Caught without valid railcard

[Skimpot flyer]

Hard as it is to do, try not to let this issue overcome you. It will get resolved, most likely with the offer of an out-of-court settlement.
Yes, they could prosecute you for the occasion on which you were caught. But I think their main focus is in recovering the revenue they lost. A court appearance could result in a fine, but Northern would not receive a penny of that fine. Whereas if they come to a settlement, they’d get £337.60 to cover the lost revenue and their costs.
If you show remorse and cooperate fully, with a suitable letter, I believe the fact you’ve now bought a railcard will stand you in good stead towards securing an offer.
Personally, I’d write-off the tickets that may have been for journeys actually made by your girlfriend, and chalk it up as the price of making this go away via a settlement offer.

The benefit of life experience is that you learn not to stress over things you cannot control. The rail company will write to you in due course; start saving and start thinking of any delay as a positive; it gives you time to get the funds together. If an offer is made, it would usually be payable in one hit, possibly within 14 days of the offer.

 

[MotCO]

Wait
Easy for me to say, I agree, but don’t engage with them until they write to you, just plan what you’re going to say for now.

Yes, just wait for the letter, then you can set out your case logically and clearly, from start to finish, in one go, removing any confusion (e.g. re your girlfriend's railcard) and addressing all the points they raise.

 

[JTOM123]

Hi all some rather good news I’ve had a email of the northern rail drpu and it says this

Thank you for your email. This matter has been assessed and the fixed penalty sent to you on 27 September stands.



Please make this payment to prevent this matter from proceeding.



Yours Sincerely

DRPU

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Oct 2024 ==

So will the letter be due any day now as they sent it on the 27th?

 

[notmyrealname]

Other people are experiencing delays as well at the moment, the forum guys think it's Royal Mail.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all some rather good news I’ve had a email of the northern rail drpu and it says this

Thank you for your email. This matter has been assessed and the fixed penalty sent to you on 27 September stands.



Please make this payment to prevent this matter from proceeding.



Yours Sincerely

DRPU

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Oct 2024 ==

So will the letter be due any day now as they sent it on the 27th?

Yes, watch out for their letter in the next few days and it will have instructions in it as to what to do - ie how to pay this. If you don't receive the letter in about a week get back to them and ask them to send it again / send it by e-mail. They require prompt payment so this is important.

A Northern 'Fixed Penalty Notice' is essentially a type of out of court settlement they offer which for a standard sum (usually £100) plus probably the cost of the train fare on the day (or maybe including other fares too) resolves the matter without them prosecuting you. This then closes the matter.

When you get it you can ask for any further advice here if anything unclear.

I suspect you will want to simply pay this, and that will hopefully be the end of the matter. But be sure to keep proof of payment and copies of everything they send you and what you have sent them as well as proof of payment, just in case anything needed in future - and keep them long term - at least a year but probably longer.

You'll need to be sure to always have the right train ticket on you for future travel as your details will be in their data base now so any errors in the future risk them thinking you have 'not learned from this' and it might mean on a future occasion their is an increased risk of a heavier sanction - so if ever in doubt about a ticket ask staff before boarding a train - eg at a ticket office for example.

Another piece of advice would be if you ever get questioned about a ticket and they want to issue you with a Penalty Fare there and then - it's better to take that option as it has a proper right of appeal (these Fixed Penalty Notices do not have a right of appeal - you either pay them or go to court to argue about it - best avoided), and would only be £50 if paid promptly.

 

[JTOM123]

Many thanks I’ll leave it till Monday and if the letter has Not arrived I will email them again.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Oct 2024 ==

Hi all just receive the letter it’s asking for £106.70 which is a lot less than I was expecting should I just pay it and have done with it ?

 

[WesternLancer]

Many thanks I’ll leave it till Monday and if the letter has Not arrived I will email them again.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Oct 2024 ==

Hi all just receive the letter it’s asking for £106.70 which is a lot less than I was expecting should I just pay it and have done with it ?

probably - but if you want to, upload a copy of the letter for ppl to check what it says and eg see if it fully concludes the matter if you pay it (but remove or obscure any personal details / ref numbers before you upload it)

negotiated out of court settlements usually have c£150 admin fee on them plus the fare - so this is already lower than that.

 

[jfollows]

Many thanks I’ll leave it till Monday and if the letter has Not arrived I will email them again.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Oct 2024 ==

Hi all just receive the letter it’s asking for £106.70 which is a lot less than I was expecting should I just pay it and have done with it ?

It should be even less (https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/legal/fines-penalties):

A Penalty Fare Notice may be issued if a passenger gets on a train without a ticket or Promise to Pay Notice at a station where ticket-buying facilities are available. A Penalty Fare is £100 plus the price of the appropriate single fare for your intended journey. However, if it is paid within 21 days, the Penalty Fare is reduced to £50 plus the price of the single fare

 

[WesternLancer]

It should be even less (https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/legal/fines-penalties):

But this isn't a Penalty Fare - and OP said they maybe did 30 trips without valid railcard. So more likely one of Northern's 'Fixed Penalty Notices' in lieu of out of court settlement or prosecution? (hence why handy to see the letter / reply that the OP has received)

"..was stopped by staff on my exit .... after being stopped I panicked and said I left it at home but I didn’t I just didn’t want to cause a fuss .....I don’t have a valid student railcard although I am a student I believe I could have made this ticket error quite a lot of times maybe around 30-40 "

 

[JTOM123]

So am I all good then I’ll pay this

 

[WesternLancer]

So am I all good then I’ll pay this

Ideally I'd like to see the wording of what they have sent you before answering that with my final view... but ultimately it is of course your call as you have seen all the advice up to now and you have the letter from them.

 

[JTOM123]

This is the letter

 

[jfollows]

But this isn't a Penalty Fare - and OP said they maybe did 30 trips without valid railcard. So more likely one of Northern's 'Fixed Penalty Notices' in lieu of out of court settlement or prosecution? (hence why handy to see the letter / reply that the OP has received)

Sorry, yes, but even at £100 + fare it sounds like the best outcome for the original poster.

 

[WesternLancer]

This is the letter

Thanks - so yes a Northern 'Fixed Penalty' - I would pay this and keep proof of payment safe long term, along with all paperwork / messages you have.

As I understand it what they are saying is that they can prosecute for the one offence where they stopped you and if you do not pay this they will do that. That would end up costing you more, plus you would get a criminal record. By paying it you can avoid that and it closes the matter of that incident.

For your further info:

You also mentioned previous times when you may have travelled without the valid railcard - they are not asking about those occasions nor seeking money back for those trips. To prosecute you they would have to do that within 6 months of the date of one of those offences, and they would have to prove you actually travelled with those tickets - which is more difficult to do than prosecuting you for the occasion when you were stopped.

In theory they could do some data trawl of your previous tickets and come back to you and say for example 'we have now looked further into your ticket purchasing and think you did not pay the correct fare on x other occasion and we would like you to pay for those journeys' or some such wording - but I don't think we typically see Northern doing that (some other Trian companies do it however), and some people advise that if 6 moths have elapsed simply ignore such requests. I don't think this will happen here, but if it did, come back here for appropriate advice.

So I would suggest that you pay this sum which should close the matter detailed and prevent you being prosecuted.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Oct 2024 ==

This is the letter

I'd obscure their ref number on that letter too

 

[JTOM123]

I have deleted the letter from the post as it is now resolved many thanks for all your guys help.