Southeastern prosecution letter

[captivant]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to write to you about my experience and hopefully get some advice. It has been the source of so much anxiety. I really want to sort this out.

About 10 months ago I was stopped at a station in Kent by an inspector when trying to tap through the gates. They had realised I bought a ticket that was from a closer station to my destination than my boarded station. They gave me a MG11 receipt and told me to expect a letter.

It was around 10 months later when I received a letter that I will attach. It stated how there was an "incident" that had occured on the date it happened, my case is being reviewed and I may face legal prosecution. They had invited me to respond with comments about the situation and I have 21 days to respond.

That was a scary read and has given me recent anxiety. I have done some research and found some information about cases like these. I read that dealing with this proactively and opting for a payment plan or pay whatever penalty is optimal. But also I'm concerned about digging a deeper hole. I am also concerned about this 21 day time limit to respond and the possible repercussions. Reading through this forum has been very helpful for me.

I would grateful for your expertise and any information that I should know.

I have attached a photo of the letter below. It was sent on 29/09/26 but only got to me on 05/10/2026.

 

[WesternLancer]

Welcome

You are right to take this seriously.

However, the typical / usual legal action that railway companies use in relation to fare evasion requires them to bring a case to the magistrates court within 6 months of the date of the incident for the criminal offence related to travel without a valid ticket - which they have failed to do given this happened 10 months ago. Nor are they even stating what the 'incident' concerned was.
After those 6 months they do still have the option of using a civil court to pursue what they believe you owe as a debt - which is much less serious for you than it being pursued as a criminal matter.
There remains the option to them of court action for fraud (and that would be very serious) - and that does not have a 6 month limit - but I don't think we have seen cases on the forum of that being used against people who have come here for advice.

There have been a few similar cases involving SE Trains on the forum in the last week or so - these two threads will be worth you reading through to see the views of experienced forum members on this. You will see several advocating that you don't engage with this and by implication wait to see what happens next.

Southeastern Penalty Letter Help

Hi all Over 11 months ago I was stopped at a London station by a ticket inspector when trying to tap through. I had bought a ticket on board the train at a nearer station than I boarded. I received the MG11 and awaited the letter through the door. It arrived last week after 11 months. Not...

www.railforums.co.uk

Fine prosecution need help please

Hi, Please, I need some advice as I am very worried about potentially having to go to court over this issue. Last year, I took a train from Sidcup with my sister. I normally use my Oyster card, but that day I could not find it. My sister was travelling to the airport, so I decided to travel...

www.railforums.co.uk

Have a good read of those and of course post any questions that occur to you / things you would like a view on and people here will no doubt give you good information.

When is the 21 days deadline up? That hopefully gives you time to consider advice, weigh up your options and decide what you want to do.

Hopefully after you were stopped at that time you have since bought correct tickets for all your rail travel....

 

[Swedenorer]

As above the first thing is that they are out of time to prosecute you for travelling without a valid ticket - they should have started the process by 5th June.

It all looks very vague - the word incident is unusual in this context and I would say inappropriate and could imply anything.

On that subject what details have they asked you for? Is there another sheet to this letter which you have not posted?

 

[WesternLancer]

As above the first thing is that they are out of time to prosecute you for travelling without a valid ticket - they should have started the process by 5th June.

It all looks very vague - the word incident is unusual in this context and I would say inappropriate and could imply anything.

On that subject what details have they asked you for? Is there another sheet to this letter which you have not posted?

‘Incident’ was the same wording in at least one of those other threads. Which lead to a post suggesting that it was seeking to get the recipient to admit / incriminate themselves.

Though I’m not sure why that would be necessary since missing the 6 month deadline stops that criminal action anyway and the civil action would rest on ‘balance of probabilities’ which I’d assume can be provided by the evidence gathered when the passenger was stopped.

 

[furlong]

"failure to respond will result in the matter being processed without further notification"

That says it all really. It is a pointless letter that should never have been sent.

Just leave them to "process" the matter and then send you a proper letter if they wish! i.e. "put up or shut up"

If that next letter asks you to pay some fare or other money ahead of recovery action through the civil courts, then you can decide how to respond then. They are required to do that BEFORE instigating civil proceedings.

 

[Ailsa_Craig]

"failure to respond will result in the matter being processed without further notification"

That says it all really. It is a pointless letter that should never have been sent.

Just leave them to "process" the matter and then send you a proper letter if they wish! i.e. "put up or shut up"

If that next letter asks you to pay some fare or other money ahead of recovery action through the civil courts, then you can decide how to respond then. They are required to do that BEFORE instigating civil proceedings.

Ignore. Do not incriminate yourself. Let them issue a Letter Before Claim if they wish to go down the civil route

 

[captivant]

Welcome

You are right to take this seriously.

However, the typical / usual legal action that railway companies use in relation to fare evasion requires them to bring a case to the magistrates court within 6 months of the date of the incident for the criminal offence related to travel without a valid ticket - which they have failed to do given this happened 10 months ago. Nor are they even stating what the 'incident' concerned was.
After those 6 months they do still have the option of using a civil court to pursue what they believe you owe as a debt - which is much less serious for you than it being pursued as a criminal matter.
There remains the option to them of court action for fraud (and that would be very serious) - and that does not have a 6 month limit - but I don't think we have seen cases on the forum of that being used against people who have come here for advice.

There have been a few similar cases involving SE Trains on the forum in the last week or so - these two threads will be worth you reading through to see the views of experienced forum members on this. You will see several advocating that you don't engage with this and by implication wait to see what happens next.

Southeastern Penalty Letter Help

Hi all Over 11 months ago I was stopped at a London station by a ticket inspector when trying to tap through. I had bought a ticket on board the train at a nearer station than I boarded. I received the MG11 and awaited the letter through the door. It arrived last week after 11 months. Not...

www.railforums.co.uk

Fine prosecution need help please

Hi, Please, I need some advice as I am very worried about potentially having to go to court over this issue. Last year, I took a train from Sidcup with my sister. I normally use my Oyster card, but that day I could not find it. My sister was travelling to the airport, so I decided to travel...

www.railforums.co.uk

Have a good read of those and of course post any questions that occur to you / things you would like a view on and people here will no doubt give you good information.

When is the 21 days deadline up? That hopefully gives you time to consider advice, weigh up your options and decide what you want to do.

Hopefully after you were stopped at that time you have since bought correct tickets for all your rail travel....

Not to worry, my tickets have been correct since.

It has been very helpful to read through these posts. I can definitely see the the pros and cons to engaging vs not engaging. It is a lot to weigh.

On one hand I see that they could be phishing/trying to get incriminating information. And on the other hand it is nerve-wracking not engaging and watching the deadline close. I'm concerned about any repercussions for missing that window.

As the letter was sent on 29th September I believe I have until 20th October to make a decision. I'm currently leaning towards not engaging for the reasons that have been discussed in these posts. I am relieved to hear that the prosecution window has closed for the time being and I am prepared to pay through civil recovery actions.

 

[WesternLancer]

Not to worry, my tickets have been correct since.

It has been very helpful to read through these posts. I can definitely see the the pros and cons to engaging vs not engaging. It is a lot to weigh.

On one hand I see that they could be phishing/trying to get incriminating information. And on the other hand it is nerve-wracking not engaging and watching the deadline close. I'm concerned about any repercussions for missing that window.

As the letter was sent on 29th September I believe I have until 20th October to make a decision. I'm currently leaning towards not engaging for the reasons that have been discussed in these posts. I am relieved to hear that the prosecution window has closed for the time being and I am prepared to pay through civil recovery actions.

Well you have a bit of time to think about your course of action.

Other thread includes someone who decided to engage in basic manner iirc, but matter still in process so final outcome not yet known.

My hunch is that such responses will result in the railway saying eg ‘we believe you owe us £x and we want you to pay it’ probably accompanied by some threat of legal action that may or may not be plausible for them to carry out…

 

[captivant]

As above the first thing is that they are out of time to prosecute you for travelling without a valid ticket - they should have started the process by 5th June.

It all looks very vague - the word incident is unusual in this context and I would say inappropriate and could imply anything.

On that subject what details have they asked you for? Is there another sheet to this letter which you have not posted?

I was only sent 1 sheet of paper which does have another side I will attach now. They have only asked for my personal details. This side is blank and has not been filled out.

 

[WesternLancer]

I was only sent 1 sheet of paper which does have another side I will attach now. They have only asked for my personal details. This side is blank and has not been filled out.

Think we’ve seen that information requested as standard. Partly helps them ensure they are dealing with the correct person but some of the information would help them collect debts etc more easily I imagine.