Expired Railcard Prosecution

[olivia307]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if I could get some advice.

Had a bit of a bad run in at Standstead airport, where they asked to check my 16-25 railcard. It wasn’t in the best condition, it had snapped and it was also 2 years expired, which I didn’t realise and I wrongly assumed that because I still fit the 16-25 age bracket I was have been fine. But obviously this was not the case, I had initially told her I didn’t realise but she was repeatedly saying it was out of date and I’m going to be prosecuted so she ended up taking my details and checked them against my driving license - the address on my driving license is my parents address as at the time that’s where I was living when I was 17 and got my licence. I have since moved out and live at a different address so I scrunched up the paper and asked for a new one so I can correct it and she said that I’ve now committed two counts of fraud as I provided a “fake address” when I tried to communicate to her that was not the case she was so rude and wasn’t listening. I was already in a bad mood so I wasn’t exactly being pleasant back so this didn’t help my case.

Also while she was taking my details she was asking me questions like “are you aware that your railcard is out of date” thinking this was her confirming that she has informed me of the issue so I said yes but now I’m anxious that
it’s on record that I’ve admitted to knowingly using an expired railcard and therefore making my case worse.

I’m just worried that I’m going to be given a criminal record and possible prison sentence and it’s going to affect my current job in architecture and potential future visas.

I just want to know if there’s a likely possibility for me to settle this outside of court because I’m more than happy to pay the fine/ fees, as long as I dont obtain a criminal record, but with the history of payments I’ve made I’m not sure if it’s going to swing in my favour.

However now that I’ve realised it’s severely out of date, I purchased a 16-25 railcard immediately.

Would appreciate any help/ advice. Thank you!

 

[island]

You won't get a prison sentence for this so put that out of your mind.

You will get a letter in the post usually within a few weeks though it may be longer, which when it arrives you should upload here and we will advise how to reply. Although you haven't helped yourself so far with your attitude or by "scrunching up" the violation notice, you will almost certainly be able to settle the matter out of court for a fee, as long as you engage positively, politely, and within any time limits.

For now you need to update the address on your driving licence – you can do this on the DVLA website – as it's a separate offence not to have the correct address on it.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

It sounds as though you didn't handle this very well when you were stopped!

Firstly, you comitted a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and Greater Anglia are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before. Based on my interpretation of what you've written, it sounds as though the interaction with staff didn't go as well as it could have done, hopefully this won't inpact your chances of a settlement.

Next, what happens is Greater Anglia will write to you. The letter will go to the address that was on your driving license, do your parents still live there? If so you should make arrangements to get hold of the letter when it arrives. It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have 14 days to do so.

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will oproof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and Greater Anglia's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

Greater Anglia will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with noi credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other railcard discounted tickets since the railcard expires they will factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the last couple of years this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tihght you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if I could get some advice.

Had a bit of a bad run in at Standstead airport, where they asked to check my 16-25 railcard. It wasn’t in the best condition, it had snapped and it was also 2 years expired, which I didn’t realise and I wrongly assumed that because I still fit the 16-25 age bracket I was have been fine. But obviously this was not the case, I had initially told her I didn’t realise but she was repeatedly saying it was out of date and I’m going to be prosecuted so she ended up taking my details and checked them against my driving license - the address on my driving license is my parents address as at the time that’s where I was living when I was 17 and got my licence. I have since moved out and live at a different address so I scrunched up the paper and asked for a new one so I can correct it and she said that I’ve now committed two counts of fraud as I provided a “fake address” when I tried to communicate to her that was not the case she was so rude and wasn’t listening. I was already in a bad mood so I wasn’t exactly being pleasant back so this didn’t help my case.

Also while she was taking my details she was asking me questions like “are you aware that your railcard is out of date” thinking this was her confirming that she has informed me of the issue so I said yes but now I’m anxious that
it’s on record that I’ve admitted to knowingly using an expired railcard and therefore making my case worse.

I’m just worried that I’m going to be given a criminal record and possible prison sentence and it’s going to affect my current job in architecture and potential future visas.

I just want to know if there’s a likely possibility for me to settle this outside of court because I’m more than happy to pay the fine/ fees, as long as I dont obtain a criminal record, but with the history of payments I’ve made I’m not sure if it’s going to swing in my favour.

However now that I’ve realised it’s severely out of date, I purchased a 16-25 railcard immediately.

Would appreciate any help/ advice. Thank you!

Further to the good advice from @island - did the railway inspector correct the address you originally gave, or can you easily obtain post from your parents address?

Whilst it's possible they may e-mail you (so keep an eye on that and on spam) they are most likely to write to you hard copy - it's vital you receive that and respond it it promptly - so if it's going to your parents address advise them to watch out for it and bring it to your attention immediately it is received. if they are going away on hols for example take steps to check the post if you can - you usually only get about 14 days to reply to these sorts of communications.

Also you should be aware they will usually make any out of court settlement offer dependent on a sum that includes new tickets (usually at the punitive 'Anytime Single' fare) for all cases of fares bought with the railcard after it's expiry that they can find evidence of. If it expired 2 years ago this could be substantial sum. Whilst you wait for them to contact you you should check your ticket buying records and compile your own list of all the tickets bought on line since the Railcard expired that you have bought.

Also keep your old Railcard for now as you may need to prove to the investigations team when it expired as a way of minimising your financial liability.

Whilst you will have failed the 'attitude test' in your dialogue with the Inspector, this probably won't prevent you obtaining a settlement so long as you are suitably apologetic and co-operative in your dealings with them from now on.

Have a read of other threads involving Greater Anglia to see how this tends to play out by way of preparation.

 

[olivia307]

Further to the good advice from @island - did the railway inspector correct the address you originally gave, or can you easily obtain post from your parents address?

Whilst it's possible they may e-mail you (so keep an eye on that and on spam) they are most likely to write to you hard copy - it's vital you receive that and respond it it promptly - so if it's going to your parents address advise them to watch out for it and bring it to your attention immediately it is received. if they are going away on hols for example take steps to check the post if you can - you usually only get about 14 days to reply to these sorts of communications.

Also you should be aware they will usually make any out of court settlement offer dependent on a sum that includes new tickets (usually at the punitive 'Anytime Single' fare) for all cases of fares bought with the railcard after it's expiry that they can find evidence of. If it expired 2 years ago this could be substantial sum. Whilst you wait for them to contact you you should check your ticket buying records and compile your own list of all the tickets bought on line since the Railcard expired that you have bought.

Also keep your old Railcard for now as you may need to prove to the investigations team when it expired as a way of minimising your financial liability.

Whilst you will have failed the 'attitude test' in your dialogue with the Inspector, this probably won't prevent you obtaining a settlement so long as you are suitably apologetic and co-operative in your dealings with them from now on.

Have a read of other threads involving Greater Anglia to see how this tends to play out by way of preparation.

Hi, thank you for the advice! No unfortunately I do not still have the railcard as it got taken off me.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Jun 2025 ==

You won't get a prison sentence for this so put that out of your mind.

You will get a letter in the post usually within a few weeks though it may be longer, which when it arrives you should upload here and we will advise how to reply. Although you haven't helped yourself so far with your attitude or by "scrunching up" the violation notice, you will almost certainly be able to settle the matter out of court for a fee, as long as you engage positively, politely, and within any time limits.

For now you need to update the address on your driving licence – you can do this on the DVLA website – as it's a separate offence not to have the correct address on it.

Hi, really appreciate the advice. This is really helpful. Will be in touch when I receive the letter and have drafted a reply. Many thanks

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi, thank you for the advice! No unfortunately I do not still have the railcard as it got taken off me.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Jun 2025 ==

OK - so at least they have it (should they ask about it when they write to you then you can clearly state that they retained it - which AFAIK they are entitled to do) - can you recall it's date of expiry - if so make a note of that.

Having bought a new one that is something that you can say in response to them you have actively done to put right the oversight of the lapsed card as soon as it was brought to your attention.

 

[Trainman40083]

Sounds like you need to update your driving licence address, too.

 

[6Gman]

Sounds like you need to update your driving licence address, too.

I believe that failing to do so is also an offence, so get it done!