Unpaid Penalty Fare, 5 months ago. Help!

[mlblueberry]

In September 2014 I received a penalty fare for not having my railcard with me on a Greater Anglia train.

I accidentally left the notice with the information on the train and completely forgot about it. I don't live at the address I gave to them (was my parents house, [was the correct address as its where i'm registered to] Im a student living away from home) so I have only just found a letter dated 24th October saying I had 14 days to pay the fare.

I logged on to the website to try and pay even though it is way after the date but it says I can't as it has been passed on to Debt Recovery. I've checked all my post and I haven't had anything else from them since.

Is there anyway I can still pay it before it goes to court (as mentioned in the original letter as what would happen if not paid) And why haven't I heard anything from them?

I am worried that as its been so long the fare (which was £168 with administration fees in October) will have skyrocketed and I will not be able to afford to pay, as I'm a student and have no income.

I know this is all completely my own fault but I'm worrying so much about it! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

 

[Agent_c]

In September 2014 I received a penalty fare for not having my railcard with me on a Greater Anglia train.

I accidentally left the notice with the information on the train and completely forgot about it. I don't live at the address I gave to them (was my parents house, [was the correct address as its where i'm registered to] Im a student living away from home) so I have only just found a letter dated 24th October saying I had 14 days to pay the fare.

I logged on to the website to try and pay even though it is way after the date but it says I can't as it has been passed on to Debt Recovery. I've checked all my post and I haven't had anything else from them since.

Is there anyway I can still pay it before it goes to court (as mentioned in the original letter as what would happen if not paid) And why haven't I heard anything from them?

I am worried that as its been so long the fare (which was £168 with administration fees in October) will have skyrocketed and I will not be able to afford to pay, as I'm a student and have no income.

I know this is all completely my own fault but I'm worrying so much about it! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

When you say its "been passed on to debt recovery" do you mean a debt recovery firm?

 

[Gemz91]

Isn't there a number on the letter you can ring?

 

[najaB]

When you say its "been passed on to debt recovery" do you mean a debt recovery firm?

To the OP: if it's been passed to a debt recovery company then it's unlikely it will go to court. Usually if the TOC was intending to prosecute they would withdraw the penalty fare entirely. Having said that, debt recovery companies are allowed to add 'reasonable' costs to the outstanding abount - your or my definition of reasonable may not match theirs.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

A 'Penalty Fare' is a civil debt, which in this case, appears to be unpaid after several months.

Pay it!

Any follow up action will only be in respect of the unpaid dept (and nothing to do with any of the ticket irregularities which can lead to Criminal Prosecutions which are discussed so often on here). But I hope you won't let it drag on any further. It is a hard fact to learn but unpaid bills do incur so called 'admin' costs in attempting to recover the monies due, and ultimately will lead to County Court claims if they remain unpaid. That's not situation which is worth allowing to come about.

 

[Fare-Cop]

To the OP: if it's been passed to a debt recovery company then it's unlikely it will go to court. Usually if the TOC was intending to prosecute they would withdraw the penalty fare entirely. Having said that, debt recovery companies are allowed to add 'reasonable' costs to the outstanding abount - your or my definition of reasonable may not match theirs.

The more usual practice on most TOCs is not to refer these unpaid PFN's or UFN's to civil collections, but to cancel the notice and apply for a summons alleging the original offence of travelling without a valid ticket as allowed for in the rules.

This right in practice has been debated elsewhere on here, but it is allowed.

The subsequent charge can be either the Byelaw 18 offence, or a S.5(3)(a) RoRA charge as appropriate according to what is recorded on the PFN.

A 5 month old notice will mean they have only a very short window remaining to apply for a summons, but I wouldn't advise anyone to take a chance on it not happening.