Accidentally expired railcard.

[anonymous_pige]

Apologies if you get a lot of these, you must get them all the time.
Please go easy on me, I accept that I was stupid and that checking train tickets are valid is my responsibility.

I am not a frequent rail traveler (11 times in the last year by my count, totalling around £400 in full train fares) and completely forgot that my 26-30 railcard I purchased in March 2024 was only a 1-year railcard. My previous one was a 3-year.
I was on a Southern train recently and was caught by a ticket inspector with an expired railcard after she asked me to produce it. I was not given an on the spot fine, my details were taken and she mentioned that the company would be in contact with me whilst they investigate any previous tickets I may have purchased. (By my count, 11 since it expired.)
As soon as I pulled out my phone and got the railcard out (Forgot where it even was in the app as it had been so long since I've looked) and realised my mistake I purchased a new one, which she noted in the witness statement.

I was given a witness statement receipt and read out my rights, and was told to expect a letter in the post.

I have done a bit of research, and as I take it, 3 things can happen if I am not mistaken

1) I will be offered a settlement figure of the full fare of all tickets they find to have been bought that are not valid due to not having a railcard.
2) I will be asked to write a statement of my account of events and then they will decide whether to prosecute
3) Neither of the above and they will pursue prosecution (Default option if I do not respond to the letter)

I am not a criminal and this was a genuine mistake, and is my first ever runin of this sort - and I am somewhat panicking as my job requires an enhanced DBS so cannot risk a prosecution and only want the best outcome.

Alas, some questions:

1) What will happen next?
2) When can I expect a letter? Should I contact their customer services team in advance to ensure I do not miss the letter?
3) If I must write a statement, can I make a post here asking for advice?

Many thanks in advance,

Anonymous Pigeon.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Apr 2026 ==

Just to add, I've also been through my emails and never got a notification it had expired, and there was no warning in the app. Trip.com if you are curious....

 

[Trainman40083]

The experts will be along soon. They will explain what to expect. But in the meantime diary the expiry date of any newly purchased Railcard. Not much point contacting the TOC in advance . The team always recommend you post your proposed response on this group before you send it.

 

[anonymous_pige]

The experts will be along soon. They will explain what to expect. But in the meantime diary the expiry date of any newly purchased Railcard. Not much point contacting the TOC in advance . The team always recommend you post your proposed response on this group before you send it.

Have done so, thank you. These apps should really be regulated more.

 

[furlong]

If you want some comfort, read the ORR's recent report - and wish the industry wasn't dragging its feet implementing its conclusions. This is a problem of the rail industry's own making, which it usually gets away with penalising you for!

Independent review of train operators' revenue protection practices | Office of Rail and Road

A report to the Secretary of State for Transport.

www.orr.gov.uk

It's 2026 and there is absolutely no excuse for the app not making sure you had the right railcard and had checked the expiry date before selling you the ticket. If you'd used a ticket office to make the purchase, they'd have have made sure, so how does an app get away with this?

Personally, in a case like this, I think the train company should be holding the app provider liable and charging them, not you, unless they can prove that you blatantly lied to the app. If they took that approach, I think this problem would disappear overnight!

But what normally happens is they threaten to prosecute you unless you pay them back a lot more money than they actually lost and people pay their demands because they don't want to risk a criminal conviction and can't afford expensive lawyers to attempt to fight a system stacked against them.

 

[z444z]

Apologies if you get a lot of these, you must get them all the time.

We do

I was on a Southern train recently and was caught by a ticket inspector with an expired railcard after she asked me to produce it. I was not given an on the spot fine, my details were taken and she mentioned that the company would be in contact with me whilst they investigate any previous tickets I may have purchased. (By my count, 11 since it expired.)

You should add up the undiscounted Anytime Single fares for each journey you’ve made with the expired railcard - a return will unfortunately be charged as 2x singles - and then add on £250 to cover the admin fee which is more likely to be around £150 but it’s best to plan for worst case scenario. This might be quite expensive. Be prepared for them to ask for around this amount - have it set aside well before they contact you which will be in 3-5 months from our experience with GTR (the company that run Southern - it’s GTR that will write to you)

1) I will be offered a settlement figure of the full fare of all tickets they find to have been bought that are not valid due to not having a railcard.

GTR rarely do this in their first letter.

2) I will be asked to write a statement of my account of events and then they will decide whether to prosecute

It’ll almost certainly be this in the first letter, but our experience is that any half decent response will lead to being offered a settlement. That doesn’t mean you should aim for a half decent response though of course, we can help you send one that’s better than that!

3) Neither of the above and they will pursue prosecution (Default option if I do not respond to the letter)

Correct about not responding to the letter, but this also occasionally happens when things get lost in the post or when GTR are up against the 6 month deadline to prosecute - they start proceedings to avoid losing the leverage they have over you - but even at this stage we find settlement is usually still possible.

1) What will happen next?

Hopefully that’s clear from the info above but let us know if you have any more questions.

2) When can I expect a letter? Should I contact their customer services team in advance to ensure I do not miss the letter?

3-5 months. No don’t do this. Your query won’t get to anyone at all useful and even if it does you risk incriminating yourself.

3) If I must write a statement, can I make a post here asking for advice?

Yes absolutely, come back to us when they write to you, or in around 5.5 months if they haven’t.

Just to add, I've also been through my emails and never got a notification it had expired, and there was no warning in the app. Trip.com if you are curious....

No surprises there from what we hear about trip.com unfortunately.

 

[Trainman40083]

Oh and do NOT use AI to write any reply, when that time comes.

 

[WesternLancer]

Apologies if you get a lot of these, you must get them all the time.
Please go easy on me, I accept that I was stupid and that checking train tickets are valid is my responsibility.

I am not a frequent rail traveler (11 times in the last year by my count, totalling around £400 in full train fares) and completely forgot that my 26-30 railcard I purchased in March 2024 was only a 1-year railcard. My previous one was a 3-year.
I was on a Southern train recently and was caught by a ticket inspector with an expired railcard after she asked me to produce it. I was not given an on the spot fine, my details were taken and she mentioned that the company would be in contact with me whilst they investigate any previous tickets I may have purchased. (By my count, 11 since it expired.)
As soon as I pulled out my phone and got the railcard out (Forgot where it even was in the app as it had been so long since I've looked) and realised my mistake I purchased a new one, which she noted in the witness statement.

I was given a witness statement receipt and read out my rights, and was told to expect a letter in the post.

I have done a bit of research, and as I take it, 3 things can happen if I am not mistaken

1) I will be offered a settlement figure of the full fare of all tickets they find to have been bought that are not valid due to not having a railcard.
2) I will be asked to write a statement of my account of events and then they will decide whether to prosecute
3) Neither of the above and they will pursue prosecution (Default option if I do not respond to the letter)

I am not a criminal and this was a genuine mistake, and is my first ever runin of this sort - and I am somewhat panicking as my job requires an enhanced DBS so cannot risk a prosecution and only want the best outcome.

Alas, some questions:

1) What will happen next?
2) When can I expect a letter? Should I contact their customer services team in advance to ensure I do not miss the letter?
3) If I must write a statement, can I make a post here asking for advice?

Many thanks in advance,

Anonymous Pigeon.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Apr 2026 ==

Just to add, I've also been through my emails and never got a notification it had expired, and there was no warning in the app. Trip.com if you are curious....

Do not contact their customer services about this.
They would not be able to give any meaningful help.

Just make sure you check hard copy post at the address you gave and if you move address make arrangements for post to be forwarded. Keep an eye on email and spam too.

 

[anonymous_pige]

We do

You should add up the undiscounted Anytime Single fares for each journey you’ve made with the expired railcard - a return will unfortunately be charged as 2x singles - and then add on £250 to cover the admin fee which is more likely to be around £150 but it’s best to plan for worst case scenario. This might be quite expensive. Be prepared for them to ask for around this amount - have it set aside well before they contact you which will be in 3-5 months from our experience with GTR (the company that run Southern - it’s GTR that will write to you)

GTR rarely do this in their first letter.

It’ll almost certainly be this in the first letter, but our experience is that any half decent response will lead to being offered a settlement. That doesn’t mean you should aim for a half decent response though of course, we can help you send one that’s better than that!

Correct about not responding to the letter, but this also occasionally happens when things get lost in the post or when GTR are up against the 6 month deadline to prosecute - they start proceedings to avoid losing the leverage they have over you - but even at this stage we find settlement is usually still possible.

Hopefully that’s clear from the info above but let us know if you have any more questions.

3-5 months. No don’t do this. Your query won’t get to anyone at all useful and even if it does you risk incriminating yourself.

Yes absolutely, come back to us when they write to you, or in around 5.5 months if they haven’t.

No surprises there from what we hear about trip.com unfortunately.

Thank you for the detailed reply. I shall get calculating, I imagine its somewhere between £700-800 then from my napkin maths...
And also thank you, I will post the letter here when it arrives.

Oh and do NOT use AI to write any reply, when that time comes.

Noted! I have something I've already drafted, but no point in posting here until I know what I'm actually replying to.

Do not contact their customer services about this.
They would not be able to give any meaningful help.

Just make sure you check hard copy post at the address you gave and if you move address make arrangements for post to be forwarded. Keep an eye on email and spam too.

Noted. They did not ask for my email, but I have checked the address on the Witness Statement Receipt is correct, also my ID was photographed with the correct address on.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for the detailed reply. I shall get calculating, I imagine its somewhere between £700-800 then from my napkin maths...
And also thank you, I will post the letter here when it arrives.

Noted! I have something I've already drafted, but no point in posting here until I know what I'm actually replying to.

Noted. They did not ask for my email, but I have checked the address on the Witness Statement Receipt is correct, also my ID was photographed with the correct address on.

GTR / southern generally tend to send stuff hard copy post, but do occasionally use e mail.

They could potentially get e mail address from the scan of a digital e ticket as that would be linked to any email recorded as part of ticket buying process.

 

[anonymous_pige]

GTR / southern generally tend to send stuff hard copy post, but do occasionally use e mail.

They could potentially get e mail address from the scan of a digital e ticket as that would be linked to any email recorded as part of ticket buying process.

Thank you again. I have seen in another recent post that their average initial communication time is 4 months and 2 weeks.... Wow!

Till we meet again

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you again. I have seen in another recent post that their average initial communication time is 4 months and 2 weeks.... Wow!

Till we meet again

It seems to vary a bit and it's hard to tell for sure - back in feb @Mattplans posted some useful analysis they did of other threads where people had updated so timelines could be followed - I'm copying it below for you to look over as it's detailed and uses a variety of cases

Originally posted in this thread which I note still does not appear to have bee concluded....:

No railcard - witness statement receipt

Hi all I am wondering if someone could help. On Thursday I was travelling from Lancing to Blackfriars and had accidentally purchased a ticket with 26-30 railcard applied. For context, my 16-25 railcard expired at the beginning of October and I have not purchased any tickets with a railcard...

www.railforums.co.uk

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/notice-of-intention-to-prosecute-gtr.296021/ - this is one of the most recent cases I can see with a timeline between first stop and first correspondence; it took about 4 months.

1. Offence on 13 Nov 2024 – correspondence dated 17 Feb 2025 (3 months, 4 days)
2. Offence on 15 Jan 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 27 Mar 2025 (2 months, 12 days)
3. Offence on 30 Jan 2025 – correspondence dated 16 April 2025 (2 months, 17 days)
4. Offence on 4 Feb 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 2 May 2025 (2 months, 29 days)
5. Offence on 10 Feb 2025 – correspondence received 11 May 2025 (3 months, 1 day)
6. Offence on 26 Mar 2025 – correspondence dated 10 July 2025 (3 months, 14 days)
7. Offence on 2 Apr 2025 – correspondence dated 30 July 2025 (3 months, 28 days)
8. Offence on 13 June 2025 – correspondence received 2 Sep 2025 (2 months, 20 days)
9. Offence on 2 Jul 2025 – correspondence received 18 Nov 2025 (4 months, 16 days)
10. Offence on 23 July 2025 – correspondence dated 1 Dec 2025 (4 months, 8 days)
11. Offence on 24 Jul 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 4 Dec 2025 (4 months, 10 days)
12. Offence on 30 July 2025 – correspondence dated 3 Dec 2025 (4 months, 3 days)
13. Offence on 11 Aug 2025 – correspondence received 12 Dec 2025 (4 months, 1 day)
16. Offence on 03 Sep 2025 – correspondence dated 22 Dec 2025 (3 months, 19 days)
17. Offence on 05 Oct 2025 – correspondence dated 12 Jan 2026 (3 months, 7 days)
18. Offence on 20 Oct 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 3 Feb 2026 (3 months, 14 days)

Meanwhile - here's a copy of some general advice written a while ago by an experienced forum member which may help with context for the sort of questions you originally posed - in case it's helpful - GTR / Southern are reasonable to deal with esp for things like unintentionally expired railcards - rather than deliberate evasion

I can't really comment on your railcard retailers lack of notifications - but it may relate to your choice of boxes about notification and updates that you might have ticked or not ticked at point of purchase (I buy my railcard hard copy at the station ticket office counter, fill in a paper application form that asks for my e-mail address - and I get sent an e-mail reminder - ahead of and then again on the day of expiry - so I can't ask for more than that )

anyway - here's that advice:

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

Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made 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. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the

 

[anonymous_pige]

It seems to vary a bit and it's hard to tell for sure - back in feb @Mattplans posted some useful analysis they did of other threads where people had updated so timelines could be followed - I'm copying it below for you to look over as it's detailed and uses a variety of cases

Originally posted in this thread which I note still does not appear to have bee concluded....:

No railcard - witness statement receipt

Hi all I am wondering if someone could help. On Thursday I was travelling from Lancing to Blackfriars and had accidentally purchased a ticket with 26-30 railcard applied. For context, my 16-25 railcard expired at the beginning of October and I have not purchased any tickets with a railcard...

www.railforums.co.uk

Meanwhile - here's a copy of some general advice written a while ago by an experienced forum member which may help with context for the sort of questions you originally posed - in case it's helpful - GTR / Southern are reasonable to deal with esp for things like unintentionally expired railcards - rather than deliberate evasion

I can't really comment on your railcard retailers lack of notifications - but it may relate to your choice of boxes about notification and updates that you might have ticked or not ticked at point of purchase (I buy my railcard hard copy at the station ticket office counter, fill in a paper application form that asks for my e-mail address - and I get sent an e-mail reminder - ahead of and then again on the day of expiry - so I can't ask for more than that )

anyway - here's that advice:

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

Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made 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. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the

Thank you again for the detail! The only other thing that is making me worry a bit is some of the tickets were not with southern, but london northwestern. So I don't know if that accounts for anything.

Either way, will have no way of knowing until that letter comes I guess.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you again for the detail! The only other thing that is making me worry a bit is some of the tickets were not with southern, but london northwestern. So I don't know if that accounts for anything.

Either way, will have no way of knowing until that letter comes I guess.

Usual practice is that the train company that ‘catches’ someone acts on behalf of any other train company as part of the process.

So if they investigate purchase record they would include LNW tickets in any settlement offer.

Sometimes though GTR don’t always seem to check past records, though best to be prepared that they would.

 

[anonymous_pige]

Hello! The dreaded letter hath arrived, I have attached them to this comment and redacted personal information. Please see below for my draft, any suggestions are welcome.

-----

Dear <Fraud Manager>,

I am writing in response to the notice letter provided dated 17th June 2026, with reference <REDACTED>

I would like to start by expressing my sincere apology for the incident referenced in this letter, and I am keen to cooperate in giving my account of events.

I purchased a valid digital 26-30 railcard on 23/03/2024 through the Trip.com app, however in doing so failed to organise a personal reminder to renew on 22/03/2025 after the one year validity period. Some time passed since this purchase period, and as a non-frequent rail traveller, I simply had a lapse in judgement, not realising that the 26-30 railcard I previously held was only valid for one year, and further made an error in not setting up personal notification reminders to renew.

This is what led to the incident in question, when travelling between <Station1> and <Station2> on 12/04/2026, and was noted during a ticket inspection. After pulling out my digital railcard and realising this expiry, I instantly purchased a new one through my mobile app, which was witnessed by the ticketing officer, however I fully understand that this does not undo the invalidity of the ticket.

As mentioned above, I am deeply apologetic for this error in judgement, and can assure that upon realisation of this error, a new, valid 26-30 railcard was purchased immediately on 12/04/2026, and I have set suitable reminders to ensure this does not happen again upon the card's expiry on 11/04/2027. I am aware that it is my personal responsibility to ensure my tickets are valid, and I am now vigilant in checking any ticket in the future for its validity, before boarding a train.

I am therefore keen to resolve the matter without the need for court action, and pay the full fare for the referenced ticket, and all ticketed fares that were invalid, along with any associated administrative fees. I am in total agreement with the points raised specified in your letter concerning fairness, and would never intentionally break the law.

I look forward to hearing your response.

Yours sincerely,

anonymous_pige, 19/06/2026

 

[SECR 65]

Looks good to me. I'll look more closely in the morning. I'm sure others will have thoughts to add in due course.

 

[Haywain]

Looks a bit long to me, with too much explanation. Your Railcard was expired, own it and apologise without the lengthy excuse.

 

[anonymous_pige]

Fair enough. Please see below with some lines removed. I felt it was important to detail some elements, but if you feel it's still too lengthy, let me know.

----

Dear <Fraud Manager>,

I am writing in response to the notice letter provided dated 17th June 2026, with reference <REDACTED>

I would like to start by expressing my sincere apology for the incident referenced in this letter, and I am keen to cooperate in giving my account of events.

I purchased a valid digital 26-30 railcard on 23/03/2024 through the Trip.com app, however in doing so failed to organise a personal reminder to renew on 22/03/2025 after its one year validity period.

This is what led to the incident in question, when travelling between <Station1> and <Station2> on 12/04/2026. After pulling out my digital railcard and realising this expiry, I instantly purchased a new one through my mobile app, which was witnessed by the ticketing officer, however I fully understand that this does not undo the invalidity of the ticket.

I am therefore keen to resolve the matter without the need for court action, and pay the full fare for the referenced ticket, and all ticketed fares that were invalid, along with any associated administrative fees.

I look forward to hearing your response.

Yours sincerely,

anonymous_pige, 19/06/2026

 

[antharro]

As you've not had other responses, I'll chip in and say I think that's a reasonable letter. Assuming you're sending it by post, you should really send it tracked so you can check it got there - Royal Mail Tracked 24 or 48 should do fine.

Good luck!

 

[SECR 65]

Fair enough. Please see below with some lines removed. I felt it was important to detail some elements, but if you feel it's still too lengthy, let me know.

----

Dear <Fraud Manager>,

I am writing in response to the notice letter provided dated 17th June 2026, with reference <REDACTED>

I would like to start by expressing my sincere apology for the incident referenced in this letter, and I am keen to cooperate in giving my account of events.

I purchased a valid digital 26-30 railcard on 23/03/2024 through the Trip.com app, however in doing so failed to organise a personal reminder to renew on 22/03/2025 after its one year validity period.

In my opinion, refrain from giving the exact dates of the railcards. This just makes it easier for them to look back through ticket history - I can't see why you would want to make it easy for them to do that.

This is what led to the incident in question, when travelling between <Station1> and <Station2> on 12/04/2026. After pulling out my digital railcard and realising this expiry, I instantly purchased a new one through my mobile app, which was witnessed by the ticketing officer, however I fully understand that this does not undo the invalidity of the ticket.

I am therefore keen to resolve the matter without the need for court action, and pay the full fare for the referenced ticket, and all ticketed fares that were invalid, along with any associated administrative fees.

Don't say this........... GTR usually can't be bothered to audit ticket history - there's no need to encourage them.

I look forward to hearing your response.

Yours sincerely,

anonymous_pige, 19/06/2026

I appologise for not identifying these points in your initial draft.

 

[gembercannelle]

Perhaps not very helpful, but I would like to note in passing that trip.com app does actually tell you that your railcard has expired and sends email reminders to renew one.

 

[anonymous_pige]

Thanks everyone. For what it’s worth, I ended up sending that second email draft yesterday just before you messaged with your recommendations. Very good point, and good advice for others who end up in this situation.

I do have good news though, they have offered to settle for a lot lower than I was expecting. It appears to be roughly the ticket price of the return fare I was caught on, plus admin fees. (£127.10)

A bit shocked it’s not higher to be honest, I guess I’ve used up my luck for the rest of the year. Thanks again for the help everyone, I owe you all one.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jun 2026 ==

In my opinion, refrain from giving the exact dates of the railcards. This just makes it easier for them to look back through ticket history - I can't see why you would want to make it easy for them to do that.

Don't say this........... GTR usually can't be bothered to audit ticket history - there's no need to encourage them.

I appologise for not identifying these points in your initial draft.

It appears they did not look through my ticketed history in the end. No idea why.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jun 2026 ==

Perhaps not very helpful, but I would like to note in passing that trip.com app does actually tell you that your railcard has expired and sends email reminders to renew one.

I have checked all emails, and never received one. But I’m not blaming trip.com, it’s my fault for not checking. I wrote to my MP advising that many in this forum have had the same personal error, and their response was that it is ultimately my responsibility. Lesson learned, don’t rely on someone else to tell you.

 

[SECR 65]

That's good you've been able to settle. Evidentally GTR are just really lazy (unless there is another reason) as I've never seen them bother to search ticket history.

Just make sure now that you keep proof of payment for at least a couple of years and be certain to always have a valid ticket before travelling in future.

 

[gembercannelle]

I have checked all emails, and never received one. But I’m not blaming trip.com, it’s my fault for not checking. I wrote to my MP advising that many in this forum have had the same personal error, and their response was that it is ultimately my responsibility. Lesson learned, don’t rely on someone else to tell you.

This is one I received (with my personal details removed):