Got caught with the wrong railcard!

[nottoosure]

Please no judging!

So basically today I got caught using a 16-17 railcard, normally they don’t ask questions cause I’m quite short in stature. I do have a 16-25 railcard but I’ve kind of being not working as much so the price of the 16-17 for getting to work and stuff is more favourable, the extra pounds help.

The ticket inspector didn’t take any of my details he said they would find me though my card which will definitely show I’m not 16-17. I’ve been using it for like 2 months just because it’s been really rough these days. He didn’t give me a fine on the spot but I’d like to know what kind of trouble I’m in. Whatever the fine will be I know it will be difficult for me to pay so I’m a little stressed out. Also I’d like to mention I did lie a little infront of him and he seemed to hate me as soon as he saw me.

 

[notmyrealname]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Could you tell us what age you are please?

If you cooperate with the rail company (which one are you dealing with?) there's usually a good chance that they will agree to an out of court settlement. You could check your account to see how many times you avoided paying the right fare, which you need to do in any case because they may send you a list of fares they want you to pay.

Assume they will want the full Anytime single fare for each journey, so two of those for a return trip and with no account being taken of the fares that you did pay. Then there will be an admin fee of around £150, sometimes more.

The experts should be here later to look at this for you.

 

[nottoosure]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Could you tell us what age you are please?

If you cooperate with the rail company (which one are you dealing with?) there's usually a good chance that they will agree to an out of court settlement. You could check your account to see how many times you avoided paying the right fare, which you need to do in any case because they may send you a list of fares they want you to pay.

Assume they will want the full Anytime single fare for each journey, so two of those for a return trip and with no account being taken of the fares that you did pay. Then there will be an admin fee of around £150, sometimes more.

The experts should be here later to look at this for you.

Hi, my age is 24. I looked and I think it’s about 20-30 journeys. I am going to call them today and explain and hopefully they can allow me to do a payment plan. I just hope I don’t get a criminal record or like hundreds/thousands to pay.
There’s just been a lot of financial hardships on top of school and hardly any work it’s been hard to afford the full prices for trains

 

[skyhigh]

I am going to call them today and explain

Do not do that under any circumstance.

You need to wait for them to contact you first.

 

[nottoosure]

Do not do that under any circumstance.

You need to wait for them to contact you first.

Okay, thank you. I am just super anxious and I do feel guilty I just want to rectify it

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I think it’s about 20-30 journeys.

Welcome to the forum. What's the typical journey that you've made using the inappropriately discounted tickets?

 

[nottoosure]

Welcome to the forum. What's the typical journey that you've made using the inappropriately discounted tickets?

It was London Bridge to Clapham junction about 3 times a week maybe. From start of June to start of September essentially

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It was London Bridge to Clapham junction about 3 times a week maybe. From start of June to start of September essentially

The undiscounted Anytime Day Single is £4.50 (one way) from London Bridge to Clapham Junction, or vice-versa, with no allowance made for what you've already underpaid, so three return journeys per week would likely be calculated as £27.00.

Multiply that by the number of weeks that you've been 'at it', will bring you up to several hundred pounds of fares to pay, then add on the investigation and admin fee that @notmyrealname has mentioned, and you're looking at having to stump up for an out of court settlement of maybe around some £500 in total.

BTW, which train company are you dealing with? SWR perhaps? They usually do offer out of court settlements, rather than automatically go down the court prosecutions route. As @skyhigh suggests, best to wait for them to make initial contact with you.

 

[Titfield]

and in the meantime:

(1) start saving (if you can) for the out of court settlement.
(2) take a look at some of the "apology / asking for an out of court settlement" emails on this sub forum so that you can start thinking about the reply to SWR's letter you will need to write.

 

[nottoosure]

The undiscounted Anytime Day Single is £4.50 (one way) from London Bridge to Clapham Junction, or vice-versa, with no allowance made for what you've already underpaid, so three return journeys per week would likely be calculated as £27.00.

Multiply that by the number of weeks that you've been 'at it', will bring you up to several hundred pounds of fares to pay, then add on the investigation and admin fee that @notmyrealname has mentioned, and you're looking at having to stump up for an out of court settlement of maybe around some £500 in total.

BTW, which train company are you dealing with? SWR perhaps? They usually do offer out of court settlements, rather than automatically go down the court prosecutions route. As @skyhigh suggests, best to wait for them to make initial contact with you.

I think it was National rail because he said he would check CCTV at London Bridge to see if he can see me. Idk why he’d suggested that but yeah

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2025 ==

and in the meantime:

(1) start saving (if you can) for the out of court settlement.
(2) take a look at some of the "apology / asking for an out of court settlement" emails on this sub forum so that you can start thinking about the reply to SWR's letter you will need to write.

Will do that, thank you so much

 

[AlterEgo]

I think it was National rail

This wouldn't be National Rail - it would be a Train Operating Company, so not them. If you were caught at Clapham Junction it would be SWR.

because he said he would check CCTV at London Bridge to see if he can see me. Idk why he’d suggested that but yeah

Perhaps he suspects you've also been short faring and not buying the full ticket. The company will:

- audit all your previous transactions
- corroborate this with your home address
- work out how many times you have evaded the fare
- ascertain whether it is likely you have been travelling from further away

Be mindful - SWR do not offer payment plans. You will need to stump up the full figure within a few weeks of receiving a settlement offer - if they offer one (they usually do) - or you will be prosecuted for the offence.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@nottoosure. Just to be quite clear, were your various journeys actually just from London Bridge to/from Clapham Junction, or were your full journeys perhaps from somewhere further afield that doesn't normally have ticket barriers in operation?

 

[nottoosure]

@nottoosure. Just to be quite clear, were your various journeys actually just from London Bridge to/from Clapham Junction, or were your full journeys perhaps from somewhere further afield that doesn't normally have ticket barriers in operation?

My home address is in south east London, my closest station is Lee, but I’ve been staying with family in south Bermondsey. I only travel from Lee maybe 1 every 4-5 journeys but my journeys are always from LB because I normally walk there and then take the train but all of my journeys say LB

 

[Coleridge]

My home address is in south east London, my closest station is Lee, but I’ve been staying with family in south Bermondsey. I only travel from Lee maybe 1 every 4-5 journeys but my journeys are always from LB because I normally walk there and then take the train but all of my journeys say LB

You walk from Lee to London Bridge?

 

[AlterEgo]

My home address is in south east London, my closest station is Lee, but I’ve been staying with family in south Bermondsey. I only travel from Lee maybe 1 every 4-5 journeys but my journeys are always from LB because I normally walk there and then take the train but all of my journeys say LB

Which address did you give the train company? If you gave Lee, they will believe - unless you can supply evidence to the contrary - you start all your journeys from Lee; it is unbarriered and therefore ripe for the sort of fare evasion outlined above.

 

[nottoosure]

You walk from Lee to London Bridge?

No when I’m staying with family on Berrmondsey I walk to London Bridge

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2025 ==

Which address did you give the train company? If you gave Lee, they will believe - unless you can supply evidence to the contrary - you start all your journeys from Lee; it is unbarriered and therefore ripe for the sort of fare evasion outlined above.

I didn’t give any details. He didn’t ask me for any details. He just scanned my ticket and told me I’d be getting a fine and prosecuted . I just said okay and left

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2025 ==

This wouldn't be National Rail - it would be a Train Operating Company, so not them. If you were caught at Clapham Junction it would be SWR.


Perhaps he suspects you've also been short faring and not buying the full ticket. The company will:

- audit all your previous transactions
- corroborate this with your home address
- work out how many times you have evaded the fare
- ascertain whether it is likely you have been travelling from further away

Be mindful - SWR do not offer payment plans. You will need to stump up the full figure within a few weeks of receiving a settlement offer - if they offer one (they usually do) - or you will be prosecuted for the offence.

Also I’m not sure if it was SWR or TFL themselves and they didn’t have SWR uniforms and he informed me that they have officers at LB

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2025 ==

@nottoosure. Just to be quite clear, were your various journeys actually just from London Bridge to/from Clapham Junction, or were your full journeys perhaps from somewhere further afield that doesn't normally have ticket barriers in operation?

Also just to add my ticket was on Trainline and so is my 16-25 rail card. They didn’t take anything off me but I am 100% never doing this again

 

[AlterEgo]

I didn’t give any details. He didn’t ask me for any details. He just scanned my ticket and told me I’d be getting a fine and prosecuted . I just said okay and left

Ok - so is the address on your ticket purchasing accounts Lee?

 

[nottoosure]

Ok - so is the address on your ticket purchasing accounts Lee?

Yes. I think so I haven’t checked but I’d it’s not Lee then it won’t have an address

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Which address did you give the train company? If you gave Lee, they will believe - unless you can supply evidence to the contrary - you start all your journeys from Lee; it is unbarriered and therefore ripe for the sort of fare evasion outlined above.

So in terms of 'evidence to the contrary', you will need to confirm with your family in south Bermondsey that they're prepared to go to court and state on oath that you've been staying with them. At the current stage, when you will be responding to the railway by post or email, that will be what you need - but if it turns out that your family aren't prepared to support you in court then your defence will collapse.

You also need to be prepared to be challenged on your assertion that you walk from South Bermondsey to London Bridge to get the train to Lee: Google suggests it's a 50 minute walk, followed by 20 minutes on the train to Lee, as opposed to 31 minutes on trains from South Bermondsey (via London Bridge, so your walk is reducing the length of your train journey, but at the expense of an extra 40 minutes on your journey time) or an hour by bus (still quicker than walking to London Bridge and getting a train back out).

 

[nottoosure]

So in terms of 'evidence to the contrary', you will need to confirm with your family in south Bermondsey that they're prepared to go to court and state on oath that you've been staying with them. At the current stage, when you will be responding to the railway by post or email, that will be what you need - but if it turns out that your family aren't prepared to support you in court then your defence will collapse.

You also need to be prepared to be challenged on your assertion that you walk from South Bermondsey to London Bridge to get the train to Lee: Google suggests it's a 50 minute walk, followed by 20 minutes on the train to Lee, as opposed to 31 minutes on trains from South Bermondsey (via London Bridge, so your walk is reducing the length of your train journey, but at the expense of an extra 40 minutes on your journey time) or an hour by bus (still quicker than walking to London Bridge and getting a train back out).

It’s honestly not that long of a walk. Idk why google would say that. On the train is like 3-4 mins to London bridge but I walk to save costs. It’s like 40 mins.
I don’t really want to tell my family because they would get stressed out and I want to avoid any type of court hearing esp because I’m in medical school and I don’t want to have a criminal record.
I just want to know how bad it will most likely be. I know this is all my fault and I should know better, I don’t have an excuse the trains are extortion especially when you’re a student with little to no income, I was literally just trying to save costs

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2025 ==

@nottoosure. Just to be quite clear, were your various journeys actually just from London Bridge to/from Clapham Junction, or were your full journeys perhaps from somewhere further afield that doesn't normally have ticket barriers in operation?

Someone on Reddit said I will be convicted and charged. As in criminal record …….

 

[AndroidBango]

It’s honestly not that long of a walk. Idk why google would say that. On the train is like 3-4 mins to London bridge but I walk to save costs. It’s like 40 mins.
I don’t really want to tell my family because they would get stressed out and I want to avoid any type of court hearing esp because I’m in medical school and I don’t want to have a criminal record.
I just want to know how bad it will most likely be. I know this is all my fault and I should know better, I don’t have an excuse the trains are extortion especially when you’re a student with little to no income, I was literally just trying to save costs

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2025 ==


Someone on Reddit said I will be convicted and charged. As in criminal record …….

If you were caught by TFL then there are only two outcomes: a final warning or they will prosecute you.

 

[dosxuk]

I don’t really want to tell my family because they would get stressed out and I want to avoid any type of court hearing esp because I’m in medical school and I don’t want to have a criminal record.

As above - if you don't have someone willing to go on the court record to state that you stay in South Bermondsey and walk to London Bridge, then all the evidence will point to you short faring from Lee on a regular basis.

To avoid this going to court you will need to be cooperative with the TOC investigating. If they think you're lying, even by omission, they are less likely to go down the settlement route.

If this does go to court, bar something completely unexpected, you will be convicted.

hopefully they can allow me to do a payment plan

I don't think this has been picked up by others, but you should assume that there will be no payment plan and they will want the avoided fares and admin costs in full on a limited timescale. TOC's very rarely do any sort of payment plan, and never over an extended period.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I just want to know how bad it will most likely be. I know this is all my fault and I should know better, I don’t have an excuse the trains are extortion especially when you’re a student with little to no income, I was literally just trying to save costs

Overwhelmingly, matters like this are settled out of court: what the railway wants to know is that you
- understand that what you have done is wrong
- will pay back what you should have paid for the proper tickets and
- you won't do it again

Essentially, they want to protect their revenue stream, now and in the future

But if your apology states as fact something that they find unbelievable, then they won't believe anything else that you say - such as that you won't do it again.

To be blunt, your current story (that you live in Lee but most of the time stay in South Bermondsey - and walk in from South Bermondsey to get the train to Lee) is unbelievable. I'm not saying it's not true, but it's not what most people would do. So if you want the railway to believe you, you will need to produce evidence that that's what happened. If you can't or won't produce that evidence then the railway will not believe you, and won't believe that you are sincere in promising not to fare dodge in future. In turn that will mean they will take you to court, where you will lose as it is clear that you were using a 16-17 railcard discount which (as a 24 year old) you were not entitled to.

If you want to avoid court you need to produce evidence for your story.

To end on a (slightly) more positive note, be reassured that even if you are taken to court, the punishment will be a fine: you won't go to prison for this unless there's some much more serious aggravating circumstance that you haven't told us about.

 

[Titfield]

If you have been caught by TfL then the most likely outcome is conviction, fine, costs, victim surcharge, the fares avoided (at full rate) and an admin fee.

If you have been caught by SWR then the most likely outcome is an out of court settlement, the fares avoided (at full rate) and an admin fee.

The fine, costs and victim surcharge are income based with a set level for those on low incomes and the unwaged.

 

[davp]

If it goes any further you might want to think about contacting your union (eg MDDUS) and having a chat with them. If you don't belong to one then you might want to consider it. Do reflect carefully on what's happened here.

The slightly better news if you are prosecuted is that it's likely to be for a strict liability offence rather than one of dishonesty. However if you are convicted you should work on the basis it will show on an enhanced DBS check, so you must always declare it when you apply for a post (at least in your current profession), and it's not great that your first conversation with every future employer is likely to be about a railway ticketing offence. If you do get a conviction you will need to tell your university and regulator. Follow the advice from the forum, they are very good at these matters, do what you can to settle and start saving if you need to.

 

[nottoosure]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Could you tell us what age you are please?

If you cooperate with the rail company (which one are you dealing with?) there's usually a good chance that they will agree to an out of court settlement. You could check your account to see how many times you avoided paying the right fare, which you need to do in any case because they may send you a list of fares they want you to pay.

Assume they will want the full Anytime single fare for each journey, so two of those for a return trip and with no account being taken of the fares that you did pay. Then there will be an admin fee of around £150, sometimes more.

The experts should be here later to look at this for you.

Hi,
The enforcement officer didn’t ask me for any of my details, my name, address etc he just told me he’d check my card and see if I made the journey. Will they still be able to prosecute me? He didn’t get me to sign anything or read anything

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2025 ==

Hi,
The enforcement officer didn’t ask me for any of my details, my name, address etc he just told me he’d check my card and see if I made the journey. Will they still be able to prosecute me? He didn’t get me to sign anything or read anything

He also didn’t get me to sign anything or give an MG11 or witness statement

 

[AlterEgo]

Hi,
The enforcement officer didn’t ask me for any of my details, my name, address etc he just told me he’d check my card and see if I made the journey. Will they still be able to prosecute me?

Yes.

 

[nottoosure]

Yes.

Even if I wasn’t issued with any paperwork at the time

 

[AlterEgo]

Even if I wasn’t issued with any paperwork at the time

Yes, even if you weren't issued with any paperwork. You will receive a letter in the post.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@nottoosure. A follow up question... With your various London Bridge to (from) Clapham Junction tickets, have you ever actually entered or exited through the ticket barriers at Clapham Junction?