Prosecution for not producing railcard

[vanc2025]

Hi all, I received a penalty fare for not being able to produce a valid rail card at Chelmsford station. I was rushing to the train and had forgotten to bring my wallet along (i had the physical rail card). Showed them that I have it on the rail card app but said it wasn’t enough proof. Had a valid ticket btw but the officers issued me this penalty, told me not to worry and that I can easily appeal this. However, I could not put in an appeal online, there was some issue with the code they gave me? And I mailed my appeal in instead with evidence of my rail card. However, my appeal was rejected and I received another letter to say that they would be passing me on to the prosecutions team. What can I do now? I’ve tried calling the prosecutions team multiple times, no answer. I‘ve also tried emailing them again as advised in their voicemail, and I didn’t receive a reply either. It’s been almost a month since I emailed and I just sent another email again recently. What can I do now? Thanks!

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all, I received a penalty fare for not being able to produce a valid rail card at Chelmsford station. I was rushing to the train and had forgotten to bring my wallet along (i had the physical rail card). Showed them that I have it on the rail card app but said it wasn’t enough proof. Had a valid ticket btw but the officers issued me this penalty, told me not to worry and that I can easily appeal this. However, I could not put in an appeal online, there was some issue with the code they gave me? And I mailed my appeal in instead with evidence of my rail card. However, my appeal was rejected and I received another letter to say that they would be passing me on to the prosecutions team. What can I do now? I’ve tried calling the prosecutions team multiple times, no answer. I‘ve also tried emailing them again as advised in their voicemail, and I didn’t receive a reply either. It’s been almost a month since I emailed and I just sent another email again recently. What can I do now? Thanks!

Welcome

people here are going to need more details about this to be able to give you help (eg when this happened, copies of any paperwork you were given, copies of what you said in your appeal if you can provide it still etc)

Please have a look at this pinned post on the forum top section and answer as many of the questions as you can then it will go from there.

Please read before posting in Disputes & Prosecutions

Guidance for those asking for advice: 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...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[z444z]

Welcome

people here are going to need more details about this to be able to give you help (eg when this happened, copies of any paperwork you were given, copies of what you said in your appeal if you can provide it still etc)

Please have a look at this pinned post on the forum top section and answer as many of the questions as you can then it will go from there.

Please read before posting in Disputes & Prosecutions

Guidance for those asking for advice: 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...

www.railforums.co.uk

In addition to this, we would ideally see all emails you’ve sent to the prosecutions team as it’s really important to know what’s already been said.

 

[Titfield]

Are you aware of the forgotten railcard policy?

Forgotten Railcard Policy

The link is the one for the 16-25 railcard but the principle applies to all railcards.

What were the grounds given for refusing your appeal?

 

[AlterEgo]

The correct procedure is to pay the penalty fare as it is due, and then claim the refund from the retailer, as per the policy. (The policy is confusing, but PF appeals are usually declined, so customer services is the way to go)