Railcard Prosecution

[Mango46]

I have received letter of prosecution today (3 months after) for not travelling with my railcard on 14th Nov 24 at Haywards Heath. I can not find my railcard and suspect its probably expired. After reading threads on here i am now really scared. My life admin has suffered in last couple of years due to Major facial paralysis and also having major surgery (reason for travel on day of question), will they take this into account? Im guessing they will also look at my past tickets and add that on to the bill? i do not travel on the train more than 1/2 times a month and have never been fined before. This all seems extreme, no option to pay a fine or full ticket price instead but straight to prosecution?? Its cheaper to drive but that's not what we should be all doing-cry
I will reply with full apology and explanation as above but just wanted some advise?


Any help with my response letter much appreciated:

I am writing in response to letter dated 5th Feb 2025 regarding the incident on 14th Nov 2024.


Firstly I want to sincerely apologise for travelling without a railcard, it was certainly not my intention to do so. In the moment with the Ticket Officer I felt very frightened not fully understanding what was said and what may happen next especially as the train was full and so we had an audience.


I would like to explain my circumstances in hope there may be some discretion to not prosecute. Over the last 2 years I have suffered from 2 major health conditions that both presented overnight - Bells Palsy Ramsay Hunt (facial paralysis) and having a hysterectomy (major surgery removing organs) 12 weeks ago which was reason for travel on 14th Nov. Being a single parent and still recovering from both of these health matters my admin life has slowly crumbled, I am really struggling to keep on top of everything. My partner would normally organise the railcard and many other things and we would always travel together however we have separated.

I have now purchased a railcard to ensure this does not happen again.



Please find enclosed evidence of my health conditions

 

[Gloster]

I have received letter of prosecution today (3 months after) for not travelling with my railcard on 14th Nov 24 at Haywards Heath. I can not find my railcard and suspect its probably expired. After reading threads on here i am now really scared. My life admin has suffered in last couple of years due to Major facial paralysis and also having major surgery (reason for travel on day of question), will they take this into account? Im guessing they will also look at my past tickets and add that on to the bill? i do not travel on the train more than 1/2 times a month and have never been fined before. This all seems extreme, no option to pay a fine or full ticket price instead but straight to prosecution?? Its cheaper to drive but that's not what we should be all doing-cry
I will reply with full apology and explanation as above but just wanted some advise?

Please post the letter you have received in this thread so that the experts know exactly what the situation is. Please obscure your name, address and any other identifying details, such as reference numbers.

 

[John R]

Please post (with all personal details hidden) the letter you have received, and we ask that people seeking help prepare a draft themselves, which we are happy to review. Yes, typically past travel is reviewed with a view to including them in any settlement amount.

Sorry about your health problems too - that sounds awful and I hope you make a full recovery.

 

[WesternLancer]

I have received letter of prosecution today (3 months after) for not travelling with my railcard on 14th Nov 24 at Haywards Heath. I can not find my railcard and suspect its probably expired. After reading threads on here i am now really scared. My life admin has suffered in last couple of years due to Major facial paralysis and also having major surgery (reason for travel on day of question), will they take this into account? Im guessing they will also look at my past tickets and add that on to the bill? i do not travel on the train more than 1/2 times a month and have never been fined before. This all seems extreme, no option to pay a fine or full ticket price instead but straight to prosecution?? Its cheaper to drive but that's not what we should be all doing-cry
I will reply with full apology and explanation as above but just wanted some advise?

They will possibly take your health circs into account, and more so if there is some way it contributed to the travel problem to start with (ie difficult personal circumstances resulted in your loosing railcard / overlooking the renewal of your railcard) - but you should expect to evidence it (at least in general terms) with your reply.

As advised - post up what they have sent you, and also post up your draft of a reply so people can help you get it as good as it can be.

Is this Southern or Thameslink? - plenty of other cases involving them on here so you can get an idea of how it plays out if you want to look over some, and give you ideas of what to say

essentially they want to know:

- that you understand why what you did was wrong (even if it was a genuine error and not deliberate evasion)
- you won't do it again
- have learned from your mistake and taken steps to prevent it (eg renewed railcard for example)
- are prepared to pay what you owe in terms of correct fare for the travel concerned

 

[30907]

First of all, GTR will almost certainly be willing to settle out of court if you engage with them along the lines Western Lancer has posted; I hopecthat will allay your concerns.

Second, in answer to your question about the policy of threatening prosecution:
like it or not, a considerable number of people travel without the railcard they have claimed to have, or with an expired one.
There is a long-standing procedure for evidencing a forgotten railcard, which you may be able to use, but train companies now take the opportunity to investigate people's travel history, in order to recover more of the money that is owed.

 

[Mango46]

They will possibly take your health circs into account, and more so if there is some way it contributed to the travel problem to start with (ie difficult personal circumstances resulted in your loosing railcard / overlooking the renewal of your railcard) - but you should expect to evidence it (at least in general terms) with your reply.

As advised - post up what they have sent you, and also post up your draft of a reply so people can help you get it as good as it can be.

Is this Southern or Thameslink? - plenty of other cases involving them on here so you can get an idea of how it plays out if you want to look over some, and give you ideas of what to say

essentially they want to know:

- that you understand why what you did was wrong (even if it was a genuine error and not deliberate evasion)
- you won't do it again
- have learned from your mistake and taken steps to prevent it (eg renewed railcard for example)
- are prepared to pay what you owe in terms of correct fare for the travel concerned

Appreciate your response, I have now uploaded my letter above so hopefully that will help narrow down. I am able to evidence all my health circumstances just didn't want to bother going down that rd if it makes no difference despite being exactly why this has happened.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

I assume you're dealing with Govia Thameslink Railway in this case. If you've received the letter they normally send in these cases then I would send a short, concise reply mentioning the points referenced by @WesternLancer above. I am very sorry to hear about your health problems and there's nothing wrong with mentioning them in your reply but think about how you can demonstrate how it might have impaired your judgement, as this will have the biggest positive impact.

GTR are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to but they are normally prepared to offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with their investigation, and who haven't come to their attention before. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare avoided at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you did purchase plus an admin fee, typically around £150.

Fundamentally, you aren't required to incriminate yourself so I wouldn't mention other occasions unless GTR's letter specifically refers to other occasions. It is possible that GTR will research your online ticket purchasing history, and if they discover that you've purchased railcard discounted tickets when your railcard was expired then they might want to factor the cost of these tickets into the settlement cost or ask you about these journeys separately.

Please do upload a redacted copy of the letter along with your draft reply and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Feb 2025 ==

Appreciate your response, I have now uploaded my letter above so hopefully that will help narrow down. I am able to evidence all my health circumstances just didn't want to bother going down that rd if it makes no difference despite being exactly why this has happened.

I've just seen the letter and see that they're asking you to upload a copy of your railcard.

Assuming that you don't have a railcard that was valid on 14th November then I would write a letter along the lines of what has been suggested and upload that instead.

 

[Mango46]

Welcome to the forum!

I assume you're dealing with Govia Thameslink Railway in this case. If you've received the letter they normally send in these cases then I would send a short, concise reply mentioning the points referenced by @WesternLancer above. I am very sorry to hear about your health problems and there's nothing wrong with mentioning them in your reply but think about how you can demonstrate how it might have impaired your judgement, as this will have the biggest positive impact.

GTR are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to but they are normally prepared to offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with their investigation, and who haven't come to their attention before. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare avoided at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you did purchase plus an admin fee, typically around £150.

Fundamentally, you aren't required to incriminate yourself so I wouldn't mention other occasions unless GTR's letter specifically refers to other occasions. It is possible that GTR will research your online ticket purchasing history, and if they discover that you've purchased railcard discounted tickets when your railcard was expired then they might want to factor the cost of these tickets into the settlement cost or ask you about these journeys separately.

Please do upload a redacted copy of the letter along with your draft reply and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Feb 2025 ==


I've just seen the letter and see that they're asking you to upload a copy of your railcard.

Assuming that you don't have a railcard that was valid on 14th November then I would write a letter along the lines of what has been suggested and upload that instead.

Thank you Hadders, appreciate your help. I have drafted a reply, I would be really grateful for any input

Any help with my response letter much appreciated:

I am writing in response to letter dated 5th Feb 2025 regarding the incident on 14th Nov 2024.


Firstly I want to sincerely apologise for travelling without a railcard, it was certainly not my intention to do so. In the moment with the Ticket Officer I felt very frightened not fully understanding what was said and what may happen next especially as the train was full and so we had an audience.


I would like to explain my circumstances in hope there may be some discretion to not prosecute. Over the last 2 years I have suffered from 2 major health conditions that both presented overnight - Bells Palsy Ramsay Hunt (facial paralysis) and having a hysterectomy (major surgery removing organs) 12 weeks ago which was reason for travel on 14th Nov. Being a single parent and still recovering from both of these health matters my admin life has slowly crumbled, I am really struggling to keep on top of everything and so my better judgement is significantly impaired. My partner would normally organise the railcard and many other things and we would always travel together however we have separated. I would be very grateful for some consideration of my personal circumstances directly affecting my ability to work and therefore manage my affairs. I understand what I have done is wrong but want to assure you it will not happen again.

I would be happy to pay any outstanding fare that I owe and I hope you can consider this request sympathetically, given my personal circumstances. Please be assured I had no intention not to pay the correct fare for my journey and have now purchased a Railcard to ensure this does not happen again.



Please find enclosed evidence of my health conditions

 

[notmyrealname]

Hi.

As Hadders said, could we see a redacted copy of their letter please?

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you Hadders, appreciate your help. I have drafted a reply, I would be really grateful for any input

Any help with my response letter much appreciated:

I am writing in response to letter dated 5th Feb 2025 regarding the incident on 14th Nov 2024.


Firstly I want to sincerely apologise for travelling without a railcard, it was certainly not my intention to do so. In the moment with the Ticket Officer I felt very frightened not fully understanding what was said and what may happen next especially as the train was full and so we had an audience.


I would like to explain my circumstances in hope there may be some discretion to not prosecute. Over the last 2 years I have suffered from 2 major health conditions that both presented overnight - Bells Palsy Ramsay Hunt (facial paralysis) and having a hysterectomy (major surgery removing organs) 12 weeks ago which was reason for travel on 14th Nov. Being a single parent and still recovering from both of these health matters my admin life has slowly crumbled, I am really struggling to keep on top of everything and so my better judgement is significantly impaired. My partner would normally organise the railcard and many other things and we would always travel together however we have separated. I would be very grateful for some consideration of my personal circumstances directly affecting my ability to work and therefore manage my affairs. I understand what I have done is wrong but want to assure you it will not happen again.

I have now purchased a railcard to ensure this does not happen again.



Please find enclosed evidence of my health conditions

Hi - ref your draft - I suspect that it would be best if offer to pay any fare owed in your letter to them (they might also want an admin fee and it is often recommended to offer to pay that too - but given your circumstances I think offer to pay the fare and see if they also ask for the admin fee too but perhaps don't actively offer to pay the admin fee - if they ask for one I suspect best to pay - but see how they reply)

eg add at the end for example

'I would be happy to pay any outstanding fare that I owe and I hope you can consider this request sympathetically, given my personal circumstances. Please be assured I had no intention not to pay the correct fare for my journey'

 

[Spaceship323]

Hi.

As Hadders said, could we see a redacted copy of their letter please?

It's in post #1, it was edited at the same time as Hadders posted

 

[Mango46]

Hi - ref your draft - I suspect that it would be best if offer to pay any fare owed in your letter to them (they might also want an admin fee and it is often recommended to offer to pay that too - but given your circumstances I think offer to pay the fare and see if they also ask for the admin fee too but perhaps don't actively offer to pay the admin fee - if they ask for one I suspect best to pay - but see how they reply)

eg add at the end for example

'I would be happy to pay any outstanding fare that I owe and I hope you can consider this request sympathetically, given my personal circumstances. Please be assured I had no intention not to pay the correct fare for my journey'

Thank you i will definitely add that in.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you i will definitely add that in.

Actually given there is a threat of prosecution implicit in their letter to you (Apols I forgot to re read it before posting) I think it worth also adding to what I suggest to address that.

I would say also include at the end:

“I hope this can be resolved without the need for court action”.

Good luck and head back if more advice needed.

 

[Mango46]

Actually given there is a threat of prosecution implicit in their letter to you (Apols I forgot to re read it before posting) I think it worth also adding to what I suggest to address that.

I would say also include at the end:

“I hope this can be resolved without the need for court action”.

Good luck and head back if more advice needed.

thank you so much