Cross Country prosecuting for £1700

[MuffinMerchant]

So quick timeline of events here for context:
Some time in November my phone screen was cracked and broken such that my digital Railcard couldn't be scanned, nor could the reference number be fully visible, so I was told by the member of staff on the train that they'd let me off.
On the 9th of January this year I was sent an email (that landed in my spam folder so I didn't see it) saying I had two weeks to provide proof of my Railcard, or further action would be taken.
Today, I got an email in my primary inbox saying that I have been investigated for fraud (??) and that I owe them £1414.10 for missing fares. This is very strange to me as even on the occasion where I couldn't provide my Railcard I had a valid physical ticket and I can prove via bank statements I've paid for tickets via trainline. The other £300 is supposedly for costs incurred on them during their investigation of my case, which seemingly couldn't have been that thorough for them to come up with that figure.
I've been given 3 weeks to pay this but the problem is that I have paid for all my tickets and was only caught without my Santander 18-25 savers card once or twice due to tech issues.

How I've replied:
I made an email to cross countries prosecution team, in which I provided my personal details, the reference numbers for both the initial Railcard request email and the following fraud claim email, apologized profusely, attached a screenshot of my digital Railcard, and offered to provide any further information (such as bank statements) if they need it to clear this up.
I'm obv very worried about being sued for this much money, especially given I haven't actually dodged any fares or had an invalid railcard ever, just one that was obscured by a faulty phone screen.

If anyone has any advice on how to handle from here, or any questions about what i did so I can clarify the situation further please let me know.

 

[John R]

Hopefully providing evidence of your railcard will now resolve this problem.

Having not received evidence of your railcard after asking, they will have assumed you don't have one, looked at your online account, and recalculated the fares you should have paid over a period based on full Anytime Single rates. These can be eyewateringly expensive for longer distance journeys, which is likely to be why the figure looks so high.

Come back here if they don't back off, and experts here can provide more assistance (but we will need copies of what both XC and you have written to date to do so.)

 

[MuffinMerchant]

Hopefully providing evidence of your railcard will now resolve this problem.

Having not received evidence of your railcard after asking, they will have assumed you don't have one, looked at your online account, and recalculated the fares you should have paid over a period based on full Anytime Single rates. These can be eyewateringly expensive for longer distance journeys, which is likely to be why the figure looks so high.

Come back here if they don't back off, and experts here can provide more assistance (but we will need copies of what both XC and you have written to date to do so.)

OK thanks a lot, I'll probably be back in a few days with some email transcripts if something goes wrong

 

[WesternLancer]

So quick timeline of events here for context:
Some time in November my phone screen was cracked and broken such that my digital Railcard couldn't be scanned, nor could the reference number be fully visible, so I was told by the member of staff on the train that they'd let me off.
On the 9th of January this year I was sent an email (that landed in my spam folder so I didn't see it) saying I had two weeks to provide proof of my Railcard, or further action would be taken.
Today, I got an email in my primary inbox saying that I have been investigated for fraud (??) and that I owe them £1414.10 for missing fares. This is very strange to me as even on the occasion where I couldn't provide my Railcard I had a valid physical ticket and I can prove via bank statements I've paid for tickets via trainline. The other £300 is supposedly for costs incurred on them during their investigation of my case, which seemingly couldn't have been that thorough for them to come up with that figure.
I've been given 3 weeks to pay this but the problem is that I have paid for all my tickets and was only caught without my Santander 18-25 savers card once or twice due to tech issues.

How I've replied:
I made an email to cross countries prosecution team, in which I provided my personal details, the reference numbers for both the initial Railcard request email and the following fraud claim email, apologized profusely, attached a screenshot of my digital Railcard, and offered to provide any further information (such as bank statements) if they need it to clear this up.
I'm obv very worried about being sued for this much money, especially given I haven't actually dodged any fares or had an invalid railcard ever, just one that was obscured by a faulty phone screen.

If anyone has any advice on how to handle from here, or any questions about what i did so I can clarify the situation further please let me know.

@MuffinMerchant - Further to the post above a bit more info and some questions for you - so that we can help give you the best advice.

As mentioned it's likely Cross Country Trains (XC) have assumed you had no valid railcard, have trawled your ticket buying records and are seeking new tickets for all of the travel they could find. As this could go back some time they will want to see evidence of a railcard going back for all that time - potentially some years back.

Have a look at your own ticket buying account and see for all of the periods that you have bought railcard discounted tickets if you have any evidence that you had a railcard at the time - something you could dig through whilst you wait for them to consider the reply you have recently sent them.

However, there is something called the 'forgotten railcard policy' which allows an occasion where you could not present a railcard, but do in fact have a valid one, once in a 12 month period, and be 'let off' - this maybe what the guard on the train was trying to explain to you. There would be no 'admin fee' for this either AIUI.

You missing their request for that means this escalated, as mentioned above.

Hopefully now you are engaging they will accept the situation and apply the policy.

Can you clarify if you are dealing with XC trains direct, or XC trains enforcement contractor who are called ITAL - IRCAS ? This does make a difference as ITAL/IRCAS are quite difficult to deal with. The admin fee they are seeking is quite high so I am wondering if this is indeed ITAL/IRCAS...

It might help us if you could share the content of the e-mails sent to you and your exact reply (but if you want to post those here make sure you remove all your personal details and case ref numbers form what you share here).

When you receive a reply to what you have sent, and especially if you need to reply to it - I suggest you come back here for specific advice on how to best reply to whatever they are asking you before you respond, so that we can help you get your response as good as it can be (unless of course it's a simple response from them saying that you don't owe them anything)

 

[Mawkie]

One question I had... If the railcard couldn't be scanned or viewed in November, how did the OP come to be investigated? Was there another stop where details were taken manually?

 

[Kite159]

One question I had... If the railcard couldn't be scanned or viewed in November, how did the OP come to be investigated? Was there another stop where details were taken manually?

If the OP was using an e-ticket, then XC would have been able to get the details from that. And after the interaction with the member of staff, the member of staff submitted a report to say the railcard couldn't be scanned, setting the ball rolling.