Southeastern railway short ticketing advice required!!

[TheGoodSquash]

Hi everyone,

I was recommended this by google ai to try and put my mind at ease (it’s not looking good)

On Friday 10th April I was caught at Chatham train station with two invalid tickets (myself and my girlfriend). As we were going to have drinks for an old friend’s birthday (Idk the relevance of this to the case but thought I’d add it anyway just in case) over the past nearly two years I’ve been driving everywhere but before that I had a bad habit of short ticketing my way around (I was around 15-16 then). I got pulled and answered the RPO’s questions honestly although I don’t remember the conversation much as the second I got pulled I switched off and went straight to pure anxiety.

After some rough research I’ve gathered that there are a few mitigating factors that could apply to me to induce leniency. If they were to bring up the old tickets I’ve heard that the fact I was a minor at the time would play a role. I have NEVER had a bad encounter with the authorities. I am from a low socioeconomic background, I have epilepsy, am in receipt of PIP and have been on UC before.

I thought I knew the consequences (£100 fine and off I go) but it turns out I didn’t. My financial situation isn’t great by a longshot and I am due to start a career in estate agency on may 5th (first paycheck 28th) so that is when I could pay any fees if they were to offer.

Research suggests that if they were to bring up previous inconsistencies then I should get a solicitor involved and have them try to explain that away as stupid mistakes in my youth and “box” it away from the recent one. A criminal conviction would be detrimental to any career I am interested in so I’m just wondering if anyone has anything helpful to put my mind at ease. I’ve been feeling sick with anxiety since Friday and just want the world to swallow me up.

Thank you in advance

 

[AlterEgo]

Southeastern settle out of court basically every time. They will not care about your socioeconomic background or your history of claiming benefits.

They will ask for the full Anytime fare for each offence they detect; they will audit your ticket purchasing accounts in order to do this; it is not clear whether they will introduce your child tickets from a few years ago. They will then ask for an admin fee on top of maybe £100-200.

Was your girlfriend stopped too? Were her details taken? She has also committed an offence here.

Let us know when they write or email you and we can advise how to respond.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi everyone,

I was recommended this by google ai to try and put my mind at ease (it’s not looking good)

On Friday 10th April I was caught at Chatham train station with two invalid tickets (myself and my girlfriend). As we were going to have drinks for an old friend’s birthday (Idk the relevance of this to the case but thought I’d add it anyway just in case) over the past nearly two years I’ve been driving everywhere but before that I had a bad habit of short ticketing my way around (I was around 15-16 then). I got pulled and answered the RPO’s questions honestly although I don’t remember the conversation much as the second I got pulled I switched off and went straight to pure anxiety.

After some rough research I’ve gathered that there are a few mitigating factors that could apply to me to induce leniency. If they were to bring up the old tickets I’ve heard that the fact I was a minor at the time would play a role. I have NEVER had a bad encounter with the authorities. I am from a low socioeconomic background, I have epilepsy, am in receipt of PIP and have been on UC before.

I thought I knew the consequences (£100 fine and off I go) but it turns out I didn’t. My financial situation isn’t great by a longshot and I am due to start a career in estate agency on may 5th (first paycheck 28th) so that is when I could pay any fees if they were to offer.

Research suggests that if they were to bring up previous inconsistencies then I should get a solicitor involved and have them try to explain that away as stupid mistakes in my youth and “box” it away from the recent one. A criminal conviction would be detrimental to any career I am interested in so I’m just wondering if anyone has anything helpful to put my mind at ease. I’ve been feeling sick with anxiety since Friday and just want the world to swallow me up.

Thank you in advance

Welcome.

You will get the advice you need here to deal with this.

I’m afraid none of your mitigating circumstances sound to me like they would count for much to be honest

However the railway will be very likely to settle this out of court if you convince them it won’t happen again, that you understand the seriousness of what you did, and offer to pay them the fare(s) owed.

All you can really do is wait for them to write to you or e mail which could be some weeks or months. It’s vital you respond to that or it will escalate to court automatically.

Have a look on here for other examples.

Suspected deliberate evasion shouldn’t be dealt with by axPenalty Fare which is probably why you weren’t issued with one - the £100 sum you’ve probably seen on posters at stations.

The useful info you got from AI was to send you here!

I don’t think you need to get a solicitor at this stage. Large numbers of people can resolve this themselves by following advice from here. But If you did get a solicitor then be sure to use one with a track record (pun intended) on fare evasion work.

 

[TheGoodSquash]

Thanks for the advice, my girlfriend wasn’t pulled because both tickets were on my account (I wouldn’t want her to be anyway). I’m not sure as to where google pulled the info from (probably various sources i.e solicitors websites and southeastern’s). What’s moreso scaring me is the fact I’ve heard southeastern can be pretty ruthless considering their “zero tolerance” policy. I’m in a position to settle out of court (or will be after my first paycheck). I think what’s setting my anxiety off more is the fact I have no idea how criminal proceedings or any of the incurred consequences work. Does anyone know if they’re likely to ask to settle out of court straight away (in the NIP) or if I’ll have to convince them? I know not much advice can be given until I get the NIP but regardless I’d like to be prepared

Thanks again!

 

[rmHawk765]

Does anyone know if they’re likely to ask to settle out of court straight away (in the NIP) or if I’ll have to convince them?

They will not prosecute unless:

• you do not respond at all (to the letter);
• your response is terrible;
• you have a very long-standing history of fare evasion and have been caught before.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Apr 2026 ==

I’m not sure as to where google pulled the info from (probably various sources i.e solicitors websites and southeastern’s).

It would have made half of it up, so good thing you came here.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks for the advice, my girlfriend wasn’t pulled because both tickets were on my account (I wouldn’t want her to be anyway).

The offence is to travel without a valid ticket, not to buy a ticket for someone that might then be invalid if used by them. But it sounds like she is lucky if her details weren’t taken. She should watch her post e mail and spam over next 7 months just to be sure.

I’m not sure as to where google pulled the info from (probably various sources i.e solicitors websites and southeastern’s). What’s moreso scaring me is the fact I’ve heard southeastern can be pretty ruthless considering their “zero tolerance” policy.

Where have you heard this?
You can search this forum for cases involving south eastern where you will see regular instances of them settling out of court.

I’m in a position to settle out of court (or will be after my first paycheck). I think what’s setting my anxiety off more is the fact I have no idea how criminal proceedings or any of the incurred consequences work.

Have a look at other threads on here to get the idea of what to expect.

Does anyone know if they’re likely to ask to settle out of court straight away (in the NIP)

Probably not. Not many train companies do it that way, but if you follow advice from here it’s very likely that they will offer an out of court settlement if you ask for that by offering to pay any fares that you owe.

or if I’ll have to convince them? I know not much advice can be given until I get the NIP but regardless I’d like to be prepared

Thanks again!

Best preparation you can do is look at other threads involving South eastern on this forum really.

It should be perfectly possible to secure a settlement I would think.

 

[z444z]

What’s moreso scaring me is the fact I’ve heard southeastern can be pretty ruthless considering their “zero tolerance” policy

They’re very reasonable, you don’t need to worry, a settlement will almost certainly be possible. Just wait for them to contact you and come back here for help when they do. Of course feel free to ask any other questions you might have.

 

[WesternLancer]

It may also be useful for you to see the general advice often given on this forum originally drafted by a longstanding forum member - it will tell you what to expect, what to watch out for, and how to think about responding when the railway company contact you about this - here is a copy:

Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.