Hi, I have dodged fares in the past and I got caught recently when I was on a West Midlands Trains. I now realize that it was stupid and consider lessons learned from the anxiety and disturbance this causes. On the said journey, I saw the officer from afar. I panicked and lied, bought a ticket from a closer station and said I was travelling from there. She interviewed me and said that anything I said might get brought into the court. I confessed and then she asked how many times this journey happened, my name, address, DOB and my railcard. The officer then gave me a ticket to travel following travel irregularity. I am very anxious about what will happen next. Could anyone explain to me what will happen next and what my next course of action should be, please? Am I going to face a fine, jail time, or a criminal record? Thank you in advance!
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Fare evasion and lied to the officer
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How did you answer the question as to how often you had done it?
I assume you got an "MG11" or Travel Incident Report? In due course you will get a letter threatening prosecution, but asking for your side of the story. That will be your opportunity to respond apologising sincerely (preferably without the use of AI, as those letters don't sound at all sincere), promising not to do it again, and asking very nicely if they will consider an out of court settlement, with you paying all the fares you have avoided, plus a contribution to their expenses.
If you cooperate in your response, and are truthful then you should get offered one, which will be costly, - how much will depend on how long and what journeys you've been fare dodging, but less costly in many senses than being taken to court and getting a criminal record.
When you get the letter, do post it here, and we can give advice based on what it actually says.
I assume you got an "MG11" or Travel Incident Report? In due course you will get a letter threatening prosecution, but asking for your side of the story. That will be your opportunity to respond apologising sincerely (preferably without the use of AI, as those letters don't sound at all sincere), promising not to do it again, and asking very nicely if they will consider an out of court settlement, with you paying all the fares you have avoided, plus a contribution to their expenses.
If you cooperate in your response, and are truthful then you should get offered one, which will be costly, - how much will depend on how long and what journeys you've been fare dodging, but less costly in many senses than being taken to court and getting a criminal record.
When you get the letter, do post it here, and we can give advice based on what it actually says.
To possibly allay your worries I reckon the following:
Jail - 0% chance (that's definite)
Fine and criminal record - 5 - 10% chance (that might be an over-estimate based on most threads on here)
Fine (not technically one but in the sense of an out of court settlement payment so no criminal record) - 90 - 95% chance
Provided you co-operate with WM Trains that is.
Jail - 0% chance (that's definite)
Fine and criminal record - 5 - 10% chance (that might be an over-estimate based on most threads on here)
Fine (not technically one but in the sense of an out of court settlement payment so no criminal record) - 90 - 95% chance
Provided you co-operate with WM Trains that is.
Cuthbert
Member
It would have been an MG11.
WMT prefer to settle out of court. Any letter you receive will say prosecutions ignore that and work with WMT.
The cost is between £150-£175 admin fee
One standard single fare each way.
Thy will look into your trainline/trainpal account and look back many years. You need to sit down and look through your history and the ones you know are fare evasion price that up as two single standard tickets. They normally do not use past bought tickets but I think one post mentions that they did.
Deffo no jail.
WMT prefer to settle out of court. Any letter you receive will say prosecutions ignore that and work with WMT.
The cost is between £150-£175 admin fee
One standard single fare each way.
Thy will look into your trainline/trainpal account and look back many years. You need to sit down and look through your history and the ones you know are fare evasion price that up as two single standard tickets. They normally do not use past bought tickets but I think one post mentions that they did.
Deffo no jail.
Thank you for the responses, it really is comforting hearing from people who are more experienced.
I am not sure which one I got. I only got a small orange slip that does not say MG11 nor Travel Incident Report. Am I supposed to receive the document that you mentioned?
I said "This happens occasionally when I am visiting my friend in london". I also confessed that I originally travelled from london euston to canley.
I am not sure which one I got. I only got a small orange slip that does not say MG11 nor Travel Incident Report. Am I supposed to receive the document that you mentioned?
signed
Established Member
Can you post that slip with all your information redacted?
So for info, an Anytime Single from Euston to Canley is currently £58.70. So if this is a typical journey of yours, then for each time they identify you have not paid the correct fare they may well ask for £58.70 x 2 for a return journey. Obviously if most of your journeys are more local then the amount will be a lot less.
How will they determine this? Typically they will look at your Trainline (or similar) account. If you're in the habit of buying "short tickets" to get through the barriers at Euston, they will assume, in the absence of any other information, that the journey you took was the same as on the day you were caught. In effect, people short ticketing leave a very helpful online trail of what they've been doing, enabling the train company to recover all the fares you've avoided, in exchange for not prosecuting you.
How will they determine this? Typically they will look at your Trainline (or similar) account. If you're in the habit of buying "short tickets" to get through the barriers at Euston, they will assume, in the absence of any other information, that the journey you took was the same as on the day you were caught. In effect, people short ticketing leave a very helpful online trail of what they've been doing, enabling the train company to recover all the fares you've avoided, in exchange for not prosecuting you.
I attached a picture of the slip. I am sorry about the clarity of the crumpled sheet. I was very stressed at that moment and unconsciously squished a potentially important document.
Will I be charged with anytime single price if I always travelled in off peak hours?
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Cuthbert
Member
Yeah that's an MG11.
And yes even in off peak as you did not pay the correct fare at the time.
Thank you for everyone's help. One final question, I am an overseas student and I plan to return to my home country in around December. How long would it take for the process to finish? And it is possible for me to settle the matter if I am in another country? It would be helpful to know because if it is not possible then I would need to reorganise my plan to go back home.
WesternLancer
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It’s hard to know how long the process will take as it depends on their staff time to look into yours and hundreds of other evasions by other people.
If you can get them to engage with you via e mail you can sort much out from overseas. You should be checking your mail and esp spam too from now on anyway as well as hard copy post. It is vital you get what they send you and vital to reply. Otherwise it will escalate to prosecution without a doubt.
But if you were summonsed to court you have to be there in person. But that would take some time and your objective should be to avoid court. Usually with help from here it is a good chance you can avoid court.
Cuthbert
Member
You can contact Digital Fraud Team site linked.
[email protected] email address. They will communicate through this email.
I know that one person was caught by the Revenue Protection team, was MG'd for short fare evasion and he contacted them on the day they agreed to an out of court settlement.
You can get mail redirected for 3 months but I think that's like £150 total cost to the USA. https://www.royalmail.com/personal/receiving-mail/redirection
Best option as WesternLancer said communicate via Email and explain the situation. WMT will prefer OOC settlement.
WesternLancer
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Yes. This is the standard fare. All other fare prices are essentially some form of ‘discount’. By charging you this there is an element of the punitive about it as otherwise why bother buying a ticket unless you get caught and on the occasion that happens you just pay their admin fee plus cheaper off peak ticket. Many would take a calculated risk and do that.
Hi everyone, I received the letter from WMTrains. I attached a photo of the letter with personal details redacted. From what I understand (please correct me if I am wrong), this means that I got a settlement offer, and if I pay the stated balance, then the case is settled (no criminal record and no prosecution). Is that correct? And if I pay, do I still need to complete the form and send the letter back to them?
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They are offering you an out of court settlement. If you pay the amount requested then that will be the end of the matter, there is no criinal record if you pay an out of court settlement.
If you pay the settlement there is no need to return the forum but I suggest you keep a screenshot from the website showing payment has been made, just in case there is any future query.
If you pay the settlement there is no need to return the forum but I suggest you keep a screenshot from the website showing payment has been made, just in case there is any future query.
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