Showed wrong Railcard

[Planeman]

Recently I traveled from luton airport parkway to farringdon. Upon arrival, I was asked to show my ticket, which I did and was then asked to present my 16-25 railcard, which again I did. However, the railcard I presented was out of date. I was questioned, and in my confusion, I believed this railcard to be my Santander Student railcard which I had in my possession and was valid and in date. Furthermore, following being questioned, I was told that the prosecution team would be in touch with me for fare evasion for the last 2 months. However, upon realising that I do in fact have an in date, valid railcard for these journeys (which I carry with me in my wallet), I have tried to contact thameslink to inform them so that I can avoid being wrongfully prosecuted.
I need advice on what to do as I did present the wrong railcard on the day which should result in being given a penalty fare. However, now I may be prosecuted for fare evasion, when I have had a valid railcard the whole time. What should I do?

 

[Bletchleyite]

When you get the letter, reply telling them this and including a photograph of the valid Railcard. It is likely they will either drop the case entirely or offer you a very low settlement to cover the cost of your having wasted their time by showing the invalid one.

 

[WesternLancer]

Recently I traveled from luton airport parkway to farringdon. Upon arrival, I was asked to show my ticket, which I did and was then asked to present my 16-25 railcard, which again I did. However, the railcard I presented was out of date. I was questioned, and in my confusion, I believed this railcard to be my Santander Student railcard which I had in my possession and was valid and in date. Furthermore, following being questioned, I was told that the prosecution team would be in touch with me for fare evasion for the last 2 months. However, upon realising that I presented the wrong railcard, and that I had an in date, valid railcard for these journeys (which I carry with me in my wallet), I have tried to contact thameslink to inform them so that I can avoid being wrongfully prosecuted.
I need advice on what to do as I did present the wrong railcard on the day which should result in being given a penalty fare. However, now I may be prosecuted for fare evasion, when I have had a valid railcard the whole time. What should I do?

Yes, as @Bletchleyite says you need to assure them (in writing) that you had a valid railcard and prove it, and that you have taken steps to avoid the error happening in future (destroyed or no long carry around the out of date railcard or delete it from your phone if it is an e version). It might be worth you familiarising yourself with the 'forgotten raiclard policy' which will be on the railcard T&Cs so although your situation is not exactly that, it is somewhat analogous so that may be helpful background (that is what you could have fallen back on had you shown no railcard or been unable to find it when requested - as opposed to shown the wrong one by genuine mistake).

So you need to engage with them when you heard form them, and be sure that you respond to a letter sent to you on paper (so if you are a student and going to be away from start of term for example) be sure to get someone you trust to check all of your post or set up a forward with Royal Mail. And I presume you gave them a correct address to start with.

You may have to wait up to 6 months to get this letter but it is more likely it will be sent in the next 4 weeks or so.

You could pre-emptively write to Thamelsink (find address on their website) to try and explain all this but the general advice given here is to wait to hear from them as letters sent without case references etc may not get 'joined up' to potential prosecution cases (which yours may now become tho that would be worst case scenario and I am sure that can be avoided).

Also note ref Penalty Fares (PF): you have no 'right' to be served a PF if stopped with the wring ticket etc - the railway has the option to use them if it chooses to do so, so your wording 'should result in a PF' is not IIRC, accurate.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Also note ref Penalty Fares (PF): you have no 'right' to be served a PF if stopped with the wring ticket etc - the railway has the option to use them if it chooses to do so, so your wording 'should result in a PF' is not IIRC, accurate.

"May result in a Penalty Fare or prosecution" would be most accurate.

 

[gray1404]

You are allowed to forget your Railcard once in a 12-month period. So when you reply to them I would take this line that you accidentally showed your expired railcard and were unable to show your new one. I would then politely say that you understand you are allowed to forget your Railcard once in a 12-month period and therefore enclosing a copy of the new one.

 

[Haywain]

What should I do?

As others have said, initially wait for a letter, and then provide the information about your railcard. It may be useful to know what @gray1404 is referring to, so below is the information as presented on the 16-25 railcard website:

What happens if I don't have my Railcard with me and I have to buy a new ticket or pay a Penalty Fare?​

If you are travelling by train on a ticket with a Railcard discount, you must travel with your valid Railcard. If you forget your Railcard you will either be required to buy a new ticket or you may on certain services be liable for a Penalty Fare. However, a train company will normally allow you to claim back this extra expense on the first occasion in each year where this happens.

Each train company will have their own process for doing this. You will need to provide proof of your Railcard and either the original and additional tickets that you have purchased, or if you have not yet paid, details of the notice to pay or notice of Penalty Fare. Where you have already paid for additional tickets you should contact the relevant train company’s customer services department; in the case of a notice to pay of notice of Penalty Fare, you should follow the instructions included on how to challenge or appeal the charge.

Although your case is slightly different, it is not unreasonable to think it will likely be dealt with in the same way.