Greater Anglia Expired Railcard - Prosecution?

[ab199]

Hello

I was travelling on a Greater Anglia train b/w London and Bishop's Stortford when my ticket was inspected.
They asked to view my railcard, but I did not realise it had expired by 3 months.
The ticket inspector initially started taking photos of my expired railcard and then asked to view my trainline history. They then took a photo, showing I had taken about one return trip/week since the railcard expired. Initially, they asked for my name and address, but after a brief discussion and acknowledgement it was an oversight, he agreed to allow me to pay for a new full ticket and penalty fare.
I asked whether they were still going to report/pursue the others, but they said no, it's fine.

My questions:
1. If you have been issued and paid a penalty fare on the spot, can they still pursue a referral for prosecution/investigation? Even if they said they would not? (I am not sure if they would backtrack or if issuing a penalty fare precludes other action.)
2. They initially took photos of my expired railcard and trainline history. They initially asked for name and address, but then backtracked. Considering they did not formally take my name and address, can they still refer for prosecution? (I am concerned that if they do decide to investigate/prosecute, I am not sure what address they will send a letter to considering my trainline/railcard profile does not list these details as far as I can see).
3. How far back can they prosecute? I understand they have six months from the date of incident, but can they decide to prosecute for the other instances which weren't handed a penalty fare?
4. Does a ticket inspector formally have to note to the passenger they are pursuing an investigation/filing a report, and take a name and address? (If neither of these occured, can one consider the matter closed?)

Appreciate any reply as it was a genuine oversight.
Later that day, I purchased a renewed railcard.
The difference in fare for the period of an expired railcard would have amounted to only about £70, which was broadly covered by the on-the-spot penalty fare.
But I am overall not sure whether the ticket inspector would backtrack on their word and decide to file an incident report regardless for investigation.

 

[greatkingrat]

They can't prosecute you for that journey if a penalty fare has been issued and paid. They could potentially still investigate previous journeys made.

 

[ikcdab]

We have seen lots of examples where a rpi has said "nice things" and then the passenger gets prosecuted. It's done to avoid conflict.
If he saw that you had used the expired Railcard on approx 12 return journeys, and he took all of your details then I would suggest there is a chance you will get the letter in the post. It might not happen, but there is a chance.
All you can do now is wait. There is a time limit of 6 months, but if you are going to hear, then I suggest it will be in the first two or three months.

 

[Titfield]

We have seen lots of examples where a rpi has said "nice things" and then the passenger gets prosecuted. It's done to avoid conflict.
If he saw that you had used the expired Railcard on approx 12 return journeys, and he took all of your details then I would suggest there is a chance you will get the letter in the post. It might not happen, but there is a chance.
All you can do now is wait. There is a time limit of 6 months, but if you are going to hear, then I suggest it will be in the first two or three months.

Have we seen lots of examples where the passenger gets prosecuted? My take on the postings is that an email / letter has been sent to the passenger threatening prosecution for ticketing issues but the outcomes have been in the main out of court settlements.

Having said that I do agree with @ikcdab that RPIs are saying this to avoid conflict. Unfortunately (and I doubt that is the right word) in doing so they are misleading passengers by failing to correctly explain the choices open to a passenger at that stage and what the outcome of those choices may be. I dont doubt that many passengers who make "the genuine mistake" believe that an apology and payment of the difference between the fare they have paid and the fare they should have paid will be the resolution not one that is the full fare (not the difference) and a hefty admin fee on top.

I think one of the contributory factors is that because many passengers book on line (and thus have a history) it is becoming a default position for RPIs to take the default position of refer for further investigation which will always place the passenger in a worse position for even a single incident of a ticketing irregularity compared with resolution at time of travel.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

Greater Anglia can obtain your details from Trainline, this is perfectly legal as it’s for the prevention and detection of crime which is allowed under GDPR.

Greater Anglia will probably write to you about the previous times when you have purchased railcard discounted tickets after your railcard had expired. If you co-operate with their investigation then I expect they will offer you an out of court settlement which will probably cost around £150 admin fee plus the fares avoided at full Anytime rate, with no credit given for the tickets you did purchase.

There isn’t really anything you can do until you receive a letter from Greater Anglia. If you do get one then post a copy of it in this thread (with personal details redacted), along with your draft reply and we will be able proof read it for you.