Response from SWR with all journeys. Help pls

[Ryan1983]

Hi. Urgent help pls
My wife got caught short faring in Nov. Professional person , v sorry , no excuse blah blah. V embarrassing
So SWR sent her a dump today of all journeys over 5 yrs
We have whittled it down to 100 journeys where she short fared. The cost of these would be £1100 full price
There are others where she is not sure she short fared / doubt it
Obv will Be very contrite. Offer to pay on Same day etc.
Any ideas on next steps ? She needs to fill in this spreadsheet.
Many thanks

 

[Haywain]

My wife got caught short faring in Nov.

On what date? This is very important. And has there been previous correspondence.

 

[SECR 65]

It might be useful for us to see the correspondence to date between you and SWR, with personal details redacted.

Fill in the spreadsheet honestly. If there were journeys that you had valid tickets for, then tell them this - they should believe you. Try and be as specific as possible i.e. explain why you were catching a train to that location on that day. If there are journeys you can't remember, then put that you can't remember.

You are going to want to attempt to get an out of court settlement offer from SWR. This should be possible provided you apologise for what has happened, are cooperative, and take responsibility. The cost of this will be the anytime single fare for each journey without a valid ticket, plus an admin fee of maybe a couple of hundred pounds.

 

[Ryan1983]

We are v sorry and ashamed. Will fill in the form and let you know how we get on

 

[WesternLancer]

We are v sorry and ashamed. Will fill in the form and let you know how we get on

When you send the form back it’s worth stressing again that you ‘are keen to pay what is owed in order to resolve this matter without the need for court action’

If uncertain people here will check your covering massage wording before you send it.

Say something like ‘I have completed the spreadsheet to the best of my ability, based on my knowledge and recollection of the dates concerned’.
Thus if you make a mistake you have not lied and said it’s 100% accurate if it’s not.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

On what date? This is very important. And has there been previous correspondence.

Just boosting this point.

The thing is, if the railway are threatening criminal prosecution where you could be punished by a fine of up to £1000* then they have to start things at the magistrates court within six months of the incident that they're prosecuting. If your wife was caught at the beginning of November they're out of time so can no longer threaten prosecution.

Against that, they may have chosen - or only now have time - to go down the civil route. That could still end up in court but it would be what used to be called the small claims court or the County Court. They can insist you pay the money back but can't fine you.

The best way forward may be different depending which route the railway is taking. So it's helpful for us to know to give the best advice we can.

* I'm not quoting this to frighten you: in practice fines are usually a few hundred pounds. But 'up to £1000' is what they will have said in the letter if that's the route the railway are going down, so it helps you (and us) know quite what you are facing