South Eastern waiting for correspondence.

[Bikerfedup]

I received my MG11 and currently waiting for the initial letter from Southeastern. My plan is to settle out of court, and I truly hope this will be accepted. However, if it isn’t, I’d appreciate some advice on when to expect a court date.

I’m particularly concerned because I will be abroad for two weeks in February, and I fear that I might receive a court notice during that time, which would prevent me from responding promptly. I noticed that in your case, the court date was issued quite soon after the initial letter. What would happen if I received the court notice while I was away and missed the court date as a result? I’m quite anxious about this possibility and would greatly appreciate any advice anyone can offer. I live alone so I can’t rely on anyone to sort this in my absence.

 

[John R]

I received my MG11 on 14th October 2024 and am currently waiting for the initial letter from Southeastern. My plan is to settle out of court, and I truly hope this will be accepted. However, if it isn’t, I’d appreciate some advice on when to expect a court date.

I’m particularly concerned because I will be abroad for two weeks in February, and I fear that I might receive a court notice during that time, which would prevent me from responding promptly. I noticed that in your case, the court date was issued quite soon after the initial letter. What would happen if I received the court notice while I was away and missed the court date as a result? I’m quite anxious about this possibility and would greatly appreciate any advice anyone can offer. I live alone so I can’t rely on anyone to sort this in my absence.

Welcome to the forum. You will get a letter first from Southeastern, asking for your side of the story, and you usually get two weeks to respond. So you won't miss a court date in that two week period.

If by bad luck it arrived the first day after you left on holiday then if you responded as soon as you return, apologised for the delay and explained you were on holiday then it would almost certainly be accepted.

 

[Bikerfedup]

Thank you so much for your speedy response.
However, what if my appeal to settle out of court is rejected, and I receive a court date on the first day after I leave for holiday? If I’m away for two weeks, would that affect my ability to respond to the magistrate’s court promptly? Would the court take my absence into account, or could this lead to complications if I can’t address the court right away when I return?

Any insights would be appreciated!

 

[John R]

You would be able to advise Southeastern in previous correspondence of days you will not be able to receive post, so I think you are worrying unduly at this stage.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you so much for your speedy response.
However, what if my appeal to settle out of court is rejected, and I receive a court date on the first day after I leave for holiday? If I’m away for two weeks, would that affect my ability to respond to the magistrate’s court promptly? Would the court take my absence into account, or could this lead to complications if I can’t address the court right away when I return?

Any insights would be appreciated!

If you are not going to go away until Feb 2025 worry about that scenario in the new year.

 

[Bikerfedup]

I received my MG11 in mid October 2024 and am currently waiting for the initial letter from Southeastern. As of today I have received nothing. My plan is to settle out of court, and I truly hope this will be accepted. However, I’d appreciate some advice on when to expect a letter? I am on holiday for a big chunk of next month and I fear that I may miss any opportunity to settle if letters are received in my absence.

 

[signed]

If you are sure the given address is valid and that mail gets recieved (try sending a letter to yourself), you should wait, they have 6 months from date of offense to initiate prosecution

 

[Bikerfedup]

Hi thanks for responding. I filmed the whole thing so I have video evidence of me telling them the full and correct address. As you can imagine in the time between October and now I have received many letters, just not any from south eastern. Is this normal?

 

[signed]

Is this normal?

The time they have to file papers with the court is 6 months, historically from what I read here it hovers around 1 to 2 months, but I am sure 3 months is not that unusual.

 

[AlterEgo]

There is little benefit to reminding the train company of your offences at this stage; keep quiet and don't go chasing them in order for you to be prosecuted or have to pay them a load of money.

 

[WesternLancer]

I received my MG11 in mid October 2024 and am currently waiting for the initial letter from Southeastern. As of today I have received nothing. My plan is to settle out of court, and I truly hope this will be accepted. However, I’d appreciate some advice on when to expect a letter? I am on holiday for a big chunk of next month and I fear that I may miss any opportunity to settle if letters are received in my absence.

We had a batch of cases with south eastern before Christmas where they lost replies sent to them and cases did get sent to court.

Have you received nothing at all yet?

When you go away is there someone who can check your post while you are away and message you if something arrives that needs urgent action?

 

[Hadders]

Southeastern do seem to be taking longer to send out initial letters. I suspect this is because they are researching ticket purchasing history and it takes longer to wait for data from the likes of Trainline.

 

[Bikerfedup]

We had a batch of cases with south eastern before Christmas where they lost replies sent to them and cases did get sent to court.

Have you received nothing at all yet?

When you go away is there someone who can check your post while you are away and message you if something arrives that needs urgent action?

I haven’t even received the initial letter. And unfortunately I live alone so no one can help me monitor mail.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jan 2025 ==

Southeastern do seem to be taking longer to send out initial letters. I suspect this is because they are researching ticket purchasing history and it takes longer to wait for data from the likes of Trainline.

Thank you for the update. Could you confirm whether pending letter or worst case scenario any court date would restrict me from leaving the country for a couple of weeks?

 

[Hadders]

I don't think being out of the country for a couple of weeks is going to be a problem. You normally get 14 days to reply and even if a reply is a few days late a simple explanation that you've been away should suffice. Southeastern know that people go on holiday and postal delays happen. We've had a few cases recently where they appeared to 'lose' some replies and issued court paperwork. Once people contacted Southeastern they offered settlements and withdrew the cases from court.

 

[Bikerfedup]

I haven’t even received the initial letter from Southeastern yet, so I’m still waiting on that. This morning, I called the courts to check if there were any pending cases under my name, just in case letters have been lost or undelivered—thankfully, there’s nothing in my name. I’m hesitant to contact Southeastern directly because I don’t want to trigger anything with them. Ultimately, I’m just worried that this could come up around the time I’m meant to leave, and I get stopped at the airport because of it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jan 2025 ==

I don't think being out of the country for a couple of weeks is going to be a problem. You normally get 14 days to reply and even if a reply is a few days late a simple explanation that you've been away should suffice. Southeastern know that people go on holiday and postal delays happen. We've had a few cases recently where they appeared to 'lose' some replies and issued court paperwork. Once people contacted Southeastern they offered settlements and withdrew the cases from court.

I haven’t even received the initial letter from Southeastern yet, so I’m still waiting on that. This morning, I called the courts to check if there were any pending cases under my name, just in case letters have been lost or undelivered—thankfully, there’s nothing in my name. I’m hesitant to contact Southeastern directly because I don’t want to trigger anything with them. Ultimately, I’m just worried that this could come up around the time I’m meant to leave, and I get stopped at the airport because of it.

 

[Hadders]

Recent cases with Southeastern do seem to be taking longer than normal.

If the initial letter did go astray then they would send court paperwork. It’s extremely unlikely that two letters would go astray. While you don’t want to get court papers recent cases on here have seen people in this position still able to agree a settlement with Southeastern.

The wheels of justice turn very slowly and missing a deadline by a few days, while not ideal, is not really going to adversely impact the chances of a settlement.

Try and put this to the back of your mind for now and enjoy your holiday!