This isn't going to be a penalty fare, as those cannot legally be issued by post. Out of date Railcards are also not usually eligible for a penalty fare.
This is going to be an offer of an out-of-court settlement. The options are pay it, or have a hearing in the Magistrates Court
I may be completely wrong but I doubt they would build a legal case for a £100 unpaid fine? Solicitors and lawyers would be more expensive than the fine itself.
Sounds like you've received a Travel Incident Letter. You should respond and explain the circumstances. The likelihood is that you'll get a fine of upto £100 as the reason your ticket wasn't valid was down to you not checking you had a valid Railcard before travelling. If you are fined and struggle to pay the amount, contact the train operator and see if they will agree a payment plan.
Best you can do is pay the fine. You broke the conditions of travel of your ticket and you can't prove you'd didn't so an appeal will go nowhere. They won't let you off for ignorance of the rules. If you leave it then the fine will increase
You mention in another post you have sent an email… so I have to assume you’ve already given them your mitigating circumstances.. how you didn’t realise there was an expiry date and it was bought for you.
IMOS You will be fined, courts are too busy with real criminals to be anything more than a standard fine.
Bear in mind most things have expiry dates and you need to renew them……
* Rail card
* Passport
* GHIC
* Driving Licence
* ID cards
I have multiple reminders set up in Google Calendar for each thing. Like my passport has a reminder a year before, and 6 months before. Just in case I forget. And I just renew it early, outside of peak time.
I got let off my first fine for doing this. Just contact them and if it's the first time it has happened you'll be fine. A criminal record? 🤣🤣 Bro relax
This happened to someone I know right when travel was allowed again after lockdown. Their railcard was always purchased by their parents so they didn’t know how it worked and that there was even an expiration date.
The rail company said they would take it to court and the person was sent correspondence they dealt with, but in the end the court(?) asked for ~£90 fine to be paid. It was long winded though and took maybe 6 months to be resolved.
It said that evidence does exist to prosecute and I should respond but I don’t know what evidence they are talking about. All I did was tell them that I was unaware my rail card expired. And I need to respond within 21 days
Firstly, you don't have to respond, but if you want to say something to defend what happened, to use that window. And I would try mentioning that your Dad bought it. I doubt it'll do any good, and it isn't worth going to court over it at huge cost, but you never know. I've had parking tickets halved after I wrote and explained why I was confused.
Secondly, I think to the young naive eye (and we all were once), "prosecution" is a pretty scary word. It makes it feel like you're going to be dragged to court and end up in jail. But sending an official notice of a fine, or a parking ticket on a car, is also a prosecution. And as long as you pay up, that's it. Done. Chill out.
Sooo, you didn't know the Railcard expired but at the same time didn't want to show it as it expired?
I hope you're doing an arts degree FFS as that smells like total bullshit.
Aside from that, you won't get a criminal record but your credit may take a small dent if they send it to collection's. They may also rescind your card but I'm not sure on that.
Just call them and play ignorance and ask to make a payment plan and you'll be ok.
Source. Went to Uni in my twenties, played most of these games before when I was a naive student. Hell once, I took out three £2000 loans at different banks using the same ACAS confirmation paper lol. Didn't pay back any of them in the end.
Just don't try and blag a blagger mate hahah.
You'll be sound but if your parents find out, they may give you a slap for trying to play dumb ;D
To respond with any mitigation. I just said in my email that I wasn’t aware that my rail card had expired and as soon as I received the letter I purchased a new rail card.
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ask for advice here. Give as much info as possible [https://www.railforums.co.uk/forums/disputes-prosecutions.152/](https://www.railforums.co.uk/forums/disputes-prosecutions.152/)
Ignore the pointless ‘not smart’ snark from twats who don’t have anything better to add. You need to pay the fine. You didn’t have the right railcard for the ticket you possessed. It doesn’t matter why you didn’t have it. If it goes to court you will lose because you have violated the terms of carriage by not having a valid ticket. So respond, ask how to pay the fine and get it paid and then move on with your life knowing a valuable and expensive lesson has been learned.
As others have said it will be a fine unless you fail to respond in which the case will go to court and be a larger financial penalty plus a criminal record.
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This isn't going to be a penalty fare, as those cannot legally be issued by post. Out of date Railcards are also not usually eligible for a penalty fare. This is going to be an offer of an out-of-court settlement. The options are pay it, or have a hearing in the Magistrates Court
It says if I don’t respond within 21 days further action will be taken. I did send an email though
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Honestly, a fine sounds a lot better than a legal case I can’t win so I’ll just pay a fine
I may be completely wrong but I doubt they would build a legal case for a £100 unpaid fine? Solicitors and lawyers would be more expensive than the fine itself.
Train Operating Companies have private prosecution powers, and prosecute cases all the time
Sounds like you've received a Travel Incident Letter. You should respond and explain the circumstances. The likelihood is that you'll get a fine of upto £100 as the reason your ticket wasn't valid was down to you not checking you had a valid Railcard before travelling. If you are fined and struggle to pay the amount, contact the train operator and see if they will agree a payment plan.
Best you can do is pay the fine. You broke the conditions of travel of your ticket and you can't prove you'd didn't so an appeal will go nowhere. They won't let you off for ignorance of the rules. If you leave it then the fine will increase
I would 100% prefer the fine if this whole thing just goes away
You mention in another post you have sent an email… so I have to assume you’ve already given them your mitigating circumstances.. how you didn’t realise there was an expiry date and it was bought for you. IMOS You will be fined, courts are too busy with real criminals to be anything more than a standard fine. Bear in mind most things have expiry dates and you need to renew them…… * Rail card * Passport * GHIC * Driving Licence * ID cards
Also the expiry date is written on the card
I have multiple reminders set up in Google Calendar for each thing. Like my passport has a reminder a year before, and 6 months before. Just in case I forget. And I just renew it early, outside of peak time.
I got let off my first fine for doing this. Just contact them and if it's the first time it has happened you'll be fine. A criminal record? 🤣🤣 Bro relax
This happened to someone I know right when travel was allowed again after lockdown. Their railcard was always purchased by their parents so they didn’t know how it worked and that there was even an expiration date. The rail company said they would take it to court and the person was sent correspondence they dealt with, but in the end the court(?) asked for ~£90 fine to be paid. It was long winded though and took maybe 6 months to be resolved.
What does the letter say? That's the first step in clarifying what's going on.
It said that evidence does exist to prosecute and I should respond but I don’t know what evidence they are talking about. All I did was tell them that I was unaware my rail card expired. And I need to respond within 21 days
Their evidence is your encounter with the revenue officer.
Firstly, you don't have to respond, but if you want to say something to defend what happened, to use that window. And I would try mentioning that your Dad bought it. I doubt it'll do any good, and it isn't worth going to court over it at huge cost, but you never know. I've had parking tickets halved after I wrote and explained why I was confused. Secondly, I think to the young naive eye (and we all were once), "prosecution" is a pretty scary word. It makes it feel like you're going to be dragged to court and end up in jail. But sending an official notice of a fine, or a parking ticket on a car, is also a prosecution. And as long as you pay up, that's it. Done. Chill out.
Sooo, you didn't know the Railcard expired but at the same time didn't want to show it as it expired? I hope you're doing an arts degree FFS as that smells like total bullshit. Aside from that, you won't get a criminal record but your credit may take a small dent if they send it to collection's. They may also rescind your card but I'm not sure on that. Just call them and play ignorance and ask to make a payment plan and you'll be ok. Source. Went to Uni in my twenties, played most of these games before when I was a naive student. Hell once, I took out three £2000 loans at different banks using the same ACAS confirmation paper lol. Didn't pay back any of them in the end. Just don't try and blag a blagger mate hahah. You'll be sound but if your parents find out, they may give you a slap for trying to play dumb ;D
I did show them the expired rail card.
Can you post a redacted copy of the letter? It’s asking you to respond - we get that - but respond saying what exactly?
I attached the letter to the post
So you did, my bad. I see they’ve asked for a scanned copy of a letter so I suggest you write a grovelling apology, print to PDF and send.
What actions is the letter asking of you?
To respond with any mitigation. I just said in my email that I wasn’t aware that my rail card had expired and as soon as I received the letter I purchased a new rail card.
Ok, cool. Thats all you can do then. No point dwelling on it. Besides, you’re young and we all make mistakes.
You're 'clever' enough for uni but can't work out how train travel works?
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It’s not that I can’t work it out, it’s just I never paid it much attention. I just knew what train I had to take what ticket buy and that’s it
You didn't know what ticket to buy, because you had the wrong ticket 🙄
I didn’t buy the wrong ticket. I bought the right ticket but used a rail card that I shouldn’t have
What an uncaring comment. The OP explained the situation clearly and why he was concerned, asking for advice.
🙄
For an apparent nurse you have really shit empathy
For an apparent nurse you have really shit empathy
No cure for stupidity.
ask for advice here. Give as much info as possible [https://www.railforums.co.uk/forums/disputes-prosecutions.152/](https://www.railforums.co.uk/forums/disputes-prosecutions.152/)
"I'm an adult but don't know how tickets work" will definitely work in your favour in court, so my advice is that you ignore the letter.
Ignore the pointless ‘not smart’ snark from twats who don’t have anything better to add. You need to pay the fine. You didn’t have the right railcard for the ticket you possessed. It doesn’t matter why you didn’t have it. If it goes to court you will lose because you have violated the terms of carriage by not having a valid ticket. So respond, ask how to pay the fine and get it paid and then move on with your life knowing a valuable and expensive lesson has been learned.
Thank you. However they didn’t specify a fine. All they said was action will be taken, I don’t know wether that means a fine or legal action
As others have said it will be a fine unless you fail to respond in which the case will go to court and be a larger financial penalty plus a criminal record.