Inspector didn’t ask for address, but email address

[anon10675]

Hi,

I would like some help on this situation. I was travelling on GWR to London Paddington to see a friend - I am homeless and so she let me stay with her for a bit. This journey was back in mid April (2024).

I didn’t have a ticket, but the gates were open in the city I was travelling from, so, I just walked through.

In Paddington, an inspector saw I couldn’t get through the gates so he asked for my details. I didn’t have a ticket so I just bought the cheapest one I could find, a child ticket from Reading to London. He asked me for my drivers license - I looked at his book and he jotted down my drivers license number. He also asked for my full name, and my email address. He stressed that he wanted my email address as he said that would he where the train company would send correspondence to. So I gave the email. He then scanned the ticket and obviously I told him my DOB so he said that it was a child ticket I had so he wanted to take me in for questioning but said it wasn’t essential, and pretty much just let me go. His words “we MIGHT send you something through email which will detail prosecution. You can appeal this and ask for an out of court settlement. But you might not hear anything back at all. Just keep an eye out on your emails as that’s where we will send you things (if we send it)” That’s what he told me. So I walked away.

I tried searching what to do when I got home but it just panicked me. I checked this forum and also noticed that they only really send letters through the post - I am 19, an estranged university student, and my drivers license still has my parents address on it. So I physically won’t be able to know if they’ve sent any mail. My friend told me it would be fine because he stressed that he needed my email address. But seeing all these forum posts are beginning to worry me because none of them mention email. What do I do? What are my next steps? I really don’t want to be prosecuted either - I really want to be a scientist and when I apply for my masters in the next few years, I am scared that a criminal record will hinder my chances. And again, I am also homeless and can’t afford a place to live this summer, I don’t even know how I would cough up £2000 odd pounds if I was prosecuted at court.

I have done this maybe 3 times before, I’ve bought a child ticket to a nearest station and then went somewhere else but there were no inspectors. They will probably have a look at my Trainline account and see this pattern which doesn’t help my case.

But it’s been two months and I’ve still not heard anything…so does that mean nothing will come out of it, like the inspector said?

Any advice on my next steps is welcomed

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi,

I would like some help on this situation. I was travelling on GWR to London Paddington to see a friend - I am homeless and so she let me stay with her for a bit. This journey was back in mid April (2024).

I didn’t have a ticket, but the gates were open in the city I was travelling from, so, I just walked through.

In Paddington, an inspector saw I couldn’t get through the gates so he asked for my details. I didn’t have a ticket so I just bought the cheapest one I could find, a child ticket from Reading to London. He asked me for my drivers license - I looked at his book and he jotted down my drivers license number. He also asked for my full name, and my email address. He stressed that he wanted my email address as he said that would he where the train company would send correspondence to. So I gave the email. He then scanned the ticket and obviously I told him my DOB so he said that it was a child ticket I had so he wanted to take me in for questioning but said it wasn’t essential, and pretty much just let me go. His words “we MIGHT send you something through email which will detail prosecution. You can appeal this and ask for an out of court settlement. But you might not hear anything back at all. Just keep an eye out on your emails as that’s where we will send you things (if we send it)” That’s what he told me. So I walked away.

I tried searching what to do when I got home but it just panicked me. I checked this forum and also noticed that they only really send letters through the post - I am 19, an estranged university student, and my drivers license still has my parents address on it. So I physically won’t be able to know if they’ve sent any mail. My friend told me it would be fine because he stressed that he needed my email address. But seeing all these forum posts are beginning to worry me because none of them mention email. What do I do? What are my next steps? I really don’t want to be prosecuted either - I really want to be a scientist and when I apply for my masters in the next few years, I am scared that a criminal record will hinder my chances. And again, I am also homeless and can’t afford a place to live this summer, I don’t even know how I would cough up £2000 odd pounds if I was prosecuted at court.

I have done this maybe 3 times before, I’ve bought a child ticket to a nearest station and then went somewhere else but there were no inspectors. They will probably have a look at my Trainline account and see this pattern which doesn’t help my case.

But it’s been two months and I’ve still not heard anything…so does that mean nothing will come out of it, like the inspector said?

Any advice on my next steps is welcomed

Hi and welcome

Have you checked your e-mail spam?

If it went to court you would likely not be fined as much as £2000 and court fines are related to your income so long as you declare that income to the court. But it would be cheaper to seek to secure an out of court settlement than to let it go to court. That does mean responding to anything GWR send you.

They might have sent post to your parents address if they took that of a drivers licence. If you are estranged from them it would help if your parents returned that to sender on the basis that you no longer live there I would think.

At the end of the day you are evading fares and the railway company will want to take action on that but GWR are reasonable to deal with if you engage with them, given cases on this forum as examples.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Did he not jot down your address from the driving licence too? All you need is the house number and postcode.

 

[gray1404]

It is unusual for GWR to send emails for initial contact, normally this is done by letter. I am not sure what to suggest here as we normally suggest waiting to hear from the train company.

What are want to avoid is GWR writing to the address, not hearing back and then taking you to Court and you knowing nothing about it.

I am thinking email them and ask if there is an open case and if they reply to say there is only at that point do you explain your situation.

 

[anon10675]

Hi,

I would like some help on this situation. I was travelling on GWR to London Paddington to see a friend - I am homeless and so she let me stay with her for a bit.

I didn’t have a ticket, but the gates were open in the city I was travelling from, so, I just walked through.

In Paddington, an inspector saw I couldn’t get through the gates so he asked for my details. I didn’t have a ticket so I just bought the cheapest one I could find, a child ticket from Reading to London. He asked me for my drivers license - I looked at his book and he jotted down my drivers license number. He also asked for my full name, and my email address. He stressed that he wanted my email address as he said that would he where the train company would send correspondence to. So I gave the email. He then scanned the ticket and obviously I told him my DOB so he said that it was a child ticket I had so he wanted to take me in for questioning but said it wasn’t essential, and pretty much just let me go. His words “we MIGHT send you something through email which will detail prosecution. You can appeal this and ask for an out of court settlement. But you might not hear anything back at all. Just keep an eye out on your emails as that’s where we will send you things (if we send it)” That’s what he told me. So I walked away.

I tried searching what to do when I got home but it just panicked me. I checked this forum and also noticed that they only really send letters through the post - I am 19, an estranged university student, and my drivers license still has my parents address on it. So I physically won’t be able to know if they’ve sent any mail. My friend told me it would be fine because he stressed that he needed my email address. But seeing all these forum posts are beginning to worry me because none of them mention email. What do I do? What are my next steps? I really don’t want to be prosecuted either - I really want to be a scientist and when I apply for my masters in the next few years, I am scared that a criminal record will hinder my chances. And again, I am also homeless and can’t afford a place to live this summer, I don’t even know how I would cough up £2000 odd pounds if I was prosecuted at court.

I have done this maybe 3 times before, I’ve bought a child ticket to a nearest station and then went somewhere else but there were no inspectors. They will probably have a look at my Trainline account and see this pattern which doesn’t help my case.

Any advice on my next steps is welcomed

For

Hi and welcome

Have you checked your e-mail spam?

If it went to court you would likely not be fined as much as £2000 and court fines are related to your income so long as you declare that income to the court. But it would be cheaper to seek to secure an out of court settlement than to let it go to court. That does mean responding to anything GWR send you.

They might have sent post to your parents address if they took that of a drivers licence. If you are estranged from them it would help if your parents returned that to sender on the basis that you no longer live there I would think.

At the end of the day you are evading fares and the railway company will want to take action on that but GWR are reasonable to deal with if you engage with them, given cases on this forum as examples.

Thanks for your response

I have checked my spam, but alas, nothing. I think I read something saying it could take up to 6 months to hear anything back so there’s that.

And unfortunately, it’s not an option to get back into contact with my parents (getting in contact with them will put me in danger) so I can’t really have that as an option.

That is relaxing to hear, thank you for the reassurance. I’m glad to know that GWR will most likely come to a settlement out of court - as long as it’s a couple hundred I can probably make that money come together.

 

[anon10675]

Did he not jot down your address from the driving licence too? All you need is the house number and postcode.

Hi!

No, he didn’t. He put down my drivers license number, so I’m assuming he can probably access my address from that!

 

[AlterEgo]

Hi!

No, he didn’t. He put down my drivers license number, so I’m assuming he can probably access my address from that!

He can’t.

 

[gray1404]

Did you tell him you are currently of no fixed abode?

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi!

No, he didn’t. He put down my drivers license number, so I’m assuming he can probably access my address from that!

He may have just been using the drivers licence to check your name and likeness to check if you were at least who you said you were.

Hi!

No, he didn’t. He put down my drivers license number, so I’m assuming he can probably access my address from that!

You may need to be prepared to e-mail them to ask them to correspond with you that way - but perhaps hold off doing that for a few more weeks. It's really important that you avoid being taken to court without knowing about it if at all possible. Fully understand that you can not be in contact with your parents as you have explained.

 

[anon10675]

He can’t.

It is unusual for GWR to send emails for initial contact, normally this is done by letter. I am not sure what to suggest here as we normally suggest waiting to hear from the train company.

What are want to avoid is GWR writing to the address, not hearing back and then taking you to Court and you knowing nothing about it.

I am thinking email them and ask if there is an open case and if they reply to say there is only at that point do you explain your situation.

I’ll get onto that then, and I’ll draft an email! But I am certain that he did not write my address, I watched him write everything on his notebook

Did you tell him you are currently of no fixed abode?

also no. I didn’t tell him I’m homeless because he didn’t ask for my address (nor write it down from my drivers license)

He may have just been using the drivers licence to check your name and likeness to check if you were at least who you said you were.


You may need to be prepared to e-mail them to ask them to correspond with you that way - but perhaps hold off doing that for a few more weeks. It's really important that you avoid being taken to court without knowing about it if at all possible. Fully understand that you can not be in contact with your parents as you have explained.

Also yes you’re right, he told me he wanted to see my ID because it’s easier than just spelling out my full name, he can just copy it down.

Why would you suggest that I wait a few weeks? Just curious, as I’ve seen a lot of these forum posts saying that it’s advisable that you don’t get in contact with them unless they contact you, why is that?

I really just want this to be sorted since it’s so up in the air, I feel horrible for hopping the trains but every time I have done it it’s been so I don’t even end up on the streets, even if it’s just for a few nights :/ I have definitely learnt my lesson and I wish I was just given a penalty fare on the spot

 

[gray1404]

Quite honestly I doubt there is much they can do without an address. They may send an email fishing for more information but you are not obliged to reply to anything. You seem positive he never made note of your address. Could he have written just the house number and postcode though but not on typical address format? If you are positive he never got the address then I would don't know what they can really do. That said, we're you using an e-ticket and did you have to provide an address when paying for this and entering card details?

 

[anon10675]

Quite honestly I doubt there is much they can do without an address. They may send an email fishing for more information but you are not obliged to reply to anything. You seem positive he never made note of your address. Could he have written just the house number and postcode though but not on typical address format? If you are positive he never got the address then I would don't know what they can really do. That said, we're you using an e-ticket and did you have to provide an address when paying for this and entering card details?

yes I used an e-ticket (The Trainline). I don’t recall having to put any address details on it. If there is a billing address from my bank details, it must be from my parents address because I haven’t updated it properly in ages

 

[Hadders]

I’ve seen a lot of these forum posts saying that it’s advisable that you don’t get in contact with them unless they contact you, why is that?

There is nothing to be gained by contacting the Train Company before they contact you.

You are not required to incriminate yourself and there is a risk you could inadvertently do this.
You don't know what questions they want to ask you. If you contact them you might give answers to questions they haven't asked, which could incriminate you!
Contacting the train company could 'remind' them of your case.
You haven't got he case reference number so they probably won't be able to match up your letter or email with your case.

 

[anon10675]

There is nothing to be gained by contacting the Train Company before they contact you.

You are not required to incriminate yourself and there is a risk you could inadvertently do this.
You don't know what questions they want to ask you. If you contact them you might give answers to questions they haven't asked, which could incriminate you!
Contacting the train company could 'remind' them of your case.
You haven't got he case reference number so they probably won't be able to match up your letter or email with your case.

ok, i understand! thank you- what do you suggest i do moving forward ?

 

[notmyrealname]

In your shoes I would be making sure that I paid the right fare every time. You don't want to come to their attention again.

 

[Hadders]

In your shoes I would be making sure that I paid the right fare every time. You don't want to come to their attention again.

Agreed!

There’s not really anything you can do until the train company contacts you. If they do then come back here and tell us about it and we can assist in how to reply.

 

[WesternLancer]

Agreed!

There’s not really anything you can do until the train company contacts you. If they do then come back here and tell us about it and we can assist in how to reply.

I think a key part of the problem the OP has is they are of no fixed abode and are estranged from their family - the OP said they would be in personal danger if they contacted their family to get post from them, yet the family address is on certain ID and bank documents that may be used by the railway company to contact them.

It seems to me this is the key problem they face - as they may not be able to respond to the railway company if they are contacted about the fares issue concerned / nor know they have been contacted.

I think this is why the OP was asking if they should contact the railway company pro actively - eg to ask to be communicated with by e-mail.

@anon10675 can correct me if I have any of this wrong

 

[anon10675]

Agreed!

There’s not really anything you can do until the train company contacts you. If they do then come back here and tell us about it and we can assist in how to reply.

but my problem is, i am unsure if they can contact me - they asked for my email for correspondence but judging by these forums that doesn’t sound realistic to happen

I think a key part of the problem the OP has is they are of no fixed abode and are estranged from their family - the OP said they would be in personal danger if they contacted their family to get post from them, yet the family address is on certain ID and bank documents that may be used by the railway company to contact them.

It seems to me this is the key problem they face - as they may not be able to respond to the railway company if they are contacted about the fares issue concerned / nor know they have been contacted.

I think this is why the OP was asking if they should contact the railway company pro actively - eg to ask to be communicated with by e-mail.

@anon10675 can correct me if I have any of this wrong

yes, perfect summary ^^

don’t really know what my next steps are or what the best cause of action is…

 

[Hadders]

I think a key part of the problem the OP has is they are of no fixed abode and are estranged from their family - the OP said they would be in personal danger if they contacted their family to get post from them, yet the family address is on certain ID and bank documents that may be used by the railway company to contact them.

It seems to me this is the key problem they face - as they may not be able to respond to the railway company if they are contacted about the fares issue concerned / nor know they have been contacted.

I think this is why the OP was asking if they should contact the railway company pro actively - eg to ask to be communicated with by e-mail.

@anon10675 can correct me if I have any of this wrong

This is quite tricky! And not just from a railway point of view but (at risk of going off topic) what happens if a bank or other organisation needs to write to you?

The only thing I can think of is to arrange for your post to be redirected but I think this means a notification being sent to the original address, which might not be desirable - perhaps someone can confirm exactly what notifications get sent where when post redirection is set up.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Since you bought your ticket online (irrespective of whether from Trainine or anywhere else), and it was scanned, they can presumably use that to trace you, and then perhaps will have written to whatever address that linked to.

If you have a friend you sometimes stay with, and they would reliably tell you if any post came for you, can't you e-mail the railway company and explain that they have probably got an out-of-date address and give them your friend's address to use; then you can be sure of receiving whatever you get sent. Of course there's a chance that you'll hear nothing. But assuming they have tried or are trying to contact you, it's far better to get that communication - so that you can (quite probably) arrange an out-of-court settlement - than not get it, and find that this all goes to court without you ever knowing ... which would mean a criminal record and, very likely, a rather more expensive outcome than if you settled with them directly first.

 

[WesternLancer]

Since you bought your ticket online (irrespective of whether from Trainine or anywhere else), and it was scanned, they can presumably use that to trace you, and then perhaps will have written to whatever address that linked to.

If you have a friend you sometimes stay with, and they would reliably tell you if any post came for you, can't you e-mail the railway company and explain that they have probably got an out-of-date address and give them your friend's address to use; then you can be sure of receiving whatever you get sent. Of course there's a chance that you'll hear nothing. But assuming they have tried or are trying to contact you, it's far better to get that communication - so that you can (quite probably) arrange an out-of-court settlement - than not get it, and find that this all goes to court without you ever knowing ... which would mean a criminal record and, very likely, a rather more expensive outcome than if you settled with them directly first.

I agree with this advice under circs

 

[The exile]

This is quite tricky! And not just from a railway point of view but (at risk of going off topic) what happens if a bank or other organisation needs to write to you?

The only thing I can think of is to arrange for your post to be redirected but I think this means a notification being sent to the original address, which might not be desirable - perhaps someone can confirm exactly what notifications get sent where when post redirection is set up.

For data protection reasons any notification sent to the old address should not include details of the new one. The notification is to ensure that the Cgange of address itself is not fraudulent.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

This is quite tricky! And not just from a railway point of view but (at risk of going off topic) what happens if a bank or other organisation needs to write to you?

The only thing I can think of is to arrange for your post to be redirected but I think this means a notification being sent to the original address, which might not be desirable - perhaps someone can confirm exactly what notifications get sent where when post redirection is set up.

Again, as the OP doesn't seem to have a permanent address, this may be of limited help, but I see that on https://www.royalmail.com/d8/help/redirection under the question 'I'm worried about my Personal Safety, can you help with my Redirection?' the Royal Mail say

If you are setting up a Redirection because of personal safety concerns please don't apply online, call us on 03457 777 888. We're open Monday to Friday 8am-6:30pm, Saturday 8am-3pm and Sunday 9am-2pm.

Please tell our staff why you are calling to set up a Redirection and they will be able to help. All calls are confidential.

 

[MotCO]

The only thing I can think of is to arrange for your post to be redirected but I think this means a notification being sent to the original address, which might not be desirable - perhaps someone can confirm exactly what notifications get sent where when post redirection is set upup.

Royal Mail send a letter of confirmation of changes to both the old and new address; I can't recall if the letter to the old address quotes the new one.

 

[Tramfan]

Royal Mail send a letter of confirmation of changes to both the old and new address; I can't recall if the letter to the old address quotes the new one.

No I don't think it does

 

[Deafdoggie]

As Royal Mails advice is to call them in these circumstances I'd call them! They should still be able to set one up

 

[island]

The only thing I can think of is to arrange for your post to be redirected but I think this means a notification being sent to the original address, which might not be desirable - perhaps someone can confirm exactly what notifications get sent where when post redirection is set up.

You are correct that a letter would be triggered to both old and new addresses stating a redirection has been taken out, but it does not state what the new address is.

As others state, RM is used to situations where there are safety concerns and has a process. However, that does depend on there being some address for the letters to actually be delivered to, which it does not seem is the case here.

 

[anon10675]

Since you bought your ticket online (irrespective of whether from Trainine or anywhere else), and it was scanned, they can presumably use that to trace you, and then perhaps will have written to whatever address that linked to.

If you have a friend you sometimes stay with, and they would reliably tell you if any post came for you, can't you e-mail the railway company and explain that they have probably got an out-of-date address and give them your friend's address to use; then you can be sure of receiving whatever you get sent. Of course there's a chance that you'll hear nothing. But assuming they have tried or are trying to contact you, it's far better to get that communication - so that you can (quite probably) arrange an out-of-court settlement - than not get it, and find that this all goes to court without you ever knowing ... which would mean a criminal record and, very likely, a rather more expensive outcome than if you settled with them directly first.

i’ll try this, thanks! only problem is my friend is moving out in august and i don’t know anyone else who would be willing to take the post is it possible to get it sent to a post office or P.o. box or something similar?

This is quite tricky! And not just from a railway point of view but (at risk of going off topic) what happens if a bank or other organisation needs to write to you?

The only thing I can think of is to arrange for your post to be redirected but I think this means a notification being sent to the original address, which might not be desirable - perhaps someone can confirm exactly what notifications get sent where when post redirection is set up.

banks are paperless, tax letters and whatnot are too! and as a student i really don’t have important commitments that’ll be posted to me currently.
unfortunately i don’t have an address to redirect the post to :/

 

[Fawkes Cat]

my friend is moving out in august and i don’t know anyone else who would be willing to take the post

Assuming your friend also to be a student (and further assuming them to be of typical student age rather than a mature student), would they be prepared to have your post redirected to their parents' address?

I appreciate that's an awful lot to ask of your friend and their parents but sometimes the only available solution isn't one that you would want to go for.

 

[AlbertBeale]

i’ll try this, thanks! only problem is my friend is moving out in august and i don’t know anyone else who would be willing to take the post is it possible to get it sent to a post office or P.o. box or something similar?

This is quite tricky! And not just from a railway point of view but (at risk of going off topic) what happens if a bank or other organisation needs to write to you?


banks are paperless, tax letters and whatnot are too! and as a student i really don’t have important commitments that’ll be posted to me currently.
unfortunately i don’t have an address to redirect the post to :/

Not all formalities are paperless - for example, sometimes you need formal paperwork that's been sent to a postal address in order to validate some other service you want to use. Postal voting is an example where you need to show paperwork, and getting a voter certificate if you don't have photo ID needs paperwork being presented, and so on.