GWR Settlement Offer

[DecadenceX]

Hiya, I'm looking for advice. On the 7th of October I was travelling to a job interview, I have been struggling to find work for a couple of months and so am currently relying on the financial help of my Mum to pay for travel costs to job interviews. My Mum was sending me money for the journey but the payment didn't come in time for the train arriving so I panicked and got on as I couldn't afford to be late to this interview.

I was going to buy my ticket online as soon as the money came through but I got caught by a ticket inspector pretty much as soon as I got on the train. I apologised and explained my situation and that I'd have the funds to pay for the ticket in full in the next couple of minutes. He told me that if I filled in some information he could have it so that I'd get sent the charge for the ticket in a letter in 4-6 weeks and pay it then. I asked him if this was a fine because I now had the money to pay as it had just come through and he assured me that wasn't the case and that I'd only be charged the £12 for the ticket. I filled everything in and he seemed really nice and wished me luck in my interview, but the next day I received a settlement offer to pay £120 within 21 days or face prosecution.

I'm desperate because I really don't know how I'm going to be able to pay this and my Mum is telling me I need to get in contact to try and dispute it as the information I was told was misleading, but I'm wondering if there's any point in sending an email with my side of the story when at the end of the day I was on the train without a valid ticket and I'm not sure I have much of a leg to stand on. I'm scared that if I try to repeal it I'll land myself in more trouble and I'm unsure what the best course of action is, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[WesternLancer]

Hiya, I'm looking for advice. On the 7th of October I was travelling to a job interview, I have been struggling to find work for a couple of months and so am currently relying on the financial help of my Mum to pay for travel costs to job interviews. My Mum was sending me money for the journey but the payment didn't come in time for the train arriving so I panicked and got on as I couldn't afford to be late to this interview.

I was going to buy my ticket online as soon as the money came through but I got caught by a ticket inspector pretty much as soon as I got on the train. I apologised and explained my situation and that I'd have the funds to pay for the ticket in full in the next couple of minutes. He told me that if I filled in some information he could have it so that I'd get sent the charge for the ticket in a letter in 4-6 weeks and pay it then. I asked him if this was a fine because I now had the money to pay as it had just come through and he assured me that wasn't the case and that I'd only be charged the £12 for the ticket. I filled everything in and he seemed really nice and wished me luck in my interview, but the next day I received a settlement offer to pay £120 within 21 days or face prosecution.

I'm desperate because I really don't know how I'm going to be able to pay this and my Mum is telling me I need to get in contact to try and dispute it as the information I was told was misleading, but I'm wondering if there's any point in sending an email with my side of the story when at the end of the day I was on the train without a valid ticket and I'm not sure I have much of a leg to stand on. I'm scared that if I try to repeal it I'll land myself in more trouble and I'm unsure what the best course of action is, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome

It would probably help people see how best to advise you, if you can upload a copy of the letter or e-mail you have received requesting the £120 for people to see, along with anything paperwork wise you were given on the train by the ticket Inspector on the day.
Before you post a copy of it here make sure any personal info like your name and address and the ref number are blocked out to protect your privacy.

 

[DecadenceX]

Welcome

It would probably help people see how best to advise you, if you can upload a copy of the letter or e-mail you have received requesting the £120 for people to see, along with anything paperwork wise you were given on the train by the ticket Inspector on the day.
Before you post a copy of it here make sure any personal info like your name and address and the ref number are blocked out to protect your privacy.

Ah yes of course sorry, here it is!

 

[Swedenorer]

Sadly your last paragraph pretty well sums up the situation I think. When it comes to disputing what the inspector said its the usual your word against his and to be fair he may have no idea of how it will be dealt with back at base. It might be worth sending an email outlining the events as you have in the OP I suppose but nothing really alters the fact that you boarded a train without a ticket. Were you given any paperwork on the train?

 

[DecadenceX]

Sadly your last paragraph pretty well sums up the situation I think. When it comes to disputing what the inspector said its the usual your word against his and to be fair he may have no idea of how it will be dealt with back at base. It might be worth sending an email outlining the events as you have in the OP I suppose but nothing really alters the fact that you boarded a train without a ticket. Were you given any paperwork on the train?

What I filled in on the train was done digitally on a tablet so unfortunately I don't have any physical papers or further information I can share. I just filled in my address, name, DOB etc. there wasn't anything I was given to read to know what I was signing. All I was told is that it wasn't for a fine and so I just signed it as he seemed really sweet and understanding.

If I were to email explaining my side of it is there any chance they'd take that as a repeal and take it to court as it's a settlement offer and not a penalty fare? I might be escalating it in my head and worrying far too much but I've never received anything like this before so I just want to be very cautious about it but at the same time I want to ensure I'm doing everything I can if there's a chance it can lessen the financial burden on my parents from this

 

[RPI]

GWR inspectors should have had their bodyworn camera activated if completing any form of Revenue Protection sanction.

 

[WesternLancer]

Ah yes of course sorry, here it is!

Thanks for sharing the copy.

This is really unfortunate and you have my sympathy. Several of the options listed in the bullet points would have potentially been cheaper than what has happened here. A Penalty Fare for example can be discounted from £100 to £50 (plus the cost of the fare in either case) if paid promptly and comes with a legally enshrined ability to appeal - but you were not issued with a Penalty Fare

GWR have not actually broken down the sum they are asking for - but an undiscounted fare between Cholsey and Reading is £10.10 - which they say they are asking for - it's thus the balance of that which they call their 'standard costs charge' - presumably £110 - which is what is making this sum so steep.

The problem is that you are required to have a valid ticket before boarding the train so long as there are ticket issuing facilities in working order (a ticket office or a ticket machine, you are not required to pay on your phone), and being in a rush or not having funds to hand is not a permitted exception to this.

Furthermore they have you over a barrel because boarding a train and traveling without a valid ticket is a criminal offence that they can take you to the magistrates court for, which because it's a strict liability offence (you are guilty if you did it) would result in a court fine and a criminal record - which of course you want to avoid, and would almost certainly cost more than the sum they are now asking you to pay.

They don't really want to take people to court however, especially if you are not a persistent and deliberate fare evader, so they are sending you this demand to resolve the matter. By paying it that's the end of the matter.

You can read their policy here which is probably worth you looking over:

https://www.gwr.com/-/media/gwr-sc-website/files/policy/revenue-protection/gwr-revenue-protection-policy-august-2026.pdf

Ref what you were told by the Inspector on the train - we often see people reporting that they were not really advised what would happen and told they would just have to pay the fare (without any mention of any hefty admin sums....) - it's often pointed out here that staff may say things to avoid conflicts escalating then and there, or may genuinely not know what sort of sum the back office will subsequently demand. He may have even realised this would stress you on the way to a job interview and did not want to do that.

If I were to email explaining my side of it is there any chance they'd take that as a repeal and take it to court as it's a settlement offer and not a penalty fare? I might be escalating it in my head and worrying far too much but I've never received anything like this before so I just want to be very cautious about it but at the same time I want to ensure I'm doing everything I can if there's a chance it can lessen the financial burden on my parents from this

As mentioned above it's possible that you could reply to them, appealing to their better nature, and ask if they would kindly consider reducing their costs charge given your personal circumstances, but
- I'm not sure if they would do this - they might just stick to their formula and insist in the sum involved
- The risk that they could escalate this (ie to court) can't be totally ruled out - though we do see GWR being reasonable to some extent - so I am not sure they would just take it to court in response to a reasonable request (but no way I can guarantee that of course).

If you did decide to write to them in those terms I would suggest posting a draft of what you want to say here before you sent it to them so that people could check your wording.

You may want to wait a day or two before you decide what to do to see what other people here think - which should help you weigh up the choice of what to do next.

 

[John R]

and my Mum is telling me I need to get in contact to try and dispute it as the information I was told was misleading,

I certainly wouldn't approach any contact in terms of "disputing" the charge, because, as others have said, you didn't have a ticket, they have every right to prosecute you, and may do if they feel that any approach is in any way combative. So any wording used would have to be very carefully phrased, and I would agree with others that you are best advised to post a draft here before sending anything.

(As an aside, we have seen instances where replies have indeed been very combative - in one case where it had been advised by a solicitor friend of the traveller - the result is almost inevitably an escalation to prosecution.)

 

[furlong]

You should be able to hold them to whatever was agreed with them at the time. You need to write back clearly explaining this and as @RPI says ask them to check their bodywarn video to confirm the agreement. If the employee concerned failed to activate that, then they should either take your word for it, or interview the employee concerned to understand why it wasn't recorded and hear their side of the story.

(The OP is basically saying they have given up their ability to prosecute successfully by agreeing an alternative resolution - provided the OP sticks to whatever was agreed. If the interaction was recorded, as per policy, their own evidence will show this when they examine it properly. If it wasn't recorded, that itself would be a breach of policy to the immediate disadvantage of any contrary argument.)