SWR TIR - Railcard "Pending" during inspection

[ronin007]

Hello, I am looking for advice regarding a TIR(Discount not entitled (no railcard)) issued to me by South Western Railway yesterday.
I was issued a TIR today during the return leg of a short trip(£3.55) on the SWR network ,I purchased a digital 16-25 Railcard about 3 hours before my journey, but it was showing as "Pending" during the inspection.
The inspector took a photo of the "Pending" screen.
I have already emailed evidence of my bank timestamps to the prosecutions department
Action Taken: I have already emailed SWR Prosecutions with my bank transaction timestamps (I am an international student in uk from sep 2024 )

My Questions for the Experts here:

1. Since I can prove the Railcard was purchased before the ticket and 3 hours before the inspection, is SWR likely to offer a small Out of Court Settlement or even consider letting me off with a warning?
2. Given this is a first-time TIR on a very low-value journey , how likely is SWR to conduct a historical audit of my booking history with 3rd party apps? (after coming to uk last year i have done very few travelling and that too i had a Railcard except for two short trips bfore i bought this railcard for yesterday's journey ) ?

 

[Snow1964]

You are normally allowed one forgotten railcard a year, and presumably when they write to you you can show copy of the railcard (which by then will have arrived).

Another possibility is if there is sufficient info shown on the pending screen, (I have never seen that screen) they treat it as already bought and don't waste time writing to you.

They might look at previous history, so keep any earlier railcards.

Personally I always get physical railcards (not digital) because cannot have this extra hassle of non displaying card.

 

[transportphoto]

Which app or website did you buy the railcard from? Is the railcard intended to be one shine digitally, or one posted to you?

 

[ronin007]

Which app or website did you buy the railcard from? Is the railcard intended to be one shine digitally, or one posted to you?

Previously i had a physical railcard and this one bought from railcard.co.uk

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Apr 2026 ==

You are normally allowed one forgotten railcard a year, and presumably when they write to you you can show copy of the railcard (which by then will have arrived).

Another possibility is if there is sufficient info shown on the pending screen, (I have never seen that screen) they treat it as already bought and don't waste time writing to you.

They might look at previous history, so keep any earlier railcards.

Personally I always get physical railcards (not digital) because cannot have this extra hassle of non displaying card.

This is what i have shown to the examiner by logging into the railcard website via the app ,he took a picture of this ,i had bought this 3 hours before the journey ,the timing i showed to them by emailing my statement of purchase from my bank card.I only have one previous rail card which expired one month back and now when i looked up i think i might've done 2 very short trips(~£10) with the expired card which i didnt disclose in my mail.
Am i looking at very hefty settlement amounts? Im short on cash at the moment

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Apr 2026 ==

Which app or website did you buy the railcard from? Is the railcard intended to be one shine digitally, or one posted to you?

I bought it from railcard.co.uk

 

[SECR 65]

I only have one previous rail card which expired one month back and now when i looked up i think i might've done 2 very short trips(~£10) with the expired card which i didnt disclose in my mail.
Am i looking at very hefty settlement amounts? Im short on cash at the moment

I believe the settlement amount would normally be the price of an anytime single for every journey undertaken without a valid ticket (not taking into account the money paid for any invalid tickets) + an admin fee of about £150. Therefore hopefully the settlement would be less than £200 overall. Apologies if I am mistaken with regard to this fact.

Did you purchase the tickets for these other journeys undertaken without a railcard online / through an app? If so SWR will likely be able to view those purchases, and you may be charged for these as well.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Hello, I am looking for advice regarding a TIR(Discount not entitled (no railcard)) issued to me by South Western Railway yesterday.
I was issued a TIR today during the return leg of a short trip(£3.55) on the SWR network ,I purchased a digital 16-25 Railcard about 3 hours before my journey, but it was showing as "Pending" during the inspection.
The inspector took a photo of the "Pending" screen.
I have already emailed evidence of my bank timestamps to the prosecutions department
Action Taken: I have already emailed SWR Prosecutions with my bank transaction timestamps (I am an international student in uk from sep 2024 )

My Questions for the Experts here:

1. Since I can prove the Railcard was purchased before the ticket and 3 hours before the inspection,

The core point that we don't yet seem to have addressed is whether the railcard was ready for use. We know from the image in post #4 that this is a digital 16-25 railcard, and in the same post, we're told that it was bought through railcard.co.uk.

Accessing https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/?_g...wMTE4NDAkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzYwMTE4NDEkajU5JGwwJGgw from railcard.co.uk, we find under 'Need help getting or using your Railcard?' a dropdown 'How long do I have to wait for my railcard to arrive' which says:

If you have ordered a plastic 16-25 Railcard online, please allow up to 5 working days for delivery. If you paid for ‘Special Delivery’ and placed your order before 15:45pm, your Railcard will be delivered within two days (Monday to Thursday) or three days (Friday to Sunday).

If you have purchased a digital 16-25 Railcard, it will be available to use straight away. A download code will be sent to your registered email address, along with instructions on how to download your Railcard. 

You cannot travel on discounted tickets until you have received your Railcard

Looking at the bit that I have put in italics, it's clear that you don't just have buy a railcard - you need to download it as well.

So we need to know whether the OP had downloaded their new Railcard or not.

 

[AlterEgo]

It's irrelevant whether the OP downloaded the railcard or not. They owned one and can benefit from the forgotten railcard procedure. All they need to do is send them the email confirmation of purchase which will show it was bought before travel.

 

[Adam Williams]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a "Pending" state before. Unless this was some sort of anti-fraud measure, I wonder if something technically has gone wrong - it doesn't appear to comply with the accred requirement:

 

[ronin007]

I believe the settlement amount would normally be the price of an anytime single for every journey undertaken without a valid ticket (not taking into account the money paid for any invalid tickets) + an admin fee of about £150. Therefore hopefully the settlement would be less than £200 overall. Apologies if I am mistaken with regard to this fact.

Did you purchase the tickets for these other journeys undertaken without a railcard online / through an app? If so SWR will likely be able to view those purchases, and you may be charged for these as well.

yes the other 2 journeys ive used the same app

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Apr 2026 ==

The core point that we don't yet seem to have addressed is whether the railcard was ready for use. We know from the image in post #4 that this is a digital 16-25 railcard, and in the same post, we're told that it was bought through railcard.co.uk.

Accessing https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/?_g...wMTE4NDAkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzYwMTE4NDEkajU5JGwwJGgw from railcard.co.uk, we find under 'Need help getting or using your Railcard?' a dropdown 'How long do I have to wait for my railcard to arrive' which says:

Looking at the bit that I have put in italics, it's clear that you don't just have buy a railcard - you need to download it as well.

So we need to know whether the OP had downloaded their new Railcard or not.

My previous card was physical I didnt get any link so far or then to download or attach it to the app thats why i opened the railcard account and showed the pending screen to the examiner i think i may receive the link on monday

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Apr 2026 ==

I believe the settlement amount would normally be the price of an anytime single for every journey undertaken without a valid ticket (not taking into account the money paid for any invalid tickets) + an admin fee of about £150. Therefore hopefully the settlement would be less than £200 overall. Apologies if I am mistaken with regard to this fact.

Did you purchase the tickets for these other journeys undertaken without a railcard online / through an app? If so SWR will likely be able to view those purchases, and you may be charged for these as well.

any possibility they may over look it and just focus on current issue alone ,ive emailed them is it of no use ?

 

[SECR 65]

any possibility they may over look it and just focus on current issue alone ,ive emailed them is it of no use ?

If they suspected the incident they caught you for was 'malicious' and not a one-off 'mistake', then I believe they would normally look, but I'm not an expert in these things. I don't think multiple offences would neccesarily make it less likely for them to settle out of court. Hopefully, they would be happy that you have purchased a railcard and not punish you. I believe they would send you a letter (might take a few months) and at that point they sometimes point out past ticketing irregularities which they have noticed. I'm sure others know much more than I do.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a "Pending" state before. Unless this was some sort of anti-fraud measure, I wonder if something technically has gone wrong - it doesn't appear to comply with the accred requirement:

View attachment 202212

Surely post 6 already explains (salient info below). Yes, it is available to use but dependent on purchaser completing the step I have marked in bold font:

"If you have purchased a digital 16-25 Railcard, it will be available to use straight away. A download code will be sent to your registered email address, along with instructions on how to download your Railcard"

 

[Adam Williams]

"If you have purchased a digital 16-25 Railcard, it will be available to use straight away. A download code will be sent to your registered email address, along with instructions on how to download your Railcard"

Why would you describe that as Pending, rather than "Ready to download"?!

 

[Sun Chariot]

Why would you describe that as Pending, rather than "Ready to download"?!

Pending completion. Like a "Pending Payment" status I often see on a certain auction site, if a PayPal payment notification is not yet complete.

Ready to Download status makes more sense with the email-provided download code.

 

[ronin007]

If they suspected the incident they caught you for was 'malicious' and not a one-off 'mistake', then I believe they would normally look, but I'm not an expert in these things. I don't think multiple offences would neccesarily make it less likely for them to settle out of court. Hopefully, they would be happy that you have purchased a railcard and not punish you. I believe they would send you a letter (might take a few months) and at that point they sometimes point out past ticketing irregularities which they have noticed. I'm sure others know much more than I do.

Will it take many months ? I might change address by september 2026

 

[SECR 65]

Will it take many months ? I might change address by september 2026

Many Train Operating Companies (TOCs) have long backlogs in their prosecution departments. I think the deadline to potentially prosecute is 6 months for the usual type of case. If I recall SWR are quite slow at sending letters. 3-4 months is often quoted for various TOCs. You could have a look at other threads involving SWR which could give you an indication of how long you might be waiting.
If you change you address then someone mentioned on another thread about the idea of getting a postal redirect. These can be fairly expensive, and take a while to apply someone was saying. SWR seem to often be happy to communicate via email.
EDIT: I've looked through some SWR cases on here and it seems to vary how long contact has taken. Sometimes it's been a couple of weeks but other times seemingly months. I'm sure other members will be able to advise about what timescales are typical for SWR.

 

[ronin007]

Many Train Operating Companies (TOCs) have long backlogs in their prosecution departments. I think the deadline to potentially prosecute is 6 months for the usual type of case. If I recall SWR are quite slow at sending letters. 3-4 months is often quoted. You could have a look at other threads involving SWR which could give you an indication of how long you might be waiting.

when they send a letter what is the general deadlines they give for replying to it and if it goes to settlement will it be over with the next one they send after the initial one ? If all this goes beyond 6 months and i have to leave uk what can be done is it possible to be in correspondence with them from abroad?
And thank u all for the replies

 

[SECR 65]

when they send a letter what is the general deadlines they give for replying to it and if it goes to settlement will it be over with the next one they send after the initial one ? If all this goes beyond 6 months and i have to leave uk what can be done is it possible to be in correspondence with them from abroad?
And thank u all for the replies

Often it's 21 days to reply in low-level cases. Sometimes TOCs want to go directly to court and in this case give 7 days. I doubt your case would be like this. SWR seem to be happy to settle out of court almost always.
I just edited my post #15 to include about postal redirects and contact by email but I appreciate you likely won't have seen the edited version as I was doing it while you were replying. Not sure how legal matters work when outside the UK.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Apr 2026 ==

We also must bear in mind here that fingers crossed your railcard will be seen as valid and hopefully there won't be the need for such proceedings as I have been discussing.

 

[flashberry43]

My last railcard also had the ‘pending’ status. I purchased it on railcard.co.uk the day before my 31st birthday.

It was pending for two days.

When finally issued, the website showed it valid from the day I bought it (not when they issued it).

So, I’ll just wait and see if I were you. So long as you did by the railcard when you said you did, it’ll say ‘valid from’ that date

 

[WesternLancer]

when they send a letter what is the general deadlines they give for replying to it and if it goes to settlement will it be over with the next one they send after the initial one ? If all this goes beyond 6 months and i have to leave uk what can be done is it possible to be in correspondence with them from abroad?
And thank u all for the replies

If it gets within a month of you leaving the UK then you can write / e-mail them giving your new address overseas and a request to deal with the matter by e-mail - we can give you the post and e-mail addresses required.

But I would be grateful if you could clarify some info

1) - to start with you said that you had bought the Railcard a bit before travel but it was not downloaded (or whatever it is) when the ticket inspector saw it and they refused to accept it (as @AlterEgo said this would ordinarily be dealt with using the 'forgotten railcard policy' - where you have to send a copy of the railcard confirmation to SWR and that should resolve the case. If you have done this what address did you send the copy of the railcard to?

2) - If you have still not had the Railcard e-mail confirmation code (or whatever it is) to complete the download /activation of your railcard (which in my view should be virtually instant after you bought it) - I think you should get in contact with whoever you bought the Railcar from and get that resolved. Have you tried to do that yet?

3) - later on in the thread you start to mention that you have travelled with Railcard discounted tickets before you bought this new Railcard. Why did that happen? (was it because (a) you had previously had a Railcard, it had expired and you had not noticed that but kept buying discounted tickets or (b) was it because you never had had a Railcard at that time, but were buying railcard discounted tickets as a way to reduce your fare but without buying the railcard?

SWR may well investigate that and then ask you about it - in which case you will need to offer to pay any fares owed from that period to avoid risk of prosecution.

You need to keep an eye on hard copy post at tour address, but also e-mails and spam for the next few months

Have I understood things above correctly?

 

[Adam Williams]

My last railcard also had the ‘pending’ status. I purchased it on railcard.co.uk the day before my 31st birthday.

It was pending for two days.

When finally issued, the website showed it valid from the day I bought it (not when they issued it).

So, I’ll just wait and see if I were you. So long as you did by the railcard when you said you did, it’ll say ‘valid from’ that date

Right, this to me suggests it was not ready to download then until it left the Pending state?

So it doesn't comply with RDG's own accreditation standards.

If this is happening to multiple passengers there should be really be a retail brief issued.

 

[Sun Chariot]

My last railcard also had the ‘pending’ status. I purchased it on railcard.co.uk the day before my 31st birthday.
It was pending for two days.
When finally issued, the website showed it valid from the day I bought it (not when they issued it).

Hello @flashberry43 - by that, do you mean it was 2 days after your payment, that you received Railcard.co.uk's email with Railcard download link and activation code?

Or, that you received their email same day as your purchase but you had downloaded and activated your Railcard 2 days afterward?

Or, that you did nothing after purchasing it; and, after those 2 days, it was "auto-activated" and digitally issued for use?

 

[ronin007]

If it gets within a month of you leaving the UK then you can write / e-mail them giving your new address overseas and a request to deal with the matter by e-mail - we can give you the post and e-mail addresses required.

But I would be grateful if you could clarify some info

1) - to start with you said that you had bought the Railcard a bit before travel but it was not downloaded (or whatever it is) when the ticket inspector saw it and they refused to accept it (as @AlterEgo said this would ordinarily be dealt with using the 'forgotten railcard policy' - where you have to send a copy of the railcard confirmation to SWR and that should resolve the case. If you have done this what address did you send the copy of the railcard to?

2) - If you have still not had the Railcard e-mail confirmation code (or whatever it is) to complete the download /activation of your railcard (which in my view should be virtually instant after you bought it) - I think you should get in contact with whoever you bought the Railcar from and get that resolved. Have you tried to do that yet?

3) - later on in the thread you start to mention that you have travelled with Railcard discounted tickets before you bought this new Railcard. Why did that happen? (was it because (a) you had previously had a Railcard, it had expired and you had not noticed that but kept buying discounted tickets or (b) was it because you never had had a Railcard at that time, but were buying railcard discounted tickets as a way to reduce your fare but without buying the railcard?

SWR may well investigate that and then ask you about it - in which case you will need to offer to pay any fares owed from that period to avoid risk of prosecution.

You need to keep an eye on hard copy post at tour address, but also e-mails and spam for the next few months

Have I understood things above correctly?

1. I havent sent the copy i just emailed them the same day with purchase proofs ,screenshot of pending screen ,bank statements showing time
2.I have it activated now showing the same day(should i send another email to prosecutions@swr.. or wait for reply or letter )
3. I forgot about it for 2 travels i had one before it had expired.
so if they ask about the previous travels ,i just apologize and pay any fares owed rather than mysekf informing them?.

yes ,thanks

 

[z444z]

1. I havent sent the copy i just emailed them the same day with purchase proofs ,screenshot of pending screen ,bank statements showing time
2.I have it activated now showing the same day(should i send another email to prosecutions@swr.. or wait for reply or letter)

I’d say just wait and see what they say.

3. I forgot about it for 2 travels i had one before it had expired.
so if they ask about the previous travels ,i just apologize and pay any fares owed rather than mysekf informing them?.

In general you don’t need to give them any information they haven’t asked for. We can help you respond when they get back to you

 

[WesternLancer]

1. I havent sent the copy i just emailed them the same day with purchase proofs ,screenshot of pending screen ,bank statements showing time
2.I have it activated now showing the same day(should i send another email to prosecutions@swr.. or wait for reply or letter )
3. I forgot about it for 2 travels i had one before it had expired.
so if they ask about the previous travels ,i just apologize and pay any fares owed rather than mysekf informing them?.

yes ,thanks

Thanks for answering those questions.

If you e mailed that e mail address as you describe then I agree, you now need to wait for their reply.

When you receive their reply we can help you know what to do next.

 

[ronin007]

Hello all
I got this email today
i replied to them with the photo of the railcard as no screenshot was possible anything more to do ?

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello all
I got this email today
i replied to them with the photo of the railcard as no screenshot was possible anything more to do ?

sounds like you did what they asked you to do - probably all you can do now is wait for their next communication.

 

[z444z]

It sounds you’ve done the right thing but going forward I’d suggest if you want to ask for our advice do it before taking the action instead of acting straight away and then asking whether or not you did the right thing!