SWR Fare evasion - They never contacted me.

[user8392]

Hello everyone,

I would really appreciate some guidance.

Back in late 2023 early 2024 I was caught by a SWR officer for having not paid my fare. I had bought a ticket for a station closer to Waterloo than I boarded. It was a random inspection upon arrival, I was very flustered and said I was happy to follow the normal process ( I was too scared to admit I had not paid the proper ticket price).

It was stupid of me and ever since I have paid every journey in full.

He then printed off I think a prosecution notice. I gave him all the correct details, adress, email and my name in response.

I checked this forum which said it could take up to six months to recieve it. I still haven’t got anything - I have checked all my e-mails, and while I don’t live in the same adress, I know the landlord very well and any previous letters sent there have been forwarded on to me.

The SWR employee assured me at the time that they’d reach out to me through phone or e-mail if I didn’t reply to a letter.


Any guidance or help would be really appreciated. I can understand something going wrong with the post, but surely they could have e-mailed or found me at my new adress?

Should I continue to wait? Or proactively reach out.

Thank you again.

 

[Egg Centric]

Neither - forget about it.

It's not impossible you were prosecuted for it in your absence but if that's the case you'll find out eventually (or you won't in which case it had zero impact!).

Wait till 2030 to make sure that they're not trying to pursue you civily. Something that was incredibly unlikley until recently but some evidence more of it's occurring.

Any communication from them - come back here before responding to them.

 

[styles]

Any guidance or help would be really appreciated. I can understand something going wrong with the post, but surely they could have e-mailed or found me at my new adress?

How would they know your new address? You'd have to tell them you've moved house for them to know that.

Should I continue to wait? Or proactively reach out.

Thank you again.

Don't poke the bear.

It's possible it's just been forgotten about. I wouldn't go reminding them of it, as they may decide to pursue it through the civil courts (it's out of time for the criminal hearing in the magistrates).

 

[WesternLancer]

Presumably the worst case scenario is the matter was escalated to court and a guilty verdic given without the OP being aware. Eventually court bailiffs go to the old address seeking the court fine and eventually find the OP at a new address by which time costs have escalated etc.

For this to have happened hard copy court paperwork would have to have been ignored at old address.

Process then would require the OP to engage in the Statutory Declaration process to re set the clock on the basis of being unaware they were being prosecuted. A bit of a tedious process as can be seen by looking at other threads.

Didn’t we have a recent thread where advice was given on how to check with the court service about finding out if you have been convicted of anything?
That would not involve alerting the railway company

Though this seems unlikely given the OP feels they can rely on former landlord to pass on post.