Used 16-17 saver

[Bc2]

Hi all,

I feel absolutely terrible now. I was caught using a 16-17 saver ticket when I am 20. It was an incredibly silly thing to do and I think the amount I saved was very minuscule to what I actually should have paid. I was travelling from east Croydon station to City thameslink when I was caught by a revenue protection officer at the barrier. I’ve got a notice of intended prosecution letter come through on Friday and have drafted a response. I would be very grateful if someone could take some time to review it on here and let me know if it sounds ok.

I have mentioned about how I take full responsibility. I actually pressed on the wrong button on the Trainline app when I was meant to get the 16-24 ticket. I just thought it could sound better to them owning up, do you guys agree?

When I mention about the additional contactless fare I paid I initially tried to get through the barrier when they stopped me. I know it wasn’t paid intentionally to compensate the railway to begin with, but I still never claimed it back. Would you include this in the letter ?

Do you think that because it could bar me from industry getting a criminal record they will agree to an out of court settlement?

Thank you so much for your help with this I really appreciate it.

 

[Hadders]

The letter is generally ok but I suggest a couple of amendments:

1. Remove the bit about the contactless fare. You're objective here is to keep this out of court, keep things simple - son't complicate it with mentioning what you did with contactless as this could be interpreted as you knew exactly what you were doing
2. Remove the bit about being made redundant and working for a regulated firm. It's not relevent and could work against you because it could be argued that if you're responsible to work in a regulated environment you're responsible enough to know you have to pay the correct fare to travel by train.

I assume you're dealing with Govia Thameslink Railway over this? If so, they're normally one of the better companies to deal with and they will usually agree to an out of court settlement if you co-operate with them Expect this to cost around £150 plus the fare avoided.

 

[Bc2]

Thank you very much for your advice .