Merseyrail Flexi tickets

[faithisfaith]

Hi all,

I’m looking for some advice regarding a penalty fare I received recently while travelling on Merseyrail.

Journey details:

• From: Hamilton Square
• To: Liverpool Central
• Ticket type: Flexi Ticket

An officer issued me a penalty fare because I hadn’t written the date on the flexi ticket before boarding. I showed them the receipt immediately to prove I had bought the ticket and wasn’t reusing it or trying to avoid paying. However, they said it’s still a penalty offence because the date must be written on the ticket before travel.

To me, this feels really unfair, as I didn’t gain any advantage or act dishonestly. I regularly use flexi tickets for commuting to work, and this was a genuine mistake. I’m planning to submit an appeal and would really appreciate any advice on whether appeals in these situations are usually successful, or if anyone here has been through something similar.

Is there a reasonable chance my appeal might be accepted, or do they tend to reject cases like this, even when there's no intent to evade the fare?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[30907]

I presume you then added the date?

Unfortunately, the person who forgets and the person who intentionally omits to insert the date behave in exactly the same way
A PF has to cover both sorts of error, and I doubt you will succeed.

 

[Haywain]

Is there a reasonable chance my appeal might be accepted, or do they tend to reject cases like this, even when there's no intent to evade the fare?

An appeal should be based on whether the Penalty Fare was correctly issued. You didn't present a valid ticket which is an appropriate reason for issuing one. There may be other grounds for appeal which might come to light if you post a copy of the Notice here.

 

[island]

An undated ticket isn't valid for travel – you will understand that from the inspector's point of view you might have been trying it on and planning to save the ticket for another day.