There is no risk, as you cannot be taken to court without first being notified.
Indeed - but these notifications do sometimes go astray - as you will appreciate, and court action is only found out when something else happens - eg bailiffs writing or turning up or an attachment of earnings order send to your employer on behalf of the court.
The solution to that problem is then to engage in the Statutory Deceleration process - which takes up even more time in my view (and probably a bit more money) than seeking to resolve it before it gets to the issuing of the court papers. The outcome of the settlement, if then achieved - the bulk of what would have to be paid - would presumably be the same.
eg dealing with things like this scenario:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...onths-later-what-do-i-do.300502/#post-7737062
or this scenario:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/help-with-hmcts-baliffs.284728/
Obviously precise circumstances in those cases will be different but the tasks to then have to do would be similar
So this is what the OP needs to weigh up in terms of deciding what to do now.
------------------------------------
Edit - I suspect this is the reference that @SECR 65 is thinking of that I posted before (in relation to a different train company but the general points probably apply)
Assuming you have been checking post / e- mail / spam and not moved address
The reason I often suggest that if people have not heard in 4 months to come back here for further advice is as follows - and hopefully this will hep you decide what you want to do now (if anything).
As mentioned above they have 6 Months form the date of the incident to commence criminal legal action for ticket irregularity cases - including accidental ones potentially (ie prosecute you in the magistrates court). If they don't commence that process then they lose that opportunity - which is the main sanction they have over you - including getting you to pay a settlement out of court under threat of criminal prosecution.
But
That needs to be set against the risk that they might do this at the last minute (send the case to court), which then commences the court process - which has a hard deadline set by the court (which you can't ask to be set back date wise) - that then makes it more difficult - because the time window is limited by the court deadlines for the case to be heard - to get an out of court settlement before the court issues a verdict (ie you are sentenced by the court)- which can make the chances of then negotiating a settlement much more pressured because of the courts time deadline. We still see people settling, but we also see the railway company just letting it go to court - which most people who come here for advice want to avoid.
But
that needs to be set against the prospect of them forgetting about you and nothing happening at all....(However, I personally think that if someone's details were taken, and esp if a case ref number was issued by the inspector - the chances of being forgotten about are not that high)
So you have a choice between:
A) Do nothing and see what happens in 6 months (plus 2 or 3 weeks to see if you receive paperwork from the court in the post)
Pros - they might forget about you and nothing happens within the 6 months + 3 weeks period
Cons - you might get a court summons at the last minute and that might be difficult to then negotiate a settlement out of court due to the limited time available to persuade the railway company to offer one before the deadline set by the court to deal with court paperwork - there may only be a couple of weeks time to do this)
or
B) write to them now to ask what they are doing about your case
Pros - they might respond and you can then follow the advice on the forum about how to best get an out of court settlement
- there is more time to then try to get an out of court settlement (possibly making 2 or 3 attempts if necessary) without a court deadline date ticking away
Cons - You remind them of your case when they might have forgotten about it so you can pretty much guarantee that you will probably then have to pay them the out of court settlement, or in a worst case scenario they might then decide to prosecute you, though this is not their usual procedure
Only you can decide what you want to do at this stage.
However, if you
do want to write to them to find out what is happening, I suggest something very simple that simply asks them what they are doing about the matter from when you were questioned
for example - something along these lines:
SWR contact details
prosecutions@swrailway.com
Prosecutions Department
South Western Railway Ltd
FREEPOST
SWR PROSECUTIONS DEPARTMENT
Tel: 03300 950 153
Prosecutions Department
Govia Thameslink Railway
Eastside Offices
Kings Cross Railway Station
London N1C 4AX.
Today's Date
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
