SWR investigation – historical short-faring / advice on likely outcome

4n0nM4n · 16 Aug 2026

Hi all,

I’ve been reading through a number of threads here and would appreciate some advice from those familiar with how South Western Railway normally deals with these cases.

I have recently been contacted by SWR’s investigations team regarding my historic ticket purchasing.

They have reviewed my ticket history and sent me a spreadsheet containing a significant number of journeys over an extended period. The issue appears to be that on a number of occasions I purchased a ticket covering only part of what SWR believes was my actual journey into London.

For anonymity I don’t want to give the exact stations, dates, case reference or exact number of journeys, but the spreadsheet contains well over 100 journeys and SWR appear to be alleging a total fare shortfall in the low thousands rather than hundreds.

I regularly commute from outside London into central London. Looking at the information they have supplied, I can understand why they have reached the conclusion they have, and I am not looking to be argumentative or make excuses.

My main objective now is to deal with this properly, cooperate with SWR and, if possible, resolve the matter by way of an out-of-court settlement rather than prosecution.

I would really appreciate views on a few points:

In a case involving this volume of historic journeys, is an out-of-court settlement with SWR still a realistic outcome?
Does SWR normally calculate a settlement using the full undiscounted fare for each journey, an estimated fare difference, or some other method?
Is there normally an additional administration/investigation charge?
At this stage, is it generally better to acknowledge the overall issue and apologise, or respond to every individual journey on their spreadsheet?
Would engaging a solicitor materially improve the chances of reaching a settlement, or are cases like this normally dealt with directly with SWR?
For anyone who has dealt with a similarly high number of journeys, what sort of process followed after responding to the spreadsheet?
Is there anything in particular I should avoid saying or doing in my first substantive response?

I am prepared to repay the appropriate fares and a reasonable administrative amount if SWR are willing to settle the matter.

My principal concern is avoiding the matter escalating unnecessarily to court, so I want to approach my response correctly from the outset.

I’ve intentionally rounded the figures and omitted the precise stations/dates because this is an active case, but I can provide further general information if it would help with the advice.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

RailUK Forums

simonw · 16 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
Hi all,

I’ve been reading through a number of threads here and would appreciate some advice from those familiar with how South Western Railway normally deals with these cases.

I have recently been contacted by SWR’s investigations team regarding my historic ticket purchasing.

They have reviewed my ticket history and sent me a spreadsheet containing a significant number of journeys over an extended period. The issue appears to be that on a number of occasions I purchased a ticket covering only part of what SWR believes was my actual journey into London.

For anonymity I don’t want to give the exact stations, dates, case reference or exact number of journeys, but the spreadsheet contains well over 100 journeys and SWR appear to be alleging a total fare shortfall in the low thousands rather than hundreds.

I regularly commute from outside London into central London. Looking at the information they have supplied, I can understand why they have reached the conclusion they have, and I am not looking to be argumentative or make excuses.

My main objective now is to deal with this properly, cooperate with SWR and, if possible, resolve the matter by way of an out-of-court settlement rather than prosecution.

I would really appreciate views on a few points:

In a case involving this volume of historic journeys, is an out-of-court settlement with SWR still a realistic outcome?

Does SWR normally calculate a settlement using the full undiscounted fare for each journey, an estimated fare difference, or some other method?

Is there normally an additional administration/investigation charge?

At this stage, is it generally better to acknowledge the overall issue and apologise, or respond to every individual journey on their spreadsheet?

Would engaging a solicitor materially improve the chances of reaching a settlement, or are cases like this normally dealt with directly with SWR?

For anyone who has dealt with a similarly high number of journeys, what sort of process followed after responding to the spreadsheet?

Is there anything in particular I should avoid saying or doing in my first substantive response?

I am prepared to repay the appropriate fares and a reasonable administrative amount if SWR are willing to settle the matter.

My principal concern is avoiding the matter escalating unnecessarily to court, so I want to approach my response correctly from the outset.

I’ve intentionally rounded the figures and omitted the precise stations/dates because this is an active case, but I can provide further general information if it would help with the advice.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Did this contact arise 'out of the blue' or were you stopped and this is a follow up to bring stopped?

WesternLancer · 16 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
Hi all,

I’ve been reading through a number of threads here and would appreciate some advice from those familiar with how South Western Railway normally deals with these cases.

I have recently been contacted by SWR’s investigations team regarding my historic ticket purchasing.

They have reviewed my ticket history and sent me a spreadsheet containing a significant number of journeys over an extended period. The issue appears to be that on a number of occasions I purchased a ticket covering only part of what SWR believes was my actual journey into London.

For anonymity I don’t want to give the exact stations, dates, case reference or exact number of journeys, but the spreadsheet contains well over 100 journeys and SWR appear to be alleging a total fare shortfall in the low thousands rather than hundreds.

I regularly commute from outside London into central London. Looking at the information they have supplied, I can understand why they have reached the conclusion they have, and I am not looking to be argumentative or make excuses.

My main objective now is to deal with this properly, cooperate with SWR and, if possible, resolve the matter by way of an out-of-court settlement rather than prosecution.

I would really appreciate views on a few points:

In a case involving this volume of historic journeys, is an out-of-court settlement with SWR still a realistic outcome?

Does SWR normally calculate a settlement using the full undiscounted fare for each journey, an estimated fare difference, or some other method?

Is there normally an additional administration/investigation charge?

At this stage, is it generally better to acknowledge the overall issue and apologise, or respond to every individual journey on their spreadsheet?

Would engaging a solicitor materially improve the chances of reaching a settlement, or are cases like this normally dealt with directly with SWR?

For anyone who has dealt with a similarly high number of journeys, what sort of process followed after responding to the spreadsheet?

Is there anything in particular I should avoid saying or doing in my first substantive response?

I am prepared to repay the appropriate fares and a reasonable administrative amount if SWR are willing to settle the matter.

My principal concern is avoiding the matter escalating unnecessarily to court, so I want to approach my response correctly from the outset.

I’ve intentionally rounded the figures and omitted the precise stations/dates because this is an active case, but I can provide further general information if it would help with the advice.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

The key to an out of court settlement even for quite extensive evasion is to co operate with them.

So this means completing the spreadsheet honestly. On instances where you don’t know simply state that on that occurrence you are unsure. But if your evasion follows a typical pattern it’s probably not sensible to deny anything on occasions you can’t recall unless you have some evidence eg buying something at a shop detailed on your bank statement that evidences you were in the town in question for example.

SECR 65 · 16 Aug 2026

Welcome to the forum,

Reading your opening post, I am unsure whether the journeys SWR have identified in their spreadsheet are actually short fares, or whether you did have a valid ticket. I'm presuming the former?

In answer to your questions:

4n0nM4n said:
In a case involving this volume of historic journeys, is an out-of-court settlement with SWR still a realistic outcome?

Yes, provided you are cooperative.

4n0nM4n said:
Does SWR normally calculate a settlement using the full undiscounted fare for each journey, an estimated fare difference, or some other method?

Normally the full undiscounted anytime single fare, with no credit to any money paid. Some Train Operating Companies may give credit for fares paid and charge the difference, although this is less common. It can vary within one TOC, and I'm not certain about SWR specifically.

4n0nM4n said:
Is there normally an additional administration/investigation charge?

Yes - around £150 would be typical for SWR. That said, be prepared to pay up to around £250.

4n0nM4n said:
At this stage, is it generally better to acknowledge the overall issue and apologise, or respond to every individual journey on their spreadsheet?

Fill in the spreadsheet honestly. Then you can include a letter saying sorry etc. I think this is what people normally do but I am sure another member can correct me if that's wrong.

4n0nM4n said:
Would engaging a solicitor materially improve the chances of reaching a settlement, or are cases like this normally dealt with directly with SWR?

A solicitor shouldn't normally be necessary for a case with SWR.

4n0nM4n said:
For anyone who has dealt with a similarly high number of journeys, what sort of process followed after responding to the spreadsheet?

I'm not certain, but I think you might next be offered a settlement, hopefully. You are unlikely to hear from someone on the forum who has experienced this process first hand, but other threads are a good resource and many members are very knowledgeable.

4n0nM4n said:
Is there anything in particular I should avoid saying or doing in my first substantive response?

We would normally say don't incriminate yourself more than necessary. However, SWR already know what has happened, so this advice doesn't really stand.
Another thing I would say is don't try to justify or explain the fare evasion you've been involved in, just acknowledge it was wrong and apologise.

gembercannelle · 16 Aug 2026

@4n0nM4n have you read
this https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/the-fraud-letters-process.305220/
this https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/short-faring-issue-swr-request-for-contact.304600/
and that https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/swr-investigation-email-advice.305444/
threads?

Swedenorer · 16 Aug 2026

simonw said:
Did this contact arise 'out of the blue' or were you stopped and this is a follow up to bring stopped?

This is crucial to the advice you need.

Egg Centric · 16 Aug 2026

Swedenorer said:
This is crucial to the advice you need.

It's also crucial to know when the last incident was, or at least whether it was within the last six months or not. This is because even if you wish to do "the right thing" regardless of whether you face criminal jepoardy or not, there are different ways of calculating what you owe. So we need to know if there is a realistic prospect of criminal (as opposed to civil) action or not.

Fawkes Cat · 16 Aug 2026

Swedenorer said:
This is crucial to the advice you need.

To expand a bit - this matters as if you have been caught in person doing this, this could be treated as a criminal matter, where a criminal court could impose a fine. But if SWR have come up with their suspicions by looking at their records, they will (in practice) only be able to prove facts to the standard needed in the civil court, and all the civil court can do is tell you to pay what you should have done.

Egg Centric · 16 Aug 2026

Fawkes Cat said:
To expand a bit - this matters as if you have been caught in person doing this, this could be treated as a criminal matter, where a criminal court could impose a fine. But if SWR have come up with their suspicions by looking at their records, they will (in practice) only be able to prove facts to the standard needed in the civil court, and all the civil court can do is tell you to pay what you should have done.

Unless the OP incriminates themselves in writing...

They seem to want to pay something which is commendable and unusual, but if they haven't been stopped then they would be advised to wait until after six months so they can arrange to pay what they have actually deprived SWR of rather than what SWR say they want to avoid prosecution.

So to be clear @4n0nM4n both pieces of info are necessary. And also whether I am correct that you want to pay something even if you can "get away with it"? If I misunderstood that it would be best to say!

4n0nM4n · 17 Aug 2026

simonw said:
Did this contact arise 'out of the blue' or were you stopped and this is a follow up to bring

simonw said:
Did this contact arise 'out of the blue' or were you stopped and this is a follow up to bring stopped?

Contact came out of the blue. I used the train app, which has my email. I was never physically stopped on the train journey. This has been flagged as suspicious, and they also reviewed my journeys and found tickets from Vauxhall -> Waterloo IN and returned Waterloo -> Leatherhead.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Aug 2026 ==

WesternLancer said:
The key to an out of court settlement even for quite extensive evasion is to co operate with them.

So this means completing the spreadsheet honestly. On instances where you don’t know simply state that on that occurrence you are unsure. But if your evasion follows a typical pattern it’s probably not sensible to deny anything on occasions you can’t recall unless you have some evidence eg buying something at a shop detailed on your bank statement that evidences you were in the town in question for example.

Thank you. I intend to cooperate and, hopefully, request an out-of-court settlement.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Aug 2026 ==

SECR 65 said:
Welcome to the forum,

Reading your opening post, I am unsure whether the journeys SWR have identified in their spreadsheet are actually short fares, or whether you did have a valid ticket. I'm presuming the former?

In answer to your questions:

Yes, provided you are cooperative.

Normally the full undiscounted anytime single fare, with no credit to any money paid. Some Train Operating Companies may give credit for fares paid and charge the difference, although this is less common. It can vary within one TOC, and I'm not certain about SWR specifically.

Yes - around £150 would be typical for SWR. That said, be prepared to pay up to around £250.

Fill in the spreadsheet honestly. Then you can include a letter saying sorry etc. I think this is what people normally do but I am sure another member can correct me if that's wrong.

A solicitor shouldn't normally be necessary for a case with SWR.

I'm not certain, but I think you might next be offered a settlement, hopefully. You are unlikely to hear from someone on the forum who has experienced this process first hand, but other threads are a good resource and many members are very knowledgeable.

We would normally say don't incriminate yourself more than necessary. However, SWR already know what has happened, so this advice doesn't really stand.
Another thing I would say is don't try to justify or explain the fare evasion you've been involved in, just acknowledge it was wrong and apologise.

Thank you for your response. I intend to cooperate fully and would like to ask whether an out-of-court settlement can be paid for the full journey amount; I hope they will consider this.

4n0nM4n · 17 Aug 2026

Swedenorer said:
This is crucial to the advice you need.

Never caught in the act. Just suspicious travel journeys: short-faring, going in and paying for the full return journey.

Haywain · 17 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
Never caught in the act. Just suspicious travel journeys: short-faring, going in and paying for the full return journey.

And have you responded at all to the communication you received?

As you have not been stopped this is going to be entirely a civil matter. Our usual advice is not to respond at all. SWR will probably write a couple more times and then give up, but the worst case scenario is that they can take the Matter to the civil courts but the process requires them to specifically advise you of that before they do so and at that point you could choose to respond. The most they can realistically ask the courts to award is the difference between the fares you paid and those you should have paid, and they cannot ask for administration fees on top. This approach also extends the time you would have to calculate and save the amount that you might eventually pay.

If you are particularly keen to respond, which we advise against, you should first calculate what the difference is between what you paid and what you should have paid using the appropriate fares for the date and time of travel (you might want to do this anyway to know where you potentially stand, no matter what). SWR have almost certainly used the highest fares for the full journey and therefore inflated what they believe you might owe.

Finally, and this should go without saying, give SWR a quick win on this and stop buying short fares - pay the correct fare for every journey going forward as if you get caught short faring they will have much more leverage over you.

WesternLancer · 17 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
Thank you. I intend to cooperate and, hopefully, request an out-of-court settlement.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Aug 2026 ==

Given the further info you have provided to people here since I posted before I would refer you to consider the content of post #12 from @Haywain in order for you to weigh up what you want to do next.

4n0nM4n · 17 Aug 2026

Haywain said:
And have you responded at all to the communication you received?

As you have not been stopped this is going to be entirely a civil matter. Our usual advice is not to respond at all. SWR will probably write a couple more times and then give up, but the worst case scenario is that they can take the Matter to the civil courts but the process requires them to specifically advise you of that before they do so and at that point you could choose to respond. The most they can realistically ask the courts to award is the difference between the fares you paid and those you should have paid, and they cannot ask for administration fees on top. This approach also extends the time you would have to calculate and save the amount that you might eventually pay.

If you are particularly keen to respond, which we advise against, you should first calculate what the difference is between what you paid and what you should have paid using the appropriate fares for the date and time of travel (you might want to do this anyway to know where you potentially stand, no matter what). SWR have almost certainly used the highest fares for the full journey and therefore inflated what they believe you might owe.

Finally, and this should go without saying, give SWR a quick win on this and stop buying short fares - pay the correct fare for every journey going forward as if you get caught short faring they will have much more leverage over you.

I have responded to the first email, and they sent me a second asking for answers. See attached. They reviewed my travel data and are investigating. Again, never been caught short-faring on the train. last incident within 6months

Egg Centric said:
It's also crucial to know when the last incident was, or at least whether it was within the last six months or not. This is because even if you wish to do "the right thing" regardless of whether you face criminal jepoardy or not, there are different ways of calculating what you owe. So we need to know if there is a realistic prospect of criminal (as opposed to civil) action or not.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Aug 2026 ==

I'm considering owning up and acknowledging that I've short-faring, as I can't handle the anxiety of a looming investigation or prosecution, especially the burden on my family. I would use the money I saved to pay it back anyway (that was what I was trying to do), plus the admin fees. I've learnt my lesson and am not willing to risk this moving forward. Should I make a plea and ask to pay and close the matter? I'd be at the mercy of said investigator, or would I just be another fish they would fry? I have thought: get the money back, monitor my journeys for further infringements, and then move on to the next catch?

Haywain · 17 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
I have responded to the first email, and they sent me a second asking for answers.

My advice remains not to engage further with SWR at this time. While they may be able to seek the unpaid fares, they have no evidence at all unless you provide it, just their suspicions and assumptions. I would also add that if they are only contacting you by email it is likely that they don't even have your home address and without that they will have great difficulty in issuing any sort of court proceedings against you.

4n0nM4n said:
They reviewed my travel data and are investigating.

Investigating, in this case, means asking you questions and hoping you tell them more than they actually know.

4n0nM4n said:
last incident within 6months

That doesn't matter - without evidence they cannot hope to bring forward a successful criminal prosecution, and that is what the 6 months refers to.

FWIW, based on the contents of the letter you have been paying £4.10 each time from Vauxhall to Waterloo, instead of the correct fare from Leatherhead of £10.50. Over 197 journeys that means you have underpaid your fares by £1260.80.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Aug 2026 ==

4n0nM4n said:
I'm considering owning up and acknowledging that I've short-faring, as I can't handle the anxiety of a looming investigation or prosecution, especially the burden on my family. I would use the money I saved to pay it back anyway (that was what I was trying to do), plus the admin fees. I've learnt my lesson and am not willing to risk this moving forward. Should I make a plea and ask to pay and close the matter? I'd be at the mercy of said investigator, or would I just be another fish they would fry? I have thought: get the money back, monitor my journeys for further infringements, and then move on to the next catch?

I reiterate my comments above. I do not make these comments because of any approval of what you've been doing but because train companies need to follow an appropriate process if they believe there is money to recover. Sending emails to random people they've found through data trawls is fair enough to scare them into paying the correct fare in future but not as a means of recovering money they cannot prove is owed to them.

Egg Centric · 17 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
I have responded to the first email, and they sent me a second asking for answers. See attached. They reviewed my travel data and are investigating. Again, never been caught short-faring on the train. last incident within 6months

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Aug 2026 ==

I'm considering owning up and acknowledging that I've short-faring, as I can't handle the anxiety of a looming investigation or prosecution, especially the burden on my family. I would use the money I saved to pay it back anyway (that was what I was trying to do), plus the admin fees. I've learnt my lesson and am not willing to risk this moving forward. Should I make a plea and ask to pay and close the matter? I'd be at the mercy of said investigator, or would I just be another fish they would fry? I have thought: get the money back, monitor my journeys for further infringements, and then move on to the next catch?

Based on your stated preferences of wanting to make things right I would wait the six months then reopen correspondence with a view to paying back what you stole (but no more, which is what you may end up paying otherwise).

However note that if you ignore this you will almost certainly have to pay nothing (as they can't prove anything to the criminal standard and don't seem to be issuing civil claims except against those who incriminate themselves) and can eg give this money to a foodbank or something.

Haywain · 17 Aug 2026

Egg Centric said:
Based on your stated preferences of wanting to make things right I would wait the six months then reopen correspondence with a view to paying back what you stole (but no more, which is what you may end up paying otherwise).

Six months is utterly irrelevant to this case as there is absolutely no chance of a criminal prosecution being brought.

gembercannelle · 17 Aug 2026

@4n0nM4n in their emails to you, have they ever addressed you by your legal name?

If not, you can safely assume that they don't know it. My advice would be to stop short faring, and donate what you owe (or saved) to a charity of your choice.
If you seriously consider "engaging with their investigation" I would strongly advice to watch "Don't talk to the police" lecture that was helpfully highlighted in a similar thread: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/fraud-accusation.305038/page-2#post-7880670

Egg Centric · 17 Aug 2026

Haywain said:
Six months is utterly irrelevant to this case as there is absolutely no chance of a criminal prosecution being brought.

If the OP confesses in writing to the investigators I don't think we can confidently say that.

Haywain · 17 Aug 2026

Egg Centric said:
If the OP confesses in writing to the investigators I don't think we can confidently say that.

Even with a written confession I am pretty confident of it. But what is more important is that we never see cases going to criminal courts where the first contact has been an email or letter.

Egg Centric · 17 Aug 2026

Haywain said:
Even with a written confession I am pretty confident of it. But what is more important is that we never see cases going to criminal courts where the first contact has been an email or letter.

That's true but we don't see many cases of people singing like a canary and then arguing about the price (which OP is likely to have to do unless he/she wants to pay back multiples of what they stole) within the six months - I can't think of a case in fact although there probably has been one. Generally people don't want to pay up if they can avoid it!

I do agree it's probable that they wouldn't get around to prosecuting in time but it's definitely not fanciful.

Blaine · 17 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
My main objective now is to deal with this properly,

They are fishing. Don't respond to them anymore, buy your tickets from a different retailer, and stop cheating from here on in.

Haywain · 17 Aug 2026

Egg Centric said:
That's true but we don't see many cases of people singing like a canary and then arguing about the price (which OP is likely to have to do unless he/she wants to pay back multiples of what they stole) within the six months - I can't think of a case in fact although there probably has been one. Generally people don't want to pay up if they can avoid it!

So, regardless of the last sentence, the best advice is to say nothing.

4n0nM4n · 20 Aug 2026

Blaine said:
They are fishing. Don't respond to them anymore, buy your tickets from a different retailer, and stop cheating from here on in.

Egg Centric said:
That's true but we don't see many cases of people singing like a canary and then arguing about the price (which OP is likely to have to do unless he/she wants to pay back multiples of what they stole) within the six months - I can't think of a case in fact although there probably has been one. Generally people don't want to pay up if they can avoid it!

I do agree it's probable that they wouldn't get around to prosecuting in time but it's definitely not fanciful.

I really appreciate your responses as it's helped me deal with this. I've reached out to two solicitors, one looking to charge £2500+VAT upfront (no Public funding available). I mean, I've only called to get an understanding. I'm not quite sure what to expect from them; I will admit there could be some scaremongering to ensure there's no criminal record. I'm still just not sure what to do here. SWR investigators have my personal email address, which is my first name and surname, so a Google search and social media searches could easily lead you to the conclusion and also escalate said investigation. Again, there's no proof of fare evasion except the list of inconsistencies they are awaiting in my response, and no response; it could be that they decide to chase. I mean, the total of my fare evasion plus admin fees is around the £2500 mark, and with solicitor help, £5k. I mean im still don't want to just hand myself over to them, as I could be made an example of, or that's my anxiety speaking. Here's a letter I drafted. Or are you still adamant about no further communication? I'm aware this is not legal advice; I just respect your opinion on the matter.

Ref: SWREMG----------

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your email and for providing the spreadsheet.

I have carefully reviewed the journeys you identified and completed the requested information to the best of my ability, based on the records available to me.

Where I could establish the actual origin and destination of a journey, I have provided it. Where I cannot reliably establish the details of a particular journey given the time that has passed, I have indicated this rather than provide information that may be inaccurate.

Having reviewed the information, I recognise that your investigation identified journeys for which the ticket purchased did not cover the entire journey. I understand that it was my responsibility to ensure I had the correct ticket for my full journey.

I am very sorry that this occurred and I take the matter seriously. I have taken this as an important lesson and will ensure that I purchase and hold the correct ticket covering my full journey going forward.

I would like to cooperate fully with SWR and put the matter right. I would therefore be extremely grateful if you would consider allowing me to resolve this matter by way of an administrative/out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the outstanding fares relating to the journeys identified together with SWR's administrative costs, and I am in a position to make the agreed payment promptly.

I hope you will consider my cooperation, willingness to reimburse the fares due, and commitment to ensuring this does not happen again when deciding how to resolve the matter.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond and for considering my request.

Kind regards,

4n0nm4n

WesternLancer · 20 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
I really appreciate your responses as it's helped me deal with this. I've reached out to two solicitors, one looking to charge £2500+VAT upfront (no Public funding available). I mean, I've only called to get an understanding. I'm not quite sure what to expect from them; I will admit there could be some scaremongering to ensure there's no criminal record. I'm still just not sure what to do here. SWR investigators have my personal email address, which is my first name and surname, so a Google search and social media searches could easily lead you to the conclusion and also escalate said investigation. Again, there's no proof of fare evasion except the list of inconsistencies they are awaiting in my response, and no response; it could be that they decide to chase. I mean, the total of my fare evasion plus admin fees is around the £2500 mark, and with solicitor help, £5k. I mean im still don't want to just hand myself over to them, as I could be made an example of, or that's my anxiety speaking. Here's a letter I drafted. Or are you still adamant about no further communication? I'm aware this is not legal advice; I just respect your opinion on the matter.

Ref: SWREMG----------

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your email and for providing the spreadsheet.

I have carefully reviewed the journeys you identified and completed the requested information to the best of my ability, based on the records available to me.

Where I could establish the actual origin and destination of a journey, I have provided it. Where I cannot reliably establish the details of a particular journey given the time that has passed, I have indicated this rather than provide information that may be inaccurate.

Having reviewed the information, I recognise that your investigation identified journeys for which the ticket purchased did not cover the entire journey. I understand that it was my responsibility to ensure I had the correct ticket for my full journey.

I am very sorry that this occurred and I take the matter seriously. I have taken this as an important lesson and will ensure that I purchase and hold the correct ticket covering my full journey going forward.

I would like to cooperate fully with SWR and put the matter right. I would therefore be extremely grateful if you would consider allowing me to resolve this matter by way of an administrative/out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the outstanding fares relating to the journeys identified together with SWR's administrative costs, and I am in a position to make the agreed payment promptly.

I hope you will consider my cooperation, willingness to reimburse the fares due, and commitment to ensuring this does not happen again when deciding how to resolve the matter.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond and for considering my request.

Kind regards,

4n0nm4n

Before what follows I note other advice here saying not to engage with them - but of course that's your choice - and if you do wish to engage with them, people will no doubt comment on your draft letter

If you are minded to use a solicitor (and this may not be necessary) - I would seek other quotes than the one for the sum you have mentioned

Have you seen the list of firms often mentioned on here to seek quotes from?

If not it is as below (4 firms that other people on the forum have over time reported that they have used for fare evasion work - I have no connection with any of these firms nor have ever used them myself):

Manak Solicitors

Fare Evasion Solicitors | Kent & London | Manak Solicitors

manaksolicitors.co.uk

Makwanas

Fare Evasion Solicitors London | High Success Rate | TFL Solicitors

www.makwanas.co.uk

http://www.grayhooperholt.co.uk/default.asp?id=30

https://penmansedgwick.com/fare-evasion/

furlong · 20 Aug 2026

That quote seems very high for this. They might have quoted for a worst case rather than the normal case. The question to ask is how many cases they have settled previously with this train company. You'll see lots of threads on here that managed to settle without a solicitor - by sending a letter similar to the one you already drafted. A solicitor can help you present legal arguments that may lead to a lower settlement than you'd pay without their help, but paying their fee may still leave you worse off overall.

Haywain · 20 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
. I've reached out to two solicitors, one looking to charge £2500+VAT upfront (no Public funding available).

No, there will not be any public funding available to you but do not pay £2500 as that is over the top. You should expect to be paying in the order of £800 to £1200.

gembercannelle · 21 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
I'm still just not sure what to do here. SWR investigators have my personal email address, which is my first name and surname, so a Google search and social media searches could easily lead you to the conclusion and also escalate said investigation. Again, there's no proof of fare evasion except the list of inconsistencies they are awaiting in my response, and no response; it could be that they decide to chase.

Your personal email address cannot be considered a proof of identity. People use all sort of aliases for many reasons, as well as Facebook account data does not need to match your passport. If you are really worried, your first point of call - before you respond to SWR - should be one of the solicitors mentioned on this thread. They should hopefully be able to put your mind at rest.
I would still advice do not reply, stop short-faring, and change your ticketing engine to something else. Get a new email address.

WesternLancer · 21 Aug 2026

gembercannelle said:
Your personal email address cannot be considered a proof of identity. People use all sort of aliases for many reasons, as well as Facebook account data does not need to match your passport. If you are really worried, your first point of call - before you respond to SWR - should be one of the solicitors mentioned on this thread. They should hopefully be able to put your mind at rest.
I would still advice do not reply, stop short-faring, and change your ticketing engine to something else. Get a new email address.

on the general point probably cheaper to pay what SWR might ask for than pay the solicitor fee - given the quote the OP had cited (which I agree was a high one)

Not disagreeing with the rest of your advice.

Blaine · 22 Aug 2026

4n0nM4n said:
. I've reached out to two solicitors, one looking to charge £2500+VAT upfront (no Public funding available).

£3000 is a lot to pay to be told what you've been told here for free many times - do not respond any further with them, there is nothing more they can do with the evidence they have unless you tell them information they can use to prosecute you, and they can't catch you doing it in the future if you behave from now on. Every move from this point on other than silence goes against you. Change ticket retailers, and don't do anything illegal from now on.

If you're stressed, spend the £3k and the money you've saved on a lovely holiday...

SWR investigation – historical short-faring / advice on likely outcome

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