Report for Prosecution - expired 16-25 Railcard

[nervousnelly]

Hi!

On the 4th February, I travelled from Raynes Park to London Waterloo with a ticket I purchased on Trainline. I’ve had a 16-25 railcard for a year and it expired on the 21st Jan - I didn’t realise this before taking the journey or I would have renewed it before travelling!

I was stopped by the Revenue protection officer at the barriers at Waterloo and asked to show my railcard - I said of course, it’s online though so I’ll need to get it up. To my horror when I pulled it up, it was expired! (It also dawned on me in that moment that I had turned 26 on the 30th Jan so does that make it doubly invalid?) The officer at the time took a picture of this and an email that id had about 2 weeks prior that warned me it was expired too - I hadn’t read this email until that moment either.

I accepted I’d made a mistake and asked if I could pay a fine on the spot (I had an exhibition I was now cutting it close to being late for), the officer said I’d done everything else right (such as scanning my ticket at Raynes Park, being on the correct train etc) but that he’d need to take my details and submit them for decision.

I’ve checked and I also took the train (Guildford to Clapham Junction) on the 01/02 with the same expired railcard, ticket purchased via Trainline.

That evening I immediately purchased a 26-30 Railcard (and my train ticket for the next day with the new railcard)

I’ve not had anything come through in the post and now I don’t know what to do! I’m nervous because I’ve read that I have 21 days to respond to a notice but I’ve not heard anything since.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi!

On the 4th February, I travelled from Raynes Park to London Waterloo with a ticket I purchased on Trainline. I’ve had a 16-25 railcard for a year and it expired on the 21st Jan - I didn’t realise this before taking the journey or I would have renewed it before travelling!

I was stopped by the Revenue protection officer at the barriers at Waterloo and asked to show my railcard - I said of course, it’s online though so I’ll need to get it up. To my horror when I pulled it up, it was expired! (It also dawned on me in that moment that I had turned 26 on the 30th Jan so does that make it doubly invalid?) The officer at the time took a picture of this and an email that id had about 2 weeks prior that warned me it was expired too - I hadn’t read this email until that moment either.

I accepted I’d made a mistake and asked if I could pay a fine on the spot (I had an exhibition I was now cutting it close to being late for), the officer said I’d done everything else right (such as scanning my ticket at Raynes Park, being on the correct train etc) but that he’d need to take my details and submit them for decision.

I’ve checked and I also took the train (Guildford to Clapham Junction) on the 01/02 with the same expired railcard, ticket purchased via Trainline.

That evening I immediately purchased a 26-30 Railcard (and my train ticket for the next day with the new railcard)

I’ve not had anything come through in the post and now I don’t know what to do! I’m nervous because I’ve read that I have 21 days to respond to a notice but I’ve not heard anything since.

Did you give a correct postal address? Have you checked e mails and spam? Including any e-mail address linked to your ticket purchasing if that is a different e-mail address that you ue.

I suspect they have not got round to writing to you yet. The time to respond to them will be from the date they write to you, not the date from when you were questioned. I suspect you just need to wait a few more weeks.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

We see lots of cases like this on here. What happens next is that SWR will write to you in the next few weeks saying they have received a report, are considering prosecuting but asking for your version of events before deciding how to proceed. It's important that you reply to this letter and I suggest mentioning the following:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

SWR are within their rights to procesute you if they want to but they normally 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 ticket at the full Anytime rate plus an admin fee, typically around £150. SWR will search your Trainline booking history and will factor in to the settlement the cost of any other journeys you've made since the railcard expired.

The 21-days to reply is a bit of a red herring. If you get a Penalty Fare then you get 21 days to appeal it or pay it at the reduced rate. You haven't been given a Penalty Fare, you've been reported for prosecution so the 21-days doesn't apply here. When SWR write to you they will give you a time frame to reply, normally 14 days.

When it arrives, post a redacted copy of SWR's letter in this thread along with your deaft reply and forum members will proof read it for you.