Urgent help - short faring northern rail

[Anonymouse123]

You are, essentially, right. On the basis of what we've seen, we can tell you what we think is likely to happen - but we can't guarantee it.

So it's likely that once six months (plus time for late notification from the court) have passed, if you haven't heard anything then you won't hear anything. And if you hear before six months have passed then there's a chance that the railway will offer you an out of court settlement. But that's my best guess and I could be wrong.

Is it possible that if the 6 months is up that i hear from the court instead for a fraud conviction?

What is the best course of action to avoid this? (Based on your experience). Is it best to get ahead of this now as when the 6 months is up the only course of action the railway can take is to go for a fraud conviction.

At least if i get ahead of this now there is the chance for a settlement. But that would mean chasing Northern on the incident report. Please let me know your thoughts.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Is it possible that if the 6 months is up that i hear from the court instead for a fraud conviction?

It is possible. But in what we have seen here, it's unlikely.

What is the best course of action to avoid this? (Based on your experience). Is it best to get ahead of this now as when the 6 months is up the only course of action the railway can take is to go for a fraud conviction.

Because I think it's unlikely, I've never thought through a way to avoid this happening.

If the risk you're worried about is a fraud prosecution, then frankly, I don't think that there is anything that you can realistically do at this point. Should that be the railway's next step, then at that point you would probably be well advised to employ a solicitor. But until and unless that happens, I wouldn't worry about fraud. It's much more likely that the railway will eventually get back to you about the incident under the railway byelaws or the Regulation of Railways Act - which are subject to the six month limit.

 

[Anonymouse123]

Thank you so much for your response. I’m not sure if i can take a few more months of waiting but i’ll try haha.

 

[furlong]

What we sometimes see happen is they conveniently "forget" there's a 6-month deadline and send you the standard letter mentioning all the possible legislation they might use even though it's too late to use most of it -but including with it a settlement offer - and sensible people take a settlement rather than calling their bluff and hoping won't attempt a fraud prosecution.