Forgotten Railcard

[CBlain]

Hello
My daughter travelled on Friday 29th March on LNER between London Kings Cross and Leeds with an Advance ticket, discounted as she has a 16-25 Railcard. When the guard asked to see her ticket she realised she had forgotten her Railcard and was issued with a Penalty Fare Notice - rather than a new ticket - for £132.50. She has called LNER services who were surprised she was not issued with a new ticket and told her they couldn't help and she should contact the LNER department which deals with penalty fare and revenue protection. The questions we have are:
1. She has been unable since to get through to the number on the penalty fare, it rings and rings until it cuts off. Does anyone know if there is another number available?
2. The LNER website states she should have been issued with a new ticket which, as this is a first offence, would have been refunded. Anyone can venture a guess why she was given a penalty fare instead?
3. She is writing to appeal the Penalty fare, however her ticket was a mobile ticket and she doesn't know how to print it. Any suggestions?
It all seems very harsh for a student who has never had any issues in over 3 years of travelling on this service and for a genuine mistake...
Thank you for any advice!

 

[Fare-Cop]

Hello
My daughter travelled on Friday 29th March on LNER between London Kings Cross and Leeds with an Advance ticket, discounted as she has a 16-25 Railcard. When the guard asked to see her ticket she realised she had forgotten her Railcard and was issued with a Penalty Fare Notice - rather than a new ticket - for £132.50. She has called LNER services who were surprised she was not issued with a new ticket and told her they couldn't help and she should contact the LNER department which deals with penalty fare and revenue protection. The questions we have are:
1. She has been unable since to get through to the number on the penalty fare, it rings and rings until it cuts off. Does anyone know if there is another number available?
2. The LNER website states she should have been issued with a new ticket which, as this is a first offence, would have been refunded. Anyone can venture a guess why she was given a penalty fare instead?
3. She is writing to appeal the Penalty fare, however her ticket was a mobile ticket and she doesn't know how to print it. Any suggestions?
It all seems very harsh for a student who has never had any issues in over 3 years of travelling on this service and for a genuine mistake...
Thank you for any advice!

It appears that either you, or your daughter have some clear misunderstandings. LNER do not issue Penalty Fare Notices according to their published policy

Please see here https://www.lner.co.uk/customer-service/revenue-protection-policy/

An Unpaid Fare Notice is not a penalty. It is as it describes, a notice that requires payment of the single fare indicated on it.

 

[30907]

Are you able to upload a picture of the document issued (personal details obliterated)?

The reason I ask is that LNER do not have a Penalty Fares scheme, and the fare of £132.50 is the undiscounted Anytime Single fare. I would have expected your daughter to have received an Unpaid Fare Notice as per

https://www.lner.co.uk/customer-service/revenue-protection-policy/

"LOST AND FORGOTTEN TICKETS
"When you have a reservation and receipt but you’ve lost your ticket
"If you lose your train ticket you will have to buy a new one or else be issued with a Unpaid Fare Notice (UFN). You then have 21 days to find your lost ticket and show it to us, otherwise you will need to pay your UFN."

Sorry, Fare-Cop has made the point more quickly.

 

[najaB]

When the guard asked to see her ticket she realised she had forgotten her Railcard and was issued with a Penalty Fare Notice - rather than a new ticket - for £132.50.

Might I suggest you clarify exactly what was said at the time? As others have pointed out, LNER don't operate a Penalty Fare scheme so I suspect the conversation went something like this:

Inspector: Can I see your railcard please?
Daughter: Oh, I don't have it.
Inspector: You'll need to pay for a new ticket then. You can get it refunded if you show your railcard later. That's £132.50, please.
Daughter: I don't have that much on me.
Inspector: Okay, well you'll either have to pay this (hands over UFN) or show your railcard and it can be cancelled.

 

[CBlain]

Thank you everyone for your replies and sorry for using the wrong terminology regarding the Unpaid Fare Notice, i have not seen the document as my daughter is now back in London. Nevertheless my main query was how to get the UFN cancelled within the 21 days if there is no answer when ringing the number on the notice, and how to prove my daughter had a valid ticket as she is not able to print her mobile e-ticket to send with a letter to the address provided. Any advice on these two points would be appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[Sleeper]

A quick google has thrown up this link:-

http://trainsupport.custhelp.com/ap...ket-and-selected-e-ticket,-how-do-i-print-it?

Whilst it isn't an LNER web-page, it may give you some hints on where to look.

 

[najaB]

Nevertheless my main query was how to get the UFN cancelled within the 21 days if there is no answer when ringing the number on the notice, and how to prove my daughter had a valid ticket as she is not able to print her mobile e-ticket to send with a letter to the address provided.

If your daughter had purchased a new ticket the procedure would be to visit a LNER ticket office, show her railcard and receive a refund of the second ticket. It might be worth giving that a go with the UFN if you don't get anywhere with calling.

 

[Haywain]

how to prove my daughter had a valid ticket as she is not able to print her mobile e-ticket

It's important to ask here where (which website) the ticket was purchased. If it was purchased through LNER, sending the booking reference should suffice. A screenshot of the ticket would also help.

visit a LNER ticket office, show her railcard and receive a refund of the second ticket. It might be worth giving that a go with the UFN

I am pretty sure that LNER ticket offices do not have any power to cancel an Unpaid Fare Notice. It would be much better to write to the relevant address.

 

[RPI]

There should be an address to dispute the UFN, get her to take a screenshot of the mobile ticket and print out and send with the dispute. Is there not an online facility for disputing it?

 

[najaB]

I am pretty sure that LNER ticket offices do not have any power to cancel an Unpaid Fare Notice. It would be much better to write to the relevant address.

I'm not sure either, just suggesting a possible solution if they aren't able to get anywhere by calling/writing. It would eliminate any suggestion that the OP's daughter was trying to avoid paying the fare due.

 

[Haywain]

It would eliminate any suggestion that the OP's daughter was trying to avoid paying the fare due.

I don't think it would achieve anything, other then frustration at the inability to do anything that would be seen to be helpful.

 

[najaB]

I don't think it would achieve anything, other then frustration at the inability to do anything that would be seen to be helpful.

It would be very hard for LNER to say that the OP's daughter was trying to avoid payment if she can show that she (a) attempted to speak with customer services; (b) attempted to speak with the prosecutions team; and (c) attempted to deal with the issue at a ticket office. I suspect at that point LNER would just say to tear the notice up and forget about it.