Hi everyone
I travel from my local station to London Bridge. For the last 6 months when I have had to travel during the peak times (which is maybe once or twice a month) on the outward journey to London only I buy a ticket from a station closer to London to avoid the higher fee from my station. I know this is wrong and I shouldn’t do it. Today when stopped I was honest about the situation but I think at some point he had asked if I had done this’s before and I had said no which was not true. They will clearly pick this up as I have a South Eastern app which I buy tickets from. I am in a difficult position because of my job I can’t have a criminal conviction. This is really stressing me out and any advice is much appreciated. Do they ask you in the letter that’s due to arrive imminently whether you have done this form of evasion before?
This general advice should be of help to you in terms of what to expect to happen and what to do about it.
They are probably quite used to people lieing about things like previosu use when stopped and we don't see that especially preventing the ability to stelle out of court and avoid a criminal conviction. But you can expect them to search your previous ticket buying, but you can't know if they have done until they contact you.
You can probably resolve this yourself with the advice form here and along the lines set out below, but depending on how critical avoiding a criminal conviction is it may be worth knowing there are some solicitors that specialise in rail fares evasion work, although engaging them will cost circa £750 + in their fees
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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 do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the 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.
