Fine for a railcard that said pending although I purchased a ticked

I purchased a monthly rail pass for Merseyrail on 14.08.26 starting the 17.08.26. I have had it scanned on 01.09.26 and been told there’s no ticket, however a week before it was fine and scanned with no issue.

When I was advised I’d receive a fine I refused and showed proof of purchase through Merseyrail online. I then had my railcard removed from me and I requested a refund for the second half of the month that I now no longer can use as I don’t have my railcard and I was told that Merseyrail own it so I can’t have it. Once I got off the train I contacted Mersey travel and the other available contacts re enforcements and tickets with proof of purchase and noting down what happened. They have since come back and advised that I should receive the fine and that it’s an out of court settlement that I would have to pay.

I don’t see it fair that I firstly haven’t been given a refund and secondly have been issued a fine. Is there anything I can do to fight it?

jasminebren said:

as I don’t have my railcard and I was told that Merseyrail own it so I can’t have it

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Did they say anything to you about them thinking the railcard is fraudulent/fake? They are correct as per Railcard T&C though, they can seize your railcard for any reason at any time

2.2. The Railcard does not become your property and, if requested:

2.2.1. You must hand it to a representative of any of the Train Companies, if you have a physical Railcard.

2.2.2. You must remove it from your mobile device if requested by a representative of any of the Train Companies, if you have a digital Railcard.

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jasminebren said:

I don’t see it fair that I firstly haven’t been given a refund and secondly have been issued a fine. Is there anything I can do to fight it?

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Please post everything you have received with your personal data and any reference number blacked out

No they didn’t say it was fraudulent they said I didn’t have a valid ticket as when they scanned it they said the ticket on the card was pending

jasminebren said:

I purchased a monthly rail pass for Merseyrail on 14.08.26 starting the 17.08.26. I have had it scanned on 01.09.26 and been told there’s no ticket, however a week before it was fine and scanned with no issue.

When I was advised I’d receive a fine I refused and showed proof of purchase through Merseyrail online. I then had my railcard removed from me and I requested a refund for the second half of the month that I now no longer can use as I don’t have my railcard and I was told that Merseyrail own it so I can’t have it. Once I got off the train I contacted Mersey travel and the other available contacts re enforcements and tickets with proof of purchase and noting down what happened. They have since come back and advised that I should receive the fine and that it’s an out of court settlement that I would have to pay.

I don’t see it fair that I firstly haven’t been given a refund and secondly have been issued a fine. Is there anything I can do to fight it?

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Railcards and rail passes are different things - just to be sure please can you clarify exactly what it is you had and what was taken from you.

A Railcard is usually a card that is valid for a year and gives a discount on rail fares

A rail pass sounds like some sort of season ticket.

Also, please see attached. I had activated the ticket using the card and have mentioned had it scanned by a conductor the week prior and it was fine.

signed said:

Did they say anything to you about them thinking the railcard is fraudulent/fake? They are correct as per Railcard T&C though, they can seize your railcard for any reason at any time

Railcard Terms & Conditions - 16-25 Railcard

A 16-25 Railcard costs just �30 and it'll save you 1/3 on rail fares throughout Great Britain for a whole year.

www.16-25railcard.co.uk

Please post everything you have received with your personal data and any reference number blacked out

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my hunch is we are not talking about a Railcard - but some sort of monthly season ticket.
Hopefully the OP can clarify

Sorry I mean a rail pass

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Thursday at 17:18 ==

This may also help for context

jasminebren said:

Also, please see attached. I had activated the ticket using the card and have mentioned had it scanned by a conductor the week prior and it was fine.

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Looks to me reading this that by refusing to accept the Penalty Fare (which would have had the right to Appeal within 21 days so is always a good idea to accept than to push back against I suspect, as well as being reduced to £50 if paid promptly) the matter was then escalated by the Inspector to a 'report for investigation' (as explained) and Merseyrail are now giving you the opportunity to resolve this by payment of what is an out of court settlement.

If you don't pay this they can take you to court for refusing to give your details, because that is an offence as mentioned in their reply to you - so they would win in court I suspect. That would result in a court fine likely more than the sum they are now asking you for.

Failure to pay that and it escalates to court bailiffs etc for the debt which is now a debt to the court

But my analysis might be wrong so do wait for others to comment and / or correct me.

So the question is why you clearly believe you activated the ticket (I'm not doubting you) - but they claim the ticket was not activated (by ticket I mean the Railpass)

Have you had one before and the activation process was one you were familiar with an it behaved as you expected when you tried to activate it?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Thursday at 17:29 ==

jasminebren said:

Sorry I mean a rail pass

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Thursday at 17:18 ==

This may also help for context

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others may know but I wonder if 'pending' means 'pending activation'? - which would also explain why the staff member on the train believed the ticket had not been activated presumably.

Best to wait for people who are familiar with Merseyrails ticketing options / process to join the thread who will know more - I'm sure people here will have that knowledge.

Maybe the conductor who scanned it the week before didn't actually scan it properly?

Railpass is a season ticket on smartcard that needs to be bought and activated before use.

From Merseyrail's ticket guide (https://www.merseyrail.org/tickets-passes/online-tickets/buy-merseyrail-only-railpass-online/)

Step 2​

• Once you have purchased your Merseyrail Only Railpass online, it will take up to 2 hours for your ticket to be ready for collection.
• You must collect your ticket before you travel by tapping your MetroCard on a platform validator or a ticket gate, otherwise you will be at risk of getting a penalty fare.
• Platform validators are at all Merseyrail stations except Liverpool Central, Hamilton Square and Chester. Ticket gates at Liverpool Central and Hamilton Square stations have the same ticket collection functionality, so you simply tap your Smartcard on the gate in the same way as you would a platform validator to collect your ticket.

Step 3​

• Once you have tapped your card on the platform validator, the screen will change to green and a message will pop up which will state the product which is now on your card.
• If the screen changes to red please try again ensuring you hold the Smartcard on the reader, if the screen is red again please speak to a member of station staff. You will need your proof of purchase to enable station staff to assist you.
• When you tap your card on a ticket gate the gate will open. This will also mean that your online ticket has been loaded onto your Smartcard for future journeys. If the ticket gate doesn't open when you tap your Smartcard please speak to a member of staff.

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So, to the OP, did you allow two hours from purchase before trying to collect your ticket? Did you tap on a standalone reader and did it turn green (or use the barriers at Liverpool Central or Hamilton Square)?

Were there any clues that the ticket wasn't working? Ticket gates not opening, for example?

You should reply referencing https://www.orr.gov.uk/independent-review-train-operators-revenue-protection-practices quoting the relevant parts about where there was a mistake made involving no loss to the railway and inviting them to reconsider.