Using someone else’s railcard

[qirrat]

Hi guys I recently got a travel irregularity ticket, I haven’t received a letter yet but what should i expect? Here’s my situation:
I buy my sisters train tickets from my trainline account and she has a railcard which i have a screenshot of, but i was travelling and i bought a ticket on trainline but i forgot to remove the railcard savings bit and then an inspector asked for my ticket which i showed then the railcard which i showed as well, it was unedited, and it was my sister’s i didn’t realise it would be a big issue then she asked if it’s mine i said yes thinking she meant the ticket and she asked for ID which i didn’t have on me so she asked for the ID on apple iphone’s settings which said my nick name and she pulled me to thee side and she asked again if the railcards mine i panicked and said yes because the pressure of the situation was daunting and she said the names don’t match and i thought she meant my apple id nickname and my actual name i put in her device so i said i changed names (meaning on the apple id so my nickname not my real name), but i and gave her my details honestly then she said i’d receive a letter it’s been two weeks i haven’t got anything yet.
Do you reckon this will go to court or be a criminal offence as i didn’t edit the railcard i just presented it thinking it wouldn’t be a big problem. I also bought my own railcard after the incident to avoid this in the future.

 

[antharro]

Which train company are you dealing with?

Without a valid railcard, your ticket was not valid. However, most train operating companies will deal with this out of court in the form of a financial settlement if you cooperate with them and if you haven't come to their attention before. Assuming you gave them correct details, you can expect to receive a letter for them some time in the next six months. When you have that letter, post it here (making sure to block out any personal details and reference numbers), and the forum can advise your best course of action.

 

[qirrat]

Which train company are you dealing with?

Without a valid railcard, your ticket was not valid. However, most train operating companies will deal with this out of court in the form of a financial settlement if you cooperate with them and if you haven't come to their attention before. Assuming you gave them correct details, you can expect to receive a letter for them some time in the next six months. When you have that letter, post it here (making sure to block out any personal details and reference numbers), and the forum can advise your best course of action.

Thankyou, it is LNER. Yeah i gave all the correct details and this is the first time something like this is happening to me.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi guys I recently got a travel irregularity ticket, I haven’t received a letter yet but what should i expect? Here’s my situation:
I buy my sisters train tickets from my trainline account and she has a railcard which i have a screenshot of, but i was travelling and i bought a ticket on trainline but i forgot to remove the railcard savings bit and then an inspector asked for my ticket which i showed then the railcard which i showed as well, it was unedited, and it was my sister’s i didn’t realise it would be a big issue then she asked if it’s mine i said yes thinking she meant the ticket and she asked for ID which i didn’t have on me so she asked for the ID on apple iphone’s settings which said my nick name and she pulled me to thee side and she asked again if the railcards mine i panicked and said yes because the pressure of the situation was daunting and she said the names don’t match and i thought she meant my apple id nickname and my actual name i put in her device so i said i changed names (meaning on the apple id so my nickname not my real name), but i and gave her my details honestly then she said i’d receive a letter it’s been two weeks i haven’t got anything yet.
Do you reckon this will go to court or be a criminal offence as i didn’t edit the railcard i just presented it thinking it wouldn’t be a big problem. I also bought my own railcard after the incident to avoid this in the future.

It's not great that you told them various lies to try and cover this up (panicking / unintentionally or not ) as false details is another railway offence - but we don't tend to see people ever getting prosecuted for that and they are pretty used to people lying to them anyway - the important thing is to co-operate going forwards

This general advice often given on here will help you understand what is likely to happen and how you can prepare for what you will need to do about it:

Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on ) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.

 

[qirrat]

It's not great that you told them various lies to try and cover this up (panicking / unintentionally or not ) as false details is another railway offence - but we don't tend to see people ever getting prosecuted for that and they are pretty used to people lying to them anyway - the important thing is to co-operate going forwards

This general advice often given on here will help you understand what is likely to happen and how you can prepare for what you will need to do about it:

Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on ) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.

Yeah I totally understand that’s my mistake. How long does the letter usually take to arrive it’s been two weeks, I know someone said it could take up to 6 months but in these cases do you know what the average time could be? Thankyou

 

[WesternLancer]

Yeah I totally understand that’s my mistake. How long does the letter usually take to arrive it’s been two weeks, I know someone said it could take up to 6 months but in these cases do you know what the average time could be? Thankyou

I'd suggest 4-8 weeks more probable - have a look on here for other LNER threads relating to fares issues / problems / enforcement - this part of the forum basically