Fine of £178

[daveinvis957]

I have received a letter from Ital showing the amount I owe which is £178 which I have to pay within 14 days but that I also have the option to appeal which should also be within 14 days to avoid legal proceedings however, I got this letter way after the issue date which was 6th February 2025.

What do I do?

 

[AlterEgo]

Please post the correspondence with your details removed. Please explain what led to this correspondence, including:

• The stations where you actually started & finished your journey
• The stations where you changed trains (if applicable);
• If you presented a ticket(s), the information* stated under "Ticket type", "From", "To", "Route", and any other relevant details;
• Details of any Railcard(s) held;
• When and where ticket(s) were purchased, including whether this was prior to the journey commencing;
• What happened in any encounter with railway staff.

 

[daveinvis957]

Please post the correspondence with your details removed. Please explain what led to this correspondence, including:

• The stations where you actually started & finished your journey
• The stations where you changed trains (if applicable);
• If you presented a ticket(s), the information* stated under "Ticket type", "From", "To", "Route", and any other relevant details;
• Details of any Railcard(s) held;
• When and where ticket(s) were purchased, including whether this was prior to the journey commencing;
• What happened in any encounter with railway staff.

It was a ticket from Selly oak to Birmingham new street with an anytime return ticket with a job centre railcard. A security member was standing in front of the gate and started approaching me as soon as I was walking towards him. He scanned my ticket and then asked me for my railcard which I didn't have. I was asked to give my details.

 

[WesternLancer]

It was a ticket from Selly oak to Birmingham new street with an anytime return ticket with a job centre railcard. A security member was standing in front of the gate and started approaching me as soon as I was walking towards him. He scanned my ticket and then asked me for my railcard which I didn't have. I was asked to give my details.

Also need to see the letter from ITAL that you summarise (but without your personal details showing) - that's also what @AlterEgo is asking I think, so as to help people answer your original question and try to let you know what your options now are, and how best to reply, given the delay between the date on the letter and the date you have received it, and the 14 day response time you mention, which of course has now elapsed.

I assume you don't have / never have had a Job Centre Railcard? (and thus could not show one when demanded as you don't have one) as opposed to you having a valid Job Centre Railcard and you just had left it at home on the day in question? It would help if you can clarify.

 

[daveinvis957]

Also need to see the letter from ITAL that you summarise (but without your personal details showing) - that's also what @AlterEgo is asking I think, so as to help people answer your original question and try to let you know what your options now are, and how best to reply, given the delay between the date on the letter and the date you have received it, and the 14 day response time you mention, which of course has now elapsed.

I assume you don't have / never have had a Job Centre Railcard? (and thus could not show one when demanded as you don't have one) as opposed to you having a valid Job Centre Railcard and you just had left it at home on the day in question? It would help if you can clarify.

Which personal details are you looking for?

 

[WesternLancer]

Which personal details are you looking for?

I'm advising you to be sure that anything you upload does not have things like your name, address, date of birth or case ref number showing on a public forum, on any page you upload - so no one reading this know who you are (including if your user name is your real name - change that via the forum mods if it is)

 

[Cuthbert]

Which personal details are you looking for?

Hide all your personal details don't show any.
Just the letter with your personal details hidden and the ref number.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Which personal details are you looking for?

We absolutely don't want your personal details, we just want to see what the train company have sent you - so if you can cover up your name and address, any reference number etc, and then take and post a photo it'll help us to help you

 

[daveinvis957]

We absolutely don't want your personal details, we just want to see what the train company have sent you - so if you can cover up your name and address, any reference number etc, and then take and post a photo it'll help us to help you

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2025 ==

I'm advising you to be sure that anything you upload does not have things like your name, address, date of birth or case ref number showing on a public forum, on any page you upload - so no one reading this know who you are (including if your user name is your real name - change that via the forum mods if it is)

How do I change my username?

 

[AlterEgo]

You dodged the fare by claiming to have a JobCentre Plus railcard and have been invited to dispose of the matter for £178, a bargain in the circumstances. You have no mitigating circumstances which would mean you should be let off.

Pay the £178 and learn the lesson.

 

[WesternLancer]

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2025 ==


How do I change my username?

Try contacting forum moderators to request a change.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2025 ==

I too would advise the op to pay the sum requested. Keep copies of proof of payment and all paperwork long term. For at least a year.

 

[daveinvis957]

You dodged the fare by claiming to have a JobCentre Plus railcard and have been invited to dispose of the matter for £178, a bargain in the circumstances. You have no mitigating circumstances which would mean you should be let off.

Pay the £178 and learn the lesson.

Yes but I received the letter a month after the date issued. I tried contacting them but they would not respond.

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes but I received the letter a month after the date issued. I tried contacting them but they would not respond.

How did you try contacting them? To what address / method.

 

[daveinvis957]

How did you try contacting them? To what address / method.

I tried calling their number and I also tried emailing them at prosecutions@ital-uk.com but they have not responded yet.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2025 ==

You dodged the fare by claiming to have a JobCentre Plus railcard and have been invited to dispose of the matter for £178, a bargain in the circumstances. You have no mitigating circumstances which would mean you should be let off.

Pay the £178 and learn the lesson.

What do you mean by let off?

 

[AlterEgo]

I tried calling their number and I also tried emailing them at prosecutions@ital-uk.com but they have not responded yet.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2025 ==


What do you mean by let off?

What do you want to speak to them about? You have no mitigating circumstances from what you have said, and have already been offered a settlement to dispose of the matter without taking you to court for the offence. “Let off” here means that you suffer no consequences.

 

[WesternLancer]

I tried calling their number and I also tried emailing them at prosecutions@ital-uk.com but they have not responded yet.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2025 ==


What do you mean by let off?

Thanks. When you e mailed them please can you post a copy of the e mail you sent so we can understand what you are asking them.

Then we can advise you on what you are trying to achieve and if that is plausible / possible.

 

[gray1404]

I have to say the admin fee being charged by WMT is a bit steep and has gone up considerably if it is now £175! Train companies cannot be making a profit on these out of court settlements.

However this is still most likely the cheapest way of the OP settling the matter if indeed they had not been issued with a job centre plus railcard. Especially if there are previous incidents of them wrongly using the discount.

However if they were indeed a job centre plus Railcard holder and had simply lost or forgotten their Railcard then there is a once a year forgotten Railcard policy they can use.

 

[WesternLancer]

However if they were indeed a job centre plus Railcard holder and had simply lost or forgotten their Railcard then there is a once a year forgotten Railcard policy they can use.

The op has not answered my question about this so I assume they never had such a railcard and simply selected it to obtain the generous discount provided. That would be deliberate evasion.

The op needs to appreciate that they can pay the sum demanded or go to court, pay more and get a criminal record.

I can’t see what other options there are.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Mar 2025 ==

I tried calling their number and I also tried emailing them at prosecutions@ital-uk.com but they have not responded yet.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2025 ==

Looking again at your letter it does not say you can e-mail them, it says you have to write to them at the postal address at the top of the letter (so you have to send them a letter, not an e-mail if you want to ask for mitigating circumstances to be considered).

However

- You have not told us about any mitigating circumstances that you might have that mean you used a Job Centre railcard - so I can't see what you would be saying to them anyway, even if you had got the letter more promptly
- You can't appeal this (they do not refer to any ability to appeal in the letter) - telling them about mitigating circumstances is not an 'appeal'. It might be for example replying to them to say you do in fact have this Railcard - that would be a mitigating point you could make (and of course you need to prove it - ie send them a copy of your railcard
- So I would still agree that the best advice is that you pay the sum being requested to prevent this escalating to prosecution in court which will happen automatically I suspect (ie without further notice to you to warn you that will happen I suspect)

If you think any of what I have said is wrong, please correct me so you get the best advice.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

I think the issue the OP is mentioning is that the letter apparently arrived a month after the date on the letter but the letter asks for it to be paid within 14 days of the letter date, that clearly cant happen if it arrived a month later. I think that is why the OP wants to contact them, not to try any mitigation just to explain about the postal delay. ( well that is how I read it from their post anyway)

 

[Haywain]

Yes but I received the letter a month after the date issued. I tried contacting them but they would not respond.

Have you actually tried paying in the way the letter advises?

 

[WesternLancer]

I think the issue the OP is mentioning is that the letter apparently arrived a month after the date on the letter but the letter asks for it to be paid within 14 days of the letter date, that clearly cant happen if it arrived a month later. I think that is why the OP wants to contact them, not to try any mitigation just to explain about the postal delay. ( well that is how I read it from their post anyway)

Thanks - and that's a fair point - esp if payment ability had closed by the time the OP tried to pay