Northern Rail Fixed Penalty Notice - Help!

[estotv]

Would appreciate some advice on my situation, especially if anyone has dealt with this situation before. Thanks in advance.

On the 18th of October 2014 I was travelling from Dronfield to Nottingham. I had a valid ticket, but I realised I'd forgotten my railcard when the ticket inspector asked me. I gave him my details and he gave me the slip thing they give you with the reference number etc on it. I should also mention I offered to pay the full ticket price on the spot but was told my debit card wouldn't work in the card machine as it was an electron (what?!) and that I had to pay the fine online. Fair enough.
A few days later I went online to pay the fee and my reference number wouldn't work. I gave up and thought nothing of it, thinking that maybe the inspector was in a good mood and decided not to report me after all. I was wrong!
I'm currently studying in Nottingham full time but travelled home to Newcastle for Christmas on the 6th of December and found that I'd been sent a letter from Northern Rail in early November. The letter stated that I had been given a Fixed Penalty Notice, and owed them 86.25 - 6.25 for the ticket itself, and 80 in fines. However, since I didn't actually open the letter until just over a week ago, I've missed the allotted time to pay the fine. I immediately went online to the IRCAS or whatever it's called and attempted to pay the fine online but was alerted that I couldn't because the case was already in the prosecution stage.
I haven't received a court summons yet but thats what the letter is threatening.
I've emailed both PassengerFocus and Northern Rail themselves explaining the situation and that I'm happy to pay them a settlement but I haven't heard anything back yet.
Does anyone have any advice or similar experiences? I'm only 20 and really don't want a criminal record!

 

[Chapeltom]

You do not have a valid ticket if you have left your railcard at home.

I suggest you sit and wait for Northern Rail to get back in touch. Why did the letter get sent to Newcastle if your at Uni in Nottingham? Did you give your name and address at Nottingham and if so why give your Newcastle address?

EDIT: You said you've emailed. Your best ringing Northern Rail's prosecution's department, it may be too late before they email you back. I don't have the number to hand, but a quick search should find it.

 

[northwichcat]

An Electron card only allows transactions to be made if a check can be made to see that you have sufficient funds to pay, so the card is accepted less widely than a normal Visa Debit card.

Was the conductor (i.e. the person on the train) who took your details? Did they issue you with an Unpaid Fares Notice?

Why did you give your home address? Did they make you produce proof of address or anything?

 

[DaveNewcastle]

As I read the facts, you still haven't paid for the journey taken 2 months ago, and haven't paid the £80 Penalty which was offered to you as an 'administrative settlement', and you haven't provided an address at which you can be contacted in a timely manner.

Any Prosecutor looking at your file will probably consider that they would have an excellent prospect of success if they begun Criminal Proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

You can't put the clock back, but you can at least make some effort to put right some of these wrongs. If you have a cheque book, you could immediately send a payment for the fare, the Penalty and a small additional sum to cover any extra administrative time that has been spent on your incident. You should provide a covering letter explaining your addresses and your apology for creating this mess, and if you can, include a scan/copy of the railcard which you failed to produce when travelling.
The Company is under no obligation to accept your payment at this stage, but at least it is an attempt.
You should also phone them to try to reach a settlement.

Passenger Focus will not be able to assist.

If your offer is not accepted, then it remains likely that you will still be able to make some sort of compensation settlement rather than waste the Court's time, but this option may not be available if you have had any previous record of non-payment of your rail fare.

 

[bb21]

I have little to add to what DaveNewcastle said above. Unfortunately you have found out that burying your head in the sand pretending that the matter would go away has not worked.

I am also at a loss why you are involving Passenger Focus as from what you have described, Northern didn't do anything wrong.

I can only stress that your best action now is to ring them and try get this sorted pronto. Even if you have to pay £80 to keep this out of court, that would be cheaper than if it went to court. You have no mitigation from what you've described.