Thameslink fare evasion self-report (England

[Alicja1]

Hi all!

Basically over a year ago I tried to do the doughnutting method, but got caught the same day. I pretended my phone died and quickly bought a ticket later on and sent it over through email as advised by the inspector. Couple months later they sent me a ticket for up to £1000 and a possible court meeting, but they left a section to write a letter explaining my side. I decided to make up a story about how I forgot to buy the ticket or something like that. I got an out-of-court settlement for £70 and paid it.
After this I never did that again, but I basically I always bought myself return tickets and they were always either on-peak or super-off peak Basically if my uni lecture was at 9 am I had no choice but to buy a peak ticket, but if it was at 1pm or something I always bought off-peak regardless of the time I was coming back. This was 1) because the station I was coming back from never checked tickets (you always had to as for them to open the barriers for you), and 2) because I was never 100% sure what time I’d be back anyway.
Regardless, after a while I realised that I need to specify the time I wanna return with because it puts the price up £5.

I want to self-report both of these things, 1) the fact that I lied in the first scenario and 2) that I bought super off-peak tickets when I should’ve bought just off-peak. Btw I have no idea how often I did this because my schedule was all over the place.

Without going into the reasons about why I want to self-report, what can I expect from this. How much can I expect the fine to be. More importantly what are my chances of being able to settle out of court. The last thing I want to get is a criminal record, but I would like to pay back what I owe.

 

[AlterEgo]

You can expect a very confused person on the end of the email. Let sleeping dogs lie. Just buy the correct tickets in future.

 

[30907]

First, I am glad your conscience is active

Second, GTR offered you their normal out-of-court settlement which you have paid.
As far as they are concerned, the matter is closed, and I don't think confessing to them will be helpful to them or you.

If you believe you have benefitted financially (to a significant degree), you could send a cheque anonymously to GTR. Alternatively, you could make a donation to an appropriate charity.

If your conscience is still unsettled, I suggest talking (formally or otherwise) to a priest/pastor/minister (if your background is Christian) or the equivalent.

 

[Egg Centric]

you could send a cheque anonymously to GTR

Please don't do this, it will just cause a bunch of confusion. What is an anonymous cheque? Also how many students have chequebooks

Since GTR are now state owned, if you *really* wanted to do this then the treasury accepts voluntary contributions. I would suggest practically any charity in preference though.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would consider making a donation to a charity of the sum you saved, and don't do it again. You appear to have learned your lesson so I don't see any benefit in getting yourself a record.

 

[SaltAndVinegar]

In the nicest possible way... this sounds like a terrible idea, although well intentioned.

If someone paying attention catches on to what you're saying, you've handed them a confession on a silver platter.

If you're feeling guilty about defrauding the railway of funds, you could consider donating to the RBF or Samaritans, or any charity that you are fond of.

 

[johnny_t]

The other day, I left M&S without paying at one of the self-checkouts (my contact less asked me to put a PIN in and I didn't notice). I went in to pay the next day but as someone doing this was so unusual, it cause them quite some hassle. I also got to see how many people walk off without paying every day, which was an eye opener.

Anyway, as others have said, rather than trying to pay Thameslink what you owe, do something else with it that brings the overall moral ledger back to zero.

 

[Hadders]

Just to remind everyone that someone travelling with a ticket that is correctly dated but restricted for use at a range of times other than the service on which you are travelling (eg using an Off Peak ticket at a time when off peak travel is not allowed) you will be charged the difference between the fare that you have paid and the lowest price Ticket that is valid for the train you are using.

 

[Richardr]

Please don't do this, it will just cause a bunch of confusion. What is an anonymous cheque? Also how many students have chequebooks

What's more, in the unlikely event of having a cheque book it will have a name and bank account details on it, and needs signing.

 

[Haywain]

Just to remind everyone that someone travelling with a ticket that is correctly dated but restricted for use at a range of times other than the service on which you are travelling (eg using an Off Peak ticket at a time when off peak travel is not allowed) you will be charged the difference between the fare that you have paid and the lowest price Ticket that is valid for the train you are using.

Not sure what the relevance of that is to the OP's guilt about doughnutting. Perhaps you posted on the wrong thread?

Apologies, had missed the bit about misuse of Off Peak tickets.

 

[AlterEgo]

Not sure what the relevance of that is to the OP's guilt about doughnutting. Perhaps you posted on the wrong thread?

They are also apparently feeling guilty about travelling on time restricted tickets, near the bottom of the post.

 

[WesternLancer]

Not sure what the relevance of that is to the OP's guilt about doughnutting. Perhaps you posted on the wrong thread?

presumably

basically I always bought myself return tickets and they were always either on-peak or super-off peak Basically if my uni lecture was at 9 am I had no choice but to buy a peak ticket, but if it was at 1pm or something I always bought off-peak regardless of the time I was coming back.

I want to self-report both of these things, ..... 2) that I bought super off-peak tickets when I should’ve bought just off-peak.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The other day, I left M&S without paying at one of the self-checkouts (my contact less asked me to put a PIN in and I didn't notice). I went in to pay the next day but as someone doing this was so unusual, it cause them quite some hassle.

Easiest way to do that would probably be to get the items, scan them, pay, then return them to the shelves (having told them that that was what you were going to do first, obviously, as it would look incredibly odd). Did they suggest that? It would also mean their stock control wasn't off.

It's a good case for always getting a receipt. You know if you have a receipt in your hand that you have paid (aside from if you failed to scan something).

 

[Haywain]

They are also apparently feeling guilty about travelling on time restricted tickets, near the bottom of the post.

Ah, missed that.

 

[Starmill]

I would consider making a donation to a charity of the sum you saved, and don't do it again. You appear to have learned your lesson so I don't see any benefit in getting yourself a record.

I was about to suggest this myself but I see the advice has already been well given.

The best thing to do is to be careful in future, and ensure that you have the correct ticket before boarding every time.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

Although it’s inappropriate in terms of of underpaying your fares, if you really are intent on making some kind of gesture, perhaps you could send several bags of premium doughnuts to GTR’s headquarters via Uber Eats ?

 

[WesternLancer]

Although it’s inappropriate in terms of of underpaying your fares, if you really are intent on making some kind of gesture, perhaps you could send several bags of premium doughnuts to GTR’s headquarters via Uber Eats ?

- bu it would probably not be a great idea to eat unsolicited food...
might be from a convicted fare dodger with a grudge, and include some unsavoury fillings

 

[duffield]

The other day, I left M&S without paying at one of the self-checkouts (my contact less asked me to put a PIN in and I didn't notice).
...

Getting offtopic but this is one thing that can't happen if you pay by virtual card on your phone.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

- bu it would probably not be a great idea to eat unsolicited food...
might be from a convicted fare dodger with a grudge, and include some unsavoury fillings

I thought my mind worked in strange ways, but that comment proves there are some jammy dodgers

 

[MotCO]

I thought my mind worked in strange ways, but that comment proves there are some jammy dodgers

I thought they were going to buy doughnuts, not jammy dodgers

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Aug 2026 ==

If you're feeling guilty about defrauding the railway of funds, you could consider donating to the RBF

The RBF is presumably the Railway Benevolent Fund, so would be quite an appropriate charity.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

The RBF is presumably the Railway Benevolent Fund, so would be quite an appropriate charity.

The Railway Benefit Fund, formerly the Railway Benevolent Institution: https://www.railwaybenefitfund.org.uk/, and specifically https://www.railwaybenefitfund.org.uk/about-us/:

The RBF was founded as the Railway Benevolent Institution in 1858 under our first president, George Glyn, 1st Baron Wolverton, during a meeting held by a group of railway clerks in London.
[...]
The charity became officially known as the Railway Benefit Fund in 2006.

 

[Alicja1]

Hi all!
After careful thought I have made up my mind that I want to return the money I saved by buying off-peak tickets and travelling on-peak to GTR. Many people suggested I give this money to a charity instead, but I’ve thought this through and my conscience would’t be settled with that. I want to return the money to those I directly stole from.
I would however like to avoid criminal prosecution of course, I want to return the money that doesn’t belong to me, not ruin my future.
Altogether I think I owe anywhere between £500 to £1000 (hard to say as it was a 1+ year ago and I don’t know what days I traveled on peak and what days I travelled off peak) so I have made up my mind that I will give back £1000.

My question is, how do I go about this in the best way. Should I get a solicitor straight away (extra £800 but I’ll be calm knowing I won’t get a criminal record)? Should I contact GTR first and then potentially get a solicitor if they are not happy to settle out of court? How likely is it they will settle out of court without a solicitor to help me? Or maybe is there a way I can anonymously send the money?

Thank you!

 

[furlong]

Create a new email address not identifiable as yours and ask them the question anonymously. This will give you a reference number for the correspondence. Keep a copy of that correspondence. They'll either tell you how to make the payment to them (anonymously) or (I think more likely) tell you to give the money to a named charity or directly to the Treasury. Get and keep a receipt to prove you paid in accordance with what was agreed. In the unlikely situation that you are later pursued for the same debt you'll be able to reference this correspondence.

 

[mikeb42]

...Or maybe is there a way I can anonymously send the money?...

I'd have thought it's going to be very difficult to do this without opening a whole can of worms. Is there any accounting mechanism by which GTR can accept random sums of money without conducting a proper investigation? This in turn may leave you open to various risks. Experts here may know better - I'm not one.

If this truly is a matter between you and your conscience, then a bit of lateral thinking suggests the safest route is to simply buy GTR-only tickets (to ensure the revenue goes to the relevant company - experts here can advise what to buy) to the tune of £1k or whatever and not use them. There are ways to do this anonymously. Better yet, do this and donate the tickets to rail enthusiasts here who weren't otherwise going to travel. They'll enjoy travelling about randomly and GTR will get £1k in marginal revenue that they otherwise wouldn't have. Everyone's a winner.

I wouldn't bother though. GTR is basically a front for a rapacious amoral corporation* that isn't going to pass this money on to its front line staff or anything virtuous like that.

It'll do far more good donated to any worthy cause.

*Edit: As noted by others, GTR is now effectively state owned so the money will go indirectly to the government - who still kind of answer to that description but that is a whole other debate! You can donate directly to HM Government - a quick Internet search will turn up the details. I wouldn't bother though, they'll probably just waste it. Give it directly to a charity like the Samaritans and do some real good.

 

[AlterEgo]

If you have £1000 or even £1800 to burn in your pursuit of moral equality I really recommend donating it to a good cause you care about, and one small enough so the money will make a difference. This doesn’t excuse fare evasion but giving one thousand pounds to what is not even GTR any more (they've been nationalised) is like throwing it off a cliff.

 

[tatitiliti]

If you have £1000 or even £1800 to burn in your pursuit of moral equality I really recommend donating it to a good cause you care about, and one small enough so the money will make a difference. This doesn’t excuse fare evasion but giving one thousand pounds to what is not even GTR any more (they've been nationalised) is like throwing it off a cliff.

Indeed.

I cannot emphasise enough what a bad and pointless idea this is from OP (with a non-zero risk of being identified)…

That said, if OP is really intent on doing this and no amount of advice will change their minds, doesn’t GTR have BACS details somewhere that people normally pay settlements into that one could just send money to? Or would they likely just quickly return it? This would likely be the safest way of doing this without being identified.

I suppose the way of ensuring you don’t get it sent back would be to send it via a burner account, then close the burner account (without a CASS redirection in place).

 

[WesternLancer]

I'd have thought it's going to be very difficult to do this without opening a whole can of worms. Is there any accounting mechanism by which GTR can accept random sums of money without conducting a proper investigation? This in turn may leave you open to various risks. Experts here may know better - I'm not one.

If this truly is a matter between you and your conscience, then a bit of lateral thinking suggests the safest route is to simply buy GTR-only tickets (to ensure the revenue goes to the relevant company - experts here can advise what to buy) to the tune of £1k or whatever and not use them. There are ways to do this anonymously. Better yet, do this and donate the tickets to rail enthusiasts here who weren't otherwise going to travel. They'll enjoy travelling about randomly and GTR will get £1k in marginal revenue that they otherwise wouldn't have. Everyone's a winner.

I wouldn't bother though. GTR is basically a front for a rapacious amoral corporation* that isn't going to pass this money on to its front line staff or anything virtuous like that.

It'll do far more good donated to any worthy cause.

*Edit: As noted by others, GTR is now effectively state owned so the money will go indirectly to the government - who still kind of answer to that description but that is a whole other debate! You can donate directly to HM Government - a quick Internet search will turn up the details. I wouldn't bother though, they'll probably just waste it. Give it directly to a charity like the Samaritans and do some real good.

I do t think this is a good way th achieve the outcome desired by the op really.

 

[Bletchleyite]

A First Anytime Day Return from Brighton to London is £107.30 and doesn't have an awful lot of validity on other TOCs if any. Ten of those would do it and wouldn't raise any suspicion at all, particularly if they were bought daily for a string of ten weekdays.

Buy as paper, collect and throw in the bin. Or keep and attempt to use to placate them if they do come back on it separately, though there's almost no chance that would work.

 

[londonbridge]

The other day, I left M&S without paying at one of the self-checkouts (my contact less asked me to put a PIN in and I didn't notice). I went in to pay the next day but as someone doing this was so unusual, it cause them quite some hassle. I also got to see how many people walk off without paying every day, which was an eye opener.

Anyway, as others have said, rather than trying to pay Thameslink what you owe, do something else with it that brings the overall moral ledger back to zero.

Not M&S, obviously I can’t say how often we get walkoffs (whether intentional or not), on self checkouts, but I’ve had one instance that I can recall where I served a guy on the main checkout and his Applepay declined, and then he returned around twenty minutes later saying the notifications on his phone suggested that the payment wasn’t complete, and offering to pay.

When people tap their card and start walking straight off I try to keep them near the till by saying along the lines of “one moment sir/madam, still processing…..okay, done, thank you”. When it does decline or asks them to insert card and enter pin, I usually manage to call them back, but in a few cases I’ve had to chase them out into the street.

My company is currently rolling out new till software which will include a message on the card reader saying “please wait for confirmation when paying contactless”, so hopefully once we get the update the number of walk offs will reduce.

 

[WesternLancer]

Just trying to summarise the key issues on this thread in case it helps @Alicja1 make a decision

It seems to me:

1) The OP @Alicja1 carried out fare evasion in the past to which they estimate may be of the value of up to £1,000

2) They regret their past actions and want to do 'the right thing' and pay back what they evaded (or a best estimate of it)

3) They want to find a way to do this that does not trigger investigation that might or would lead to court action for what they did

4) They were previously caught for evasion, offered a modest £70 out of court settlement for the occasion when caught, and paid it (unsure if this was over 6 months ago)

Forum members have advised various things they could do - but the overwhelming advice is not to contact the train company about it - suggestions made include

A) doing nothing, moving on and forgetting about it

B) making a donation to charity

C) buying train tickets to the approximate value of £1k and not using them

The OP has reflected this advice but still wishes to 'do the right thing' and find a way to pay the Train company involved - GTR. They have funds including potentially enough to engage a solicitor to help. They make their position clear in post #22

It seems to me:

(A) above makes a lot of sense, but the OP seems to have discounted it after giving it a lot of thought

(B) & (C) might help make you feel better, but in no way would guarantee to prevent GTR prosecuting you or taking civil action to recoup a debt in the event (possibly / probably unlikely) they separately found out about the further evasion and sought to take some action - so I don't think it addresses (3) above

Contacting GTR in a spirit of honesty and offering to pay - risks triggering court action unless done anonymously (but maybe GTR would just accept a payment).

But doing this anonymously presumably doesn't remove the theoretical possibility of further court action (because you can't really make any sort of out of court offer anonymously) Thus does not address (3) either.

Thus I would conclude that the OP has 3 choices

i) Follow the advice given here to do nothing - the OP has 6 years before they know that GTR are out of time to take some action - eg via the civil court for the debt

ii) Risk contacting GTR directly to offer to pay other moneys owed further to the sum paid in the previous settlement made and hope nothing further comes of it and it is accepted in the same 'out of court settlement' arrangement.

iii) Engage a solicitor to handle this on their behalf - who may have a way in which to protect their confidentiality. This will come at a cost of the legal fees for work involved.
But I suppose this option might have the best chance of achieving the outcome that the OP says they wish to do (2) and (3) above.

We know from previous threads that Manak Solicitors (who specialise in rail fares evasion issues) seem to have the ability to fast track issues with train companies including GTR via direct communication channels. It may be that they could take this matter on for the OP, discuss the issues and secure an outcome that the OP is happy with better than the OP themselves could achieve. I suspect if they shared their ticket booking details the train company may even be able to calculate a more accurate sum evaded and thus owed.

So I suspect the choice is between (i) and (iii)