IRCAS Appeal

[GAHELL]

Hi,

I just wondered if I could tap into your collective knowledge. I traveled to Norwich from Liverpool street, when I got to Norwich I could not find my ticket despite using it to enter the ticket barriers at Liv St and having it checked on the train. I explained this to 'border patrol' however as I could not find my ticket they wrote me a penalty notice. The next day I emptied my wallet and found my ticket and seat reservation. I appealed to IRCAS on this basis & sent them a photocopy of my ticket and seat reservation. I thought my appeal would be successful. Today I received an e-mail, stating that as I did not produce a ticket when requested they had rejected my appeal. I find this unreal. I clearly had a a ticket to get on the train at Liv St, I had the ticket checked on the train and when I finally found my ticket the next day I assumed this would be sufficient evidence that I had a valid ticket and wasn't 'fare dodging'.

I am going to appeal their decision as I can ill afford the £130 'fine' at the moment. My question to you all, is what do you think my chances of success are?

 

[bb21]

Welcome.

Your chances are low I'm afraid. You are required to hand over a valid ticket for inspection when requested, not afterwards. For all they know, you could have given it to someone else to make the same journey, and then present the same ticket afterwards, or that you could have just borrowed a ticket from someone. I'm not saying that you did that, but surely you can see how this might come across to the train company.

You have a Penalty Fare for £128.20 (Is that correct?) which is twice the full single fare from London to Norwich. You are not being accused of fare evasion, as a Penalty Fare is a fare they are allowed to charge someone who made a mistake (not a fine, although it probably feels like one for a journey of this sort of distance). See Question 15 on this leaflet.

If you wish to appeal, you can do so, but you still need to pay the Penalty Fare in the meantime. If successful, the amount will be refunded. Don't get your hopes up too high is all I can say.

You might want to appeal to GA's better natures if write to them with your circumstances. Again you will be relying on their discretion so don't count on it.

You have my sympathy for the way things panned out, but technically you are in the wrong. I don't necessarily agree with the way the Penalty Fares system works, however it appears to me that they have done their job correctly under the current framework.

 

[GAHELL]

Thanks, I appreciate your help & advice. Yep the penalty fare is for £128.20, I can't work out how it is that much either! I actually pre-booked my ticket using the GA website, with my GA logon, so it was printed with my name so there is no doubt the ticket is mine. I have wrote a letter to Greater Anglia, explaining my circumstances, we will wait and see what happens. Thanks again.

 

[bb21]

Thanks, I appreciate your help & advice. Yep the penalty fare is for £128.20, I can't work out how it is that much either!

You can use brfares to check current fares. It is an unofficial website but it is by and large up-to-date.

The full Anytime Single between London and Norwich is £64.10, and your Penalty Fare is twice that amount.

I actually pre-booked my ticket using the GA website, with my GA logon, so it was printed with my name so there is no doubt the ticket is mine.

The name printed on the ticket is the name of the person who bought the ticket (or rather, the name registered on the account). This bears no relation to the actual person who used the ticket since you are allowed to buy tickets for use by other people.

I have wrote a letter to Greater Anglia, explaining my circumstances, we will wait and see what happens.

All I can say is good luck. It is a large sum of money by any means and I can only sympathise with you.