Forgot to renew monthly pass

[mattj7]

Morning Guys,

Had a bit of a nightmare this morning.

I always get a monthly rail pass to get to and from work, have done so for the past 6 months. My most recent pass expired on 10th March 2013 (yesterday).

This morning, I completely forgot about the fact that it had expired. I resultantly got on the train (departing station had no ticket check-point) having been completely unaware of this and showed my pass at my destination going through the barriers unaware that it had expired a day earlier.

I explained to the guard that this was a genuine error on my part and made copious attempts to pay the fare/renew the pass, but he was having none of it. I co-operated fully from then on, but he took my old ticket as “evidence” and said I’d be getting a letter through the post.

Nothing like this has EVER happened to me before. No fines or history of fare dodging. I can prove purchase of previous monthly tickets and have purchased a new one for this month from today.

Just looking for a bit of guidance going forward really. Needless to say, I’m a bit worried after reading some of the horror stories on here.

Cheers in advance guys.

 

[bb21]

Hi and welcome.

Do you per chance know which train company it was? Do you mind telling us where you got off the train?

 

[mattj7]

Hi mate,

Sure, got on at Edge Hill and got off at Lime St

And it was Northern Rail.

 

[yorkie]

Wait for the letter from Northern. In the mean time, you can draft a response in case they ask you for a written Statement, so that when they do write to you, you have it prepared. You may wish to get it proof-read. It may be worth scanning in any previous tickets or receipts, if you have them, and including them.

By the way, it's better value to get Season tickets in 5-week blocks (unless you work Saturdays/Sundays) generally starting on a Monday and finishing on a Friday, but taking into account annual leave, bank holidays etc. You can also buy Season tickets for almost any journey online from several Train Company websites, which may be more convenient for you. - turns out this is not applicable in the Merseyside area

 

[Swirlz]

By the way, it's better value to get Season tickets in 5-week blocks (unless you work Saturdays/Sundays) generally starting on a Monday and finishing on a Friday, but taking into account annual leave, bank holidays etc. You can also buy Season tickets for almost any journey online from several Train Company websites, which may be more convenient for you.

This is not possible in Merseyside.

Seasons for use wholly within Merseyside are only available in 7 Day, 1 Month or Annual.

In the case of the person who posted this query, he will have a EDGE HILL to MRAIL ZONE C1 "Railpass".

Finally, you cannot buy any wholly Merseyside area season tickets online!

A smartcard is apparently being made available soon. http://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/Tickets/walrus-card/Pages/Arriving-soon.aspx

 

[mattj7]

Hi mate,

That’s the thing though, I had a pass which expired yesterday and showed that when coming through the checkpoint at Lime St (unaware that it had expired). The guy checking the tickets clearly thought I was trying to use it to try and sneak through or something.

I get an all zones pass every month which lets me go from Wavertree/Edge Hill to Chester every day.

All very frustrating.

 

[bb21]

I can understand your frustration, as it is a pretty easy mistake to make. That said technically you did break at least the Byelaws at least. I can sympathise with you and understand that it comes across as a tad harsh, though there is not much you can do now until you hear from them.

I would expect that you are dealt with reasonably leniently if you can provide evidence that you have renewed your season ticket continuously in the past and this is just an oversight. Of course I can't guarantee anything.

 

[WelshBluebird]

You can also buy Season tickets for almost any journey online from several Train Company websites, which may be more convenient for you.

Don't want to hijack the thread, but any idea what websites these are? May be useful for me

 

[yorkie]

A couple of random examples for "normal" Seasons:

• Southern
• FCC

I apologise for not realising that "normal" Season tickets are not available in the Merseyside area, so these are not available for odd-periods or online .

A word of warning: Some TOCs, notably FCC, may prosecute you if you take some of the routes their season ticket website suggests (as discussed in other threads). Nice of them that, isn't it?

It's great that Britain's "train operating companies are required to work together" and have "common conditions" so you "know exactly where you stand", and that you can easily "find comprehensive ticket terms & conditions, as well as ticket route information - the customer knows when and where the ticket can be used" isn't it? Marvellous!

And it was Northern Rail.

Try not to worry too much. Northern might issue you one of their "Failure to pay notices" or may offer you an out of court settlement (£80 is a fairly common figure for Northern, but it can vary), and even if they do intend to prosecute you, they might accept an offer to settle out of court.

They do appear to be absolutely swamped with cases at present, and I know of some people who asked for help on this forum many months ago and Northern did not take any action against them (and can't now, as the 6 month period elapsed). Same applies with FCC.

So it may be nothing happens, it may be a warning, it may be a request for £80, it may be a case of negotiating a larger settlement, or it may be a case of fighting them in court. You just have to wait for the letter to arrive.

You have a PM.

 

[mattj7]

Cheers for the help chaps. Helped set my mind at ease somewhat.

 

[mattj7]

Morning all.

Had my letter through for this today. Been asked to pay the £1.30 fare that was "avoided". No penalty fine. Obviously very happy and relieved.

Cheers for the assistance and advises.

 

[Greenback]

Thanks for the update, it's always nice to hear when things have been settled.