Prosecution Letter

[hpph]

Hi everyone,

My situation:
On 25th February I was taking my usual route from ifield to Guildford and on the thameslink journey (ifield to Redhill) I was stopped by an inspector and I had the incorrect ticket (I only had Redhill to Guildford) I have done this a couple of times just before the 25th February cause there is NEVER any inspectors on the thameslink train I take but there was unfortunately one on that day. As soon as I saw him I panicked and bought the ifield to Guildford ticket and he questioned me on this and took my details down.. I had told him I had just purchased the incorrect ticket (I can barely remember anything else i told him but that was my main reasoning). It’s been 2 months and I still haven’t received anything in the post I think it will come in the next month though.. any help in what I can reply back to them will be much appreciated.

In relation to me doing the Redhill to Guildford journey quite a few times before the 25th (but since then I’ve been doing the correct one cause it obviously freaked me out and surprise surprise no inspector has been on the train since lol)… I understand that they can check your ticketing history.. is there any way I could say I did sometimes actually go from Redhill to Guildford or is that too far fetched and should just accept the mistake cause I can say I do get dropped off at Redhill and take the train from there but idk if they go ahead and check cctv footage or whatnot to prove that I didn’t..

Anyways any help regarding my whole situation will be very helpful to me. Thanks

 

[AlterEgo]

In relation to me doing the Redhill to Guildford journey quite a few times before the 25th (but since then I’ve been doing the correct one cause it obviously freaked me out and surprise surprise no inspector has been on the train since lol)… I understand that they can check your ticketing history.. is there any way I could say I did sometimes actually go from Redhill to Guildford or is that too far fetched and should just accept the mistake cause I can say I do get dropped off at Redhill and take the train from there but idk if they go ahead and check cctv footage or whatnot to prove that I didn’t..

You shouldn't tell a very obvious lie nor ask us if it's okay to tell lies.

Time to wise up and take some responsibility. Once the company is in touch come back to let us know what they ask and whether they have audited your accounts, because what you will need to do is slightly different in either case. Until then advice can only be a general "wait for the letter". They are taking several months at the moment for some reason.

 

[hpph]

You shouldn't tell a very obvious lie nor ask us if it's okay to tell lies.

Time to wise up and take some responsibility. Once the company is in touch come back to let us know what they ask and whether they have audited your accounts, because what you will need to do is slightly different in either case. Until then advice can only be a general "wait for the letter". They are taking several months at the moment for some reason.

My bad but I genuinely did take Redhill to Guildford once cause I got dropped off but the rest of times I didn’t.. also do the audit the accounts in the first post they send or does that happen after or is there like a chance of them not doing it at all?

 

[AlterEgo]

My bad but I genuinely did take Redhill to Guildford once cause I got dropped off but the rest of times I didn’t.. also do the audit the accounts in the first post they send or does that happen after or is there like a chance of them not doing it at all?

It really varies with GTR, sometimes they audit and sometimes they don't. They aren't very consistent with this. If they do audit your accounts you will need to pay the full Anytime fare for each instance detected, with no account given for partial fares already paid.

 

[SECR 65]

GTR seem to have a 4-5 month potentially backlog - so you could be waiting a while longer. If you haven't heard within 5 months of the incident then that is when you should come back here for further advice.

It it best to be honest with them - they are dealing with hundreds of cases a week so know and can see past an obvious lie. Try and remember if there are any journeys that you did undertake with a valid ticket, and then you can tell them this for cases where it is truthful. They should believe you if you can find a reason to prove it e.g. parking ticket to show your origin station.

The letter will possibly ask for your version of the events, or they could say they intend to prosecute you. Normally with GTR you can arange to settle outside of court, but only if you engage with correspondence and are honest. Have a read of other GTR Notice of Intention to Prosecute cases on the forum to get an idea of what the letter might look like and how people usually draft replies.

When the letter arrives upload a copy on here with personal details redacted. You can then draft a reply based on other threads and forum members can proof-read and suggest improvements.

 

[30907]

My bad but I genuinely did take Redhill to Guildford once cause I got dropped off but the rest of times I didn’t.. also do the audit the accounts in the first post they send or does that happen after or is there like a chance of them not doing it at all?

If they come back with a list, you can certainly tell them about the one occasion - I would expect them to accept that and reduce their claim.