£700 fine for short journey fraud

[jemimamcm]

Hello! I am a 19 year old student who travels via train to get to college each day. Recently I got fined. I had no mobile data to purchase my ticket before hand so used the WiFi on the train to buy it- as I was paying for this a ticket conductor said I was getting fined as I had not purchased it before getting on the train. I payed the fine but (after tracking my account) they have now pulled me up on tickets dating back to January of 2023 amounting to £700. I am on a bursary and the college is supposed to pay for my transport but were often late sending payments and left me in the position where I had little money to get my ticket. Due to this, I would purchase a ticket from the next stop after mine, this ticket being £5 less (the 2 stations are 5 mins away from each other) I had been doing this consistently until I got a job and I am now able to pay for the proper ticket. I know I am in the wrong and was purchasing the wrong ticket but I cannot afford to pay £700. I was wondering what would happen if I go to court to fight this. Would they take into account my financial situation? Could they set up a payment plan? I am able to pay out a lump sum each week but not a full £700 within 5 days like they are asking. I really don’t want this to effect my future by having a criminal record under fraud and am very stressed lol. Any advice would be a huge help

 

[SuspectUsual]

Can you show us the paperwork you’ve received please? Make sure you cover up your name and address and the reference number

 

[z444z]

We also need to know the details of the “fine” you’ve paid, was this a penalty fare? What date was this? If you still have the penalty fare notice it would be helpful to see that.

 

[Spaceship323]

-------------------- There is legally a six month limit on prosecution and as you've already paid for the occasion you were caught the train company will have no real evidence that you used "moody" tickets - certainly not for a fraud case.

EDITED - Op said "recently" so question not relevant

 

[reb0118]

In purely financial terms it may, depending on circumstances, be better to be convicted and fined by a court of law than to pay an administrative penalty directly to the railway company concerned.

Why, because a court will take your financial situation into account and may, probably will, allow you to pay in installments. Thus making it easier to manage.

The railway generally wants its money up front with no payment plan possible.

However, and this is an important caveat, a conviction at court will result in a criminal record - but how onerous that would be to your life, well only you can judge. Generally, although serious, these matters are never as serious as you may think and most people, as long as they don't repeat them, go on to live their lives without any long term consequences.

That said, if possible, take the settlement over a conviction if you are able.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello! I am a 19 year old student who travels via train to get to college each day. Recently I got fined. I had no mobile data to purchase my ticket before hand so used the WiFi on the train to buy it- as I was paying for this a ticket conductor said I was getting fined as I had not purchased it before getting on the train. I payed the fine but (after tracking my account) they have now pulled me up on tickets dating back to January of 2023 amounting to £700. I am on a bursary and the college is supposed to pay for my transport but were often late sending payments and left me in the position where I had little money to get my ticket. Due to this, I would purchase a ticket from the next stop after mine, this ticket being £5 less (the 2 stations are 5 mins away from each other) I had been doing this consistently until I got a job and I am now able to pay for the proper ticket. I know I am in the wrong and was purchasing the wrong ticket but I cannot afford to pay £700. I was wondering what would happen if I go to court to fight this. Would they take into account my financial situation? Could they set up a payment plan? I am able to pay out a lump sum each week but not a full £700 within 5 days like they are asking. I really don’t want this to effect my future by having a criminal record under fraud and am very stressed lol. Any advice would be a huge help

Who are ‘they’?
A railway company? If so which one.
Or a court?

 

[johnny_t]

Obviously you shouldn't lie when responding, but it isn't really so far fetched that, if the two stations are pretty close together, that a healthy young student wouldn't walk to the other one to save a fiver. They would be very unlikely to have any proof to the contrary.

 

[WesternLancer]

I see op states location as Telford. This may be West Midlands railway. WMR. Possibly an out of court settlement offer which includes previous evasion detected.

Not a fine but the total of fares they believe were not paid in the first place which they are now seeking.

I seem to recall that we have seen WMR accept payments by instalments in a few previous cases.

That would be better in my view than letting it go to court which could result in a criminal record that the OP could do without.

If the op can share the paperwork received (with all personal details and ref numbers etc blanked out) for us to see we can help OP understand clearly what options they have and help with any reply to the letter to see if they can get the best outcome possible.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

I had no mobile data to purchase my ticket before hand so used the WiFi on the train to buy it

Slightly off topic, but not having "mobile data" and relying on public WiFi is something I see come up occasionally here and in other contexts, particularly among young people, and I find utterly baffling. There are mobile plans available with huge or even unlimited amounts of mobile data for very little money, a couple of pounds a month more than plans with little / no data. My provider does, for example, 60Gb for £10 and your social media is included and doesn't even come out of that allowance. In fact, that plan with a substantial amount of data is cheaper than some plans with very limited data. There's really no need to "run out" of data every month and rely on WiFi.

 

[blimmo]

There are mobile plans available with huge or even unlimited amounts of mobile data for very little money, a couple of pounds a month more than plans with little / no data.

I wouldn't be too quick to say this. I have a mobile plan with 250mb a month (I would class this as "little" data) and I pay... £0 a month (this is not PAYG). If you can find me a deal for only a couple of pounds more than that I would very much like to hear about it!

 

[John R]

We also have people claiming that the 4G signal was non-existent whilst travelling through big cities, which meant they had no means of buying a ticket until turning up at their arrival station and seeing a manned gateline.

Both immediately fail the “smell test” in terms of credibility of story, and more to the point, I would imagine those reading such excuses in investigation offices will have a similarly jaundiced view of them, which may not help them be convinced the writer is being honest.

 

[blimmo]

I think we need to know what the OP means by "I payed the fine". If that was a penalty fare for that specific case of fare evasion where they were caught and they haven't been caught since, their negotiating position is a lot stronger.

 

[AlterEgo]

If the OP has paid a penalty fare for the time they were caught then this matter has been disposed of and a prosecution for historic offences is essentially impossible. No comment and do not reply.

 

[Lemmy99uk]

I wouldn't be too quick to say this. I have a mobile plan with 250mb a month (I would class this as "little" data) and I pay... £0 a month (this is not PAYG). If you can find me a deal for only a couple of pounds more than that I would very much like to hear about it!

I’m currently with Lebara and pay £1.65 a month for 30GB and unlimited texts/calls. The plan increases to £6 in 6 months time but I am not tied into it and can move to another cheap provider if I wish.

 

[z444z]

None of this discussion about mobile data is in any way helpful to the OP, and in any case they may have meant they had no reception, not that they didn’t have a mobile data plan or had run out.

 

[WesternLancer]

Slightly off topic, but not having "mobile data" and relying on public WiFi is something I see come up occasionally here and in other contexts, particularly among young people, and I find utterly baffling. There are mobile plans available with huge or even unlimited amounts of mobile data for very little money, a couple of pounds a month more than plans with little / no data. My provider does, for example, 60Gb for £10 and your social media is included and doesn't even come out of that allowance. In fact, that plan with a substantial amount of data is cheaper than some plans with very limited data. There's really no need to "run out" of data every month and rely on WiFi.

To be honest - what is described in the first post will have looked like 'pay when challenged' action - ie buying a ticket when the inspector comes into view, and the OP then admits to a record of short faring which has come to light on investigation.

We need to know more precisely what has actually happened from the point on the train when the OP interacted with the inspector, what paperwork they were issued with at that point and what letters or e-mails they have had since.

 

[island]

I had no mobile data to purchase my ticket before hand so used the WiFi on the train to buy it

Why didn't you buy a ticket at the station ticket office/machine before boarding?

I am a 19 year old student who travels via train to get to college each day.

Why don't you get a season ticket?