Bought a ticket, left it at station, given a fine

[gaaaaah]

Hello.

Right, it's about time I actually did something about my nightmare commute and it starts with this. Wary about posting too many details but if any more info is needed let me know.

I commute every day with GreaterAnglia. As usual I bought a return ticket from my local station and left it there. Don't ask. It was a stupid mistake, and I realised once I'd got to my destination.

I approached the revenue collector and explained, who issued me with a fine and mentioned if I could provide a bank statement I could appeal and would get my money back and the fine dropped.

My appeal, and subsequent appeal have both been regected, depite showing proof of my original payment, fare fine and purchasing a new ticket to travel on. I now have to pay it. Their rationale was although I paid I didn't physically travel with the ticket.

Is there any way of appealing or taking this higher, perhaps to an ombudsman? I've asked for CCTV records so they can see me purchasing the ticket and then leaving it and not, as they claim, handing it over to someone else, but they refuse. I resent paying a fine when I'm regulary subjected to 15-25 minute delays (oh how convenient they're always under half an hour) and I'm sick to death of losing work and money because of their incompetence.

 

[NSEFAN]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

The fine you were given sounds like a penalty fare, is this correct? If so, the penalty fare is unlikely to be refunded as it exists for situations like this.

A fine is something which is issued by courts, but a penalty fare is really just another ticket type. It is issued when a passenger either doesn't have a ticket or has the wrong ticket for the journey they are making. It is there to penalise mistakes not actual fare evasion, hence I don't think you'll be able to get a refund for it.

 

[swt_passenger]

...and mentioned if I could provide a bank statement I could appeal and would get my money back and the fine dropped.

That sounds highly unlikely to be honest. I wonder if he wrongly assumed you had bought a season ticket and was actually describing the situation where a season ticket holder can have a penalty fare cancelled if he subsequently shows up with the evidence that he had a valid ticket at the time.

By the way, if you are travelling daily would you not be better off with a season anyway?

 

[jon0844]

Because you didn't have a ticket, you were effectively sold a replacement in the form of a penalty fare - which is a higher fare, but still classed as a fare rather than a specific punishment or fine.

I'd simply accept it as you had left your ticket behind for whatever reason, thus didn't have a ticket when you travelled. It's your mistake and it has now been dealt with. You've tried to appeal and it was rejected, so there's nothing more you can do now.

You don't have any fear of prosecution or a criminal record, so just leave it at that.

It is worth noting that if you were to get more PFs, you might find that a penalty fare won't be offered again once they notice previous ones have been given, but if this was a one-off incident then it's not a problem.

I would also agree with the suggestion that you buy some form of season ticket if you travel every day. I can't see any reason that someone travelling every day wouldn't get at the very least a weekly ticket, except perhaps the travel being solely off-peak - or on Oyster if the station is within the zones.