GWR - Railcard expired, no correspondence yet

[baxfel216]

I was travelling from Oxford to London on 27 February 2026. A ticket inspector asked to see my ticket and railcard, at which point I realised my railcard had expired a couple of weeks prior. I did not realise my railcard had expired before purchasing the ticket (it is automatically applied on Trainline and I just hadn’t checked).

I had taken c.4-5 journeys on the expired railcard.

The inspector took me to a quiet carriage and interviewed me under caution. They explained that I would receive a letter of intention to prosecute. I explained that I was due to move house the following week, so he noted the address that I was moving to. I also requested to receive the letter by email if possible so that I don’t miss it.


I’m very ashamed by what happened and take full responsibility. It was an admin error and I genuinely hadn’t realised the railcard had expired. I bought a new railcard immediately after the interview and diarised the expiry so it doesn’t happen again.

It is now 13 May and I am yet to receive any correspondence from revenue protection. I’m getting anxious that I’ve missed the letter or it’s been sent to the wrong address. I’m really worried because I want to offer to pay any fine ASAP and go down the out of court settlement route and avoid having anything on my record.

I’m also concerned as I will probably move house again around early September, and I don’t want to miss any letter from them - I think there is a 6 month limitation period so GWR may be out of time by September in any case, but I don’t want to rely on that!

Does anyone have any advice on how long these things usually take to progress and whether I should reach out to GWR revenue protection at any point to check what’s happening? Thank you so much.

 

[ikcdab]

They have up to 6 months to take action so you just need to wait. I am assuming that all the addresses and contact details you gave them were correct.

 

[SECR 65]

I wouldn't advise contacting GWR until they contact you. Maybe, when you are about to move house, you could consider writing to them to tell them you're moving house, or set up a postal re-direct - but I would suggest asking whether to contact them on here before you do so.

It's unlikely a straightforward case such as this one would end up in court, provided you cooperate with GWR.

GWR can often be bad at meeting the 6 month deadline to prosecute, so sometimes they come back years later asking for the money then - but the potential to convict you becomes a lot less significant after 6 months.

 

[baxfel216]

Hi all,

Thanks for your previous responses.

I still haven’t heard anything from GWR (as of 11 September), and am going abroad for 6 months from tomorrow. I have set up a postal redirect, but I’m slightly paranoid about whether I’ve already missed something, or if something will slip through the cracks.

Would you advise reaching out to GWR and telling them I’m moving abroad, or just rely on the postal redirect?

I understand the deadline to bring criminal proceedings has passed, but they can still use civil recovery? Would you ever advise contacting GWR and checking the status of the report - I just want some clarity and certainty because this feels like it’s hanging over my head, and would otherwise continue until the statutory limitation has passed which I understand would be until February 2032.

Any advice would be really helpful. Thanks so much for your time.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all,

Thanks for your previous responses.

I still haven’t heard anything from GWR (as of 11 September), and am going abroad for 6 months from tomorrow. I have set up a postal redirect, but I’m slightly paranoid about whether I’ve already missed something, or if something will slip through the cracks.

Would you advise reaching out to GWR and telling them I’m moving abroad, or just rely on the postal redirect?

I understand the deadline to bring criminal proceedings has passed, but they can still use civil recovery? Would you ever advise contacting GWR and checking the status of the report - I just want some clarity and certainty because this feels like it’s hanging over my head, and would otherwise continue until the statutory limitation has passed which I understand would be until February 2032.

Any advice would be really helpful. Thanks so much for your time.

Is your postal redirect to an address abroad? If so I fear that's risky - both in terms of the reliability of redirected post actually arriving abroad, and the length of time it would take to reach you which if it's court related or a short deadline form the railways to respond to it may well be too slow

If your redirection is to another UK address however, that should be OK - tho you would need a trusted person to open redirected post and alert you to what it was so you can deal with it whilst abroad.

Postal redirections even in UK are not always 100% reliable, so it's also good if there is anyone at the old address you trust to check for post - but that may of course simply not be feasible.

It's always worth testing a postal redirection eg after it has started send yourself a letter using a 2nd class stamp to the old address, and see if, when and where it turns up and how long that takes to get to the address you have paid the redirection to.

Separately - have you totalled up the value of the fares in question that they could pursue you for (4-5 trips you mentioned) at the full Anytime Single price? How much are we talking about - that's the sum at stake and GWR do pursue civil court claims - sometimes a year or two after the event from what we see - so weighing up the sum involved might help you decide if you wish to contact GWR and thereby inevitably 'remind them' of all this.
If it's not that much you might want to contact them with a view to putting it all to bed and being done with it, esp now chances of criminal court prosecution has ended - tho they may sting you for a c£100 admin fee even if it's only a modest sum in fares.


If you do decide you want to contact GWR then you could do something like one of the below - a change of address note that says little else, or a 'what's happening about this?' message that does not incriminate yourself - or you could combine the two into one message
But of course both of them will serve to remind them about you, presumably.

Putting these below in case of any use - there is a process but it can be hassle to untangle if they commence some sort of formal proceedings / court proceedings about you without you knowing about it - but it's obviously your call as to whether to contact them or not or just keep waiting and keeping an eye on your redirected post

do you have an address for GWR on anything you were given when stopped?
If not I think this is their e-mail

Contact our Prosecutions department

Email: GWRProsecutions@gwr.com

Open Monday to Friday 0900 to 1700

From:

https://www.gwr.com/-/media/gwr-sc-website/files/revenue-protection-policy/GWR-Revenue-Protection-Policy-January-2023.pdf

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You'd need to tell them your name and address when stopped and your new address as of x date anyway


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


---------------------------------------------------------
or



Dear Sir/ Madam

Reference number (insert this from receipt slip you have if you have one)

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

I am soon due to change address

My previous address was (the address given when questioned):

My new address as of x date is:

My e-mail address is:

Please can any letters be sent to my new address / or by e-mail so that I can respond to them

Yours faithfully