Report for Prosecution Letter Recieved

[grim845]

I was caught on December short faring from Surrey to Waterloo. I gave my details and have received a letter.

I truly regret what was done, and ashamed to admit that I have done this many times to save money, once I was advised to by a family friend. I will for sure being spreading the word against it from now. I have been since using contactless for payment. I used to use my 16-25 Railcard, and stopped as soon as it was expired but have short fared from Waterloo and Vauxhall using the SWR App.

I would like to settle whatever it takes.

Please find the letter I have received - I did find the wording strange as I didn't avoid payment but rather paid the less amount. I appreciate any advice - I intend to write a letter back with details and also to express my regret and willingness to settle. I appreciate any tips to write this and how to proceed as I am quite scared, and have been since (rightly so!).

 

[z444z]

Welcome. You’ll be okay, SWR almost always settle. This probably isn’t going to have any scary or long term consequences, you’re just going to have to pay some money.

If you share what station you’ve been coming from and how many times you’ve done it I can calculate how much the settlement amount is likely to be, or you can do it yourself by multiplying the undiscounted Anytime fare by the number of journeys and then adding on £150 for the admin fee.

You did avoid payment for part of your journey so that wording looks fine, and even if it wasn’t, challenging that won’t get you anywhere.

Could you have a look through other threads, and based on the general advice given and other people’s final drafts which the forum has approved of, write your own draft to SWR, then send it here for us to review?

 

[Trainman40083]

So many people get caught short faring from Vauxhall to Waterloo. Why? Because with Oyster and contactless, a ticket stands out a mile. Even more so, one that has not been scanned in. They can even set the ticket machines at Waterloo to reject (if the fare dodger TV programme is true)...

 

[grim845]

So many people get caught short faring from Vauxhall to Waterloo. Why? Because with Oyster and contactless, a ticket stands out a mile. Even more so, one that has not been scanned in. They can even set the ticket machines at Waterloo to reject (if the fare dodger TV programme is true)...

That is very true. I regret trying to short fare. It is sad to say that this is quite a common around here. I have definitely learnt my lesson.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jan 2026 ==

Welcome. You’ll be okay, SWR almost always settle. This probably isn’t going to have any scary or long term consequences, you’re just going to have to pay some money.

If you share what station you’ve been coming from and how many times you’ve done it I can calculate how much the settlement amount is likely to be, or you can do it yourself by multiplying the undiscounted Anytime fare by the number of journeys and then adding on £150 for the admin fee.

You did avoid payment for part of your journey so that wording looks fine, and even if it wasn’t, challenging that won’t get you anywhere.

Could you have a look through other threads, and based on the general advice given and other people’s final drafts which the forum has approved of, write your own draft to SWR, then send it here for us to review?

Thank you for your reply!

I for sure hope that I can reach a settlement with them!

Yes, I’ll definitely post my draft here for review. I wanted to ask whether I should provide details of my railcard in case they thought I was not using the correct one as well and whether to hand write + post the letter as well?

 

[Trainman40083]

That is very true. I regret trying to short fare. It is sad to say that this is quite a common around here. I have definitely learnt my lesson.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jan 2026 ==


Thank you for your reply!

I for sure hope that I can reach a settlement with them!

Yes, I’ll definitely post my draft here for review. I wanted to ask whether I should provide details of my railcard in case they thought I was not using the correct one as well and whether to hand write + post the letter as well?

If you post the letter, send it tracked..

 

[trismus]

May I ask what date you got stopped and caught? I was stopped a week before Xmas and still waiting for the letter. (Post has sometimes been delivered to wrong neighbours hence checking if you don’t mind)

 

[30907]

May I ask what date you got stopped and caught? I was stopped a week before Xmas and still waiting for the letter. (Post has sometimes been delivered to wrong neighbours hence checking if you don’t mind)

That's only a month, it can be much longer.

 

[grim845]

May I ask what date you got stopped and caught? I was stopped a week before Xmas and still waiting for the letter. (Post has sometimes been delivered to wrong neighbours hence checking if you don’t mind)

I received mine within a month. Hope that helps? Looks like it takes longer

Welcome. You’ll be okay, SWR almost always settle. This probably isn’t going to have any scary or long term consequences, you’re just going to have to pay some money.

If you share what station you’ve been coming from and how many times you’ve done it I can calculate how much the settlement amount is likely to be, or you can do it yourself by multiplying the undiscounted Anytime fare by the number of journeys and then adding on £150 for the admin fee.

You did avoid payment for part of your journey so that wording looks fine, and even if it wasn’t, challenging that won’t get you anywhere.

Could you have a look through other threads, and based on the general advice given and other people’s final drafts which the forum has approved of, write your own draft to SWR, then send it here for us to review?

Thank you for all your help - truly!
I’d like to send in a draft for your review. Please let me know if there’s anything I should change


Dear Prosecutions,



I am writing to respond to your letter dated xx regarding the incident at Waterloo on xx.



I sincerely apologise for making the decision to purchase a short fare ticket for my journey.



I have reflected upon my actions and can now appreciate how wrong they were. I fully understand how unfair it is to other train users to pay the incorrect fare, and how much revenue loss this can result in for the train companies. For this I am incredibly sorry.



This is not something I intend to repeat. I have begun to take steps to not only pay the full fare, but also to purchase an oyster card along with renewing my existing 16-25 railcard.



Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond. I would be grateful if you would consider resolving this matter without court proceedings. I am willing to pay any outstanding fare and any reasonable administrative costs incurred that I may owe.



Please find my personal details below, as requested:

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jan 2026 ==

May I ask what date you got stopped and caught? I was stopped a week before Xmas and still waiting for the letter. (Post has sometimes been delivered to wrong neighbours hence checking if you don’t mind)

weirdly enough i got mine within a month of being stopped. but i have seen others vary. this could be because i had no ID on me at the time and they want to verify

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jan 2026 ==

If you post the letter, send it tracked..

will do!!

 

[WesternLancer]

I received mine within a month. Hope that helps? Looks like it takes longer


Thank you for all your help - truly!
I’d like to send in a draft for your review. Please let me know if there’s anything I should change


Dear Prosecutions,



I am writing to respond to your letter dated xx regarding the incident at Waterloo on xx.



I sincerely apologise for making the decision to purchase a short fare ticket for my journey.



I have reflected upon my actions and can now appreciate how wrong they were. I fully understand how unfair it is to other train users to pay the incorrect fare, and how much revenue loss this can result in for the train companies. For this I am incredibly sorry.



This is not something I intend to repeat. I have begun to take steps to not only pay the full fare, but also to purchase an oyster card along with renewing my existing 16-25 railcard.



Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond. I would be grateful if you would consider resolving this matter without court proceedings. I am willing to pay any outstanding fare and any reasonable administrative costs incurred that I may owe.



Please find my personal details below, as requested:

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jan 2026 ==


weirdly enough i got mine within a month of being stopped. but i have seen others vary. this could be because i had no ID on me at the time and they want to verify

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jan 2026 ==


will do!!

Draft response looks reasonable to me.

 

[z444z]

Looks good to me too. Minor suggestions would be inserting your reference number at the top, removing the word “reasonable” at the end and changing “I have begun to take steps to not only pay the full fare, but also to purchase an oyster card along with renewing my existing 16-25 railcard.” to “I have since taken steps to commit to paying the correct fare every time, including purchasing an oyster card and renewing my 16-25 railcard.”

If it needs to be posted (check the letter, it should say how they want you to respond) make sure to use tracked postage.

 

[antharro]

Some thoughts to add on to what's been already mentioned:


Dear Prosecutions,

I am writing to respond to your letter dated xx regarding the incident at Waterloo on xx.

I sincerely apologise for making the decision to purchase a short fare ticket for my journey.

I have reflected upon my actions and can now appreciate how wrong they were. I fully understand how unfair it is to other train users to pay the incorrect fare, and how much revenue loss this can result in for the train companies. For this I am incredibly sorry.

This is not something I intend to repeat. I have begun to take steps to not only pay the full fare, but also to purchase an oyster card along with renewing my existing 16-25 railcard. <-- "I have begun" - it's been a month, why haven't you done it already? You need to be showing that you immediately took action, not that you're going to or you've thought about it, etc. So instead, how about:

This is not something I intend to repeat. I now make sure to pay the full fare, and have purchased an Oyster card and renewed my 16-25 railcard (card number here). <--- Of course if this is not true then don't include it, but if it is then it looks good on your part.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond. I would be grateful if you would consider resolving this matter without court proceedings. I am willing to pay any outstanding fare and any reasonable administrative costs incurred that I may owe. <--- As has already been pointed out, drop the "reasonably". "Reasonable" is a relative term and you don't really have a choice but to pay what they offer, or go to court. I also would re-word the last sentence; I'm not a fan of telling the prosecutions department what you're willing or not willing to do. How about:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond. If possible, I would be grateful for the opportunity to pay the outstanding fare and your costs to resolve this matter out of court. <--- or words to this effect - you're asking them, not telling them.

Please find my personal details below, as requested:

(your details here)

Yours faithfully,
Firstname Lastname <--- don't forget to sign off properly!

 

[grim845]

Some thoughts to add on to what's been already mentioned:


Dear Prosecutions,

I am writing to respond to your letter dated xx regarding the incident at Waterloo on xx.

I sincerely apologise for making the decision to purchase a short fare ticket for my journey.

I have reflected upon my actions and can now appreciate how wrong they were. I fully understand how unfair it is to other train users to pay the incorrect fare, and how much revenue loss this can result in for the train companies. For this I am incredibly sorry.

This is not something I intend to repeat. I have begun to take steps to not only pay the full fare, but also to purchase an oyster card along with renewing my existing 16-25 railcard. <-- "I have begun" - it's been a month, why haven't you done it already? You need to be showing that you immediately took action, not that you're going to or you've thought about it, etc. So instead, how about:

This is not something I intend to repeat. I now make sure to pay the full fare, and have purchased an Oyster card and renewed my 16-25 railcard (card number here). <--- Of course if this is not true then don't include it, but if it is then it looks good on your part.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond. I would be grateful if you would consider resolving this matter without court proceedings. I am willing to pay any outstanding fare and any reasonable administrative costs incurred that I may owe. <--- As has already been pointed out, drop the "reasonably". "Reasonable" is a relative term and you don't really have a choice but to pay what they offer, or go to court. I also would re-word the last sentence; I'm not a fan of telling the prosecutions department what you're willing or not willing to do. How about:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond. If possible, I would be grateful for the opportunity to pay the outstanding fare and your costs to resolve this matter out of court. <--- or words to this effect - you're asking them, not telling them.

Please find my personal details below, as requested:

(your details here)

Yours faithfully,
Firstname Lastname <--- don't forget to sign off properly!

added! thank you very very much! really appreciate it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jan 2026 ==

Looks good to me too. Minor suggestions would be inserting your reference number at the top, removing the word “reasonable” at the end and changing “I have begun to take steps to not only pay the full fare, but also to purchase an oyster card along with renewing my existing 16-25 railcard.” to “I have since taken steps to commit to paying the correct fare every time, including purchasing an oyster card and renewing my 16-25 railcard.”

If it needs to be posted (check the letter, it should say how they want you to respond) make sure to use tracked postage.

Okay, thank you very much! I’ll keep you all posted as I anxiously await a response.

 

[grim845]

Hi all,

Just to keep you update I have received an email in receipt of what I have sent out.

Thank you for your email and providing the information we requested.



We will review your matter and write to you again at your correspondence address, advising on any outcome/ next steps.

Does anyone have an ideas what this may mean? Is this good news?
I won’t be kidding if this has weighed on me a lot, so again apologies if this is a rubbish question haha.

 

[Titfield]

This is just a holding email which proves they have received your response.

You can not infer anything from their response.

 

[grim845]

This is just a holding email which proves they have received your response.

You can not infer anything from their response.

Thanks for the reply!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jan 2026 ==

Just to update - I recieved a settlement which i’ll being paying immediately! Thank you all ever so much for all your help. Definitely learnt a lot from this. You cannot imagine how much this forum has supported me.

For those wondering, it was £129 total settlement.

 

[Haywain]

Just to update - I recieved a settlement which i’ll being paying immediately! Thank you all ever so much for all your help. Definitely learnt a lot from this. You cannot imagine how much this forum has supported me.

For those wondering, it was £129 total settlement.

Thanks for the update, it's good that you have resolved the matter to your satisfaction.

 

[z444z]

Just to update - I recieved a settlement which i’ll being paying immediately! Thank you all ever so much for all your help. Definitely learnt a lot from this. You cannot imagine how much this forum has supported me.

For those wondering, it was £129 total settlement.

Thanks for updating us, glad it’s resolved

 

[grim845]

Thanks for the update, it's good that you have resolved the matter to your satisfaction.

yes truly thank you for all your help!


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Jan 2026 ==

Thanks for updating us, glad it’s resolved

Thanks for updating us, glad it’s resolved

Thanks for updating us, glad it’s resolved

thank you very much!