WMT Travel Irregularity - Advice

[eley081875]

Hi all,

I have been given a slip by an inspector over the weekend stating that I am going to be reviewed for travel irregularity by WMT. I was caught at my local station in Birmingham with a ticket to a different train station (cheaper).

I work in Birmingham city centre and I have been sporadic with my ticket location purchasing, as I admittedly have evaded the full fare and chose cheaper ones in times of financial difficulty but also have records of paying the full fare. I often travel to work from different stations for valid reasons (health condition so I go from the hospital a lot) and my partner also drops me off at other stations if he is going that way for his work.

I understand I am going to be investigated but I am worried that all the fares that are not from my local station are going to be added up, when there is a large amount that are valid. Any advice would be appreciated, as I want to cooperate with the investigation and pay in full. This will have been going on for around 2.5 years.

Thanks,

 

[SuspectUsual]

OK.

So, first thing to do is not panic.

They will write to you in due course, and when they do show us a copy of the letter and people will give you good advice on next steps.

In the meantime, if I was you I would go through your ticket purchasing history and for every purchase that doesn't include your "normal" station (ie the one you pay full fare from, presumably closest to home) honestly consider whether it was genuine or a short fare, and for those you think are genuine try and collate evidence to support it (eg if you were at hospital you should have a record of your appointment, if your partner dropped you off can he provide evidence of the appointment he was headed to)

You have to understand that the train company will look at your history and be very suspicious, so anything you can do to help persuade them of the genuine journeys will help you, and they can give quite short deadlines in their letters so I'd get cracking asap

 

[AlterEgo]

It'll help to know:

- your actual, local station
- the station you've been buying tickets from to short fare, and
- other stations involved (and how often you've been doing these other journeys)

Unfortunately once you get caught fiddling your fares you lose the right to be treated as an honest person, so it will be on you to either show that the other journeys were not reasonably suspicious, or evidence those journeys.

 

[eley081875]

It'll help to know:

- your actual, local station
- the station you've been buying tickets from to short fare, and
- other stations involved (and how often you've been doing these other journeys)

Unfortunately once you get caught fiddling your fares you lose the right to be treated as an honest person, so it will be on you to either show that the other journeys were not reasonably suspicious, or evidence those journeys.

- actual station is Northfield
- short fare from Selly Oak, which is where I go to hospital regularly
- other stations involved on the same line and probably average once per two weeks

I will start a file for honest journeys, but worried this will end up in a long-winded payment dispute that could end up in court.

 

[AlterEgo]

How many journeys are legitimate and how many are short fares? I wouldn't be arguing over a smallish number of fares in this sort of case.

 

[duffield]

- actual station is Northfield
- short fare from Selly Oak, which is where I go to hospital regularly
- other stations involved on the same line and probably average once per two weeks

I will start a file for honest journeys, but worried this will end up in a long-winded payment dispute that could end up in court.

A "payment dispute" about which fares are genuine or not would not tend to end up in court, or even be particularly long-winded.

Continuing to dispute which fares are genuine after you have presented any evidence you have, and after the company have made you an offer to settle out of court, would typically lead to the out of court settlement offer being withdrawn, and you being prosecuted for the single indisputable offence you were actually caught for. Other disputed fares would not be an issue in such a criminal case.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

WMT have caught you red handed are entitled to prosecute you int he Magistrates Court if they want to. Normally they will offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with their investigation and who haven't come to their attention before. They will normally want you to pay the cost of the fare avoided (with no credit given for the invalid tickets you purchased) plus an admin fee, typically £175. They will search your online ticket purchasing history and will factor in to the settlement cost other journeys where they believe you haven't paid the correct fare.

There is normally the opportunity to comment on journeys they suspect you have short fared, but haven't although you do need to appreciate this isn't a negotiation as such as WMT can always withdraw any offer of an out of court settlement send the original case where you were caught to the Magistrates Court.

When WMT write to you post a redacted copy of their letter in this thread with your draft reply and we can assist with proof reading.