Fined for using an expired rail card

[coraldebond]

Hi all,

I appreciate the opportunity to post on here for some advice. Before I start I just want to add this was really silly of me and I take full responsibility on the fact I didn’t check whether my railcard had expired! I can’t believe I was so stupid to be honest, and it will never happen again and my lesson has been fully learnt!

Back on 15/10/2025 I was stopped at Benfleet station by an officer from IRCAS requesting to see my railcard along with my ticket. My ticket was an on peak return from Benfleet station to Fenchurch street with the 25-30 railcard. I purchased my tickets through train line which always had my railcard attached to each journey. Obviously the inspector saw that my railcard and expired and then asked to go through my previous Trainline history. There were around 15 times that I had travelled with an out of date railcard with the same ticket (Benfleet to fenchurch). A lot I know!

I fully engaged with the officer and held my hands up that it was my mistake for not checking. I gave all of my details correctly and the officer said I would hear in around 2 weeks, however as of today I still haven’t received any contact. I am totally willing to pay the fine in full as soon as it’s received.

I raised a query with IRCAS last week and received a response this morning saying that my case is currently with the prosecution department. This has really worried me even more, (not a sob story but just to add I am 21 weeks pregnant so the worry and anxiety is currently hitting a little differently!). I have emailed the prosecution department asking if they did have an update on my case but I’m now worried that this is going to go straight to a court summons and that I’m not going to have a chance to settle or pay any type of fine. I work in the financial services too so I’m worried I’m going to lose my job just before my maternity leave due to a criminal conviction that I could have easily avoided if I hadn’t have been so stupid.

Thanks all in advance for the advice, I really appreciate it.

 

[simonw]

Hi all,

I appreciate the opportunity to post on here for some advice. Before I start I just want to add this was really silly of me and I take full responsibility on the fact I didn’t check whether my railcard had expired! I can’t believe I was so stupid to be honest, and it will never happen again and my lesson has been fully learnt!

Back on 15/10/2025 I was stopped at Benfleet station by an officer from IRCAS requesting to see my railcard along with my ticket. My ticket was an on peak return from Benfleet station to Fenchurch street with the 25-30 railcard. I purchased my tickets through train line which always had my railcard attached to each journey. Obviously the inspector saw that my railcard and expired and then asked to go through my previous Trainline history. There were around 15 times that I had travelled with an out of date railcard with the same ticket (Benfleet to fenchurch). A lot I know!

I fully engaged with the officer and held my hands up that it was my mistake for not checking. I gave all of my details correctly and the officer said I would hear in around 2 weeks, however as of today I still haven’t received any contact. I am totally willing to pay the fine in full as soon as it’s received.

I raised a query with IRCAS last week and received a response this morning saying that my case is currently with the prosecution department. This has really worried me even more, (not a sob story but just to add I am 21 weeks pregnant so the worry and anxiety is currently hitting a little differently!). I have emailed the prosecution department asking if they did have an update on my case but I’m now worried that this is going to go straight to a court summons and that I’m not going to have a chance to settle or pay any type of fine. I work in the financial services too so I’m worried I’m going to lose my job just before my maternity leave due to a criminal conviction that I could have easily avoided if I hadn’t have been so stupid.

Thanks all in advance for the advice, I really appreciate it.

No one can guarantee that you won't be prosecuted, however it is highly unlikely that you will be. A quick read through other threads on here shows most train operating companies will settle for a sum equivalent to the value of the fares avoided plus an admin fee, so long as you engage with them. There can be a delay in the paper work arriving but until then all you can do is wait.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@coraldebond. Welcome to the forum. If all the journeys, where inappropriately applied 26-30 Railcard discount was applied, were Benfleet to London Fenchurch Street (route via Pitsea), or in the other direction, reckon you're looking at paying £11.70 for each one-way journey (or £23.40 for a day return) plus a three figure admin fee added on top. Usually no allowance for what's already been underpaid. So, if there's been the fifteen such instances, maybe £450 to pay, by way of 'out of court settlement'. Not ideal, but that should then be an end to the matter. Good luck in sorting.

P.S. This is not a fine, just you paying the train company what they reckon they're due on the basis you bought/used non-valid tickets.

 

[Snow1964]

There can be a delay in the paper work arriving but until then all you can do is wait.

I am not sure why they told you 2 weeks, and it was plain wrong to do so if that isn't their current turnaround time. Sadly some unethical staff deliberately lie and mislead.

You cannot do much until they write to you, and 3-7 weeks seems more typical, although in rare cases (presumably when they are very busy) can be nearer 4-6 months.

In meantime try and download a history of your journeys since railcard expiry and save it. It will give you an idea of how many journeys and will be useful to compare to their version when they write to you.

 

[WesternLancer]

I raised a query with IRCAS last week and received a response this morning saying that my case is currently with the prosecution department. This has really worried me even more, (not a sob story but just to add I am 21 weeks pregnant so the worry and anxiety is currently hitting a little differently!). I have emailed the prosecution department asking if they did have an update on my case but I’m now worried that this is going to go straight to a court summons and that I’m not going to have a chance to settle or pay any type of fine. I work in the financial services too so I’m worried I’m going to lose my job just before my maternity leave due to a criminal conviction that I could have easily avoided if I hadn’t have been so stupid.

Thanks all in advance for the advice, I really appreciate it.

FWIW 'Prosecutions Department' is usually the section that deals with all the cases that involve things like Penalty Fares, Ticket irregularities (which can include people who have made genuine mistakes as well as deliberate fare evaders) - to differentiate them from teams like Customer Services that do not handle that sort of stuff. It does not mean that everything they deal with ends up in a prosecution - far from it - they usually want to resolve things without prosecuting people - if for no other reason than it is better for them (more income direct) to resolve things out of court than go through the court route.

Which train company is this - C2C or Greater Anglia?

So long as they have your correct postal address it would be very unlikely to go direct to prosecution (and if it did that often seems to result from things like post going missing) - so keep an eye on your post but also check e-mail and spam too.

When you hear from them advice from heer will help you best respond to what to say to minimise the chances of being prosecuted for what has happaned. As you will see there are many threads on unintentionally expired railcard related problems.


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Nov 2025 ==

Sadly some unethical staff deliberately lie and mislead.

I tend to think it's probably more that staff on the front line are advised that a target time for the back office is fairly short but in reality that can't be achieved all of the time, but the front line staff won't really know that for certain.
Also avoids questions and frustrations that would inevitably arise from the passenger if the staff said 'I don't know' or 'could be months', leaving the staff to get on and check the next passengers tickets.
I can see it may not help an anxious passenger but I can see why it would happen.

 

[Haywain]

Sadly some unethical staff deliberately lie and mislead.

Although the reality is that they are probably giving the information as they understand it. They are not sending out the letters so won't know how long it will take.