South Western railway debt

[Evielopes]

Hi there,

I am in urgent need of some advice.

My daughter who is 19 has a debt to pay for unpaid tickets to South Western Railway of £1800 or face going to court. She has accepted responsibility and asked them to set up a payment plan as she only works part - time and doesn't have the funds in her account. They have flat out refused and said payment needs to be made in full. They say she can provide payslips to prove is she is struggling to pay and they extend the date to pay but this is a lot of money and she will need months to save it. I have never seen a company to refuse to set up a plan. If she doesn't pay then they will take her to court. Any advice will appreciated.

 

[AlterEgo]

Hi there,

I am in urgent need of some advice.

My daughter who is 19 has a debt to pay for unpaid tickets to South Western Railway of £1800 or face going to court. She has accepted responsibility and asked them to set up a payment plan as she only works part - time and doesn't have the funds in her account. They have flat out refused and said payment needs to be made in full. They say she can provide payslips to prove is she is struggling to pay and they extend the date to pay but this is a lot of money and she will need months to save it. I have never seen a company to refuse to set up a plan. If she doesn't pay then they will take her to court. Any advice will appreciated.

Could you let us know how the "debt for unpaid tickets" has come about?

It seems likely she has been serially committing fares offences, which are crimes prosecutable in the magistrates' court, and for this reason, a settlement in lieu of prosecution is unlikely to be spread over a payment plan. The company is timebound by six months from the date of the offence to bring a prosecution, which is the consequence of non payment, so they can, and usually do, ask for payment immediately.

£1800 is a lot of fares evaded I'm afraid. This is not a civil matter like failing to pay your phone bill.

 

[tskir]

I very strongly suggest helping her obtain the money by any (legal) means necessary. The company will not take any pity for her being 19 or not having a lot of money — if not paid as they request, they will prosecute, they nearly certainly will be successful and your daughter will get a criminal record.

 

[Gloster]

It is very rare for any railway company to agree to a payment plan and on those rare occasions when they do it has only been spread over a very few months. The railway only has by law a limited period in which it has the option of taking the offender to court if they don’t pay. I am afraid that it is simply a choice between finding the money quickly (and legally) or being taken to court. You haven’t given details of the offence, but (in my opinion based on what details have been given) it is likely with such a sum that she will be found guilty.

 

[ikcdab]

I can only reiterate what has been said above. This is a criminal offence and if they are going to prosecute, then they must do it within 6 months. For that reason they won't agree to a payment plan as they need to have time to prosecute if you don't pay.
£1800 is a lot of evaded fares and you are lucky to be given the chance to settle out of court.
Your only option is to find the money somehow or your daughter will be prosecuted and she will get a criminal conviction.

 

[WesternLancer]

The only upside of them taking you to court instead is that IIRC you CAN pay the court fine / costs / sums owed in instalments that can be agreed with the court
BUT
The sum they will want will almost certainly be higher than this settlement offer (there is a formula which people on here can explain and the fine element of this is related to your income)
And
You get a criminal record which depending on job and future jobs that might be sought can be career limiting depending on circumstances.

Personally I'd suggest avoiding the criminal record at the start on her working life.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Can you not give your daughter the money to pay (as a loan) and then set up a "repayment plan" for her to pay you back in installments? At least that would clear the debt and she won't get a criminal record.

 

[Evielopes]

Thank you all for your replies. I will give her the money to pay.

 

[AlterEgo]

Thank you all for your replies. I will give her the money to pay.

Thanks for the update - I really hope she is grateful.

It wouldn't be the stupidest thing someone on this forum has done, and I can speak from personal experience that I have done stupider things at that age.

 

[MotCO]

Since your daughter is 19, has she thought about getting a 16-25 railcard which offers discounts on tickets https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/ ?

If she does buy one and use it, two helpful pointers:

• make sure you select 16-25 when buying tickets, not 16-17
• make a note on your phone of the expiry date - no-one else will remind you.

 

[Evielopes]

Thanks for the update - I really hope she is grateful.

It wouldn't be the stupidest thing someone on this forum has done, and I can speak from personal experience that I have done stupider things at that age.

Thank you for your kind words. It is very stupid what she has done in trying to save money! I am very angry at her but I guess we live and we learn. Hopefully a life lesson for her

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Jul 2024 ==

Since your daughter is 19, has she thought about getting a 16-25 railcard which offers discounts on tickets https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/ ?

If she does buy one and use it, two helpful pointers:

• make sure you select 16-25 when buying tickets, not 16-17
• make a note on your phone of the expiry date - no-one else will remind you.

I will tell her about this. Thank you so much

 

[Gloster]

Thank you for your kind words. It is very stupid what she has done in trying to save money! I am very angry at her but I guess we live and we learn. Hopefully a life lesson for her

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Jul 2024 ==


I will tell her about this. Thank you so much

But make sure that she reads the rules applying to the Railcard and only uses it at times when it is valid: people who have used a valid railcard at a time of day when it is not permitted frequently ask for help on this forum. The railway, any railway company, would not look kindly on a further error, even if they reckoned that it was an error.

 

[Evielopes]

Hi , does anyone know if the automated payments isn’t working over the weekend or out of business hours? They gave a deadline to pay the fine by tomorrow which I am trying to do but site says “can’t proceed contact the office”

 

[John R]

Have you tried this morning? If it still doesn’t work I would contact the office like it tells you to.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi , does anyone know if the automated payments isn’t working over the weekend or out of business hours? They gave a deadline to pay the fine by tomorrow which I am trying to do but site says “can’t proceed contact the office”

Because this is now at the last minute for the payment deadline if you can't get through I think important for you / your daughter to e-mail them if you can, to say you are trying to make the payment and even include phone numbers so they can contact you if they choose to respond that way (though take precautions against scammers). At least then there is some record to show you tried hard to pay before the deadline.

Good luck with this.

 

[greyman42]

My daughter who is 19 has a debt to pay for unpaid tickets to South Western Railway of £1800 or face going to court. She has accepted responsibility and asked them to set up a payment plan as she only works part - time and doesn't have the funds in her account. They have flat out refused and said payment needs to be made in full. They say she can provide payslips to prove is she is struggling to pay and they extend the date to pay but this is a lot of money and she will need months to save it. I have never seen a company to refuse to set up a plan.

What experiences of other companies have you had in the past regarding payment plans?

 

[island]

What experiences of other companies have you had in the past regarding payment plans?

I am not sure how this is relevant to the matter at hand.