NET plea letter

[myrfaccount]

I had a fare evasion ticket I tried to pay online in increments but it only gave me the option to pay in full. I couldn't find a phone number to sort it.
Was hoping to get some correspondence prior, but I've just been sent a letter asking for a plea.

I'm on disability and can't afford an increased fee. Is there any way to pay the fine and avoid a charge/increased fine?

 

[Puffing Devil]

It appears that your failure to pay has resulted in the train company taking you to court.

I'm assuming you had a penalty fare of £100, reduced to £50 for prompt payment plus the fare owning of £3.40.

You're now a little stuck and at the mercy of the train company. Two possible actions:

1) Write back to the train company and ask them to reconsider the decision to prosecute. Explain your financial circumstances and offer what you can to settle. Ideally, find some way to raise the full amount owing through friends or family.

2) Let the matter go to court and plead guilty. Complete the Means Form that will be with the notice you shared, and ask for time to pay. The court should allow you to pay in instalments, around £5 per week. However, you will then have a criminal conviction on your record.

There is no guarantee that 1 will work, and you may well land at 2. Do not miss the date for returning the court documents, as the case will be heard without knowledge of your income, and the fine will be a lot higher with no time to pay.

 

[WesternLancer]

I had a fare evasion ticket I tried to pay online in increments but it only gave me the option to pay in full.

Most train companies do not accept payments in installments (including for out of court settlements and presumably also for Penalty Fares if this is what you mean by a 'fare evasion ticket')

I couldn't find a phone number to sort it.

They will not usually discuss fare evasion matters over the phone, but you could have contacted them in writing by e-mail or letter had you got some advice from here on how best to do that - but it seems to be too late for that now

But as per @Puffing Devil's advice you could write to them now to ask if you can resolve it and the court action be withdrawn. They may or may not agree to this - it will almost certainly involve paying them (in one go within 2 weeks) - the cost of a replacement ticket at the full Anytime Fare for the journey you were on, plus some kind of Admin fee (maybe around £100 depending on which train company this involved)

As mentioned you can pay court fines / costs etc in instalments - but that requires completion of the proper court documents for that (you can't phone up and ask the court) - but if it goes to court you will have a criminal record for fare evasion.

Not the key point that you must not miss the court deadline for return of this paperwork

Was hoping to get some correspondence prior, but I've just been sent a letter asking for a plea.

I'm on disability and can't afford an increased fee. Is there any way to pay the fine and avoid a charge/increased fine?

 

[AlterEgo]

We’re going to need a lot more detail.

Please bear in mind the following, when asking for advice in this section:

• We need to know all relevant facts in order to assist you, including, for example:
  • The stations* where you actually started & finished your journey
  • The stations* where you changed trains (if applicable);
  • If you presented a ticket(s), the information* stated under "Ticket type", "From", "To", "Route", and any other relevant details;
  • Details of any Railcard(s) held;
  • When and where ticket(s) were purchased, including whether this was prior to the journey commencing;
  • What happened in any encounter with railway staff;
  • Upload copies of any paperwork (with personal details redacted) with your post.
• We need to know what outcome(s) you would consider satisfactory

 

[greaterangrier]

Unsure if this changes anything but isn't this trams?

NET = Nottingham Express Transit?

 

[AlterEgo]

Unsure if this changes anything but isn't this trams?

NET = Nottingham Express Transit?

It seems likely but we need the OP to confirm.

 

[John R]

It seems likely but we need the OP to confirm.

They are from Nottingham, so I think it’s safe to say it is.

Given that, I’m not sure we actually need all that info. They were caught without a ticket (which they don’t seem to dispute) and the problem is that they didn’t pay the fine on time.

 

[WesternLancer]

Handy Penalty Fare info page on the NET website fwiw

Penalty Fares

www.thetram.net

with a detailed 3 page flow chart on process that is informative

https://7099268.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7099268/net-penalty-fare-process.pdf

This makes mention of the ability to pay the Penalty at the NET shop - NET Travel Centre - near Old Market Square (where no doubt a person would have explained if instalments were an option or not as I suspect they are not) - but the shop has closed relatively recently - in last 12 months IIRC - so this info has not been updated. I suspect being a small transit system customer services phone number might have been expected to know the answer to queries about Penalty Fare payment processes / instalments.

The OP @myrfaccount needs to let us know if any effort was made to contact NET about this in any way after finding they would not accept part payment on line for example.