Greater Anglia, prosecution letter

[Jackckck]

Good evening all,

I have recently received a prosecution letter from GA, offering me the opportunity to explain my version of events. Your advice would be greatly appreciated as I am currently in a panic!

Earlier in the year, I was stopped by a barrier attendant as the expiry date had worn off the front of my season ticket (old paper ticket). He asked I follow him which I did happily as I was convinced my ticket did not expire until the next day, the 19th. I explained this to the staff and they went off to check.

It turns out that my ticket had in fact expired two days previously.
I had been showing the ticket to the guard at the wheelchair/pushchair gate for a while now (perhaps 2 weeks) as I didn’t think anything of it stopping working. I had experienced this with my previous ticket (they’re known for it as they get older). I also didn’t think it was worth renewing it for the sake of a few days as I intended to renew my annual on the 19th.

I have held an annual ticket for three years now and have an email from a while prior to being stopped with the season ticket team at my company again saying my ticket expired on the 19th and that I want to renew it.

I cooperated fully with the Greater Anglia team and made no attempt to conceal who I was or what had happened. I am kicking myself as this was genuinely a case of recalling the expiry wrong, as the email with work and my openness prove. I have never knowingly travelled without a ticket and have never had any issues with Greater Anglia or anything like this previously.

What would be your advice? The man was saying I can be prosecuted with fraud which petrified me.

I’m not sure I explained that brilliantly so let me know if anything isn’t clear.

Thanks again!

 

[Jackckck]

Perhaps feeling I have not been clear here?
Please let me know if anything is unclear, I would really appreciate advice on this!

 

[Haywain]

Perhaps feeling I have not been clear here?
Please let me know if anything is unclear, I would really appreciate advice on this!

I don't think clarity is an issue. For the moment, you need to sit tight and wait for GA to write to you asking for your version of events. When that happens you will see many other threads on here giving much the same advice in every case as to how to respond. However, you do need to be aware that you have, inadvertently, committed an offence that could end up in court, and if it does will likely result in a fine. Therefore you will want to ngotiate a settlement, I expect.

I don't doubt that others will also be along in due course to offer their own advice, potentially at some length!

 

[Jackckck]

I don't think clarity is an issue. For the moment, you need to sit tight and wait for GA to write to you asking for your version of events. When that happens you will see many other threads on here giving much the same advice in every case as to how to respond. However, you do need to be aware that you have, inadvertently, committed an offence that could end up in court, and if it does will likely result in a fine. Therefore you will want to ngotiate a settlement, I expect.

I don't doubt that others will also be along in due course to offer their own advice, potentially at some length!

Thanks for this,
They have already contacted me doing exactly that. I have made it clear that I was acting in good faith and this is just a lapse in memory. I have also clearly stated that I will be willing to reimburse and forgone revenue and or extra expenses incurred etc...

I hope this is enough. If this were to go to court it could potentially really harm my career...

 

[Haywain]

Thanks for this,
They have already contacted me doing exactly that. I have made it clear that I was acting in good faith and this is just a lapse in memory. I have also clearly stated that I will be willing to reimburse and forgone revenue and or extra expenses incurred etc...

I hope this is enough. If this were to go to court it could potentially really harm my career...

You've done the right sort of thing and there is a decent chance that it won't get to court. If it does it is actually fairly unlikely to harm your career as long as you are honest and up front about it with your employer. If it comes to it, you may want to consult your trade union for assistance if you are a member of one. Even if you are not, you can still get useful advice here but don't get overly worried at the moment. When you hear back from GA, post again and let us know what they say.

 

[najaB]

They have already contacted me doing exactly that. I have made it clear that I was acting in good faith and this is just a lapse in memory. I have also clearly stated that I will be willing to reimburse and forgone revenue and or extra expenses incurred etc...

I hope this is enough. If this were to go to court it could potentially really harm my career...

If it was an annual ticket expired by a couple of days then court is highly unlikely.

 

[some bloke]

Would you like to upload the correspondence, with identifying details removed?

 

[SussexMan]

...as the expiry date had worn off the front of my season ticket...

...I was convinced my ticket did not expire until the next day, the 19th.

...It turns out that my ticket had in fact expired two days previously.

...have an email from ... my company again saying my ticket expired on the 19th... and that I want to renew it.

...as this was genuinely a case of recalling the expiry wrong,

Was the email from your employer to you, or to your employer from you? I assume they fund it via a loan or something?

I can see how you can get a date in your head and then if the date has worn off there is nothing to change you from that thought. However, the onus is of course on you to check you have a valid ticket.

I would have thought a carefully worded letter, apologising and explaining factually the circumstances (including a copy of the email you received from your employer if that was the case, along with perhaps you confirming to your employer that you would be renewing etc), offering the cost of the travel for which you didn't have a valid ticket (three days???) plus an amount to cover their administration would get this resolved out of court.

 

[Jackckck]

Was the email from your employer to you, or to your employer from you? I assume they fund it via a loan or something?

I can see how you can get a date in your head and then if the date has worn off there is nothing to change you from that thought. However, the onus is of course on you to check you have a valid ticket.

I would have thought a carefully worded letter, apologising and explaining factually the circumstances (including a copy of the email you received from your employer if that was the case, along with perhaps you confirming to your employer that you would be renewing etc), offering the cost of the travel for which you didn't have a valid ticket (three days???) plus an amount to cover their administration would get this resolved out of court.

The email was from me to my employer requesting a renewal of the loan prior to the date of getting ‘caught’ and specifying the date at which I believed I needed to renew (19th).

I have included in my letter an offer of covering any lost revenue and excess cost to the company, and said upon request that I would be happy to provide the emails.

I have laid out my thought process and actions and pointed out explicitly that it was human error alone.

I am hoping this enough. Especially as I have since renewed my season ticket.