Waiting for the letter from southeastern

[johnp1]

Hello everyone I would like to ask about your opinion and experience you have about my problem.

So I’ve been travelling using 2 trains southeastern and southwest I have always booked my tickets online skipping 1 or 2 stops depending on the summer timetable and winter timetable southeastern has. An inspector at my transition station(southestern) where I change for the southwest train saw that my ticket hadn’t been scanned to enter so he wouldn’t let out. He asked me about my trips which I have been doing this for approximately 10 months 3 days per week usually.
Now I’m waiting a letter and if they check the history of my tickets on trainline they will see that it has been happening for quite some time. I understand it was wrong since there are serious consequences since this being the first time that I was caught, I couldn’t understand how series it is.
I have regretted doing this and I would be grateful if you could advise me what to do. I still haven’t got the letter so I’m waiting to see what they will say but I would appreciate if anyone had similar experience to guide me through this very stressful time.
If there are more details you would like I’m happy to provide them if they can help the situation.

Thank you and any advice is welcome

 

[Gloster]

Just to be clear: do you mean that you were buying tickets that only covered part of your journey, which is known as Short Faring? How did you get through the barriers at your starting, changing and destination stations?

 

[johnp1]

Yes so the starting station doesn’t have etickets to scan it’s open station and when I was arriving at the station to change I didn’t have any issues the barrier was opening as usual and when I was entering the southwest I didn’t have any issues only at the destination station wouldn’t open but they were checking my ticket there and they were opening the barrier to pass.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

Travelling without paying the correct fare is a criminal offence and Southeastern are within their rights to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. What happens next is that SOutheastern will send you a letter saying that they have received a report and are considering prosecuting you but asking for your version of events before deciding how to proceed. It is extremely important that you reply to this letter.

You might want to mention the following in your reply:

- 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

Southeastern are normally prepared to offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with their investigation and who haven't come to their attention before. Expect to have to pay the outstanding fares at the Anytime rate with no vredit given for the invalid tickets you did purchase along with an admin fee, typically around £150.

Also, be aware that Southeastern will audit your online ticket purchasing history and if this suggests you have done this sort of thing before then they will probably want to ask you about this and factor it in to the settlement cost. Paying an out of court settlement might appear the same as paying a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of paying a settlement.

Feel free to post a copy of the letter once it arrives (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply in this thread and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

You're not starting from Plumstead by any chance...?

 

[johnp1]

You're not starting from Plumstead by any chance...?

No it’s not Plumstead.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Aug 2024 ==

Welcome to the forum!

Travelling without paying the correct fare is a criminal offence and Southeastern are within their rights to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. What happens next is that SOutheastern will send you a letter saying that they have received a report and are considering prosecuting you but asking for your version of events before deciding how to proceed. It is extremely important that you reply to this letter.

You might want to mention the following in your reply:

- 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

Southeastern are normally prepared to offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with their investigation and who haven't come to their attention before. Expect to have to pay the outstanding fares at the Anytime rate with no vredit given for the invalid tickets you did purchase along with an admin fee, typically around £150.

Also, be aware that Southeastern will audit your online ticket purchasing history and if this suggests you have done this sort of thing before then they will probably want to ask you about this and factor it in to the settlement cost. Paying an out of court settlement might appear the same as paying a fine, but it isn't and you won't have a criminal record as a result of paying a settlement.

Feel free to post a copy of the letter once it arrives (with personal details redacted) along with your draft reply in this thread and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.

Thank you for your reply I’ll wait for the letter I’ll post it once it has arrived I hope it’s not too bad it’s really stressful moment I never imagined it would be that bad

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2024 ==

I was just wondering if they’re going to charge me the full amount or the tickets or not since southeastern is different from southwest and it’s part of my journey not all of my journey.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Aug 2024 ==

So I got the letter telling me to respond I guess I need to write them back. Would it be better to via post or the email they have written on the letter ?