Got caught e GWR for fare evasion

[AlterEgo]

They have six months to bring a case in the magistrates' court, so it can sometimes take them that long. GWR seem to have a big backlog at the moment though with some cases lapsing and going down the civil route.

 

[Haywain]

so long do it take to send a letter and what's the max deadline they have to do so.. Because i gave my details in Earlier feb... so ithere any specific timelines they need to send the letter !

To prosecute you they have to put the matter before the court within 6 months of the offence taking place, so they could do that on 19th August. And you might not find out about that until two or three weeks later.

 

[WesternLancer]

so long do it take to send a letter and what's the max deadline they have to do so.. Because i gave my details in Earlier feb... so ithere any specific timelines they need to send the letter !

assume you have not moved postal address since the incident where they stopped you and took your details? Or if you have you have gone and checked for post at your old address

Plus checked any / all e-mail accounts you have and also spam

After the 6 Months they have where they can bring criminal court prosecution as explained above, they can and might do it (and GWR certainly do as we have seen other cases on here) try to secure payment of the unpaid fares using civil court action to pursue those unpaid fares as a debt. They have up to 6 years to do that AIUI. A civil court debt is less serious matter than a criminal court conviction and you can argue that you might owe them less than they might seek to obtain from you.

 

[ops22]

assume you have not moved postal address since the incident where they stopped you and took your details? Or if you have you have gone and checked for post at your old address

Plus checked any / all e-mail accounts you have and also spam

After the 6 Months they have where they can bring criminal court prosecution as explained above, they can and might do it (and GWR certainly do as we have seen other cases on here) try to secure payment of the unpaid fares using civil court action to pursue those unpaid fares as a debt. They have up to 6 years to do that AIUI. A civil court debt is less serious matter than a criminal court conviction and you can argue that you might owe them less than they might seek to obtain from you.

i didn't moved address since then as am living on the same address for almost more than 4 years, rest i always check my door for any letters , also checking emails as well. my concern is if i don't get the letter from GWR within the time period, How they can go to court without sending the lettwr first to me !! or will they do so can i still sort the matter out of the court or i can challenege it based on letter has not been sent to me despite giving the correct details

 

[WesternLancer]

i didn't moved address since then as am living on the same address for almost more than 4 years, rest i always check my door for any letters , also checking emails as well. my concern is if i don't get the letter from GWR within the time period, How they can go to court without sending the lettwr first to me !! or will they do so can i still sort the matter out of the court or i can challenege it based on letter has not been sent to me despite giving the correct details

They are under no obligation to send you any letter at all. They could go to court immediately if they want to and you would then be sent court paperwork in hard copy from the court, not from the railway company.

But they do not seem to do that so it’s very unlikely.

You could write to them to ask what’s going on but it’s not especially in your interest to do that as it may remind them not to forget you.

But it’s an option.

We can help with the wording of that if it’s what you would like to do.
Perhaps you can consider that option

 

[gray1404]

I would advise strongly against contacting them before they get in touch with you.