Intention to prosecute

[martybabes]

His surname.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Agreed!

 

[Unfair12]

Hi all,

A solicitor agrees. I would rather just settle this out of court. I learnt my lesson check validity of ticket before travel.

Im not sure how many people have been in my situation?! But its so stressful and my life feels at a standstill.

 

[cuccir]

Well the situation with the false name sounds rare, though not impossible. Of course, without hearing the differences between the two versions of the name, we have no way of knowing how reasonably the guard acted!

The Oyster situation is probably quite common: a fair few people think that they can use Oyster to Gatwick.

 

[jon0844]

Plenty of people turn up at Hatfield with Oyster, or certainly did before FCC put up more maps showing where they were valid.

FCC trains don't have any announcements to warn that you're about to go beyond the validity, unlike some other TOCs.

As for the surname, I think that if it's a case of changing a name because nobody can pronounce it, that's fine if it's a name you've now adopted to use and is a way people can contact you.

It isn't fine if you have 'other' reasons and could potentially disassociate yourself with anything marked to the shortened/abbreviated name at a later date.

Without knowing the full reasons, I think the advice given above to get proper legal advice is the best advice you can get. Presumably a solicitor would be given the full reasons that the OP is perfectly able to not want to post on here.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Im not sure how many people have been in my situation?!

It has happened to several people before, its not a problem.
It's on that basis that I gave my advice on how to resolve it.
If you gave the solicitor the letter from the Railway Company, told him/her which offence it is (I gave you that in post #42) and the documentation I refered to in post #49, then he/she can take a sworn statement for you and send that to the Company to correct the problem.

It's a simple job.

There's nothing to "settle" out-of-court, you just have to pay the Penalty Fare.

 

[martybabes]

Presumably a solicitor would be given the full reasons that the OP is perfectly able to not want to post on here.

You'd think so wouldn't you?

All too often I have been told only what people think I need to know rather than what I need to know. The best advice is to off-load all you know; the choice of what to use is left to the professionals.

 

[Unfair12]

Hi all

The matter has been settled spoke to a really nice guy on the phone.
I paid an amount which is a penalty warning.

I am happy about that to make this all go away.


Thanks for everyones advise
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

You'd think so wouldn't you?

All too often I have been told only what people think I need to know rather than what I need to know. The best advice is to off-load all you know; the choice of what to use is left to the professionals.

I told the solicitor who said that the reason was more than enough to argue in court. Im glad it has not come to that and the prosecutor from the toc understood and realised it was an innocent mistake.

Never want to be in this situation again. Its horrible.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
What is a penalty warning fare? Thats what i had to pay.

 

[island]

A "penalty warning" is not defined at law as far as I know, but it sounds like the sum you paid was an out-of-court settlement.

 

[bb21]

What is a penalty warning fare? Thats what i had to pay.

I have never heard of a Penalty Warning Fare. A warning by definition isn't a penalty to pay.

Our Fares & Ticketing Guide has a section on Penalty Fares and other mechanisms that can be used to deal with ticketing irregularities.

Are you happy to tell us how much the settlement/penalty is? We might be able to work out exactly what it is.

 

[Unfair12]

It was for £50

May be he meant this was a warning. But he dis say he would put a stop to a prosecution letter being sent to me. I would receive a receipt in the post.

Im just glad this got sorted out early.

 

[bb21]

I'm glad that this has been resolved to your satisfaction.

I guess it's not a Penalty Fare in that case (at least not just a Penalty Fare on its own). It is a reasonably cheap out-of-court settlement if that is what it is. (It could have been a Penalty Fare plus some admin charge but it's probably better to see it as a cheap out-of-court settlement. )

 

[DaveNewcastle]

It is a reasonably cheap out-of-court settlement if that is what it is. (It could have been a Penalty Fare plus some admin charge but it's probably better to see it as a cheap out-of-court settlement. )

Yes, I agree.

(I hesitate to say this, but . . . . it is what I anticipated : "Perhaps your incident will be passed to an Investigator who will agree that the name you gave was not a deceitful attempt to avoid payment and will simply ask for the correct Penalty Fare plus some payment towards the Company's administrative costs.")

 

[Unfair12]

I cant wait to receive my receipt. I do feel relieved and i learnt a hard lesson, that in life you have to take responsibility, for travel plans ive told all my friends the seriousness of it.

Yea i cant belive it was £50. Reading other peoples threads i thought it wpuld be more.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
It might have been because the admin costs where not much as i resolved the issue quite quickly an replied to the intention to prosecute letter straight away, aplogiesing for my mistake and asking to settle this before it has to go to court.I settled this matter before they even sent me a letter to prosecute or whatver their decision may have been.

 

[jon0844]

For future reference, I would be careful about how you give your name to people in a position of authority. How you're known by your mates, or by people you don't know (including on social media etc) is up to you - but there are certain people, and railway officials are included, that will expect to be given a valid name.

Or at the very least explain this to the person before giving any details. Ultimately, they'll be after a name and address where you can be contacted - and if you do that you should be fine whatever details you give.

I obviously don't know your reasonings for wanting to give a different surname, but bear in mind that many credit checking agencies will hold details on you and include aliases. So, again, you might be fine by giving one of them if it's on record.

However, one of the legal experts on here will probably be able to explain a bit more than I can.

Anyway, a good outcome for you I'd say!

 

[swt_passenger]

For future reference, I would be careful about how you give your name to people in a position of authority. How you're known by your mates, or by people you don't know (including on social media etc) is up to you - but there are certain people, and railway officials are included, that will expect to be given a valid name.

Or at the very least explain this to the person before giving any details. Ultimately, they'll be after a name and address where you can be contacted - and if you do that you should be fine whatever details you give.

If there's a potential problem with the spelling or pronunciation of the OP's full name, how about him carrying a couple of business cards with his correct details on, to hand to people acting in an official capacity?

 

[Unfair12]

Yes i understand now.

It will not happen again. Definitely learnt a big lesson from this

 

[jon0844]

If there's a potential problem with the spelling or pronunciation of the OP's full name, how about him carrying a couple of business cards with his correct details on, to hand to people acting in an official capacity?

You have to be careful about being stopped by the police one day and having loads of different ID. They might well get suspicious - although that's not to say you can't explain yourself in a satisfactory manner.