Intention to prosecute - how to respond?

[mermaidqueen26]

In September I was getting the train from St Albans to London. I bought the tickets on Trainline but had printed the tickets out at the station so I had the physical versions opposed to using Trainline on my phone.

My phone was out of battery when the inspector came to check my ticket, so when he asked for my 16-25 railcard I couldn’t produce it. He then took my details and said I needed to upload the railcard within the following 2 weeks. I realised after the journey my railcard had expired and just avoided renewing uploading etc. because I was stressed!

I forgot to upload the railcard and received an intention to prosecute letter on the 9th of January. I have written a response but wanted some advice on whether there are better ways for me to respond/ whether to be honest about me realising it had expired after the train journey even though the inspector never saw a railcard.

I also just wanted to know whether it’s likely I’ll actually be taken to court / get a criminal record for what happened as it is quite anxiety inducing!

I’ve attached my letter - Any advice appreciated thank you so much.

 

[WesternLancer]

In September I was getting the train from St Albans to London. I bought the tickets on Trainline but had printed the tickets out at the station so I had the physical versions opposed to using Trainline on my phone.

My phone was out of battery when the inspector came to check my ticket, so when he asked for my 16-25 railcard I couldn’t produce it. He then took my details and said I needed to upload the railcard within the following 2 weeks. I realised after the journey my railcard had expired and just avoided renewing uploading etc. because I was stressed!

I forgot to upload the railcard and received an intention to prosecute letter on the 9th of January. I have written a response but wanted some advice on whether there are better ways for me to respond/ whether to be honest about me realising it had expired after the train journey even though the inspector never saw a railcard.

I also just wanted to know whether it’s likely I’ll actually be taken to court / get a criminal record for what happened as it is quite anxiety inducing!

I’ve attached my letter - Any advice appreciated thank you so much.

Welcome.

In short you are unlikely to be prosecuted if you respond to them appropriately
BUT
Your response needs to be significant ly better than what you have written there if you are going to increase your chances of avoiding prosecution…

I think you might benefit from some more advice on what to say in your response

I’m sure we can help you with that for the moment hold off posting that until you get some advice, assist not too late.

 

[z444z]

It is rather annoying that they ask on the letter for your version of events, and if you comply with that instruction and don’t apologise at all they’ll prosecute you instead of offering a settlement. The OP has done exactly as asked but I agree it is not a good enough response. OP this isn’t your fault, you’ve done the right thing coming here for advice!

Could you have a look through other threads to draft a response?

 

[30907]

Your current railcard is irrelevant - in fact you are as good as telling them you didn't have one! - so tell them straight that you realised the old one had expired.

And ask if they would be willing to offer an out-of-court settlement.

Loads of good examples on here.

 

[Egg Centric]

and if you comply with that instruction and don’t apologise at all they’ll prosecute you instead of offering a settlement

Unlikely in practice (with GTR anyway) - the advice given here is partly to do with "legacy" behaviour of agencies like TIL and partly to make sure punters are nowhere near the prosecution line and prevent disastrous combative or deceitful responses - it's a winning formula so no reason to mess with it. You may find this thread of interest.

 

[AlterEgo]

In September I was getting the train from St Albans to London. I bought the tickets on Trainline but had printed the tickets out at the station so I had the physical versions opposed to using Trainline on my phone.

My phone was out of battery when the inspector came to check my ticket, so when he asked for my 16-25 railcard I couldn’t produce it. He then took my details and said I needed to upload the railcard within the following 2 weeks. I realised after the journey my railcard had expired and just avoided renewing uploading etc. because I was stressed!

I forgot to upload the railcard and received an intention to prosecute letter on the 9th of January. I have written a response but wanted some advice on whether there are better ways for me to respond/ whether to be honest about me realising it had expired after the train journey even though the inspector never saw a railcard.

I also just wanted to know whether it’s likely I’ll actually be taken to court / get a criminal record for what happened as it is quite anxiety inducing!

I’ve attached my letter - Any advice appreciated thank you so much.

Forgetting to upload the railcard isn't relevant. It only applies if you actually held one at ghe fime of the stop. You didn't. You need to apologise for what actually happened and admit you didn't hold a valid railcard while travelling.

 

[WesternLancer]

In September I was getting the train from St Albans to London. I bought the tickets on Trainline but had printed the tickets out at the station so I had the physical versions opposed to using Trainline on my phone.

My phone was out of battery when the inspector came to check my ticket, so when he asked for my 16-25 railcard I couldn’t produce it. He then took my details and said I needed to upload the railcard within the following 2 weeks. I realised after the journey my railcard had expired and just avoided renewing uploading etc. because I was stressed!

I forgot to upload the railcard and received an intention to prosecute letter on the 9th of January. I have written a response but wanted some advice on whether there are better ways for me to respond/ whether to be honest about me realising it had expired after the train journey even though the inspector never saw a railcard.

I also just wanted to know whether it’s likely I’ll actually be taken to court / get a criminal record for what happened as it is quite anxiety inducing!

I’ve attached my letter - Any advice appreciated thank you so much.

In terms of what you should include in your response this general advice often given on the forum may help you - I have put the key advice on content of your response in bold below - saying to them that
-you wish to avoid court action and
- offering to pay what you owe is vital in avoiding prosecution I would suggest:



Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.


Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not make this mistake again (ie you will check your railcard is in date before travel and eg have set a reminder when it expires so you don't forget to renew it)
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay any outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on ) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.