Received MG 11 at London Bridge

[mamya]

I have recently been buying a shorter fare than my actual fare to London Bridge and was caught this morning. I wasn't saving that much money so in hindsight it was a stupid decision.

I have done this on roughly 15 occasions, saving only £5 each time.

I got given and MG11 and was wondering if I will be likely to express my regret and avoid a criminal charge?

I'm also trying to calculate what the potential charge would be. Would it be the difference in fares plus any administrative costs or the full fare for each occasion.

The officer scanned my ticket and saw from my purchasing history I had done this a few times before.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Haywain]

wondering if I will be likely to express my regret and avoid a criminal charge?

Yes, you will be given that opportunity.

I'm also trying to calculate what the potential charge would be. Would it be the difference in fares plus any administrative costs or the full fare for each occasion.

It will be the full fare for each occasion plus an admin fee of around £150.

Any advice is much appreciated.

When you receive a letter from the train company (Southeastern?) post it here and we can assist you in formulating a appropriate reply.

 

[WesternLancer]

I have recently been buying a shorter fare than my actual fare to London Bridge and was caught this morning. I wasn't saving that much money so in hindsight it was a stupid decision.

I have done this on roughly 15 occasions, saving only £5 each time.

I got given and MG11 and was wondering if I will be likely to express my regret and avoid a criminal charge?

I'm also trying to calculate what the potential charge would be. Would it be the difference in fares plus any administrative costs or the full fare for each occasion.

The officer scanned my ticket and saw from my purchasing history I had done this a few times before.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks

Here is the usual advice often given on this forum which may be of help for you to read through to know what to expect



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 sum required at short notice.

 

[z444z]

I got given and MG11 and was wondering if I will be likely to express my regret and avoid a criminal charge?

They will write to you in weeks or months (could be as long as 6) and yes if you respond appropriately it should be possible to avoid legal action. Come back here for help with responding when the letter comes. What train company issued the MG11?

I'm also trying to calculate what the potential charge would be. Would it be the difference in fares plus any administrative costs or the full fare for each occasion.

It’s likely to be the undiscounted Anytime single fare for each journey (a return will be charged as 2x singles). It’s unlikely to be the difference in fares, you’ll need to pay the fares in full to avoid court.

 

[mamya]

Thanks all for your responses.

The MG11 was issued by southeastern although the train journeys would be on Thameslink trains.

I'm more than happy to pay the fares in full, just definitely want to avoid it being escalated.

I will post my letter / response once received, thanks!

 

[z444z]

Thanks all for your responses.

The MG11 was issued by southeastern although the train journeys would be on Thameslink trains.

I'm more than happy to pay the fares in full, just definitely want to avoid it being escalated.

I will post my letter / response once received, thanks!

It’ll be Southeastern that contact you, but if they do investigate your purchase history (likely but not guaranteed) they will seek to recover fares from other operators too.

FYI Southeastern has been a bit strange recently while they “make some changes” - some cases receive an initial letter within two weeks, some cases get put on hold and don’t hear back for many months, with some even missing the 6 month time limit for prosecution. There’s basically been no in between.

 

[mamya]

It’ll be Southeastern that contact you, but if they do investigate your purchase history (likely but not guaranteed) they will seek to recover fares from other operators too.

FYI Southeastern has been a bit strange recently while they “make some changes” - some cases receive an initial letter within two weeks, some cases get put on hold and don’t hear back for many months, with some even missing the 6 month time limit for prosecution. There’s basically been no in between.

Thanks! If it was the latter would it likely just result in nothing then? He did see I had a few previous short fares so I guess it depends if he reports this or not - otherwise they might only act on today's incident?

 

[z444z]

Thanks! If it was the latter would it likely just result in nothing then? He did see I had a few previous short fares so I guess it depends if he reports this or not - otherwise they might only act on today's incident?

If your case gets put on hold, they may still not miss the deadline, in which case it’ll proceed as normal when they do get in touch. If they miss the deadline, they might take no further action, or they might consider civil action to recover the fares. This isn’t as scary as criminal prosecution and is generally just a negotiation which the court makes a final decision on if you can’t agree a settlement directly with SE. You probably won’t be liable to pay as much as in a criminal case and as long as you pay any amount judged to be owed promptly it has no impact on credit score either

 

[mamya]

Just thought I would add some more context to this:

I have about a year history of where I have bought my ticket from the correct station ( although sometimes I did this once already on the train - did not realise this was an offence until recently).

My usual station does not have a barrier so I'm assuming they won't try and say that I've been boarding without scanning a ticket?

What I'm more worried about is that from what i've read, southeastern can be quite strict in these scenarios and go to court.

Should I have much reason to worry or is it pretty likely that with cooperation they would let me settle out of court?

Thanks

 

[WesternLancer]

What I'm more worried about is that from what i've read, southeastern can be quite strict in these scenarios and go to court.

Out of interest where are you reading that? On this forum or elsewhere?

Should I have much reason to worry or is it pretty likely that with cooperation they would let me settle out of court?

I tend to think that from cases on this forum that i can bring to mind they would be likely to settle out of court if you co-operate with them over their investigations.

You are not obliged to scan bar coded tickets unless there is a barrier in action and you need to scan them to open the barrier. Plenty of stations have no barriers. So tickets with scannable codes can't be scanned or old style magnetic strip card tickets can't go through barrier slots where there are no such barrier.

 

[mamya]

Out of interest where are you reading that? On this forum or elsewhere?

A few comments on Reddit mention it although from looking at previous cases on here the outcomes seem relatively positive.

Thanks - I guess all I can do is wait till the letter is received and take it from there

 

[WesternLancer]

A few comments on Reddit mention it although from looking at previous cases on here the outcomes seem relatively positive.

Thanks - I guess all I can do is wait till the letter is received and take it from there

Thanks.
Another quite complex thread recently referred back to original advice given on Reddit. When I looked at that advice on Reddit it was in my view pretty poor. To put it politely.

 

[AlterEgo]

A few comments on Reddit mention it although from looking at previous cases on here the outcomes seem relatively positive.

Thanks - I guess all I can do is wait till the letter is received and take it from there

Reddit is full of people who haven't a clue.

 

[WesternLancer]

Reddit is full of people who haven't a clue.

Well in fairness maybe people who rely on the advice on Reddit are more likely to get prosecuted due to the bad advice

 

[Hadders]

A few comments on Reddit mention it although from looking at previous cases on here the outcomes seem relatively positive.

Reddit cannot be relied upon for expert advice. Members of this forum have years of experience when it comes to dealing with this sort of thing and are much more likely to give advice that reflects the reality of the situation.

 

[mamya]

2 month update:

No letter received in the post yet.

Still lots of time to go - from reading other threads it sounds like SE can take a long time.

 

[Titfield]

2 month update:

No letter received in the post yet.

Still lots of time to go - from reading other threads it sounds like SE can take a long time.

Yes it can take anything from a few weeks to a few months depending on volumes of cases.

Sit tight and try not to stress. It will all come out in the wash. Just make sure you have a valid ticket for all journeys.

 

[SECR 65]

2 month update:

No letter received in the post yet.

Still lots of time to go - from reading other threads it sounds like SE can take a long time.

It might take 4-5 months from the time of the incident until first contact. Understandably stressful for you but unfortunately nothing you can really do at this stage. Keep us posted and try not to worry.

Presumably you provided your correct address at the time you were stopped by the member of staff?

 

[WesternLancer]

2 month update:

No letter received in the post yet.

Still lots of time to go - from reading other threads it sounds like SE can take a long time.

If you’ve not heard by 4 to 5 months from date you were stopped give us a nudge here and we can tell you the pros and cons of contacting SE Trains about it, and what to say to them at that stage (the absolute minimum) if you were then minded to ask them what they may be doing, versus letting the window of 6 months for them to potentially prosecute time out.

 

[mamya]

It might take 4-5 months from the time of the incident until first contact. Understandably stressful for you but unfortunately nothing you can really do at this stage. Keep us posted and try not to worry.

Presumably you provided your correct address at the time you were stopped by the member of staff?

Yes - I actually double checked they had the correct address before I headed off

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Apr 2026 ==

If you’ve not heard by 4 to 5 months from date you were stopped give us a nudge here and we can tell you the pros and cons of contacting SE Trains about it, and what to say to them at that stage (the absolute minimum) if you were then minded to ask them what they may be doing, versus letting the window of 6 months for them to potentially prosecute time out.

I'd be more inclined to not contact them but will post back here in another two months or so if I haven't heard anything. Thanks for your response.

 

[WesternLancer]

I'd be more inclined to not contact them but will post back here in another two months or so if I haven't heard anything. Thanks for your response.

Yes, indeed - but you need to know the pros and cons and weight them up for yourself - tho it's not complex really

 

[mamya]

Tomorrow will be 6 months since I received my MG11. I have not received anything in the post or had any other forms of communication. Any advice for what I should do next? I can see from various other posts that this is a recurring theme with south eastern. Thanks

 

[WesternLancer]

Tomorrow will be 6 months since I received my MG11. I have not received anything in the post or had any other forms of communication. Any advice for what I should do next? I can see from various other posts that this is a recurring theme with south eastern. Thanks

You probably need to wait another 2 to maybe 3 weeks to be sure that they have not commenced court action before tomorrow as if they did it at the last minute then it could take the court a couple of weeks to process and send out the court paperwork to you - which would be hard copy by post - so a bank holiday in the mix too.

But from what we see on other posts, as you have checked, this is not uncommon over the last period with Southeastern. It's possible nothing further will happen.

Note they do have up to 6 years to pursue money owed (eg incorrect fares) as a debt via the civil court which some train companies have started doing (GWR for example) - but that is a far less serious matter for you than the threat of criminal court action - and if it happened then head here for advice on that. It is a reason to keep relevant paperwork long term however. Not sure if they would do that for 15 x £5 + costs however.


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Sep 2026 ==


EDIT - further to post merged into above

For info (and I think if I was this close to the 6 month deadline and it was Southeastern and I had not heard anything I would not now send them anything - or at least not until after 7 months) - here is a copy of a post I wrote on another thread about the pros and cons of making contact with the train company

In case it's helpful for you to look over:

Assuming you have been checking post / e- mail / spam and not moved address

The reason I often suggest that if people have not heard in 4 months to come back here for further advice is as follows - and hopefully this will help you decide what you want to do now (if anything).

As mentioned above they have 6 Months form the date of the incident to commence criminal legal action for ticket irregularity cases - including accidental ones potentially (ie prosecute you in the magistrates court). If they don't commence that process then they lose that opportunity - which is the main sanction they have over you - including getting you to pay a settlement out of court under threat of criminal prosecution.
But
That needs to be set against the risk that they might do this at the last minute (send the case to court), which then commences the court process - which has a hard deadline set by the court (which you can't ask to be set back date wise) - that then makes it more difficult - because the time window is limited by the court deadlines for the case to be heard - to get an out of court settlement before the court issues a verdict (ie you are sentenced by the court)- which can make the chances of then negotiating a settlement much more pressured because of the courts time deadline. We still see people settling, but we also see the railway company just letting it go to court - which most people who come here for advice want to avoid.
But
that needs to be set against the prospect of them forgetting about you and nothing happening at all....(However, I personally think that if someone's details were taken, and esp if a case ref number was issued by the inspector - the chances of being forgotten about are not that high)

So you have a choice between:

A) Do nothing and see what happens in 6 months (plus 2 or 3 weeks to see if you receive paperwork from the court in the post)
Pros - they might forget about you and nothing happens within the 6 months + 3 weeks period

Cons - you might get a court summons at the last minute and that might be difficult to then negotiate a settlement out of court due to the limited time available to persuade the railway company to offer one before the deadline set by the court to deal with court paperwork - there may only be a couple of weeks time to do this)

or

B) write to them now to ask what they are doing about your case
Pros - they might respond and you can then follow the advice on the forum about how to best get an out of court settlement
- there is more time to then try to get an out of court settlement (possibly making 2 or 3 attempts if necessary) without a court deadline date ticking away

Cons - You remind them of your case when they might have forgotten about it so you can pretty much guarantee that you will probably then have to pay them the out of court settlement, or in a worst case scenario they might then decide to prosecute you, though this is not their usual procedure

Only you can decide what you want to do at this stage.

However, if you do want to write to them to find out what is happening, I suggest something very simple that simply asks them what they are doing about the matter from when you were questioned



for example - something along these lines:

Prosecutions Department
Train company Concerned
Govia Thameslink Railway
Eastside Offices
Kings Cross Railway Station
London N1C 4AX.

Today's Date

Dear Sir/ Madam

I was stopped on x date at y location and questioned about the validity of my rail ticket.

I was given this ref number xxxxx [If you were given a ref number - otherwise delete this line]

I was advised by the member of staff who spoke to me that I would hear from you in due course. Since some time has gone by since that date I would be grateful if you could let me know if there is any further action related to this that I need to respond to.

Please note my name and address is xxx

My e-mail address is: xxxx

Yours faithfully

 

[mamya]

Thanks for your response.

I am going to wait another month and review my options then.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks for your response.

I am going to wait another month and review my options then.

Seems reasonable