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Letter reporting dependant for non-payment of fare

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BS200

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22 May 2024
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Liverpool
Hi all.

I received a letter alleging my son travelled on a train with no ticket.

He was in school at the time (some 15 miles away with no train link).

I have asked them for evidence that it was him to support their claim.

They have responded asking me top send them a copy of his passport so that they can compare it with any photo or CCTV that they may have.

This seems highly irregular.

Any advice?

Thanks.
 
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RailUK Forums

AlterEgo

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How old is your son, and which train company is involved?

Could you post a copy of the letter in this thread with you/your son's details removed?
 
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gray1404

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I would be inclined to ask the school to send an email to the train company confirming that the sad person was marked as attended in school at the time.
 
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Gloster

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You have probably encountered the, sadly all too frequent, problem of someone else giving your son’s details when stopped for a fare offence. The experts on this forum will probably advise you to forward some official statement from the school confirming that he was in school at the time. This should stop the case from going further and avoids the (small) possibility that the person who gave your son’s details resembles him.

Do not ignore this as it could become very tangled. Although it should be possible to untangle it, it would be a lot of work.

I am not an expert, so best wait for their advice.
 
Fawkes Cat

Fawkes Cat

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BS200 said:
Hi all.

I received a letter alleging my son travelled on a train with no ticket.

He was in school at the time (some 15 miles away with no train link).

I have asked them for evidence that it was him to support their claim.

They have responded asking me top send them a copy of his passport so that they can compare it with any photo or CCTV that they may have.

This seems highly irregular.

Any advice?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
This is actually fairly common practice on the part of the railway.

I would guess that what has happened is that someone was caught travelling on a train without a ticket. And when asked for their name and address, they gave your son's name and address. The railway noted this down, and (I would further guess) a brief description of their passenger.

The railway have taken the information they were sent in good faith, but now you have told them that your son was elsewhere, they want to compare information which is definitely him (so his passport, which will have a picture of him and essentially certifies that the picture is of him) with the description that they have. If it turns out that your son looks nothing like the description that they have, that will be the end of the matter.

Of course, you and your son are under no obligation to help the railway out: their problem is with whoever it was who gave your son's details instead of theirs. But in practice, it's probably easiest all round if you can help the railway to understand that it's not your son after all.
 
G

gray1404

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There is every chance the person who gave your sons details knows him. I personally would be involving the British Transport Police to try to find out who it was to put a stop to it happening again.
 
WesternLancer

WesternLancer

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Fawkes Cat said:
This is actually fairly common practice on the part of the railway.

I would guess that what has happened is that someone was caught travelling on a train without a ticket. And when asked for their name and address, they gave your son's name and address. The railway noted this down, and (I would further guess) a brief description of their passenger.

The railway have taken the information they were sent in good faith, but now you have told them that your son was elsewhere, they want to compare information which is definitely him (so his passport, which will have a picture of him and essentially certifies that the picture is of him) with the description that they have. If it turns out that your son looks nothing like the description that they have, that will be the end of the matter.

Of course, you and your son are under no obligation to help the railway out: their problem is with whoever it was who gave your son's details instead of theirs. But in practice, it's probably easiest all round if you can help the railway to understand that it's not your son after all.
Click to expand...
I guess the railway may accept another plausible picture ID (eg perhaps a 'proof of age' type card' that many young people have), if the OP does not want to send a passport image, but as said this is pretty standard approach I think.
 
G

greyman42

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gray1404 said:
There is every chance the person who gave your sons details knows him. I personally would be involving the British Transport Police to try to find out who it was to put a stop to it happening again.
Click to expand...
I would agree with you with adults but this is the sort of thing kids do and i doubt BTP will have any appetite to chase it up.
 
I

ikcdab

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Cogload Junction
The letter from the school is the way to go. I suspect that the true offender knows your son and therefore superficially resembles him ie same gender, age group, similar build etc. Bearing in mend the nature of ID photos, the physical description will probably look like the ID picture.
 
H

Hadders

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Fawkes Cat said:
This is actually fairly common practice on the part of the railway.

I would guess that what has happened is that someone was caught travelling on a train without a ticket. And when asked for their name and address, they gave your son's name and address. The railway noted this down, and (I would further guess) a brief description of their passenger.

The railway have taken the information they were sent in good faith, but now you have told them that your son was elsewhere, they want to compare information which is definitely him (so his passport, which will have a picture of him and essentially certifies that the picture is of him) with the description that they have. If it turns out that your son looks nothing like the description that they have, that will be the end of the matter.

Of course, you and your son are under no obligation to help the railway out: their problem is with whoever it was who gave your son's details instead of theirs. But in practice, it's probably easiest all round if you can help the railway to understand that it's not your son after all.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. Someone giving false details is common and if you co-operate with the train company then this is the simplest way of resolving it.

gray1404 said:
There is every chance the person who gave your sons details knows him. I personally would be involving the British Transport Police to try to find out who it was to put a stop to it happening again.
Click to expand...
I doubt the BTP will be at all interested.
 
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