Penalty Fare Notice - Wrong Name noted by Inspector

[TrainRider43]

Hi all,

I was recently caught ticketless on a LNWR train and issued a penalty fare notice. I was happy to pay the reduced fare and avoid an appeal, as I have engaged in refunding unused tickets in the past and do not want to create any reason for them to go digging into my ticket purchasing history.

However, when going to pay the penalty I noticed the inspector has written down the complete wrong surname and used a different word i.e. [First Name] [Licence].

Not that I want to avoid paying the penalty, I have had a terrible few days trawling these forums worrying about further prosecution, but does this give me any recourse to ignore it completely?

My correct address is on there and I won't be moving for at least 6+ months. I did provide a legitimate form of ID the inspector simply misread it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Aug 2026 ==

Hi @Hadders,

You seem to be the SME on these issues, what would you advise please?

 

[AlterEgo]

Hi all,

I was recently caught ticketless on a LNWR train and issued a penalty fare notice. I was happy to pay the reduced fare and avoid an appeal, as I have engaged in refunding unused tickets in the past and do not want to create any reason for them to go digging into my ticket purchasing history.

However, when going to pay the penalty I noticed the inspector has written down the complete wrong surname and used a different word i.e. [First Name] [Licence].

Not that I want to avoid paying the penalty, I have had a terrible few days trawling these forums worrying about further prosecution, but does this give me any recourse to ignore it completely?

My correct address is on there and I won't be moving for at least 6+ months. I did provide a legitimate form of ID the inspector simply misread it.

Did you have a ticket that they scanned at the time? Or were you entirely ticketless?

 

[TrainRider43]

Did you have a ticket that they scanned at the time? Or were you entirely ticketless?

Entirely ticketless. I had intended to buy on train (as I have and seen others do before) but the Revenue Management worker said this was not possible.

 

[AlterEgo]

If they have written your name as Bob Licence it is unenforceable. I assume your driving licence is in a language other than English (is it???) but it is still a breathtakingly incompetent thing for them to do. Too bad for them.

 

[TrainRider43]

If they have written your name as Bob Licence it is unenforceable. I assume your driving licence is in a language other than English (is it???) but it is still a breathtakingly incompetent thing for them to do. Too bad for them.

Yeah, they essentially wrote it down as Bob [Nationality].
So extremely incompetent that I wonder if it was on purpose, I was very polite and cooperative with her.

Just so I'm clear - your advise is ignore all correspondence as this is unenforceable?

I've certainly learnt my lesson, this isn't worth saving a score over.

 

[WesternLancer]

Entirely ticketless. I had intended to buy on train (as I have and seen others do before) but the Revenue Management worker said this was not possible.

Just so you know it is almost never permitted to buy after you board apart from in circumstances where there are no ticket selling facilities at your boarding station (eg no open ticket office and no working ticket machine - you are not required to buy on a phone however).

Staff ticket scanners are AIUI set up to flag tickets bought on trains after the train departs the station boarded (because this is what fare evaders do under what is called 'pay when challenged' - ie don't buy a ticket until they think an inspector is coming down the carriage and might notice they did not have a ticket) - so that anyone who does this can expect to potentially be issued a Penalty Fare or reported for investigation / possible prosecution.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Aug 2026 ==

If they have written your name as Bob Licence it is unenforceable. I assume your driving licence is in a language other than English (is it???) but it is still a breathtakingly incompetent thing for them to do. Too bad for them.

But I assume reminders and then untimely potential court papers for non payment will be sent to this name at the address taken by the inspector - which may or may not be where the OP lives.
The OP presumably needs to be prepared for that and what to do about it (which may simply be to return the letters in the post and write on the envelope 'not known at this address')

Because the alternative is to just go on line and pay this Penalty Fare within the prompt payment discounted sum deadline - paying it using the ref number and name given on the Penalty Fare slip (they won't care if the name of the person paying it is different I would assume) and then that is the end of it.

 

[TrainRider43]

I have also realised they turned on their body worn camera and took my signature (which is as close to my real signature as you can get on a digital device lol)


Surely with this irrefutable evidence of my physical identity they will dismiss the name as a clerical error?


Also - if it matters, my DOB is also wrong on the penalty, only by one day.

 

[Blaine]

How much are they asking for?

 

[TrainRider43]

How much are they asking for?

c. 80 quid at the reduced rate

 

[BAFRA77]

If they have written your name as Bob Licence it is unenforceable. I assume your driving licence is in a language other than English (is it???) but it is still a breathtakingly incompetent thing for them to do. Too bad for them.

On a tangent - this reminds me of the story that came out in Ireland in the late 1990s

In 1999, a nationwide search captured the attention of law enforcement officials in Ireland. They were on the hunt for a notorious individual named “Prawo Jazdy,” who had become a serial offender of traffic crimes - linked to over 50 different identities. With each encounter, Jazdy would provide the police officers with a different address, successfully eluding capture time and time again. However, what the police didn’t realize was that Prawo Jazdy was not a real person at all but a Polish phrase meaning “Driver’s License.” This intriguing revelation came to light in 2017, leaving everyone astonished and raising questions about the effectiveness of the police database system.

 

[furlong]

A Penalty Fare is enforceable against the person to whom it was issued regardless of the correctness or otherwise of the name recorded. (Recording a person's name is optional with a Penalty Fare. If requested, the correct name must be provided and there is no obligation to show any ID nor should it ever be implied that there is. E.g. Accepting cash payment on the spot avoids any risk of one being left unpaid and it's quicker then not to bother collecting the additional information.)

Given they have your address, signature and video image and you have a ticketing account with a dubious refund history, I'd suggest you should be checking the validity of the notice and making an appeal if there are grounds to do so or else paying it straight away to avoid drawing any further attention to yourself and risking being subject to a deeper investigation.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

£80 now or a much larger sum later, if they get access to your journey history?
Only you know how much you could be liable for…

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@TrainRider43 . Welcome to the forum. Are you able to upload a pic of the Penalty Fare Notice? If so, please be sure to obscure (or otherwise cover up) any name and address and/or ID/reference number showing. Also, where/when on the LNWR network were you stopped? Might be worth appealing, but possibly it won't be.

 

[gray1404]

You could pay the penalty fare now a bring the matter to a close.

You can also appeal. You can pay the PF first and still appeal as if successful you'll be refunded. Or you can appeal first and pay the penalty for later if you're appeals are unsuccessful.