling on a child’s fare 15 years ago etc.

Minimum amount of information shared with them, maximum cooperation. There are two more months to lay a prosecution so it could be stalled a little bit.

 

[John R]

I’m not entirely sure this is correct. One does not need to self incriminate whatsoever and can simply offer to assist as WesternLancer has suggested, without starting to offer up travelling on a child’s fare 15 years ago etc.

Minimum amount of information shared with them, maximum cooperation. There are two more months to lay a prosecution so it could be stalled a little bit.

For clarity I had only meant in relation to the period of fare evasion noted in the OP. Which did say before which all fares were paid properly.

So I think my advice is consistent with @WesternLancer’s in that they should come clean that they have done it before and on more than one occasion.

 

[WesternLancer]

For clarity I had only meant in relation to the period of fare evasion noted in the OP. Which did say before which all fares were paid properly.

So I think my advice is consistent with @WesternLancer’s in that they should come clean that they have done it before and on more than one occasion.

Yes, I think we are on the same page in our advice here.

@Class93 - yes, I wasn't suggesting that @gs123 starts telling them about evasion they may or may not have done years ago, so I also agree with your point too (the OP does not mention anything here about travel on child tickets or such like anyway) - but the OP makes it clear they short fared from Oxted to London for presumably a period of time before they were caught.
GTR / Thameslink / Southern know this almost for certain since I suspect the digital fingerprints of regular ticket purchases from Blackfriars to Farringdon are on their account, and maybe the OP even admitted to it verbally when stopped as they say they were honest with the inspector.

So in my view to progress to a settlement offer the OP needs to admit to things using phrases like

'I am sorry that I did not have a ticket for my complete journey from Oxted to xxx when I was questioned by a ticket Inspector on xxx date. I am ashamed to say that this was not the only occasion when I have travelled without a fully valid ticket and I sincerely regret this serious error of judgment in not paying for my correct fares'

'If you are able to send me a list of the travel you believe I have undertaken without a valid ticket I will do my best to check this against my own records if that would help with your investigation'.

'I am anxious to resolve all of this without the need for court action and would be most grateful if you could sympathetically consider a request to allow me to settle this out of court by paying for the fares that I owe along with your costs of investigating this matter'

'I am out of the UK for the next ten months so would be grateful if any correspondence about this can be carried out by e-mail so that I can reply promptly and co-operate with you over this issue'

Obviously the OP is not in strong positions in any case, but even more so because they are abroad for 10 months - eg if in worst case scenario it got escalated to court (good chance this can be avoided hopefully) there is the risk of being summonsed to court and I don't know what happens in situation if they can't make a plea by post because they are not going to want to incur the cost of returning to the UK to appear in court so maybe then has to incur solicitors costs in help / advice on how to deal with all that - no doubt involving costs measured in the £100s for solicitors fees.

 

[gs123]

Hi all,

Thank you all so much for your advice, really appreciate it! I have drafted a reply as below:



Dear Fare Evasion Manager

Thank you for your email. I would like to start my expressing my sincerest apologies for my actions. I am sorry that I did not have a ticket for my complete journey from Oxted to Farringdon when I was questioned by a ticket Inspector on 6th May 2025, I am ashamed to say that this was not the only occasion when I have travelled without a fully valid ticket and I sincerely regret this serious error of judgment in not paying for my correct fares. I fully understand that my actions were wrong and I appreciate the significant impact they have on the rail industry, as well as affects on passengers who rely on the network and who pay their fares honestly.

I do not wish to excuse my behaviour and I take full responsibility. I have taken time to reflect on my actions and truly regret what I have done. I can assure you that this will not happen again, I have since paid all rail fares correctly and will continue to do so.

I am keen to co-operate with your investigation and assist in anyway I can.I fully acknowledge that these actions have occurred on more than one occasion. If you wish to provide a list of dates you believe I did not pay the correct fare I can check this against my own records in an effort to assist your investigation.

Please be assured that this incident has provided a real wake up call for me. I have learnt from my mistake and am certain this will not happen again. I am willing to co-operate and pay in full for any fares I owe as well as any administrative costs from dealing with this matter. I am anxious to resolve all of this without the need for court action and would be most grateful if you could sympathetically consider a request to allow me to settle this out of court.

I am out of the UK for the next ten months so would be grateful if any correspondence about this can be carried out by e-mail so that I can reply promptly and co-operate with you over this issue.

Thank you for your time.

Yours Sincerely


Do you think I need to address being out of the country within this reply, or that could wait based on how they wish to proceed? I am just anxious this will negatively impact me.

I truly do regret my actions and just want to resolve this!

Thank you all!!

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Do you think I need to address being out of the country within this reply, or that could wait based on how they wish to proceed? I am just anxious this will negatively impact me.

I think that what you have said in your letter is all that you need to say about being absent for the moment. You do have to say something to encourage the railway to email you rather than send a letter, but I don't think they will need more details just now.

Realistically, I doubt if they will try to take advantage of you being out of the country: each day they will deal with many cases of fares not being paid, and will want to handle all of them in as standard a way as possible. The staff just won't have the time to treat you specially - whether that's favourably or unfavourably.

 

[WesternLancer]

Do you think I need to address being out of the country within this reply, or that could wait based on how they wish to proceed? I am just anxious this will negatively impact me.

Obv a judgment call and you must be happy with what you send them

But I don't think it's unreasonable to be out of the country for a prolonged period - could be work / study / family reasons etc - no need to tell them why etc

However, telling them might just help a bit because (but these are only my personal hunches...)

- make it more likely they will not seek to try to interview you in a formal or semi formal manner, which you probably don't really want

- might make it a bit more likely they will offer to settle as it could add a degree of hassle to the court process they would otherwise need to escalate to

Good luck with progressing this.

 

[gs123]

Great, thank you. Do you think the response itself sounds okay?

 

[WesternLancer]

Great, thank you. Do you think the response itself sounds okay?

Yes I do (thought as you've included my suggestions generally I guess I would say that!) If you can afford to wait a bit before sending it probably best to see what others say - obviously you will not want to miss their 7 days response deadline and bear in mind time zone differences etc)

 

[John R]

It looks fine to me, and I think the comment about being out of the country is pitched appropriately too.

 

[gs123]

Thank you both. I’ll send that to them then and see what they say!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Sep 2025 ==

Do you think I need to wait for anyone else to proof this before I send it?

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you both. I’ll send that to them then and see what they say!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Sep 2025 ==

Do you think I need to wait for anyone else to proof this before I send it?

Probably no need to wait for others. Tho if you are sending it by e mail then it’s unlikely to be read until Monday uk time so I guess you don’t need to send it until Sunday uk time anyway.