CrossCountry railcard issue

[benbro2024]

Hi all,
2 weeks ago I travelled on a CrossCountry train from York to Chesterfield. I had made this journey numerous times before and had always used my 16-25 digital railcard. I have recently changed phones and did not have my railcard downloaded. Upon speaking to the ticket officer, I was told that I would receive a letter in the post (at my given address) that would allow me to submit evidence of a railcard and avoid a fares penalty. However, no letter was received, until today when I received a letter stating the evidence I had submitted "cannot be accepted as mitigation" even though I never sent any as I did not receive a letter requiring me to do so. Now I either have to pay a large fee, or go to court and pay a larger one. I could not get in contact with IRCAS/ITAL over the phone, but have submitted a complaint on their website. I am unable to submit an appeal as I did not receive a 7 digit Notice Number. Upon speaking to a member of customer relations at CrossCountry, I was just told to do what I had already done.
Any advice is greatly appreciated

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 May 2024 ==

Here is an image of the letter received (Only one received)

 

[Puffing Devil]

Write a letter back to the address on the letter:

• You are surprised to have received their letter of the 9th of May as you have had no previous correspondence and have submitted no evidence in mitigation
• You were expecting a letter from CrossCountry inviting you to submit evidence of your railcard, per your conversation with the ticket officer.
• Enclose evidence of your railcard - a printed screenshot
• State that you hope this is sufficient to conclude the matter in line with now the conversation that you had on board the train.

Send the letter "Signed For" and keep a copy.

 

[benbro2024]

Write a letter back to the address on the letter:

• You are surprised to have received their letter of the 9th of May as you have had no previous correspondence and have submitted no evidence in mitigation
• You were expecting a letter from CrossCountry inviting you to submit evidence of your railcard, per your conversation with the ticket officer.
• Enclose evidence of your railcard - a printed screenshot
• State that you hope this is sufficient to conclude the matter in line with now the conversation that you had on board the train.

Send the letter "Signed For" and keep a copy.

Would it be best to send this letter to CrossCountry themselves or to ITAL as there are two different addresses on the letter I received?

 

[Puffing Devil]

The one at the top - Prosecutions Unit, ITAL.