Accidentally selected renew under 30 railcard when 31, entered my driving licence number incorrectly, application accepted - should I tell Trainline?

[GWRtraveller]

I'd appreciate views - appreciating this isn't a usual post on this forum.

My under 30 railcard expired a couple of months ago, while I was 31. I dozily clicked '26-30' instead of '31+' from the dropdown boxes when renewing my railcard. I got a number wrong when typing in the long driving licence number (I assume I must have typed in a 4 instead of 3 to make me look a year younger on the system). Trainline accepted my application and I now have a legitimate under 30 railcard that I'm not entitled to. - Yes I'm conscious this sounds a bit implausible - but I was on autopilot and alarm bells weren't going off that I was applying for an under 30 railcard while 31 because I had one for the vast majority of the time I was 31.

What I immensely regret doing is using the railcard for about 6 journeys before I got cold feet, and realised although accidental on my part - is a potential serious fraud (worse that fair evasion).

Should I write to the Trainline customer support services setting this out in as much detail as possible, asking them to cancel my under 30 railcard and (potentially) offer to pay the TOR for the discounted fairs to which I wasn't entitled?

I'm torn. The Trainline haven't picked up on this, and I'm no longer using the rail card. If I tell Trainline they might say 'absolutely no chance you didn't do this intentionally, we're passing this onto GWR' who may initiate a very serious criminal prosecution. Even if Trainline say 'yes fair enough, we'll cancel your railcard' but pass this onto GWR - they might come after me even though the amount of ineligible discount I received can't amount to more than £150 - which I'd gladly pay.

By way of timeframes - I did this on 18th May. It hasn't been going on a long time and was not intentional, either way - I don't want a fraud prosecution and criminal record to ruin my life.

Thanks

 

[Jan Mayen]

I sure others will be along to give advice, but I'd be inclined to:
A. Stop using tickets discounted with an under 30 railcard immediately.
B. Stop using Trainline to buy tickets.

But I'm sure someone else will give better advice.

 

[GWRtraveller]

Thanks. I certainly have done A, and I get all my tickets from physical machines at the station rather than getting them via the trainline or any other app.

 

[jamiearmley]

Definitely stop using the rail card and definitely stop using trainline to buy your tickets.

It's important to change ticket provider because a trawl through your Trainline history in response to any future irregularity would potentially cause questions to be asked about this railcard.

Changing ticket provider does not guarantee that your current trainline account could not be linked to you in the future. However, it massively reduces the chances.

Whilst I accept at face value your explanation that this was unintentional - honest mistake if you like - I can tell you that it really does not sound like one. Best to put this episode in its box, walk away and forget about it.

Do not contact trainline and incriminate yourself.

 

[notmyrealname]

I was siding with you until the bit about changing a digit in your driving licence number. Doesn't sound accidental, I'm afraid, but I agree with the advice to not use the card, etc.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

I'd appreciate views - appreciating this isn't a usual post on this forum.

My under 30 railcard expired a couple of months ago, while I was 31. I dozily clicked '26-30' instead of '31+' from the dropdown boxes when renewing my railcard. I got a number wrong when typing in the long driving licence number (I assume I must have typed in a 4 instead of 3 to make me look a year younger on the system). Trainline accepted my application and I now have a legitimate under 30 railcard that I'm not entitled to. - Yes I'm conscious this sounds a bit implausible - but I was on autopilot and alarm bells weren't going off that I was applying for an under 30 railcard while 31 because I had one for the vast majority of the time I was 31.

What I immensely regret doing is using the railcard for about 6 journeys before I got cold feet, and realised although accidental on my part - is a potential serious fraud (worse that fair evasion).

Should I write to the Trainline customer support services setting this out in as much detail as possible, asking them to cancel my under 30 railcard and (potentially) offer to pay the TOR for the discounted fairs to which I wasn't entitled?

I'm torn. The Trainline haven't picked up on this, and I'm no longer using the rail card. If I tell Trainline they might say 'absolutely no chance you didn't do this intentionally, we're passing this onto GWR' who may initiate a very serious criminal prosecution. Even if Trainline say 'yes fair enough, we'll cancel your railcard' but pass this onto GWR - they might come after me even though the amount of ineligible discount I received can't amount to more than £150 - which I'd gladly pay.

By way of timeframes - I did this on 18th May. It hasn't been going on a long time and was not intentional, either way - I don't want a fraud prosecution and criminal record to ruin my life.

Thanks

Was there a 31+ option ? What railcard would that be for?

 

[GWRtraveller]

Definitely stop using the rail card and definitely stop using trainline to buy your tickets.

It's important to change ticket provider because a trawl through your Trainline history in response to any future irregularity would potentially cause questions to be asked about this railcard.

Changing ticket provider does not guarantee that your current trainline account could not be linked to you in the future. However, it massively reduces the chances.

Whilst I accept at face value your explanation that this was unintentional - honest mistake if you like - I can tell you that it really does not sound like one. Best to put this episode in its box, walk away and forget about it.

Do not contact trainline and incriminate yourself.

Thanks, noted. I will get a network rail card using the Railcard app in that case

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Wednesday at 11:30 ==

Was there a 31+ option ? What railcard would that be for?

it was just a drop down box to select age brackets - then the trainline would determine which railcard you're eligible for. If I selected, as I intended, 31+, I would have been directed to a network railcard

 

[AlterEgo]

You aren’t the first person to “discover” the well publicised driving licence number wheeze. Obviously you should stop using the railcard.

 

[GWRtraveller]

You aren’t the first person to “discover” the well publicised driving licence number wheeze. Obviously you should stop using the railcard.

What do you recon the chances of this being picked up are if I just leave my trainline account alone forever?

 

[zero]

I thought the check letters in the DL number prevented people from just changing their year of birth? Does trainline not validate the number then?

 

[AlterEgo]

I thought the check letters in the DL number prevented people from just changing their year of birth? Does trainline not validate the number then?

No, this is a well known fraud blasted all over TikTok. It is possible Trainline will be pressured into conducting an audit of railcards at some point, during which all the fraudulent ones will be quite easy to scrape from the data.

 

[island]

What do you recon the chances of this being picked up are if I just leave my trainline account alone forever?

Minimal. But you must stop using the Railcard that you aren't entitled to immediately.

I thought the check letters in the DL number prevented people from just changing their year of birth? Does trainline not validate the number then?

All I think it is appropriate to say on a public forum is that online sellers of Railcards have ways of validating ID numbers, some of which work and some of which do not.

It's not just Trainline by the way.

I'm somewhat surprised they still don't ask for a photo or scan of the ID.

 

[Krokodil]

Thanks, noted. I will get a network rail card using the Railcard app in that case

Be aware that the Network Railcard doesn‘t cover the whole country. If you're in the South East then it may be worthwhile, but you might not get your money's worth if you live elsewhere. Also bear in mind the time restrictions.

 

[GWRtraveller]

Be aware that the Network Railcard doesn‘t cover the whole country. If you're in the South East then it may be worthwhile, but you might not get your money's worth if you live elsewhere. Also bear in mind the time restrictions.

Thanks, yes the time restrictions are annoying but that's all I'm entitled to at 32. I live in Reading so the South East coverage is fine for me.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Was there a 31+ option ? What railcard would that be for?

The only 31+ Railcard (if not disabled) is a Network Railcard (or one of the other smaller scale local ones), but you can't purchase one from a 26-30 by renewing, it's a wholly new transaction.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

The only 31+ Railcard (if not disabled) is a Network Railcard (or one of the other smaller scale local ones), but you can't purchase one from a 26-30 by renewing, it's a wholly new transaction.

As I thought, so selecting the 26-30 option wasn't a mistake if there wasn't a 31+ option.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Thanks. I certainly have done A, and I get all my tickets from physical machines at the station rather than getting them via the trainline or any other app.

It is probably best to not accidentally purchase child tickets or accidentally buy short tickets just to get through the gates. This might sound like common sense but as you managed to accidentally get your age wrong, accidentally mistype your driving license number to correlate with your fictitious age and accidentally use the railcard you accidentally purchased, a reminder is possibly necessary.

 

[Krokodil]

As I thought, so selecting the 26-30 option wasn't a mistake if there wasn't a 31+ option.

I think that TL ask your age (possibly presented in bands: 16-17, 18-25, 26-30, 31-59,60+) in order to establish the sort of railcard you might be eligible for. If you told it that you were 31 it would suggest the Network, Two Together or Family Railcards.

 

[pelli]

This is what the start of the purchase process for a 26-30 (or other age-restricted) Railcard looks like on the Trainline website (and it's the same in the app). You select your age range to be offered a list of railcards you are eligible for, then select the railcard, enter your name and date of birth, and enter your driving licence number (or a suitable string of characters from the Machine Readable Zone of your passport or EEA national identity card) which also encodes your date of birth:


(Step 3 is uploading a photo. For non-age-restricted railcards, no date of birth or ID check is required - step 1 is entering names and step 2 is photo upload.)

 

[Tetchytyke]

I cannot for one second believe that this was an inadvertent error, but it is better all around if we pretend that it was.

The advice therefore is to cease using the railcard and to purchase the appropriate ticket going forward. Consider it fortunate that you experienced a pang of guilt before getting caught. There is no requirement to self-incriminate.

 

[sheff1]

The only 31+ Railcard (if not disabled) is a Network Railcard (or one of the other smaller scale local ones)

Not true.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The only 31+ Railcard (if not disabled) is a Network Railcard

Without veering off topic too much, full time students can purchase a 16-25 railcard irrespective of their age. There's also the Family railcard and the Two Together railcard.

 

[Undiscovered]

Was there a 31+ option ? What railcard would that be for?

A lot of people I come across, day to day, say that trainline 'suggested' the Network Railcard to them, once their 26-30 ended. This is despite them living well beyond its validity area.
They're very annoyed at being made to purchase the correct ticket, because trainline can do no wrong. sigh.

 

[GWRtraveller]

I cannot for one second believe that this was an inadvertent error, but it is better all around if we pretend that it was.

The advice therefore is to cease using the railcard and to purchase the appropriate ticket going forward. Consider it fortunate that you experienced a pang of guilt before getting caught. There is no requirement to self-incriminate.

Much appreciated.