Accidentally brought the wrong ticket

[dancelover2000]

Hi I was travelling to university on Monday and I had 22 minutes to wait till my next train so I went to leave leeds station to go get a drink and I got stopped by a train inspector person who scanned my ticket I had accidentally brought a child’s ticket (as a family member often uses my account for the train) and not realised I hadn’t changed it back as I was in a rush when I got on my first train he said it was more the fact that I was wanting to leave the station and he took my details and said i would receive a letter about it but didn’t mention about a fine but he did ask if I’m still planning to get the train which is on my ticket is this going to be a fine
thank you

 

[30907]

Can I just check: you were travelling from station A to station B via Leeds?
You had a ticket from A to B, but a child's ticket?

There's not much you can do at this stage, but Northern (or TPE, makes no difference) will write to you or email asking for an explanation and threatening you with prosecution.
The chances are that they will agree to settle out of court if you cooperate, BUT they will almost certainly investigate your travel history, and you will need to be able to explain those child fares (and possibly other things). There will be an admin fee to pay, plus fare money.

For now, wait for them to be in touch - and don't panic.

 

[dancelover2000]

Can I just check: you were travelling from station A to station B via Leeds?
You had a ticket from A to B, but a child's ticket?

There's not much you can do at this stage, but Northern (or TPE, makes no difference) will write to you or email asking for an explanation and threatening you with prosecution.
The chances are that they will agree to settle out of court if you cooperate, BUT they will almost certainly investigate your travel history, and you will need to be able to explain those child fares (and possibly other things). There will be an admin fee to pay, plus fare money.

For now, wait for them to be in touch - and don't panic.

Hi yes I was travelling from a to B via Leeds as a stop while I waited thank you

 

[John R]

I suspect it will be the purchase of other child tickets which may prove problematic here, as I imagine the investigator’s working assumption will be that you used those tickets and will seek to include them in any settlement offered.

So if nothing else I would suggest that you confine use of your account to tickets you are purchasing and travelling on going forward to avoid anything similar happening again.

 

[dancelover2000]

Okay thank you for letting me know i definitely won’t be letting anyone use my account in the future thank you

 

[AlterEgo]

Okay thank you for letting me know i definitely won’t be letting anyone use my account in the future thank you

Your problem is it seems unlikely to an investigator that with a load of child tickets on your account, it was just this one time - the one you got caught - that you travelled on a child ticket. It’s not that uncommon to buy tickets for other people; I do it all the time. But you do need to understand that the company may well be sceptical!

 

[dancelover2000]

I know thank you I just hope the fine won’t be too much as I do understand it’s my own mistake I’m just confused as I asked my he was taking my details and he said that it’ll all be explained in a letter I thought they would tell you about the fine then and there I must be mistaken thank you

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

Exiting the station to get a drink while changing trains isn't a problem but using a child ticket when you're not aged 15 or under is a problem.

Northern are entitled to prosecute you if they want to but they normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with their investigation and whi haven't come to their attention before.

What happens next is Northern will write to you in the next few weeks threatening prosecution but asking for your version of events before they decide how to proceed. I suggest a short, concise reply mentioning:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

As noted above the biggest issue you're going to have is convincing Northern that some of the tickets you purchased were used by a child. Think about how you are going to tell them this - for example, is there a pattern when these (or your) journeys were made that could differentiate them?

If you are offered an out of court settlement expect to have to pay the cost of the fare avoided at the full Anytime rate, with no credit given for the child ticket you did purchase. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically around £150. Paying a settlement might feel like a fine but technically it isn't - only a court can impose a fine as a punishment upon conviction, so you definitely don't want to be paying a fine!

You mention that you were on your way to university. One thing we often see with students is making sure they are able to access the letter they are sent. Are you living in student accommodation? What address did you give them and will you be able to receive post at this address, for example in the holidays?

When the letter arrives post a redacted copy of it in this thread along with your draft reply and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

 

[dancelover2000]

Thank you I’m living at home not at student accommodation so I gave them my home address I will post the letter on here when I receive it thank you

 

[Snow1964]

Okay thank you for letting me know i definitely won’t be letting anyone use my account in the future thank you

Having a family account is not a problem, having mixture of destinations and tickets for different railcards is perfectly acceptable. Might even be mix of types on same day if a family group was travelling together.

If your family genuinely has a child you would be able to reply stating that and giving evidence. However if your account history has a child ticket on the same journey then they will likely assume you might have bought the cheaper ticket on previous occasions. Clearly if your ticket purchasing account has more of a random mix of destinations and types on assorted dates then it is less likely that any regular previous journeys can be assumed than a single user buying repeat journey on multiple occasions.

You will need to wait for the letter (typically 3-7 weeks, but could be longer).

 

[dancelover2000]

Okay thank you just scared for the amount but I will just have to wait thank you

 

[WesternLancer]

Okay thank you just scared for the amount but I will just have to wait thank you

Best to save up for the amount you may be asked for - but they will play fair with you if you play fair and are honest and convincing with them and they believe you are doing so - this is what we see on this forum

Whilst you wait to hear from them I would be thoroughly checking your ticket order history, listing it out, checking with diaries and other family members if they travelled that day and asked you to buy a ticket etc (you have to think that in theory at least, they might need to be prepared to evidence this or potentially state it in a court - where lying in court is way more serious than being in court for fare evasion - in reality it would be very unlikely to come to that however, but you need to always think through to what the 'end game' of a narrative you explain to the railway could be)

 

[John R]

In terms of child tickets, it will certainly be helpful if none of those purchased (other than the day you were stopped) were for your journey between home and University. If they were then you will have more difficulty in convincing them that their use was legitimate.