Genuine mistake worth the appeal or should pay?

[ishhalb]

Hello!

Hope you are all well! Im based in London but not originally from UK so please forgive if I'm missing any crucial details as I dont know the legal procedure, my rights or officers duties throughout the process.

I was taking a train today from Finsubury park to Hadley Wood. My journey was supposed to be 20 - 30mins and I genuinely got distracted and realised that I ended up a bit too far (in Hatfield). I jumped off the train. Walked up to one of the officers that worked that day and asked when is the next train back since the timetable wasn't working. They asked me about my ticket and I said I dont have one because I was traveling with Oyster and this wasn't my final destination. They told me I wasn't supposed to be here and I cant travel this far without the ticket and I said I understand, but this wasn't my destination and I would love to travel back since I wont try to tap out. He asked me to come on the side, asked for my details. Didnt answer to any of my questions and said he will answer to everything in a minute. Took my details and address and all (at the time I wasn't told that my details are taken to write down a penalty file, I was just asked to provide them that I did without any hesitance).
After a couple of minutes he explained that Im fined £62. I was shocked as it came out of nowhere for me.
I asked if I cant just go back to my planned destination and tap out as planned, he said no and he will follow me if I do and charge me another penalty for those other couple of stops.
Then he turned around, walked away and wasn't in any way interested in answering any of my questions. His colleague opened the gates for me and I took a bus to where I was planning to go not to get fined once again.

My I initial emotional response is that I want to appeal that. I understand that TECHINALLY I have broken a law while being on the train but.. cmon. Genuine human mistake and I get charged 10x actual ticket price. No warning, no interest in resolving it so both parties leave satisfied or at least finding some common ground.

Is there no such thing as warning and maybe me paying the original fare as he could probably see on my system there are no previous offences.

Is there any ground for me at all for an appeal or should I pay the fine and move on? It genuinely felt like it was one of the most ripoff experiences in my life. Or is that how the law works here in UK? Im trying my best not to assume that that is the way most officers interact on the daily basis.

Any suggestion thoughts? Please let me know. Thank you a lot.

 

[Titfield]

Please post the penalty fare you have received with your name and reference number obscured so forum members can consider.

 

[John R]

Did you use contactless or Oyster to tap in? Ie, exactly what form of ticket were you using?

 

[ishhalb]

Attaching the receipt of the penalty fare charge.

 

[jfollows]

Contactless valid to Hatfield, but Oyster not valid.

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-rail-and-tube-services-map.pdf

 

[ishhalb]

Did you use contactless or Oyster to tap in? Ie, exactly what form of ticket were you using?

I used my Oyster card.

 

[30907]

As in much of Europe, I am afraid that not having the correct ticket renders you liable to a fixed penalty of some sort, whether your action was deliberate or a careless mistake (as yours was).
I am sure that you can appeal on the basis that your intended journey was to Hadley Wood, especially if you can provide evidence (for example the address), even if you do not succeed.
However a reasonable person might not be convinced: you went 4 stops and 12min past your destination on a journey of under 20min (not 20-30min as you claim).

 

[John R]

I think the fact that you left the station once the incident was over, rather than asking how you could buy a ticket to legally return to Hadley Wood by train, may also sow doubt in their mind as to the story as described to us.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello!

Hope you are all well! Im based in London but not originally from UK so please forgive if I'm missing any crucial details as I dont know the legal procedure, my rights or officers duties throughout the process.

I was taking a train today from Finsubury park to Hadley Wood. My journey was supposed to be 20 - 30mins and I genuinely got distracted and realised that I ended up a bit too far (in Hatfield). I jumped off the train. Walked up to one of the officers that worked that day and asked when is the next train back since the timetable wasn't working. They asked me about my ticket and I said I dont have one because I was traveling with Oyster and this wasn't my final destination. They told me I wasn't supposed to be here and I cant travel this far without the ticket and I said I understand, but this wasn't my destination and I would love to travel back since I wont try to tap out. He asked me to come on the side, asked for my details. Didnt answer to any of my questions and said he will answer to everything in a minute. Took my details and address and all (at the time I wasn't told that my details are taken to write down a penalty file, I was just asked to provide them that I did without any hesitance).
After a couple of minutes he explained that Im fined £62. I was shocked as it came out of nowhere for me.
I asked if I cant just go back to my planned destination and tap out as planned, he said no and he will follow me if I do and charge me another penalty for those other couple of stops.
Then he turned around, walked away and wasn't in any way interested in answering any of my questions. His colleague opened the gates for me and I took a bus to where I was planning to go not to get fined once again.

My I initial emotional response is that I want to appeal that. I understand that TECHINALLY I have broken a law while being on the train but.. cmon. Genuine human mistake and I get charged 10x actual ticket price. No warning, no interest in resolving it so both parties leave satisfied or at least finding some common ground.

Is there no such thing as warning and maybe me paying the original fare as he could probably see on my system there are no previous offences.

Is there any ground for me at all for an appeal or should I pay the fine and move on? It genuinely felt like it was one of the most ripoff experiences in my life. Or is that how the law works here in UK? Im trying my best not to assume that that is the way most officers interact on the daily basis.

Any suggestion thoughts? Please let me know. Thank you a lot.

This sounds like you had the misfortune to encounter a Revenue Protection Officer with powers to issue penalty fares rather than a regular staff member without those powers anyway, who then decided to issue you with a Penalty Fare rather than just advising you how to travel back to your intended destination.

It’s poor that after penalising you they did not then go onto advise you how to get to your intended destination.

 

[yorkie]

Is there any ground for me at all for an appeal or should I pay the fine and move on?

You've been charged a Penalty Fare, which is a higher than normal "fare" which can be charged by authorised collectors to people who have made a genuine mistake, such as yourself.

Although it may feel like a fine, it isn't technically a fine; if it got to the stage of being a fine, it would be even worse.

It genuinely felt like it was one of the most ripoff experiences in my life. Or is that how the law works here in UK?

Sadly, yes, the laws/regulations allow for very harsh treatment.

Many ordinary people do not agree with it, but we are powerless to get anything changed. However, it's best that this thread doesn't become a place to debate this. It's been discussed in various other threads; try our search function to find them. Alternatively, use Google, specifying site: railforums.co.uk alongside your chosen search terms.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Aug 2025 ==

It’s poor that after penalising you they did not then go onto advise you how to get to your intended destination.

Agreed, but sadly, I am not at all surprised to hear of people in this position behaving like this. There are insufficient safeguards at companies such as GTR (and many more) to ensure that jobs are filled by people who behave and act appropriately, and are trained appropriately. There is no prospect of this changing.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Aug 2025 ==

I think the fact that you left the station once the incident was over, rather than asking how you could buy a ticket to legally return to Hadley Wood by train, may also sow doubt in their mind as to the story as described to us.

That's not my reading of what is said to have happened:...

...I asked if I cant just go back to my planned destination and tap out as planned, he said no and he will follow me if I do and charge me another penalty for those other couple of stops.
Then he turned around, walked away and wasn't in any way interested in answering any of my questions. His colleague opened the gates for me and I took a bus to where I was planning to go not to get fined once again...

...but as we weren't there, that's all we have to go on.

However, it is unlikely to make a difference to the case.