Chiltern expired railcard

[224434]

Hi all,

I was travelling from High Wycombe to London Marylebone on Tuesday and was stopped by an inspector. I was asked to show my ticket and then my railcard, to which the inspector told me it was expired and that I would be prosecuted. I had not realised this was the case. It was a 4 year railcard that I got in 2019, and expired in October, I received no reminders to renew it but I should have checked myself - this was a genuine oversight. I had no intention of travelling with an invalid ticket, and would like to repay all fares that I had unknowingly not paid in full since.

I have researched extensively since and understand I am due a letter asking me to explain myself. I have also called Chiltern's customer service line and they suggested emailing Chiltern's fraud team directly. My question is, should I wait for the letter to explain myself and offer to repay, or email directly right now as the customer service team suggested. Thank you.

 

[Nova1]

Wait for the letter to come before you do anything.

 

[John R]

It is worth making a list of all the journeys that you've taken and paid for through online transactions, as these are likely to be investigated too. (Although you shouldn't incriminate yourself, so if the letter only talks about the one occasion then there is no need to mention it).

When you respond, in an appropriately contrite and apologetic manner, requesting an out of court settlement, hopefully you will get a positive response. Unfortunately, it is common for rail companies to ask for the full anytime single fare for each journey they identify, with no offset for anything already paid. (There does appear to be some variation on this, but it is worth budgeting for the worst). In addition, they will typically add an admin fee of around £150 to cover their costs in handling with this type of situation.

 

[spag23]

A. Buy a new Railcard now (if not already done)
B. Set a reliable reminder alert of its expiry
C. When you reply to their letter, mention you've done A and B.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

We are seeing lots of cases like this at the moment. There's nothing to be gained by emailing the Prosecutions Department, the chances are they won't be dealing with your case themselves because Chiltern tend to pass cases like this to a company called Transport Investigations Limited to deal with on their behalf. Appreciate you want to deal with the situation as quickly as possible but you really just need to wait for their letter.

The letter will take a few weeks to arrive, and when it does it is importan tthat you respond before the deadline. I suggest covering the following points in your reply:

- 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

Chiltern/TIL are normally prepared to offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before. We can't guarantee that and they are within their rights to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court shoukd they wish to do so.

One thing to be aware of is that Chiltern/TIL will research your online ticket purchasing history and they will probably ask you about other joruneys you have made when the railcard had expired. There is no requirement to incriminate yourself so if they don't ask about other journeys in their letter I wouldn't mention them, but if they do refer to pther journeys then my advice would be as helpful as possible. Also, with TIL it's often necessary to send two letters to them to secure a settlement so don't worry if your initial reply to them results in another letter asking for further comments.

If you are offered a settlement the amount varies depending on the train company and circumstances but tend to be around £150 plus the outstanding fares. An out of court settlement might appear to be a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of accepting one. Be prepared for the outstanding fare to be charged as the full Anytime fare, with no account taken for the tickets you did purchase.

Feel free to post a copy of the letter once it arrives (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply in this thread and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.