intent to prosecute letter - help with response

[floralee]

Hello.
Yesterday I received my letter of intent to prosecute regarding an incident where I travelled without a valid railcard. My journey was short, from Lewes station to Brighton, on SWR. I selected the 16-25 railcard option despite my railcard expiring in april and this journey taking place in july. I bought my ticket manually as i always tend to do that, rather than use an app. I was stopped at the gates in Brighton and had a conversation with a revenue protection officer where i lied and said i still had a valid 16-25 railcard and that i was 25. I actually was 26 at the time. I was so panicked and scared that I was lying to make my situation seem better. I also offered to pay full price for a new ticket. As soon as i left the station i bought a 25-30 railcard which i now use on all journeys. I'm unsure if i used the 16-25 railcard discount on other journeys between april and july, i think probably, but as i buy physical tickets i have no way of double checking. I wasn't travelling too much at that time, so the max is maybe 2 or 3 journeys. In all honesty I selected the 16-25 option as i've had a 16-25 railcard for 8 years prior to this day, and genuinely just without thinking always select it - even now i often have to backtrack mid transaction to select the 25-30 option. I would love to settle this out of court as this entire situation has made me extremely extremely anxious and unwell. I've included a draft of my letter response below. and redacted images of the letter I received, although its a pretty basic one. I was also planning on including screenshots of my past 9 years of railcards - including my current 25-30 one.
Thank you so much for any help given.

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To Whom It May Concern,

My name is ____ and I’m writing in response to my notice of intention to prosecute which was sent on the 25th Nov 2025, GTREMG_____.

On the morning of 18th July 2025 I was stopped by a member of the Revenue Protection Team in Brighton station after failing to produce a railcard for my ticket. I am truly sorry for this situation and it has deeply troubled me since it happened. I wanted to try to correct the situation, but I was unsure of who to contact after the event. I had no intention of evading paying part of my fare, but I accept that I am part of the problem despite my intentions.

On this day I had bought a ticket to Brighton from Lewes station, manually at the ticket machine in Lewes. I had held a 16-25 railcard for eight years prior to this incident, (I have included images of these in this letter), and whilst buying my ticket without thinking I selected the 16-25 railcard option, due to the fact that I had done that same ticket selection action for 8 years on multiple journeys. Once I was stopped at the station I realised that not only had my 16-25 railcard run out in April, but I was now eligible for the 26-30 railcard instead. In my panic I insisted I had a valid 16-25 railcard when questioned but obviously I did not. I was scared and embarrassed, I wanted the interaction to be over quickly and without issue so I made it seem less of a severe mistake than it was. After leaving the station I immediately bought a 25-30 railcard within an hour of the interaction. I am so incredibly sorry to have been dishonest. This entire situation is extremely out of character for me, and I reacted out of sheer anxiety. There was no deliberate attempt at ticket evasion. I was genuinely unaware starting my journey that my railcard was out of date and that I had therefore selected the wrong ticket type. I know that none of this reasoning makes my actions okay, as I understand the severe consequences of ticket fraud and that it is a massive issue in the rail industry.

I would never wish to cause an issue or commit an offence in any aspect of my life, and I am deeply deeply sorry for the time, money and stress this has caused everyone involved. I would be extremely grateful if consideration could be given to my paying any fees, costs, or fines that I have created by my actions without any court involvement. I take full responsibility for my error and know that I am responsible for ensuring that I have a valid ticket and railcard. This is a genuine error that won't happen again. I will ensure I am proactive in checking the dates of my railcard in future.

Please note my address is listed as _______, and I now reside at ________ - so any future correspondence should be sent here instead.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter, and giving me the opportunity to explain my actions.

Yours sincerely,
_______

 

[30907]

FYI a 16-25 Railcard is valid until it expires if you buy it before your 26th birthday.

The long paragraph in the middle needs drastic trimming.

All you needed to say was that you did not check that your railcard was still valid and therefore did not pay the correct fare, and that you immediately bought a 26-30.

Keep it short!

 

[floralee]

FYI a 16-25 Railcard is valid until it expires if you buy it before your 26th birthday.

The long paragraph in the middle needs drastic trimming.

All you needed to say was that you did not check that your railcard was still valid and therefore did not pay the correct fare, and that you immediately bought a 26-30.

Keep it short!

Thank you so much for your advice. Just wondering if it would be beneficial to keep in the fact that i had insisted at the time i had a valid railcard as that is what happened in the interaction, and to ignore it would seem dishonest? Or is that still too much information?
Thanks again

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you so much for your advice. Just wondering if it would be beneficial to keep in the fact that i had insisted at the time i had a valid railcard as that is what happened in the interaction, and to ignore it would seem dishonest? Or is that still too much information?
Thanks again

Just want to check this - because whatever you say to them it

- needs to be true
- needs to be a consistent story (for clarity for the reader if nothing else)

so

- did you know the railcard had expired (but applied the discount anyway at the ticket machine at the station)? - ie deliberate evasion
or
- did you not realise your railcard had expired in April and thus applied the discount when buying your ticket? - ie genuine error / carelessness

What I'm getting at is -

If it was ever a thought in your mind that you could get away with applying the discount when you knew you didn't have the railcard then I would not be saying anything at all that seeks to construct a narrative that due to force of habit you've been actively pressing buttons on a ticket machine to apply a Railcard discount, as they probably won't really believe you (even if it is true).

So better to just apologise for what has happened, a make it clear you understand the seriousness of it, and assure them it won't happen again, and offer to pay any fare owed (not fees or fines) plus their costs of investigation 'in order to resolve the matter without the need for court action'.

If your ticket buying is usually via a ticket machine they probably can't trace other occasions where this has happened compared with the ease of checking on line ticket purchases (well they could via a bank card check I suppose but I think that's pretty unlikely to happen unless you were suspected of significant on going fare evasion). So that will probably not come into the equation but if they did ask you about other occasions then you could deal with it should it be asked of you.

If this was a genuine mistake I would not be mentioning 'ticket fraud' in your reply at all, not even in passing (but you could just say that you understand it is important for all passengers to pay the correct fare or something like that instead).

You might want to put your change of address details right up at the top, after quoting your ref number, under 'Dear Sir / Madam'

Also - just so you know - you are dealing with Southern Railway here I suspect - not SWR

 

[jfollows]

It’s far too long.

Stick to the basics.

1. Acknowledge your mistake. No need to do more than this.
2. Apologise for your actions. Don’t say you “are part of the problem”, just stick to the facts.
3. Forget about your expired railcard (as in, don’t show it, it just confuses things).
4. Show your new railcard, absolutely.
5. Ask to pay fares due plus their investigation costs.

We’re seeing your letter as if we were receiving it for SWR, and I simply couldn’t bring myself to read it all.

 

[floralee]

Just want to check this - because whatever you say to them it

- needs to be true
- needs to be a consistent story (for clarity if nothing else)

so did you know the railcard had expired (but applied the discount anyway at the ticket machine at the station)?
or
did you not realise your railcard had expired and thus applied the discount when buying your ticket?

I didn't realise my railcard had expired and bought a 16-25 ticket. In the interaction with the revenue protection officer I realised it had expired, and instead of owning up to this I insisted I had a physical one but it was not with me at that point in time, so lied to her face in my panic.

 

[jfollows]

They know people lie to them all the time. They aren’t interested, really, as long as you’re now telling them the truth.
Just try and think about it from their perspective, not from yours.

 

[floralee]

They know people lie to them all the time. They aren’t interested, really, as long as you’re now telling them the truth.
Just try and think about it from their perspective, not from yours.

Trying to, just a bit blindsided by all this so not really sure how to write it correctly. Is this draft better?

-----

To Whom It May Concern,

My name is _____ and I’m writing in response to my notice of intention to prosecute which was sent on the 25th Nov 2025, GTREMG_____

On the morning of 18th July 2025 I was stopped by a member of the Revenue Protection Team in Brighton station after failing to produce a railcard for my ticket. I am truly sorry for this situation and it has deeply troubled me since it happened. I wanted to try to correct the situation, but I was unsure of who to contact after the event. I had no intention of evading paying part of my fare.

On this day I had bought a 16-25 ticket to Brighton from Lewes station, at the ticket machine in Lewes. I held a 16-25 railcard for eight years prior to this incident. Once I was stopped at the station I realised that my railcard had run out. In my panic I insisted I had a valid railcard when questioned but obviously I did not. After leaving the station I immediately bought a new railcard (image attached) within an hour of the interaction. I am so sorry to have been dishonest. There was no deliberate attempt at ticket evasion. I was genuinely unaware starting my journey that my railcard was out of date and that I had therefore selected the wrong ticket type.

I am deeply sorry for the time, money and stress this has caused everyone involved. I would be extremely grateful if I could pay any fares due and investigative costs to resolve the matter without court involvement. I take full responsibility for my error and know that I am responsible for ensuring that I have a valid ticket and railcard.

Please note my address is listed as ______, and I now reside at ________ - so any future correspondence should be sent here instead.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter, and giving me the opportunity to explain my actions.

Yours sincerely,
______

 

[30907]

Trying to, just a bit blindsided by all this so not really sure how to write it correctly. Is this draft better?

-----

See amendments below

To Whom It May Concern, Dear Sir or Madam

My name is _____ and I’m writing in response to my notice of intention to prosecute which was sent on the 25th Nov 2025, GTREMG_____

On the morning of 18th July 2025 I was stopped by a member of the Revenue Protection Team in Brighton station after failing to produce a railcard for my ticket. I am truly sorry for this situation and it has deeply troubled me since it happened. I wanted to try to correct the situation, but I was unsure of who to contact after the event. I had no intention of evading paying part of my fare.

On this day I had bought a 16-25 ticket to Brighton from Lewes stationq at the ticket machine in Lewes. I held a 16-25 railcard for eight years prior to this incident. Once I was stopped at the station I realised that my railcard had run out. In my panic I insisted I had a valid railcard when questioned but obviously I did not. After leaving the station I immediately bought a new railcard (image attached) within an hour of the interaction. I am so sorry to have been dishonest. There was no deliberate attempt at ticket evasion. I was genuinely unaware starting my journey that my railcard was out of date and that I had therefore selected the wrong ticket type.

You were not being dishonest if your story is true. Perhaps "I am sorry for my careless error"?

I am deeply sorry for the time, money and stress this has caused everyone involved. I would be extremely grateful if I could pay any fares due and investigative costs to resolve the matter without court involvement. I take full responsibility for my error and know that I am responsible for ensuring that I have a valid ticket and railcard.

Please note my address is listed as ______, and I now reside at ________ - so any future correspondence should be sent here instead.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter, and giving me the opportunity to explain my actions.

Yours sincerely,
______

 

[WesternLancer]

To Whom It May Concern,

My name is _____ and I’m writing in response to my notice of intention to prosecute which was sent on the 25th Nov 2025, GTREMG_____

On the morning of 18th July 2025 I was stopped by a member of the Revenue Protection Team in Brighton station after failing to produce a railcard for my ticket. I am truly sorry for this situation and it has deeply troubled me since it happened. I wanted to try to correct the situation, but I was unsure of who to contact after the event. I had no intention of evading paying part of my fare.

On this day I had bought a 16-25 ticket to Brighton from Lewes station, at the ticket machine in Lewes. I held a 16-25 railcard for eight years prior to this incident. Once I was stopped at the station I realised that my railcard had run out. In my panic I insisted I had a valid railcard when questioned but obviously I did not. After leaving the station I immediately bought a new railcard (image attached) within an hour of the interaction. I am so sorry to have been dishonest. There was no deliberate attempt at ticket evasion. I was genuinely unaware starting my journey that my railcard was out of date and that I had therefore selected the wrong ticket type.

I am deeply sorry for the time, money and stress this has caused everyone involved. I would be extremely grateful if I could pay any fares due and investigative costs to resolve the matter without court involvement. I take full responsibility for my error and know that I am responsible for ensuring that I have a valid ticket and railcard.

Please note my address is listed as ______, and I now reside at ________ - so any future correspondence should be sent here instead.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter, and giving me the opportunity to explain my actions.

Yours sincerely,

some suggested minor amends that you can consider if you think they are of help : Hope you can see the additions and moved text etc

EDIT - I see I have cross posted with @30907 - by all means pick the suggested amends you feel you are most comfortable with - nothing fundamentally different about our respective suggested amends I don't think.

-----------------------------------------------------------


To Whom It May Concern,

Your Ref: GTREMG_____

My name is _____ and I’m writing in response to my notice of intention to prosecute which was sent on the 25th Nov 2025,

Please note my address is listed as ______, and I now reside at ________ - so any future correspondence should be sent here instead.

On the morning of 18th July 2025 I was stopped by a member of the Revenue Protection Team in Brighton station after failing to produce a Railcard for my ticket. I am truly sorry for this situation and it has deeply troubled me since it happened. I wanted to try to correct the situation, but I was unsure of who to contact after the event. I had no intention of evading paying part of my fare.

On this day I had bought a 16-25 ticket to Brighton from Lewes station, at the ticket machine in Lewes. I held a 16-25 railcard for eight years prior to this incident. Once I was stopped at the station I realised that my railcard had run out. In my panic I insisted I had a valid railcard when questioned but obviously I did not. After leaving the station I immediately bought a new railcard (image attached) within an hour of the interaction. I am so sorry to have been dishonest. There was no deliberate attempt at ticket evasion. I was genuinely unaware starting my journey that my railcard was out of date and that I had therefore selected the wrong ticket type.

I take full responsibility for my error and know that I am responsible for ensuring that I have a valid ticket and railcard. To prevent this happening again I have set a renewal note in my calendar for the expiry of my new Railcard.

I am deeply sorry for the inconvenienced I have caused time, money and stress this has caused to everyone involved.

I would be extremely grateful if I could pay any fares due and investigative costs to resolve the matter without court involvement.

Please note my address is listed as ______, and I now reside at ________ - so any future correspondence should be sent here instead.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter, and giving me the opportunity to explain my actions.

Yours sincerely,

 

[floralee]

Okay, thank you guys so much. Here's my latest draft. Hopefully final because this is stressing me out so much!! But thank you all again.


-----



Dear Sir or Madam,

Your Ref: GTREMG_____

I’m writing in response to my notice of intention to prosecute which was sent on the 25th Nov 2025.

Please note my address is listed as ______, and I now reside at ________ - so any future correspondence should be sent here instead.

On the morning of 18th July 2025 I was stopped by a member of the Revenue Protection Team in Brighton station after failing to produce a Railcard for my ticket. I am truly sorry for this situation and it has deeply troubled me since it happened. I had no intention of evading paying part of my fare and I wanted to try to correct the situation, but was unsure of who to contact after the event.

On this day I had bought a 16-25 ticket to Brighton from Lewes station, at the ticket machine in Lewes. I held a 16-25 railcard for eight years prior to this incident. Once I was stopped at the station I realised that my railcard had run out. After leaving the station I immediately bought a new railcard (image attached) There was no deliberate attempt at ticket evasion. I am so sorry for this error. I was unaware starting my journey that my railcard was out of date and that I had therefore selected the wrong ticket type.

I take full responsibility for this and know that I am responsible for ensuring that I have a valid ticket and railcard. To prevent this happening again I have set a renewal note in my calendar for the expiry of my new Railcard.

I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience I have caused to everyone involved.

I would be extremely grateful if I could pay any fares due and investigative costs to resolve the matter without court involvement.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter, and giving me the opportunity to explain my actions.

Yours sincerely,

_______

 

[WesternLancer]

Okay, thank you guys so much. Here's my latest draft. Hopefully final because this is stressing me out so much!! But thank you all again.


-----



Dear Sir or Madam,

Your Ref: GTREMG_____

I’m writing in response to my notice of intention to prosecute which was sent on the 25th Nov 2025.

Please note my address is listed as ______, and I now reside at ________ - so any future correspondence should be sent here instead.

On the morning of 18th July 2025 I was stopped by a member of the Revenue Protection Team in Brighton station after failing to produce a Railcard for my ticket. I am truly sorry for this situation and it has deeply troubled me since it happened. I had no intention of evading paying part of my fare and I wanted to try to correct the situation, but was unsure of who to contact after the event.

On this day I had bought a 16-25 ticket to Brighton from Lewes station, at the ticket machine in Lewes. I held a 16-25 railcard for eight years prior to this incident. Once I was stopped at the station I realised that my railcard had run out. After leaving the station I immediately bought a new railcard (image attached) There was no deliberate attempt at ticket evasion. I am so sorry for this error. I was unaware starting my journey that my railcard was out of date and that I had therefore selected the wrong ticket type.

I take full responsibility for this and know that I am responsible for ensuring that I have a valid ticket and railcard. To prevent this happening again I have set a renewal note in my calendar for the expiry of my new Railcard.

I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience I have caused to everyone involved.

I would be extremely grateful if I could pay any fares due and investigative costs to resolve the matter without court involvement.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter, and giving me the opportunity to explain my actions.

Yours sincerely,

_______

when you are comfortable with content and ready to send it the general advice is

- for this company you have to reply by post IIRC - so send it tracked postage from a post office (not necessarily the more expensive Guaranteed next day delivery) so that you can prove they received it if you ever need to do so. Keep the online tracking proof of delivery record that you can download

- keep copies of everything they have sent you and you have replied with for your records

- if you can, check your old address for post from them just in case they fail to update you address records.

 

[floralee]

when you are comfortable with content and ready to send it the general advice is

- for this company you have to reply by post IIRC - so send it tracked postage from a post office (not necessarily the more expensive Guaranteed next day delivery) so that you can prove they received it if you ever need to do so. Keep the online tracking proof of delivery record that you can download

- keep copies of everything they have sent you and you have replied with for your records

- if you can, check your old address for post from them just in case they fail to update you address records.

Okay, thank you so much. I'm going to post it today I think.
Does anybody know how common it is for this to actually be taken to court? I'm such an anxious person, the thought of this is driving me insane.

 

[WesternLancer]

Okay, thank you so much. I'm going to post it today I think.
Does anybody know how common it is for this to actually be taken to court? I'm such an anxious person, the thought of this is driving me insane.

GTR - southern / thameslink are one of the most common train operators to settle and reasonably costs wise from what we see on here.

They almost always settle it seems (and cases that we see where this does not happen seems to involve lost postal replies hence the advice on tracked postage)

So I think you can be reasonably confident that in a case of a genuine oversight like this they will not want to take it to court - unless your reply gets lost.

This is why your address details / change of address / access to post at old address is also important.