Should our advice change following this case?

[z444z]

GTR - railcard ticket - no railcard

Grateful for any advice here. On Friday i travelled from Victoria to Eastbourne. i bought my ticket at the machine in Victoria and added the railcard (which i thought was valid). When i arrived at Eastbourne all tickets were being checked by inspectors, they asked to see my railcard, which i...

www.railforums.co.uk

Given the outcome of this case - the OP settling with GTR just two weeks after the incident, having contacted them proactively soon after the incident - is there any chance our standard advice to wait to be contacted should to change in some cases? Although we do not know whether it was the posted letter or the response to the online form (which as I understand it not everyone reported by GTR receives?) that was actually acted upon.

It is of course usually best to know what’s being accused before responding, but to many dealing with it quickly will be more important than getting the lowest settlement amount.

But I also understand that when advising we should be erring on the side of caution so not entirely sure, interested to hear thoughts!

 

[Hadders]

It is best to be wait to be contacted by the train company before engaging with them.

 

[AlterEgo]

In quite a few cases no allegation ends up getting made or the case simply lapses past 6 months. People should be given advice which makes them aware of their rights and which attempts to be in their best interests, rather than acting as some sort of therapy where we try to justify the OP's own actions or anxieties.

Wait to be contacted and answer only questions you have been asked, carefully.

If they want to go and ignore this advice that's up to them.

 

[Hadders]

To add to what I said earlier, we have a tried and tested formula that has stood the test of time and is successful.

Also, to be fair to prosecution departments if we advise people to engage before they’re contacted we could end up with a situation where people are writing letters before the inspectors report has even been logged on the system and/or letters crossing with each other. That’s in no-one’s interest.

 

[WesternLancer]

In that particular case I think the inability to upload a railcard as requested provided a reason to upload a response explaining that and indicating that further communication would be addressed when the railway wishes to send it.

I’d generally not suggest that seeking resolution at that point was necessarily appropriate but I do thinks it’s appropriate to inform the railway company when you were specifically asked to do something you then couldn’t do. If nothing else it seems courteous to do so.

So there will be other occasions where the same situations apply.

Generally I think it’s important to wait until you are contacted first however.

 

[z444z]

In agreement with all of this - responses basically as expected but just wanted to raise it and check!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Feb 2026 ==

Upon reflection might it be best to delete this thread to avoid confusing people who come here for help? Will report it myself and let a moderator decide! No regrets about checking this but might be best if the thread disappears now.