SWR Prosecution Email / Investigation

[Tt1211]

Hi,

Posting as I have received an email from an investigator at SWR. For some context, I was stopped at Waterloo (Wandsworth town - Waterloo) and used 16-17 railcard, where I have the 26-30 railcard. I have done this multiple times before this, but after being stopped I have made sure I have always used the right railcard.

I would appreciate any help given with the correct response!

This is their email they’ve sent:





On the 10th of March 2026, you presented ticket number xxx to a member of Revenue Protection.



Upon questioning, it was established that you did not hold a valid 16-17 Saver Railcard for the discount applied, and you are also not entitled to that Discount applied.



You were issued a Report for Prosecution, number xyz.



Further investigation of your online account has highlighted other potential inconsistencies in your ticket purchase history.



This suggests that you may not be paying the correct fare for journeys made on the UK rail network.



Given the serious nature of this matter, we have taken this step to contact you and initiate a resolution, prior to escalating the matter to our case management team.



There are also numerous tickets purchased with a16-25 & 26-30 Railcard Discount.



To assist in progressing your case, I kindly request that you provide proof of any 16-25 & 26-30 Railcards, including their start and expiry dates from the 21st of May 2023 to the 10th ofSeptember 2024 for the 16-25 Railcard and 8th of May 2024 to the present day for the 26-30 Railcard. Please include a screenshot of the any digital cards or photo if you have a physical card), If you are unable to do this, you can access your Railcard information by logging into your railcard account on the Railcard website at Login (railcard.co.uk), Once you have retrieved this information, please send it back to me so that I can proceed accordingly. If no Railcards were held during any of this period, please explicitly state this. Once you have obtained this information, please forward it to me promptly so that I may proceed accordingly.

All the evidence available is being considered. If youconsider that there are any explanations ormitigating factors that may influence ourinvestigation, you are invited to respond to thisemail, within 7 days of the date of this email.

Any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Thank you

Please see my response I am thinking of:

Dear xyz,


Thank you for your email.


Please find attached evidence of my 26–30 Railcard and its validity dates.


I can confirm that I did not hold a valid 16–25 Railcard during the period you asked about.


I sincerely apologise for purchasing and travelling using discounted tickets that I was not entitled to. I understand it was my responsibility to ensure that I was using the correct railcard and discount, and I accept that I failed to do so.


Since being spoken to by the Revenue Protection Officer, I have ensured that I only purchase tickets using the valid 26–30 Railcard that I hold.


I am very sorry for my actions and would be extremely grateful if you would consider allowing me to resolve this matter by way of an administrative settlement. I am willing to pay any outstanding fares and reasonable administrative costs.


Thank you for considering my response.



Any help would be much appreciated?

 

[LCC106]

Hi. I’m sure the better informed will come across soon but you may wish to edit your name and any reference numbers out of your post. I hope you get some useful advice.

 

[Swedenorer]

1. They could prosecute you for the one time you were stopped - they have couple of months left to that. BUt this is not likely so go to 2

2. You need to answer their question re the railcards in full for every category they mention.

3. They will then most likely send you details of the suspicious journeys going back to 2023 and ask for any mitigating circumstances in each case.

4. This will again most likely come with what they would take in payment to settle the matter.

5. That settlement will most likely be based on the anytime day single for the journey taken. They may give credit for what you have paid. They may not

At that point come back here

 

[Tt1211]

Thank you. Another problem I have is that the purchase history on my current railcard account runs from Feb 24-current date. I used an old corporate email, which I now can't get into to purchase other railcards so thus can't find it.. I have been on the phone with the railcard company & they wipe data which is older than 2+ years, so they can't provide it either.

What shall I do in light of this for my case? I would also add that the journeys which have 16-17 railcard applied are at a later date than 2024

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you. Another problem I have is that the purchase history on my current railcard account runs from Feb 24-current date. I used an old corporate email, which I now can't get into to purchase other railcards so thus can't find it.. I have been on the phone with the railcard company & they wipe data which is older than 2+ years, so they can't provide it either.

What shall I do in light of this for my case? I would also add that the journeys which have 16-17 railcard applied are at a later date than 2024

This is the sort of tough luck you have to face if you evade fares and then find them investigating you in detail I'm afraid. That's the bad karma that flows from this.
If you don't do that you don't tend to end up having to answer those sorts of questions...

Ultimately it might mean they don't believe you had a railcard, you can't prove it and they will ask for more money from you as part of your settlement offer (assuming they make one, but it's very likely that they would allow you to settle this out of court)

BUT
the key to all this is cooperating with them - if they believe you are co-operating with them they may believe you had railcards before - even if you can't find proof of the railcard did you pay for it with your own money - can you trawl old bank or payment card records to find evidence of payment for a railcard - who did you buy the railcard from - can you recall? The official Railcard site or somewhere like Trainline? - search carefully for payments that might match it - Railcards have cost £35 in the last few years, before that they costs £30 IIRC - so look for sums that match that
SWR might well be prepared to accept evidence like bank statement showing payment that could well plausibly be for a Railcard - and that price is for a 1 year Railcard so the expiry date then becomes clearer (unless you think you may have bought a 3 year Railcard?)

Does this help you find some evidence perhaps?

 

[Tt1211]

I found evidence on email that I had a Tesco voucher/order for 1 16-25 railcard, does this suffice?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jul 2026 ==

I would appreciate any advice on if my new email draft suffices:

Dear xx,


Thank you for your email.


Please find attached evidence of my current and previous Railcards that I have been able to locate, including my current 26–30 Railcard.


I have also attached a Tesco Clubcard confirmation showing that I obtained a voucher for a 16–25 Railcard on 10 February 2023, which I redeemed at the time.


Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate the digital 16–25 Railcard itself. I believe it was associated with an email account that I no longer have access to. I also contacted Railcard customer services to request historical records, but they advised that they no longer retain data for 2+ years past the current date, as per their privacy policy and are therefore unable to provide a copy.


I sincerely apologise for travelling on 10 March 2026 using a ticket with a 16–17 Saver discount when I was not entitled to do so. I fully accept that it was my responsibility to ensure I was travelling with the correct ticket and Railcard.


Since this incident, I have ensured that I only purchase and travel using the valid 26–30 Railcard that I hold.


I appreciate you taking the time to consider my response. If possible, I would be very grateful if this matter could be resolved by way of an administrative settlement. I am willing to pay any outstanding fares and any reasonable administrative costs.

 

[WesternLancer]

I found evidence on email that I had a Tesco voucher/order for 1 16-25 railcard, does this suffice?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jul 2026 ==

I would appreciate any advice on if my new email draft suffices:

Dear xx,


Thank you for your email.


Please find attached evidence of my current and previous Railcards that I have been able to locate, including my current 26–30 Railcard.


I have also attached a Tesco Clubcard confirmation showing that I obtained a voucher for a 16–25 Railcard on 10 February 2023, which I redeemed at the time.


Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate the digital 16–25 Railcard itself. I believe it was associated with an email account that I no longer have access to. I also contacted Railcard customer services to request historical records, but they advised that they no longer retain data for 2+ years past the current date, as per their privacy policy and are therefore unable to provide a copy.


I sincerely apologise for travelling on 10 March 2026 using a ticket with a 16–17 Saver discount when I was not entitled to do so. I fully accept that it was my responsibility to ensure I was travelling with the correct ticket and Railcard.


Since this incident, I have ensured that I only purchase and travel using the valid 26–30 Railcard that I hold.


I appreciate you taking the time to consider my response. If possible, I would be very grateful if this matter could be resolved by way of an administrative settlement. I am willing to pay any outstanding fares and any reasonable administrative costs.

Yes, I think that is the sort of thing that is your next best chance of evidence. They will know that it's not easy for people to get historical info from Railcard central info

I guess whilst you send what you have to SWR you could simultaneously approach Tesco for any evidence they might have? Not sure how the Tesco voucher scheme worked / works - that way if SWR wanted mor einfo you would have already made the request for it from tesco

 

[Swedenorer]

They want to know about all three railcards for the dates specified as clearly all three types have been used to get a discount. Don't reply until you have exhausted Western Lancer's advice for each category. That is if you ever held them.

 

[Tt1211]

Great! Thanks so much. Should I ask for an out of court settlement at this stage, or is that pre-mature?

 

[WesternLancer]

They want to know about all three railcards for the dates specified as clearly all three types have been used to get a discount. Don't reply until you have exhausted Western Lancer's advice for each category.

yes, v good point - I missed that. OP - keep digging and searching

If you really can not find anything at all you should explain why you can't provide evidence but state that you did have railcards and hope they will understand why you no longer can find evidence but you have done a thorough search

It's fine to make it clear you are keen to settle out of court and pay them what you owe, at each stage of any correspondence.

 

[Tt1211]

Thanks so much!

 

[MarlowDonkey]

I guess whilst you send what you have to SWR you could simultaneously approach Tesco for any evidence they might have? Not sure how the Tesco voucher scheme worked / works - that way if SWR wanted mor einfo you would have already made the request for it from tesco

I have been buying a physical Senior Railcard through Tesco Clubcard for many years.

As a consequence I have an account at railcard.co.uk which shows me all my historic Railcard purchases. I would suggest trying to find this account.

Tesco may be able to give your Clubcard history

https://www.tesco.com/account/data-portability/en-GB

 

[WesternLancer]

I have been buying a physical Senior Railcard through Tesco Clubcard for many years.

As a consequence I have an account at railcard.co.uk which shows me all my historic Railcard purchases. I would suggest trying to find this account.

Tesco may be able to give your Clubcard history

https://www.tesco.com/account/data-portability/en-GB

sounds like great advice for @Tt1211

 

[Tt1211]

sounds like great advice for @Tt1211

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jul 2026 ==

Thanks all for your help, I have not heard back via email/post yet, but I have typed in my case number online and can see an out of court settlement on here. It shows as this:

Penalty Details:

Penalty amount £0.00
Admin amount £361.45
Amount Paid £0.00
Amount Due £361.45

Given there is no ‘penalty amount’, could this yet to be added?

 

[SECR 65]

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jul 2026 ==

Thanks all for your help, I have not heard back via email/post yet, but I have typed in my case number online and can see an out of court settlement on here. It shows as this:

Penalty Details:

Penalty amount £0.00
Admin amount £361.45
Amount Paid £0.00
Amount Due £361.45

Given there is no ‘penalty amount’, could this yet to be added?

I'm going to guess that the 'penalty amount' is used for penalty fares. Seeing as this is an out of court settlement and not a penalty fare, I would suspect that the full cost is coming under 'admin amount'. Usually we see the admin fee to be a round number. So I suspect this 'admin amount' is taking into account the fares they wish to reclaim.

 

[WesternLancer]

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jul 2026 ==

Thanks all for your help, I have not heard back via email/post yet, but I have typed in my case number online and can see an out of court settlement on here. It shows as this:

Penalty Details:

Penalty amount £0.00
Admin amount £361.45
Amount Paid £0.00
Amount Due £361.45

Given there is no ‘penalty amount’, could this yet to be added?

I'd keep monitoring this page but I'd not do anything until you have received either a letter or e-mail (and check spam) from them about this for the time being - though if a bit of time goes by and you hear nothing then it may be worth asking them what is happing with your case - in the interests of something being escalated to court, for example, without you somehow knowing about it - which would be unusual - but it does occasionally happen, often I suspect due to some admin error.