Caught with child ticket as an adult

[imintrouble]

Hi all, I was pretty stupid and continued to use child tickets after I turned 16. I got caught at 18. I regret my decisions so much but now I just need advice. Over the past 2 years I’ve made about 60 short journeys (Solihull to Birmingham) the fare is typically 4.80. The woman taking my details told me my account would be investigated and I would be charged for all the times I’ve done this. I have read previous posts on this and I don’t want a criminal record so I was ready to pay an out of court settlement. I’ve just received my letter however they seem to have only fined me for the one journey. If I pay this do I need to respond to this letter, and is the investigation still undergoing or have I been let off easy as I expected to have to pay way more.
Attached is the letter I was sent

 

[Egg Centric]

Hi all, I was pretty stupid and continued to use child tickets after I turned 16. I got caught at 18. I regret my decisions so much but now I just need advice. Over the past 2 years I’ve made about 60 short journeys (Solihull to Birmingham) the fare is typically 4.80. The woman taking my details told me my account would be investigated and I would be charged for all the times I’ve done this. I have read previous posts on this and I don’t want a criminal record so I was ready to pay an out of court settlement. I’ve just received my letter however they seem to have only fined me for the one journey. If I pay this do I need to respond to this letter,

No

and is the investigation still undergoing or have I been let off easy as I expected to have to pay way more.
Attached is the letter I was sent

Based on our experience, it's quite possible the investigation is still ongoing but if you pay this then you can essentially ignore any threats of criminal proceedings regarding the rest of it. It is possible they may attempt the civil route but relatively unlikely, again based on what we've seen so far.

In the circumstances as described by far the best thing to do is pay this immediately, to keep this letter (you don't need to respond to it if you pay) and a receipt for payment (which you should get from the website) for at least six months, if paranoid six years, and if they do get in touch again then to come here with the correspondence before acknowledging or responding to it in any way.

(And obviously stop bunking fares. A 16-25 railcard may help depending on when you travel as may various season tickets. More bespoke advice is available in the fares advice subforum )

 

[imintrouble]

Thank you so much will do that immediately!!

 

[Haywain]

If I pay this do I need to respond to this letter, and is the investigation still undergoing or have I been let off easy as I expected to have to pay way more.

No, just pay it and get this out of the way. WMR will probably write to you in due course asking you to pay for more journeys but they will have closed this case and therefore have no leverage to bring a prosecution.

 

[jumble]

No, just pay it and get this out of the way. WMR will probably write to you in due course asking you to pay for more journeys but they will have closed this case and therefore have no leverage to bring a prosecution.

I am under the impression as per a recent post that WMR has been instructed by DFTO not to send speculative threatening letters any more

 

[Haywain]

I am under the impression as per a recent post that WMR has been instructed by DFTO not to send speculative threatening letters any more

I have no idea but if they don't then the OP will have nothing to worry about.

 

[WesternLancer]

If this is West Midlands railway we have seen numerous cases on here of them coming back seperatly but often within six months for money associated with other evasion.

So the op should watch out for keepers e mail and check spam over the next year at least and come back here if they are contacted so they can get more advice as needed.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

It's a shame you didn't just apply for the 16-17 saver that you were entitled to. Would have meant paying child fares until you turned 18 anyway!

Get yourself a Railcard to minimise costs, and pay your settlement pronto.