Received a letter GTREMG*********

[user101]

Hello.
I have been travelling between station A to B quite often. I was using my normal railcard for a while and after few months I thought of saving £2 pounds more , being greedy. I changed my rail to 16-17 old. I started using for short routes all the time, without realising if I get caught, what could happen. This has been happening for lot of time, but not always.
Now I am very apologetic and this could lead to prosecution, I have no criminal history and now I am very concerned of my mistake. Inspector mentioned I would receive a letter within few days. I haven’t received the letter but looking at the circumstances, I believe I may receive one for intend to prosecute, this would be detrimental for my career and I don’t want that. That was first time , I was caught and will be the last. I am sorry of my actions.
How can I avoid being prosecuted and pay the fine and costs. Any experience or guidance, would appreciate that.

Thanks

 

[notmyrealname]

Hi.

Are you paying the correct fare now? It's important to follow the rules now so that when the letter arrives you can show that you've learned a lesson from being caught.

You say you haven't had any correspondence yet - were you given any paperwork on the day?

 

[30907]

Short-faring AND claiming a discount you aren't entitled to, so cheating the railway doubly.(Edt, see #10)

However, particularly with GTR, if you engage with them and reply apologetically you should be offered a settlement.

They, and most train companies most of all want you to start paying what you should; they also want you to pay them what you owe (and they will check your travel history to find out). They are not desperate to involve the courts!

Look at posts by @Hadders who regularly offers a suggested structure for a reply, but basically wait for the letter and then come back, posting a redacted version of it.

 

[user101]

Hi.

Are you paying the correct fare now? It's important to follow the rules now so that when the letter arrives you can show that you've learned a lesson from being caught.

You say you haven't had any correspondence yet - were you given any paperwork on the day?

Yes, I will always be paying correct fare from now onwards . And yes, I got witness statement receipt. But I am very worried it shouldn’t go to court.

 

[notmyrealname]

Could you show us the witness statement receipt please? Cover up your name, address and their reference before you post it, to keep this anonymous.

 

[user101]

Here it is more visible, thanks

 

[30907]

Could you perhaps repost with the witness statement visible? Only cover up personal details (if any) and maybe a station name. Thanks

 

[Spaceship323]

I haven’t received the letter

Today is the 13th, you were only stopped on the 12th. The train company have 6 months to write to you and will probably investigate the circumstances before doing so, so I'd give them at least a couple of weeks

 

[robbeech]

Short-faring AND claiming a discount you aren't entitled to, so cheating the railway doubly.

I didn’t read it this way so perhaps clarification is needed, I read it as they were only applying the wrong railcard discount for short journeys rather than buying tickets that were short. Could of course be wrong though.

 

[user101]

Could you perhaps repost with the witness statement visible? Only cover up personal details (if any) and maybe a station name.

I didn’t read it this way so perhaps clarification is needed, I read it as they were only applying the wrong railcard discount for short journeys rather than buying tickets that were short. Could of course be wrong though.

No it was just applying a wrong railcard for many months approx. a year worst case.

 

[30907]

No it was just applying a wrong railcard for many months approx. a year worst case.

Apologies for misunderstanding. I've edited my comment.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

If you ‘saved’ £2 per day over a year, and travelled 5 days a week, that’s ‘saved’ you ~£500.
GTR will likely now want you to pay the full Anytime Single for every fraudulent journey (two singles for each return journey).
They won’t allow for the fares you already paid, as they were not valid.
They might allow a Railcard discount, but don’t have to. So you should expect any settlement offer to be calculated as above, plus £150-200 admin costs.
They will likely want payment within 14 days of the offer, too.
So you should use any delay in them contacting you to start saving up, now.

 

[user101]

If you ‘saved’ £2 per day over a year, and travelled 5 days a week, that’s ‘saved’ you ~£500.
GTR will likely now want you to pay the full Anytime Single for every fraudulent journey (two singles for each return journey).
They won’t allow for the fares you already paid, as they were not valid.
They might allow a Railcard discount, but don’t have to. So you should expect any settlement offer to be calculated as above, plus £150-200 admin costs.
They will likely want payment within 14 days of the offer, too.
So you should use any delay in them contacting you to start saving up, now.

No, I was travelling once or twice a week only

 

[Skimpot flyer]

No, I was travelling once or twice a week only

Over a year, that’s still 100 journeys though

 

[user101]

Over a year, that’s still 100 journeys though

Yeah, unfortunately still a lot. Let pray for the best now.

 

[Camsus]

If you ‘saved’ £2 per day over a year, and travelled 5 days a week, that’s ‘saved’ you ~£500.
GTR will likely now want you to pay the full Anytime Single for every fraudulent journey (two singles for each return journey).
They won’t allow for the fares you already paid, as they were not valid.
They might allow a Railcard discount, but don’t have to. So you should expect any settlement offer to be calculated as above, plus £150-200 admin costs.
They will likely want payment within 14 days of the offer, too.
So you should use any delay in them contacting you to start saving up, now.

GTR will use return fares if that's what was travelled. They also count the fares paid and deduct them from the actual fares. They won't allow railcard discounts.