Caught buying short fare tickets on Chiltern

[XXXX]

Hi.

I am expecting a letter from Chiltern as I was caught buying a ticket as the inspector came, after buying one to get through the barriers. I do regrettably have a BAD history (on Trainline) which if checked will show I have done this around 40 times which I know is terrible. This is mixed in with other 40+ times over the span of a year where I have fully paid for my ticket for the full journey. Again, I do of course know this is SO wrong and haven’t been able to sleep in anticipation of how bad this is going to be. There is no excuse of course but I am a student and have a limited budget.

I have drafted a letter below for the letter does come. I am hoping I can get some advice/ guidance on it and if there have been any cases (potentially as bad as mine) where individuals have been able to settle out of court.

I am writing to apologise and take accountability for not travelling with a correct ticket on XXX and other fares I have avoided.

I honestly, deeply regret my actions and understand the severity of the consequences actions such as mine have for Chiltern railways and other railway companies. I have since always ensured I have a valid ticket for my full journey before boarding, as I should have always done, and will not be repeating this mistake again

I would be very grateful if you would allow me to settle this matter with Chiltern by paying all my dues as well as any administration fee that this investigation has incurred for you without court involvement. I again deeply apologise for my poor judgement and assure you of my willingness to cooperate with Chiltern to pay what I owe.

If you do agree to this, please may you send me a full breakdown of instances you believe I have fare evaded so I can check this with my own records.

Thank you for your consideration and time. Again I will never, ever repeat this again and can only hope you will be gracious enough to allow this to be settled out of court.

Regards,
XXXX

 

[SuspectUsual]

The single most important thing is to do nothing until they get in touch with you, and when they do, let us know what they say.

Your draft reply is obviously fessing up to multiple instances of short faring, but until you know that they know you've done this, there's no point in mentioning it

 

[XXXX]

The single most important thing is to do nothing until they get in touch with you, and when they do, let us know what they say.

Your draft reply is obviously fessing up to multiple instances of short faring, but until you know that they know you've done this, there's no point in mentioning it

Thank you - I won't send anything for the time being of course - will send the letter when it comes. I guess it's just a waiting game?

 

[SuspectUsual]

Thank you - I won't send anything for the time being of course - will send the letter when it comes. I guess it's just a waiting game?

Absolutely

You could go through other threads involving Chiltern over recent weeks and that might give you an idea of how long people are having to wait at the moment

 

[XXXX]

I do have a question on the purpose of a SJP and or NIP. Do they send them together or separately? Do you have to respond to the SJP - or can you email straight away asking for an out of court settlement. I realise it could be a while before/if I hear from them but I am quite worried

 

[SuspectUsual]

They are separate things

The NIP is the initial letter, asking for your comments on what they allege and often written in quite scary language (you can go to prison etc etc)

Based on your reply, they’ll either drop the case entirely, offer you a settlement, or decide to proceed to court. The SJP is one way (depending on what the charge is) that the court route can proceed

 

[XXXX]

Do chiltern mostly offer out of court settlements if you comply? I’m trying to weigh out my options

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Apr 2025 ==

They are separate things

The NIP is the initial letter, asking for your comments on what they allege and often written in quite scary language (you can go to prison etc etc)

Based on your reply, they’ll either drop the case entirely, offer you a settlement, or decide to proceed to court. The SJP is one way (depending on what the charge is) that the court route can proceed

Thanks so much for this btw

 

[Titfield]

Do chiltern mostly offer out of court settlements if you comply? I’m trying to weigh out my options

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Apr 2025 ==


Thanks so much for this btw

Based on the number of cases we see on this forum Chiltern seem to offer out of court settlements usually but they can take some persuading. Given your fare evasion is significant I would anticipate them taking some persuading.

 

[Hadders]

Chiltern will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with their investigation and who haven't come to their attention before. When their letter arrives post a redacted copy of it in this thread and we can assist with proof reading it for you.

Things to note:

• Chiltern will search your online ticket purchasing history and will factor the cost of all journeys made with invalid tickets into the settlement amount
• Expect to have to pay the cost of all the fares avoided at the full Anytime rate, with no credit given for invalid tickets purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically around £150
• The settlement normally has to be paid in full within a few days of it being offered. Payment in installments isn't normally allowed
• Given the number of times you've travelled with invalid tickets the settlement is likely to be very expensive so think now about how you can raise the money required to pay it
• It can sometimes take several weeks for Chiltern to get transaction data from the likes of Trainline so be prepared to have to wait