Greater Anglia Travel Irregularity dispute - help!!

[lilythepink97]

Hi all,

I have seen people give great help with similar situations on these forums and I’m hoping someone could give some advice on how to handle this.

To give some context to the situation I’m on a lower paid salary and when travelling up to London from Chelmsford I have not been buying the correct tickets. I instead have been buying a ticket to Shenfield as I use a tube from Stratford to go into central London.

I was caught out by an inspector recently and felt very on the spot so wasn’t completely honest with the longevity and how often I had been doing this. I told the inspector I had been doing this for the past eight months and on average 4 times a month, in reality I have been doing this for more like 5 times a month and for the past three years. I tried to find someone to speak to the next day to be completely honest as I realised it was stupid not to be upfront. They said I had to wait for the letter to come through to speak to someone.

I completely regret my actions and am willing to pay back what I owe if it means it is not taken to court. I understand this is out of my control and I’m extremely worried at how this could affect my future. Could anyone advise on the best way of handling this? I’m planning on responding to the letter straight away and buying a season ticket to attatch to show I will not be doing this again.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you.

 

[Brissle Girl]

Welcome to the forum!

With your estimate of around 180 times, this is definitely at the top end of the cases we see in terms of seriousness, and you may well be advised to take legal advice when contacted.

Arguably if you’re not prosecuted for industrial fare evasion then when will anyone ever be. But that being the case, it is possible that you will be offered a settlement, but it is going to be very expensive either way.

You need to estimate the upper end of any offer and be ready to have that available to pay quickly if offered a settlement. Although we’ve seen cases where the amount due has been on a more generous basis, it could be as much as the Anytime single for the full journey taken (ie 2 for every day), with no offset for the fare actually paid. At 25.90 each, that would be around £9k to which an admin cost would also be added.

If you are offered a settlement and can’t pay it then it will go to prosecution at which point I would strongly recommend you get legal advise, as this could help in reducing the amount of compensation payable, but not obviously the conviction, given you’ve already admitted multiple cases of short faring over the years.

 

[ikcdab]

How have you been buying your tickets? If you have been using one of the apps then your fare evasion will be very obvious. If you have been using cash or the TVM at the station then it will be more difficult for the rail company to track down all the missed fares. Although you didn't stay so, I am assuming the ticket inspector took your full details?

 

[lilythepink97]

Welcome to the forum!

With your estimate of around 180 times, this is definitely at the top end of the cases we see in terms of seriousness, and you may well be advised to take legal advice when contacted.

Arguably if you’re not prosecuted for industrial fare evasion then when will anyone ever be. But that being the case, it is possible that you will be offered a settlement, but it is going to be very expensive either way.

You need to estimate the upper end of any offer and be ready to have that available to pay quickly if offered a settlement. Although we’ve seen cases where the amount due has been on a more generous basis, it could be as much as the Anytime single for the full journey taken (ie 2 for every day), with no offset for the fare actually paid. At 25.90 each, that would be around £9k to which an admin cost would also be added.

If you are offered a settlement and can’t pay it then it will go to prosecution at which point I would strongly recommend you get legal advise, as this could help in reducing the amount of compensation payable, but not obviously the conviction, given you’ve already admitted multiple cases of short faring over the years.

Thank you for being honest with your answer, I will try to seek legal help today

How have you been buying your tickets? If you have been using one of the apps then your fare evasion will be very obvious. If you have been using cash or the TVM at the station then it will be more difficult for the rail company to track down all the missed fares. Although you didn't stay so, I am assuming the ticket inspector took your full details?

Through Trainline, for some of the period I have been using a guest checkout not my actual account with email but it is all linked to the same email address so I feel I need to be honest with all journeys.
Can’t believe how stupid this was looking back.

 

[Brissle Girl]

There was a case that was reported in the media where someone had used multiple accounts and different email addresses to try and hide their activity and the investigators found them all, so yes, joining the dots between your guest account activity and main account is unlikely to be difficult for them.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

This is a very serious case of fare evasion. I would echo the thoughts of others to get legal advice. The online purchases will be traceable regardless of using guest checkout.

Do let us know when you are contacted by Greater Anglia, they may well want to interview you in person about this.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for being honest with your answer, I will try to seek legal help today


Through Trainline, for some of the period I have been using a guest checkout not my actual account with email but it is all linked to the same email address so I feel I need to be honest with all journeys.
Can’t believe how stupid this was looking back.

If you are minded to seek legal advice there are a small number of firms that get mentioned on this forum by people who have used them that have expertise in this area - it might be worth seeking quotes from them. Other solicitors may also be able to represent you but there may be some benefit from using firms that are used to dealing with fare evasion matters.

2 that I recall getting mentioned quite regularly (I have no connections with them nor have ever used them) are:

Fare Evasion - Penman Sedgwick

penmansedgwick.com

Fare Evasion Solicitors | Kent &London | Manak Solicitors

Manak Solicitors: Skilled legal defence for fare evasion cases. Rely on our experienced team to protect your rights, challenge penalties, and guide you through the process.

manaksolicitors.co.uk

There must be other specialists too, and I think others have been mentioned on the forum.

It may be that you can try to negotiate an out of court settlement with advice from this forum yourself (thus avoiding legal fees) but it may be that given the sum potentially at stake the cost of the legal advice might be worthwhile if it minimises the penalty to you, either in terms of cost or criminal conviction or both.

 

[Haywain]

Be aware that legal assistance is likely to cost you in the region of £500 to £800.

 

[lilythepink97]

Thank you for all your help here, I appreciate the activity on the forum. I have seemed out legal help at a cost to give myself the best possible chance as this is such a high case. I have a meeting with them today and will follow up with an update to try and help others in this situation.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

You stated that you catch the tube from Stratford, presumably tapping-in on Oyster or Contactless?
I don’t know, but I imagine Greater Anglia will liaise with TfL to get confirmation of your travel history, thus proving you didn’t pay for the Shenfield-Stratford part of your journeys. Were you asked for your Oyster card number?

 

[lilythepink97]

You stated that you catch the tube from Stratford, presumably tapping-in on Oyster or Contactless?
I don’t know, but I imagine Greater Anglia will liaise with TfL to get confirmation of your travel history, thus proving you didn’t pay for the Shenfield-Stratford part of your journeys. We’re you asked for your Oyster card number?

I wasn’t asked for my Oyster card number but as others stated it is quite easy for them to track online activity. I’m planning on being completely upfront with the amount of journeys and ask if there’s any way of paying back what I owe without going to court. I will post an update when I have one.

Thank you again all for the help here