Thamslink Prosecution for fare evasion. Please advise

[bendavis]

Last week, on my usual commute St Neots to London St pancreas using Thameslink. An inspector said I should expect a mail about fare evasion.

It wasn't intentional, I buy my tickets on Uber travel because of the 10% discount.
I usually use the rebook feature which allows me to just rebook the last ticket for the current day. However, on this day, I was traveling after the time I usually travel and the rebook actually booked the ticket for the next day since the usual time passed.

It wasn't rush hour so the gates at the station were opened, so I got on the train. When I got on the train, I noticed the mistake, I cancelled the ticket and immediately tried to book the correct ticket. However, when I tried to pay, it seems I lost connection and the app was stuck on the page to retry the payment again. However, I missed that the payment didn't go through and I got on a call instead and forgot about checking the app.
I got stopped by an inspector and opened my email for the tickets and I could only see the one for tomorrow that was booked mistakenly and the one I used yesterday. I opened the Uber app and saw it was still confirming. I panicked and clicked the retry button and the payment went through. The inspector thinks I tried to buy the ticket after getting caught and I understand it appears like that.
Now, if they check my purchase history, they would see that I buy the correct ticket from source to destination most of the time since we moved to this town 9 months ago with the few exceptions when I was heading to a different destination.
The inspector said I would receive a mail from the prosecution's team but I haven't received anything and it was a week ago yesterday.
What should I do? It really was a mistake but I understand it appears as fare evading. It's bothering me. Should I just sit tight and wait for the mail to come in?
I provided the correct address and details but I noticed the inspector mixed up one letter in my name (wrote t instead of y).
Should I reach out about this or just sit tight?

 

[John R]

The usual advice is to sit tight and wait for a letter, which could be days or several weeks. Reaching out to them will just create more work for them trying to match your details to a case. When you get a letter post it here with all identifying details redacted (see also below), and we can give more advice then.

We also advise that you keep everything anonymous, so if your Username is your real name then you may wish to contact the administrators to change it to something less obvious (hit the Report button at the end of your post and letting them know why).

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

Govia Thameslink Railway are one of the 'better' train companies to deal with when it comes to this sort of thing. They'll write to you in the next few weeks saying that they have received a report and are considering prosecuting you. The letter will use quite threatening language but don't be too concerned about that.

When the letter arrives pop back here and upload a copy of it (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply and we can proof read it for you. GTR typically offer an administrative settlement to people who co-operatie with them.

There's no point reching out to them ahead of the letter arriving, they probably haven't even received the report from the inspector yet.

 

[bendavis]

It's been a month since this happened, and I still haven't heard from Govia via phone or mail. Is it time to reach out to them, or should I just wait a little longer?

 

[Cuthbert]

It's been a month since this happened, and I still haven't heard from Govia via phone or mail. Is it time to reach out to them, or should I just wait a little longer?

Just wait,

They have six months to gather evidence and forward it to court.

 

[bendavis]

Thanks all. I received a letter from Govia Thameslink yesterday, stating their intention to take this to court.

I will be writing to them and will post my response here before sending it. I notice there is a space to write a letter at the back. Would it be better to write a typed letter, as I think they might struggle to read my handwriting? Any tips on how to respond would be helpful.

Also as I said before, their is a typo in my name. Should I address it in the response?

 

[WesternLancer]

I will be writing to them and will post my response here before sending it. I notice there is a space to write a letter at the back. Would it be better to write a typed letter, as I think they might struggle to read my handwriting? Any tips on how to respond would be helpful.

Also as I said before, their is a typo in my name. Should I address it in the response?

I would ask them to correct your name but it probably does not matter much

In terms of how to reply have a look at posts from @Hadders on the key points to make in your response, often posted in many threads to guide people (basically - apologise, make it clear you have learned form this, assure them it won't happen again, assure them there was no intention to deliberately evade the fare but that you made a ticket booking error and only noticed it when journey underway, ask if they will kindly consider settling the matter without the need for court action)

ref replying - @Fawkes Cat gave a helpful answer to that recently on another thread - quoted below:

Our general advice is that unless you have the most legible handwriting in the world, it makes sense to send a typed/word processed letter rather than one in manuscript. That does mean that it's important to make sure that the letter has everything needed to identify it as being with the letter they sent you (your name, your address, the railway's reference), and it's worth writing something like ' please see attached reply' on the space given in the letter - just to make sure that the railway understand that you are replying to them, and not sending a blank response back.

 

[Hadders]

I would send a short, concise letter mentioning the following points:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

I would type the letter rather than handwriting it but do make sure you put your name, address and case reference number on it. Also, make sure you sign the letter.

If you post a draft of your reply in this thread forum members will proof read it for you.

 

[bendavis]

Thank you everyone for the help so far. Here is an early draft of my response, I welcome any feedback.

 

[Hadders]

I think the letter is fine. I'd give it a day or so to see if any other forum members have any other suggestions and then send it off. Make sure your name, address and case reference number are on the letter and that you sign and date it.

 

[Pushpit]

I would drop "I hope this letter finds you well". You don't care, they don't care. They will have a heap of ChatGPT letters that start with exactly that set of words.

 

[bendavis]

Thank you everyone for the feedback so far. Here is the updated letter with the suggested changes. I have included where I'll put my name, address and case reference number. I also mentioned there is a typo in my name.

Should I mention the station where I started my trip?

 

[Hadders]

This looks fine to me. Personally I would mention where you travelled from but int he grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter.

Do let us know how you get on.

 

[bendavis]

I'm using Royal Mail's 'Signed For 1st Class' service to send the letter. Fourteen days from 5 August is Monday, 19 August 2024, so I hope it arrives on time. In your experience, is that reliable enough, or should I opt for the Special Delivery service?

Just to clarify, I'm not including the letter I received from them in my response. Is that okay?

 

[WesternLancer]

I'm using Royal Mail's 'Signed For 1st Class' service to send the letter. Fourteen days from 5 August is Monday, 19 August 2024, so I hope it arrives on time. In your experience, is that reliable enough, or should I opt for the Special Delivery service?

Just to clarify, I'm not including the letter I received from them in my response. Is that okay?

Should be reliable enough I would think - check your signed for record after posting. If there is an e-mail address on what they have sent you, you could also send it by e-mail with a covering message stating - 'as sent by post' - inc ref numbers on everything.

I would think best to also include the letter you received from them with details requested filled in and in the text space state 'please see attached typed response' so that they know you have not ignored it if the pages get separated their end. Keep a copy of every page for your own records.

couple of recent update posts today concerning GTR cases indicate they are processing responses like this within about a week but I guess this varies from day to day and by complexity of case.

 

[bendavis]

Thank you for the quick response. I'll do that.

 

[bendavis]

I've gotten the letter from Govia Thamslink today. I'll go ahead and make the payment today. Thank you everyone.

 

[Titfield]

Thank you for the feedback. It helps forum members keep abreast of likely outcomes so we can advise accordingly.

A good result in the circumstances.

 

[bendavis]

Thanks!

Since this is an out-of-court settlement, are there any circumstances in the future where I would need to declare this? Is there any record or similar that I should be concerned about, or that I might need to disclose until a certain period has elapsed?

 

[AlterEgo]

Thanks!

Since this is an out-of-court settlement, are there any circumstances in the future where I would need to declare this? Is there any record or similar that I should be concerned about, or that I might need to disclose until a certain period has elapsed?

No.

 

[30907]

No.

No indeed - except that GTR will have your details on record, so make sure you go by the book for the future.

For future readers the admin fee element is £55, which is typical for a simple case with GTR.

 

[Hadders]

Thanks for letting us know. This is an out of court settlement, it is not a criminal conviction so there is no need to declare it to anyone.