Southeastern MG11 issued - No follow up

[hjchopper]

Hi all,

I was stopped by revenue protection officers after travelling with a child ticket and shortfaring in November 2025, I gave my correct address (after initially giving the wrong one) and they took pictures of my e ticket on my phone and issued an MG11 (which i have now lost and forgot to take a picture of). I was so distraught and decided to reach out to solicitors however did not continue the service after finding this forum and decided to wait for the initial letter asking for more information. However it is now June 2026 and I am yet to receive any communication.

I don't live in Southeast rather northwest england, is it normal to wait this long to hear anything back. I'm scared I may have been prosecuted without being aware. But have 100% not received any letter/ court summons. I am certain i have the right address as I am renting and had to confirm the Landlords name (not sure if the officer actually had their name to double check). Please help!

 

[Mattplans]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

I think other members will advise on how you can confirm if you are being prosecuted without your knowledge, but I don't think you are. The train companies have 6 months to bring prosecution against you after the offence, by the way. Southeastern seem to be overhauling their processes following the Brohiri case and other related Lay prosecutor 'scandals' which has led to them essentially letting a lot of cases go (by not acting on them in a timely manner). You are not the first person on the website to report this.

I believe someone in your situation asked them what was going on and their repsonse was to the effect of sit tight', I am looking for that thread.


There's a chance they might pursue you civilly for the lost fares but it's unlikely. I reckon you've gotten away with this one. Where were you stopped and was it with an e-ticket?


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jun 2026 ==

I apologise that we are taking longer than we had hoped to respond. We are undergoing some process changes and need to ensure that we align your case fully with these changes. This is taking longer than anticipated.

Your case is currently under review and investigation by the Prosecutions Team, we will contact you in due course regarding your case.

Many thanks and kind regards

Taken from: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/southeastern-mg11-advice-and-help.296017/#post-7587441

 

[penalty fares]

Just to make you aware that Southeastern are in a bit of a mess at the moment as they made their whole prosecutions department redundant.

They stopped sending out of court settlements and stopped taking anyone to court many months ago. They are now under Government control and are having problems with how statements are taken and if they are even legal.

They may eventually reach out to pay what's owed, but it will be too late in many cases, and they will not take cases forward at present.

They should have sent an initial letter asking for your side of the story, but it appears they have no=one to do this now. If you were stopped more than 6 months ago then they can't do anything with the case anyway.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all,

I was stopped by revenue protection officers after travelling with a child ticket and shortfaring in November 2025, I gave my correct address (after initially giving the wrong one) and they took pictures of my e ticket on my phone and issued an MG11 (which i have now lost and forgot to take a picture of). I was so distraught and decided to reach out to solicitors however did not continue the service after finding this forum and decided to wait for the initial letter asking for more information. However it is now June 2026 and I am yet to receive any communication.

I don't live in Southeast rather northwest england, is it normal to wait this long to hear anything back. I'm scared I may have been prosecuted without being aware. But have 100% not received any letter/ court summons. I am certain i have the right address as I am renting and had to confirm the Landlords name (not sure if the officer actually had their name to double check). Please help!

To add to what has been said

- do you think you gave them the correct address?

- is the post at your address generally reliable? (you can test this in the most basic terms by sending a 2nd class letter to yourself from some other town when you are out and about)

- have you remained at that address since then?

- have you been carefully checking hard copy post / e-mail and spam

- given the 6 month thing mentioned above it might be best to wait until 7 months from the date of the incident if you do want to ask them what is going on

There is a process called a Statutory Declaration that you can use for situations where you have been taken to court without being aware of it, which 're-sets the clock' and the legal action would then start again - but if you look at threads on here where people have to do this it must be said it is rather a faff of a process, so there is an argument for trying to proactively avoid that.


if so, and you want to contact them - just ask in the most basic terms - here is the wording of a suggested draft for that:
for example - something along these lines:

Prosecutions Department **
South Eastern
PO BOX 601
Ashford
TN23 9XZ

You can email prosecutions.team@southeasternrailway.co.uk


Today's Date

Dear Sir/ Madam

I was stopped on x date at y location and questioned about the validity of my rail ticket.

I was given this ref number xxxxx [If you were given a ref number - otherwise delete this line]

I was advised by the member of staff who spoke to me that I would hear from you in due course. Since some time has gone by since that date and I would be grateful if you could let me know if there is any further action related to this that I need to respond to.

Please note my name and address is xxx

My e-mail address is: xxxx

Yours faithfully



** - NOTE - the address was from a letter uploaded in feb 2025 - I can't be sure if it is still correct but at least for the e-mail address one might assume so

SE trains e-mail and Address from– post #13 of this thread shows it in a letter uploaded

Fare-evasion Q

Hi, I got my details taken last week for the incorrect ticket entering London Bridge - I hold my hands up & admit that exploited it to save money on tickets. I travelled once a week for over a year this way - saving around 50% of the actual ticket price. I’m now anxiously awaiting a letter...

www.railforums.co.uk

email prosecutions.team@southeasternrailway.co.uk

 

[Mattplans]

Just to make you aware that Southeastern are in a bit of a mess at the moment as they made their hole prosecutions department redundant. They stopped sending out of court settlements and stopped taking anyone to court many months ago. they are now under the Goverment which talks for itself as to why its all upside down. They are having problems with how statements are taken and if they are even legal. They may eventually reach out to pay what's owed but it will be too late in many cases and they will not take cases forward at present. They should have sent an initial letter asking for your side of the story but it appears they have no one to do this now. if you were stopped more than 6 months ago then they cant do anything with the case anyway.

How have they managed this then? Unless it predates the changes you talk about

 

[WesternLancer]

How have they managed this then? Unless it predates the changes you talk about

well we have def seen cases where SE Trains have not progressed stuff you might have expected them to have progressed (although may be not as high profile as the one reported in this thread about the financier)

For example this case comes to mind after having had a lot of forum involvement over it from when the OP 1st sought help, and where several of us offered advice

Facing possible prosecution please help I’m so scared !

Hi Everyone, Yesterday evening I was stopped at Chatham by a railway officer who caught me with an invalid railcard (16-17 saver) on my ticket - he asked me some questions about whether I’ve used this railcard before and I didn’t want to lie so I told him yes i have when I’m struggling...

www.railforums.co.uk

and see post #92 where the railway company actually advised the OP that they were not doing things at any rate of knots.

and the sheer low number of cases involving SE Trains (who used to feature pretty regularly) on the forum generally in recent times might suggest they were doing less pro active activity than before.

 

[AlterEgo]

How have they managed this then? Unless it predates the changes you talk about

That's a police fraud case and would likely have predated this.