Dodged fare and finally being emailed and prosecuted. Need help and advice

[Dan007]

So a while back I dodged a fare and was stopped for it, I had bought a shorter journey to make it cheaper and the ticket inspector at Waterloo station stopped me cause I looked “suspicious”. After a bit of back chat and realised I was gonna be late for work, I admitted to dodging fair and got written up. A few months later (now) I’ve received the email with the details and for me to confirm my own details which I have done now.

(The email - We are currently investigating your case, involvingyour travel from BLANK) to London Waterloo Railway Stations on the 19th of May 2025, when you presented a ticket valid fromVauxhall to London Waterloo Railway Stations,when you admitted to travelling from BLANK Railway station which made your ticket invalid for travel and you were reported for prosecution.)

I’m just wondering what happens next, I’m distraught over the situation which I’m expecting a fine over but I’m worried it could go further. I’m in no place to pay a fine so I was wondering if you could pay them in instalments.

Thank you for any help or advice in advance.

 

[AlterEgo]

Please show us the full email with your personal details redacted. We also need to know which station you actually travelled from in order to tell you what the financial consequences are likely to be.

 

[notmyrealname]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Could you show us the other correspondence you've had from the rail company please? Full information will help the pros here to advise you.

There's usually a good chance of settling out of court, one question is if they look at your ticket buying record, are they likely to find other examples of not buying the right ticket?

Rail companies don't often offer payment plans, unfortunately.

 

[Dan007]

So a while back I dodged a fare and was stopped for it, I had bought a shorter journey to make it cheaper and the ticket inspector at Waterloo station stopped me cause I looked “suspicious”. After a bit of back chat and realised I was gonna be late for work, I admitted to dodging fair and got written up. A few months later (now) I’ve received the email with the details and for me to confirm my own details which I have done now.

(The email - We are currently investigating your case, involvingyour travel from BLANK) to London Waterloo Railway Stations on the 19th of May 2025, when you presented a ticket valid fromVauxhall to London Waterloo Railway Stations,when you admitted to travelling from BLANK Railway station which made your ticket invalid for travel and you were reported for prosecution.)

I’m just wondering what happens next, I’m distraught over the situation which I’m expecting a fine over but I’m worried it could go further. I’m in no place to pay a fine so I was wondering if you could pay them in instalments.

Thank you for any help or advice in advance.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Sep 2025 ==

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Could you show us the other correspondence you've had from the rail company please? Full information will help the pros here to advise you.

There's usually a good chance of settling out of court, one question is if they look at your ticket buying record, are they likely to find other examples of not buying the right ticket?

Rail companies don't often offer payment plans, unfortunately.

Thank you for your reply and I’ve posted the screen shot in replies. Thank you again

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Sep 2025 ==

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Could you show us the other correspondence you've had from the rail company please? Full information will help the pros here to advise you.

There's usually a good chance of settling out of court, one question is if they look at your ticket buying record, are they likely to find other examples of not buying the right ticket?

Rail companies don't often offer payment plans, unfortunately.

Hey there, this is the first bit of communication I’ve received at all, and there’s only a few instances I’ve done the same. Thank you for your reply and I was also wondering what if I can’t pay straight away?

 

[MotCO]

This is your opportunity to set out your side of the story. There doesn't seem to be any defence, so you need to demonstrate that you are sorry for what you have done, have learnt your lesson, will not do it again, and ask if they will consider resolving the issue out of Court . If appropriate, buying a season ticket, if you undertake the journey regularly, will demonstrate that you will not reoffend. Be contrite, don't waffle, but don't make it too short - the rail companies read several similar letters each day, and have heard all excuses under the sun. Search for 'Hadders' - he gives good advice as to what to include in your response.

Unfortunately, if you are offered a settlement, you will need to pay it in one instalment. If not, they will reserve the option of taking you to Court. Very, very, very rarely we have seen an offer to pay by instalments, but remember, rail companies are not in the debt collection business - they are simply not set up to accept payments by instalment and check that payments are not missed. Further, there is a 6 month time limit to instigate Court action, so the rail companies do not want offer instalments, find they are missed, and also find that it has gone beyond the 6 months so can't instigate Court action.

If you are offered a settlement, it will be at the Anytime rate for each journey for which an incorrect fare was paid; any fares paid for any part of your journey will be disregarded. In addition, there will be an admin fee of circa £175. From Ashford, this will not be inconsiderable, so you need to start saving, or thinking about how you can borrow the likely cost.

 

[WesternLancer]

You can post your draft response here for people here to check for you

Be aware they will search all of your on line ticket purchases for suspicious activity and may ask you about any of that and factor it into any settlement offer they might make.

See other threads for examples.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Sep 2025 ==

They don’t do installments but we have seen SWR refer who can’t pay to some sort of interest charging lending operation but we’ve never seen the terms and details of that.

You may want to think about discussing things with trusted friends or family to see if they can lend you funds.

You won’t be fined if this avoids court. But they will be seeking payment in full for all the fares they believe you have evaded at a punitive Anytime fare rate.

 

[Spaceship323]

I was wondering if you could pay them in instalments.

As it's 4 months since the incident I don't think so as they legally only have 6 months to bring charges - hopefully they will settle out of court