CrossCountry Alleged Fraud Investigation

Hello, I am looking for guidance on a supposed fare evasion my wife has received from Cross Country which I have just found out about.

She purchased a return ticket from Manchester Piccadilly to Oxford with the wrong railcard selected. She didn’t use this ticket at all and purchased the same ticket for the next day, again with the wrong railcard. (At the time she had a 26-30 railcard, I don’t know which other she selected.)

She was informed by the conductor of her mistake on the outbound journey in the morning and given a new ticket to allow her to exit at Oxford. When she asked to pay for this, she was just told that Cross Country would be in touch. She purchased a correct ticket for her return that evening.

So she bought two returns with the wrong railcard, but only used the outbound side of one of the journeys.

They have now accused her of committing fraud and saying they want her to pay for all four journeys plus £150 in admin fees.

I understand the one ticket she did use – fair enough. It was an honest mistake but she did use it. The other three journeys she didn’t take, though – how can they charge her for them? She replied to their email requesting them to check their system and see that she did not use those tickets, but of course they did not acknowledge this.

She purchased the tickets through Trainline. Can we submit a subject access request/FOI request to get the proof from either Trainline or Cross Country to prove three of the tickets were unused? She does have location services enabled on her phone, showing she stayed at home all day on the first day.

I am of the mind that she should go to court to fight the wrongful fraud accusations while acknowledging the one error. Is this an option, or will it leave her with legal repercussions on top of the £650 ‘fraud’ fee? She lost her job earlier this year and we cannot afford to throw £650 at XC right now. My wife did tell them of her job loss, and they gave her two extensions to pay (while ignoring her saying she did not travel on the first day at all).

I’ve attached the correspondence between them. The final deadline for payment is 31 August.

Any advice would be appreciated.

How much were the original tickets, we may be able to work out what was selected. To be honest, if it's the 16-17 Saver (or the JobCentre Plus) which gives a 50% discount, I would probually say that is not really a mistake, as the 16-17, and the 26-30 can't really be confused.

Rhaenyra said:

I understand the one ticket she did use – fair enough. It was an honest mistake but she did use it. The other three journeys she didn’t take, though – how can they charge her for them? She replied to their email requesting them to check their system and see that she did not use those tickets, but of course they did not acknowledge this.

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Can she prove she didn't take them, why buy a ticket for a service you are not taking?

The fact they have given you an extension is very rare

Rhaenyra said:

Any advice would be appreciated.

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Given that you have agreed, in writing, to pay the amount requested you are in no position to subsequently try and negotiate. They agreed an extension to allow you to get the money together, not to allow more time for discussion. The only alternative you have given yourselves is to take it to court and hope you can argue you shouldn't be paying the amounts they are seeking to recover, but doing that will incur a conviction, a fine and victim surcharge and the costs (likely to be more then the £150 currently being asked for), so you might achieve, at best, a pyrrhic victory.

Rhaenyra said:

I am of the mind that she should go to court to fight the wrongful fraud accusations while acknowledging the one error. Is this an option, or will it leave her with legal repercussions on top of the £650 ‘fraud’ fee? She lost her job earlier this year and we cannot afford to throw £650 at XC right now. My wife did tell them of her job loss, and they gave her two extensions to pay (while ignoring her saying she did not travel on the first day at all).

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Your wife used a discounted ticket when she had no entitlement to that discount. They have her bang to rights for the time she was stopped.

Fraud is a bit of a red herring here. Travelling without a valid ticket is, of itself, a criminal offence, and the fact it was a mistake (honest or otherwise) doesn't matter at all.

If she took the matter to court it would almost certainly result in her being convicted of a criminal offence. Whilst the amount paid in compensation to CrossCountry would be lower, she would also likely be fined and have a victim surcharge applied. The overall amount is unlikely to be much different to what XC are asking for now. The only advantage to taking it to court would be that the fine and costs can be paid in instalments.

You asked for an extension to pay on 17 June. It is now 23 July and they have given you until 31 August to pay up. I'm normally pretty critical of XC but, in this case, they have treated you reasonably fairly, they've given you more than two months to find the money.

If you had no intention of paying it in the first place, why did you request two extensions?

Regarding whether or not a ticket was used, it is clearly easy to prove it has been used, so long as it was scanned at a gateline or on board. However, it is not easy to prove it has not been used, as the absence of a scan doesn't guarantee that the ticket wasn't used. Gatelines could be open, there could be no on board check, etc.

Rhaenyra said:

My wife did tell them of her job loss, and they gave her two extensions to pay (while ignoring her saying she did not travel on the first day at all).

I’ve attached the correspondence between them. The final deadline for payment is 31 August.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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She doesn't have many options. She has already agreed to pay them the money, and in correspondence accepted liability for the amount:

Thank you again for previously extending the deadline. I fully understand that the full settlement amount of £649.40 must be paid in one single payment, and I remain committed to resolving this matter without escalation.

I respectfully ask whether CrossCountry would consider granting me a further short extension to allow me time to secure income and make the full payment.


They are going to be out of time to bring criminal proceedings under the Railway Bylaws (they have 6 months from the offence) but they may well start civil proceedings if the sum is still unpaid.

The letter of 17th June is self-contradictory and mentions mental health so I think it absolutely remains possible for you (I'd suggest on behalf of your wife, with her stated permission - or you write the letter for her, and she signs stating you helped her to write it) to challenge the amount they are requesting, quoting again from that letter. They should have spotted the contradiction and taken the mention of mental health into account.

Note that the original ticket could have been refunded (with a small deduction) unless it was an Advance after it was not used.
What were the prices paid for the tickets? Also find out which railcard was used and what time the journey was made. Show the new ticket already purchased for the return journey - I see evidence of the payment was supplied.

furlong said:

I think it absolutely remains possible for you (I'd suggest on behalf of your wife, with her stated permission - or you write the letter for her, and she signs stating you helped her to write it) to challenge the amount they are requesting

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I think if the OP goes back to them now to argue about the calculation it will simply look like he’s swinging the lead. Especially as they only have six months to bring the prosecution.

XC have his wife bang to rights on the occasion she was stopped and if XC were to prosecute her for that one occasion it’s likely that the overall cost would be just as high as what XC are requesting as a settlement for both tickets. Therefore I’m not sure that antagonising them is in the OP’s best interests here.

Key information in the letter relating to the level of debt was disregarded. This was incorrect procedurally. If the correspondence was reviewed by a third party (solicitor or husband or internet forum) the response I suggest should not be unexpected and the procedural error ought to be corrected. Otherwise it ends up with the Ombudsman or Transport Focus.

furlong said:

Key information in the letter relating to the level of debt was disregarded. This was incorrect procedurally.

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It's an out of court settlement, there is no 'procedure'.

Tetchytyke said:

I think if the OP goes back to them now to argue about the calculation it will simply look like he’s swinging the lead. Especially as they only have six months to bring the prosecution.

XC have his wife bang to rights on the occasion she was stopped and if XC were to prosecute her for that one occasion it’s likely that the overall cost would be just as high as what XC are requesting as a settlement for both tickets. Therefore I’m not sure that antagonising them is in the OP’s best interests here.

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Just to remind the thread the deadline for payment is beyond the 6 month limit for instigating criminal proceedings. The incident happened on 10th February and the deadline for payment is 31st August, which is 6 months and 21 days after the offence.

AlterEgo said:

Just to remind the thread the deadline for payment is beyond the 6 month limit for instigating criminal proceedings. The incident happened on 10th February and the deadline for payment is 31st August, which is 6 months and 21 days after the offence.

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That doesn't necessarily stop XC from laying papers before the court within the time limit. I am guessing, but maybe they can then hold the latter until the payment deadline has passed. I don't think the OP should chance this being a basis for not paying.

AlterEgo said:

Just to remind the thread the deadline for payment is beyond the 6 month limit for instigating criminal proceedings.

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Only under the Byelaws and RoRA.

Acknowledging the matter, asking for an extension to pay, and then swinging the lead to make sure they can’t prosecute Byelaws/RoRA starts to bring the matter into the purview of Fraud Act offences. I don’t actually think they’d prosecute for fraud, but it starts to demonstrate intent.

They can always bring civil claims too.

Pretty daft of XC to agree to something which undermines their position though. Sadly, the OP’s behaviour means that next time, when someone is actually genuine, XC will simply say no.

Thank you for all the information/advice. Extra info as requested:

Looks like it isn't worth it to argue it in court - even if they couldn't now prosecute her criminally, why deal with the hassle if the amount payable would remain similar? There's no swinging the lead happening here - my wife has been genuine and apologetic with them, which I'm assuming is the reason for her extensions. I'm the one who wanted to fight it, and I only found out after she'd already asked them for the first extension. I understand it wouldn't look that way to XC.

The original was an advance ticket i believe - hence no refund. My wife has ADHD and is an immigrant and I entirely believe she would either not know to or forget to get it refunded even if it was refundable. I am tempted by Furlong's pointing out about MH issues and my wife having purchased a new ticket for the 2nd return journey - which she did send proof of to XC, but of course they ignored. Unfortunately, arguing the technicalities etc through court for an uncertain outcome seems a dubious option at best. We've had a stressful year with her job loss - it does seem easier to just pay them, even though it still irks me when she didn't use the first ticket at all.

Regarding not being able to prove a ticket wasn't used - if it was between two local backwater stations I would agree, but departing Manchester Piccadilly at 7am? I have never not had to show a ticket to enter/leave the platform there, speaking from years of experience. That is all by the by - XC will not willingly find proof she didn't use it, as it means less money for them.



TL/DR: Looks like we're paying it, albeit through gritted teeth. Cheers all.

If you don't feel comfortable writing that letter yourself - or paying a solicitor to do so - then I suggest you contact Transport Focus and ask if they can help you as the company has ignored your wife's representations that its demand for payment is speculative including journeys already paid for which must be removed from the amount demanded.