My son has just received a fine to be paid in full of £3115 in 14 days.

[1234567890]

My son has just received a fine to be paid in full of £3115 in 14 days. He ( at 15) got on a train from Gloucester to Cheltenham and didn’t get a ticket. He was given a fine on the 28th July 26 and promptly hid it.
Today I received a letter dated 20th August ( after coming back from holiday) saying I as his Guardian now owe £3115.
This happened on the 28th July and he has no other fines or tickets or court cases.
I tried to call, but service support at GWR couldn’t help.
I have sent an email explaining - but I really don’t understand and feel this isn’t legal.
Help

 

[WesternLancer]

My son has just received a fine to be paid in full of £3115 in 14 days. He ( at 15) got on a train from Gloucester to Cheltenham and didn’t get a ticket. He was given a fine on the 28th July 26 and promptly hid it.
Today I received a letter dated 20th August ( after coming back from holiday) saying I as his Guardian now owe £3115.
This happened on the 28th July and he has no other fines or tickets or court cases.
I tried to call, but service support at GWR couldn’t help.
I have sent an email explaining - but I really don’t understand and feel this isn’t legal.
Help

Welcome.

Can you upload a copy if any / all letters received from railway company and also a copy of any replies you have sent them

Before doing so please blank out any personal
Info and ref numbers anywhere on the letters to protect your confidentiality.

We need to see exactly what the railway claim has happened. A sum of that size would not simply be made up from nowhere so it might help you if we can start off by understanding that.

You will get sound advice from here.

Also is your son under 16 or over 18 years of age?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The unpaid fare, if just for a single journey from Gloucester to Cheltenham Spa, is £6.30 (adult) or £3.15 (child, i.e. under 16). Even a first class annual season ticket between the two stations wouldn't be that much. Something doesn't seem to quite add up.

 

[SECR 65]

Also is your son under 16 or over 18 years of age?

Unless I'm missing something post #1 says age 15.

@1234567890 is there a history of fare evasion in this case? Have GWR maybe investigated journey history and discovered a vast number of journeys in the past couple of years where a valid ticket was not held?

Does your son's name or email address have a link to a ticketing account (e.g. Trainline) where someone else purchases invalid railway tickets?

 

[Fredtheshred]

The unpaid fare, if just for a single journey from Gloucester to Cheltenham Spa, is £6.30 (adult) or £3.15 (child, i.e. under 16). Even a first class annual season ticket between the two stations wouldn't be that much. Something doesn't seem to quite add up.

It's either £3.15 with a one instead of a decimal point, or many other journeys combined ?

 

[AlterEgo]

It's either £3.15 with a one instead of a decimal point, or many other journeys combined ?

It'll be the former, if he's a child. Easiest and neatest explanation.

 

[6Gman]

Is it simply an Unpaid Fare Notice requesting payment?

Seems a plausible explanation.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

It'll be the former, if he's a child. Easiest and neatest explanation.

The OP needs to load the content of the notice with identification redacted. It isn't a fine unless issued by a Court.

 

[gray1404]

We need to see the correspondence received before we can advise further.

 

[Olivine]

Is it simply an Unpaid Fare Notice requesting payment?

Seems a plausible explanation.

For £3000? Where’s he UFN’d to? Mongolia?

 

[LowLevel]

A fine of over 3 grand would be worthy of the news, something will be amiss there. It's about 10 times the usual amount imposed by a court for the offence and it won't have gone that far yet.

 

[NorthBoundEcho]

A fine of over 3 grand would be worthy of the news, something will be amiss there. It's about 10 times the usual amount imposed by a court for the offence and it won't have gone that far yet.

Sounds to me that it’s linked to fare evasion.
However it could be a misprint and be £31.15 in the best case.

 

[LowLevel]

Sounds to me that it’s linked to fare evasion.
However it could be a misprint and be £31.15 in the best case.

Could be - but it's a huge number for a 15 year old to reach!

 

[Haywain]

A fine of over 3 grand would be worthy of the news, something will be amiss there. It's about 10 times the usual amount imposed by a court for the offence and it won't have gone that far yet.

It's unlikely to actually be a fine.

 

[WesternLancer]

My son has just received a fine to be paid in full of £3115 in 14 days. He ( at 15) got on a train from Gloucester to Cheltenham and didn’t get a ticket. He was given a fine on the 28th July 26 and promptly hid it.
Today I received a letter dated 20th August ( after coming back from holiday) saying I as his Guardian now owe £3115.
This happened on the 28th July and he has no other fines or tickets or court cases.
I tried to call, but service support at GWR couldn’t help.
I have sent an email explaining - but I really don’t understand and feel this isn’t legal.
Help

Do you have the correct e mail for the section at GWR that sent this?

Can you share the e mail address you used. We can check that for you if needed.

I’m thinking they want £3.15 child fare probably.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

As the OP has been sent a letter, almost certainly it will have an address to reply to at the top. So if sending an email doesn't get a response, then writing a letter to the given address might work.

And if the son still has what they were given, have a look at that: it might give enough information to confirm if the amount is a typo on the letter.

 

[6Gman]

For £3000? Where’s he UFN’d to? Mongolia?

It's a typo on a £3.15 UFN

 

[WesternLancer]

It's a typo on a £3.15 UFN

Yes, seem unfortunate the OP @1234567890 has seemingly not been back yet to read any of the responses here....

maybe they are not set up to get alerts re replies to their post

 

[reb0118]

I assume that it's a typo for £3.15.

However, your son need not know this. Regardless of how this is resolved in fact, you can take the incorrect amount out his allowance, and also out of any inheritance he's due from your estate UNLESS and UNTIL he works it off by performing chores around the house. As he gets older, and the debt increases due to compound interest, these chores should also increase to include, but not be limited to, painting & decorating, basic rewiring, and garden landscaping.

It you work it out right he'll be in your debt until his sixties.

 

[swt_passenger]

I assume that it's a typo for £3.15.

However, your son need not know this. Regardless of how this is resolved in fact, you can take the incorrect amount out his allowance, and also out of any inheritance he's due from your estate UNLESS and UNTIL he works it off by performing chores around the house. As he gets older, and the debt increases due to compound interest, these chores should also increase to include, but not be limited to, painting & decorating, basic rewiring, and garden landscaping.

It you work it out right he'll be in your debt until his sixties.

Well thought through - or something you've done yourself?

 

[paninaro]

Yes, seem unfortunate the OP @1234567890 has seemingly not been back yet to read any of the responses here....

maybe they are not set up to get alerts re replies to their post

Out-of-interest, do users show up as being back if their session has expired and they read the thread without logging in?

 

[MrJeeves]

I assume that it's a typo for £3.15.

However, your son need not know this. Regardless of how this is resolved in fact, you can take the incorrect amount out his allowance, and also out of any inheritance he's due from your estate UNLESS and UNTIL he works it off by performing chores around the house. As he gets older, and the debt increases due to compound interest, these chores should also increase to include, but not be limited to, painting & decorating, basic rewiring, and garden landscaping.

It you work it out right he'll be in your debt until his sixties.

You're starting to sound like the Student Loans Company.

Out-of-interest, do users show up as being back if their session has expired and they read the thread without logging in?

No, it wouldn't by my understanding. Similarly, it also wouldn't if they've read email notifications about replies to the thread.

Hopefully the OP will query the amount with GWR and come back to us with an update. Until then, I think we've provided all the guidance we can.

 

[saismee]

I assume that it's a typo for £3.15.

However, your son need not know this. Regardless of how this is resolved in fact, you can take the incorrect amount out his allowance, and also out of any inheritance he's due from your estate UNLESS and UNTIL he works it off by performing chores around the house. As he gets older, and the debt increases due to compound interest, these chores should also increase to include, but not be limited to, painting & decorating, basic rewiring, and garden landscaping.

It you work it out right he'll be in your debt until his sixties.

Was waiting for the smiley but it seems you might be serious!

In all actuality it could be a good way for OP to get his son to do some chores and a good lesson to not bunk his train fare.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

In support of the typo analysis, it might be worth noting that per https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=GCR&dest=CNM&period=20260705, a child Anytime Day Single is £3.15.

 

[WesternLancer]

Out-of-interest, do users show up as being back if their session has expired and they read the thread without logging in?

Good question! Luckily someone has answered

 

[Mcr Warrior]

In support of the typo analysis, it might be worth noting that per https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=GCR&dest=CNM&period=20260705, a child Anytime Day Single is £3.15.

See post #3.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

See post #3.

I've slept since reading that. Apologies for the repetition.