fraud prosecution!! please check my letter in response

[barrister18]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I hope this email finds you well.

I am writing in response to your letter regarding the incident on 17th January 2025. I sincerely apologise for my misuse regarding my ticket and railcard - I understand it was against the law. I have learned from this experience that not only should I be careful when booking a ticket, but I should also ensure to avoid booking at the last minute to prevent any careless mistakes or booking too late into the journey. I am keen to resolve this matter without the need for court action. To that end, I am more than willing to pay the outstanding fare as well as the administrative costs incurred by the train company in dealing with this issue.

To explain what happened (as requested), I had intended to board the 10am train, but my tube journey from Greater London to Euston was delayed by approximately 10 minutes. I did not purchase a ticket in advance, as I was concerned I might miss the train, which would have required me to buy two separate tickets. Upon arriving at Euston Square, I immediately rushed to the train and boarded just as the doors were closing. In the haste of the situation, I did not buy my ticket before boarding. Once on the train, I made my way to the middle carriage and connected to the Wi-Fi, as I had no data, and finally purchased my ticket, although I am unsure of the exact number of minutes after the journey started. The 16-25 railcard button was still activated on the ticketing system. This was due to my having previously owned such a railcard, which has now expired. I do not travel by train often (I believe the last time 16 December), so I had not removed the expired railcard option. When the officer checked my ticket, she confirmed that I had purchased the ticket a few minutes into the journey, which is accurate for the reasons I’ve explained. Additionally, I understand that I did not produce the correct 16-25 railcard at the time, and I acknowledge that this was wrong, as I no longer have a valid railcard.

I apologise profusely for this, and I fully understand what I did wrong. I should have either taken a later train to ensure my ticket was properly sorted out, or I should have made sure not to claim I had a valid 16-25 railcard when I did not.

Thank you for your understanding, and I hope we can come to an amicable resolution.

Yours sincerely,
User

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I hope this email finds you well.

I am writing in response to your letter regarding the incident on 17th January 2025. I sincerely apologise for my misuse regarding my ticket and railcard - I understand it was against the law. I have learned from this experience that not only should I be careful when booking a ticket, but I should also ensure to avoid booking at the last minute to prevent any careless mistakes or booking too late into the journey. I am keen to resolve this matter without the need for court action. To that end, I am more than willing to pay the outstanding fare as well as the administrative costs incurred by the train company in dealing with this issue.

To explain what happened (as requested), I had intended to board the 10am train, but my tube journey from Greater London to Euston was delayed by approximately 10 minutes. I did not purchase a ticket in advance, as I was concerned I might miss the train, which would have required me to buy two separate tickets. Upon arriving at Euston Square, I immediately rushed to the train and boarded just as the doors were closing. In the haste of the situation, I did not buy my ticket before boarding. Once on the train, I made my way to the middle carriage and connected to the Wi-Fi, as I had no data, and finally purchased my ticket, although I am unsure of the exact number of minutes after the journey started. The 16-25 railcard button was still activated on the ticketing system. This was due to my having previously owned such a railcard, which has now expired. I do not travel by train often (I believe the last time 16 December), so I had not removed the expired railcard option. When the officer checked my ticket, she confirmed that I had purchased the ticket a few minutes into the journey, which is accurate for the reasons I’ve explained. Additionally, I understand that I did not produce the correct 16-25 railcard at the time, and I acknowledge that this was wrong, as I no longer have a valid railcard.

I apologise profusely for this, and I fully understand what I did wrong. I should have either taken a later train to ensure my ticket was properly sorted out, or I should have made sure not to claim I had a valid 16-25 railcard when I did not.

Thank you for your understanding, and I hope we can come to an amicable resolution.

Yours sincerely,
User

Welcome to the forum!

We're going to need a little context if you want us to make useful suggestions - you will know who you're dealing with, and they will know about you. But we don't! So please fill us in a little - who are you writing to, and what did they accuse you of doing? What has their letter actually said?

 

[alholmes]

I hope this email finds you well.

Really? Do you really mean that? Drop that sentence - it’s false and insincere.

I should have either taken a later train to ensure my ticket was properly sorted out, or I should have made sure not to claim I had a valid 16-25 railcard when I did not.

Don’t you mean you should have done both? This isn’t either/or - both of these are wrong.

 

[barrister18]

Really? Do you really mean that? Drop that sentence - it’s false and insincere.


Don’t you mean you should have done both? This isn’t either/or - both of these are wrong.

sure

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Feb 2025 ==

Welcome to the forum!

We're going to need a little context if you want us to make useful suggestions - you will know who you're dealing with, and they will know about you. But we don't! So please fill us in a little - who are you writing to, and what did they accuse you of doing? What has their letter actually said?

email from WMR

Dear user,



Travel Fraud Investigation



We have recently been handed a file relating to an incident on 17th January 2025 when approached by staff carrying out their revenue duties, you were asked to show your valid ticket you offered a ticket with a railcard attached and were unable to present your railcard, therefore you would not have been eligible for the discounted rate.



Further investigations into this matter have been carried out, including a review of the ticket records. It would appear, at this stage, that this may be a case of fraud. West Midlands Trains take travel fraud extremely seriously and is committed to prosecuting all cases of fare evasion to the full extent of the law. Travelling on the railway with the intent to avoid paying the full fare is an offence under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889. Such an offence carries a maximum fine of £1,000 and/or three months’ imprisonment and, in either case, a criminal record. It must also be considered whether this matter amounts to a much more serious offence under the Fraud Act 2006.



At this stage we would be grateful if you would provide any evidence to support the claim that none of the above legislation has been contravened to prevent further action being contemplated.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Feb 2025 ==

the details of what happened are above in my original email:I had intended to board the 10am train, but my tube journey from Greater London to Euston was delayed by approximately 10 minutes. I did not purchase a ticket in advance, as I was concerned I might miss the train, which would have required me to buy two separate tickets. Upon arriving at Euston Square, I immediately rushed to the train and boarded just as the doors were closing. In the haste of the situation, I did not buy my ticket before boarding. Once on the train, I made my way to the middle carriage and connected to the Wi-Fi, as I had no data, and finally purchased my ticket, although I am unsure of the exact number of minutes after the journey started. The 16-25 railcard button was still activated on the ticketing system. This was due to my having previously owned such a railcard, which has now expired. I do not travel by train often (I believe the last time 16 December), so I had not removed the expired railcard option. When the officer checked my ticket, she confirmed that I had purchased the ticket a few minutes into the journey, which is accurate for the reasons I’ve explained. Additionally, I understand that I did not produce the correct 16-25 railcard at the time, and I acknowledge that this was wrong, as I no longer have a valid railcard.

 

[island]

The National Rail station is called Euston or London Euston. Euston Square is a London Underground station.

How did you get through the ticket barriers?

 

[barrister18]

The National Rail station is called Euston or London Euston. Euston Square is a London Underground station.

How did you get through the ticket barriers?

i exited underground station euston square

i entered national rail station at london euston - there were no barriers. just a wide gate open where the train was boarding

 

[30907]

I did not purchase a ticket in advance, as I was concerned I might miss the train, which would have required me to buy two separate tickets

Sorry, I don't understand your point here. Tickets purchased a short time before a train leaves are not (generally) restricted to a specific train.

 

[barrister18]

Sorry, I don't understand your point here. Tickets purchased a short time before a train leaves are not (generally) restricted to a specific train.

Sorry I was trying to say, I didn’t purchase a ticket in advance because I was running late (tube was delayed coming into Euston). I was worried I would buy a ticket then miss the train then have to buy another ticket for the next train - two tickets in total. So to avoid buying 2 tickets, I waited to see if I would actually make the 10am train

I will rephrase to be more clear in my letter

 

[MarlowDonkey]

. I was worried I would buy a ticket then miss the train then have to buy another ticket for the next train - two tickets in total.

Unless you are buying tickets of the type "Advance", a ticket will be valid on multiple trains. That's despite what sometimes seems the efforts of the railway industry to convince the public otherwise. You do normally however have to have bought the ticket before you get on the train.

 

[30907]

Thanks, that was what I was querying.

Now that you have posted the mail, it's clear that when you bought the ticket isn't relevant: WMR are not accusing you of boarding without a ticket, but of misusing the railcard discount. All you need to say is that you failed to uncheck the railcard discount before buying the ticket. Keep it short and focussed

(If this was the first journey you had made since the railcard expired, this will sound plausible. If you have done this repeatedly, less so.)

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

I think your letter is too wordy. Keep it short and concise, and don't use AI to generate it. I suggest mentioning the folloiwng points in it:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

From what you've told us there are two issues with what you've done:

- You weren't in possession of a valid ticket before you boarded the train
- When you did buy a ticket you purchased a railcard discounted ticket and you didn't possess a valid railcard

You'll find plenty of good examples of letters you can base your reply on (and some not so good ones) in other threads in this section of the forum.