Greater Anglia penalty fare but unsure how to pay

[burberri333]

my friend and i was issued a £70 fee for using a child ticket (we are 16) and she paid on the spot as she is not a UK citizen but I am. I gave my name but that's it and Im not even sure if he wrote it down. I'm confused because I'm not sure how to pay it back since I wasn't given anything and I don't want it to esculate. what do I do???

 

[Titfield]

my friend and i was issued a £70 fee for using a child ticket (we are 16) and she paid on the spot as she is not a UK citizen but I am. I gave my name but that's it and Im not even sure if he wrote it down. I'm confused because I'm not sure how to pay it back since I wasn't given anything and I don't want it to esculate. what do I do???

When did this happen?

Are you sure you were not given any form of paperwork (at the time)?

Did you give your address?

 

[burberri333]

When did this happen?

Are you sure you were not given any form of paperwork (at the time)?

Did you give your address?

yesterday
only gave in my name
i payed part of the fee given to my friend as she only had cash
no paperwork was issued I'm guessing as nothing was given to me

 

[Titfield]

This doesn't make a lot of sense to be honest. Was the ticket scanned? What type of ticket was it?

I am just wondering if they will / can contact you via information from any account used to purchase the ticket.

Alternatively I am wondering if the member of staff you spoke to has somehow failed to follow the correct procedure.

 

[burberri333]

This doesn't make a lot of sense to be honest. Was the ticket scanned? What type of ticket was it?

I am just wondering if they will / can contact you via information from any account used to purchase the ticket.

Alternatively I am wondering if the member of staff you spoke to has somehow failed to follow the correct procedure.

thats what im thinking n im stressing
i didn't give in my postcode but even now I'm second guessing everything but I'm sure I gave no form of address
I dropped my friend off at the airport and he just let me leave to go back

 

[AlterEgo]

It's more likely that the OP was reported for prosecution, but their friend was not, because the friend is not a citizen and the likelihood of recovery is low (hence a penalty fare was given, which was immediately paid).

 

[Mawkie]

I believe TfL penalty fares are £100, reduced to £50 for prompt payment.

It would be helpful to know where this happened (at a station gate line, on a train, which train company, etc).

 

[burberri333]

I believe TfL penalty fares are £100, reduced to £50 for prompt payment.

It would be helpful to know where this happened (at a station gate line, on a train, which train company, etc).

yesterday
i was told £73
on the train to stansted
at the gates

 

[AlterEgo]

yesterday
i was told £73
on the train to stansted
at the gates

If it was on the Stansted Express or at Stansted Airport it’ll be Greater Anglia you’ll be dealing with. Was this at Stansted Airport?

 

[burberri333]

If it was on the Stansted Express or at Stansted Airport it’ll be Greater Anglia you’ll be dealing with. Was this at Stansted Airport?

yes but i wasnt given anything
im looking on the website and it says that I need to fill in the details of the forum which I wasn't given

 

[reb0118]

What type of ticket did you hold? In that I mean the medium used to store/present the ticket. E.g. was it a paper ticket issued from a machine or ticket office, was it an m-ticket (activated through an app & shown on a mobile device), or an e-ticket where you can show it as a print off or on an electronic device?

If it was an m-ticket or e-ticket then these are traceable to whoever purchased them. Did you purchase them? Whether the train company (Greater Anglia) decides to do so is the question you want answered.

Regardless of potentially being traceable via your purchasing method it should be best practice for the revenue officer to also take personal details and issue a receipt - but this is sometimes not the case.

 

[island]

It's more likely that the OP was reported for prosecution, but their friend was not, because the friend is not a citizen and the likelihood of recovery is low (hence a penalty fare was given, which was immediately paid).

This would be my interpretation also.

 

[WesternLancer]

yes but i wasnt given anything
im looking on the website and it says that I need to fill in the details of the forum which I wasn't given

What this looks like is that you have been reported for investigation as opposed to being issued with a Penalty Fare like your friend was.

The reason I think this is because if you were given a Penalty Fare you would have been given paperwork with details including how to pay and how to appeal etc.

But if you have been 'reported for investigation' (often called a TIR which I think stands for Travel Irregularity Report) they will write or e mail you in the coming weeks about your ticket irregularity. It’s vital you receive that and respond to it. Check your hard copy post and e mail and spam (for any e mail address linked to your ticket buying account for however you bought the ticket you travelled with) regularly.

This isn’t good news for you as it’s likely to cost more than the £50 penalty fare issued to your friend and has the potential to include the threat of prosecution at court for a railway ticket offence.

When you hear from them, head back here for advice on what to do and how to respond to them.

Part of their reason for investigating you will be to see if there is evidence of other occasions when you may have travelled with child tickets that you are not entitled to use so they can charge you for that travel at the correct adult rate. So you need to think if you have done this before and if so how often you have done that.

You should also see if you can get a 16-17 saver Railcard to legitimately reduce your fares to child rate. If you do that now it is something you can say that you have done to change your habit and reduce your fares legally.

Alternatively it’s possible the staff member didn’t do anything and has effectively let you off. But I’m afraid that’s probably unlikely.

 

[burberri333]

What this looks like is that you have been reported for investigation as opposed to being issued with a Penalty Fare like your friend was.

The reason I think this is because if you were given a Penalty Fare you would have been given paperwork with details including how to pay and how to appeal etc.

But if you have been 'reported for investigation' (often called a TIR which I think stands for Travel Irregularity Report) they will write or e mail you in the coming weeks about your ticket irregularity. It’s vital you receive that and respond to it. Check your hard copy post and e mail and spam (for any e mail address linked to your ticket buying account for however you bought the ticket you travelled with) regularly.

This isn’t good news for you as it’s likely to cost more than the £50 penalty fare issued to your friend and has the potential to include the threat of prosecution at court for a railway ticket offence.

When you hear from them, head back here for advice on what to do and how to respond to them.

Part of their reason for investigating you will be to see if there is evidence of other occasions when you may have travelled with child tickets that you are not entitled to use so they can charge you for that travel at the correct adult rate. So you need to think if you have done this before and if so how often you have done that.

You should also see if you can get a 16-17 saver Railcard to legitimately reduce your fares to child rate. If you do that now it is something you can say that you have done to change your habit and reduce your fares legally.

Alternatively it’s possible the staff member didn’t do anything and has effectively let you off. But I’m afraid that’s probably unlikely.

can they do that with just my name?

What this looks like is that you have been reported for investigation as opposed to being issued with a Penalty Fare like your friend was.

The reason I think this is because if you were given a Penalty Fare you would have been given paperwork with details including how to pay and how to appeal etc.

But if you have been 'reported for investigation' (often called a TIR which I think stands for Travel Irregularity Report) they will write or e mail you in the coming weeks about your ticket irregularity. It’s vital you receive that and respond to it. Check your hard copy post and e mail and spam (for any e mail address linked to your ticket buying account for however you bought the ticket you travelled with) regularly.

This isn’t good news for you as it’s likely to cost more than the £50 penalty fare issued to your friend and has the potential to include the threat of prosecution at court for a railway ticket offence.

When you hear from them, head back here for advice on what to do and how to respond to them.

Part of their reason for investigating you will be to see if there is evidence of other occasions when you may have travelled with child tickets that you are not entitled to use so they can charge you for that travel at the correct adult rate. So you need to think if you have done this before and if so how often you have done that.

You should also see if you can get a 16-17 saver Railcard to legitimately reduce your fares to child rate. If you do that now it is something you can say that you have done to change your habit and reduce your fares legally.

Alternatively it’s possible the staff member didn’t do anything and has effectively let you off. But I’m afraid that’s probably unlikely.

i was told i had 90 days to pay n then he just never gave me anything

What this looks like is that you have been reported for investigation as opposed to being issued with a Penalty Fare like your friend was.

The reason I think this is because if you were given a Penalty Fare you would have been given paperwork with details including how to pay and how to appeal etc.

But if you have been 'reported for investigation' (often called a TIR which I think stands for Travel Irregularity Report) they will write or e mail you in the coming weeks about your ticket irregularity. It’s vital you receive that and respond to it. Check your hard copy post and e mail and spam (for any e mail address linked to your ticket buying account for however you bought the ticket you travelled with) regularly.

This isn’t good news for you as it’s likely to cost more than the £50 penalty fare issued to your friend and has the potential to include the threat of prosecution at court for a railway ticket offence.

When you hear from them, head back here for advice on what to do and how to respond to them.

Part of their reason for investigating you will be to see if there is evidence of other occasions when you may have travelled with child tickets that you are not entitled to use so they can charge you for that travel at the correct adult rate. So you need to think if you have done this before and if so how often you have done that.

You should also see if you can get a 16-17 saver Railcard to legitimately reduce your fares to child rate. If you do that now it is something you can say that you have done to change your habit and reduce your fares legally.

Alternatively it’s possible the staff member didn’t do anything and has effectively let you off. But I’m afraid that’s probably unlikely.

i also dont understand why i would go through an investigation if I am only 16
thank you so much for the advice though it really is appreciated

 

[John R]

You need to answer the question as to what type of ticket you held. Was it an e-ticket, bought online, or bought at the station? If we know the answer to that we can tell you how likely it is that you will be contacted.

 

[WesternLancer]

can they do that with just my name?

Yes, if they scanned your ticket with a bar code as that ticket is linked back to your contact details (eg the e-mail address you used when buying there ticket - which would then be how they contact you - hence your need to check that e-mail including the spam, or they could check via the bank payment details you possibly used to buy the ticket) - this is why @John R is asking you what type of ticket you had / where / how you bought it.

If you want good advice it's important you answer the question people asking you here

i was told i had 90 days to pay n then he just never gave me anything

Penalty Fares are reduced to £50 if paid within 21 days, and if not paid at all then they are usually escalated via some sort of debt collection process, by which time extra costs will be added. But we don't know if you were issued with a Penalty Fare as you have no paperwork - even though your friend seems to have been issued with one.

i also dont understand why i would go through an investigation if I am only 16
thank you so much for the advice though it really is appreciated

Because they can investigate anyone who is travelling without a valid ticket. If you were 16 or over and had a child ticket (which is what you say was the case) they would potentially investigate that, and also look to see if you did this regularly. It may mean that because of your age they would not prosecute you, but they might write to your parents / guardian seeking the money for fares that have been evaded. They will have a policy on this which is probably available to read on the Greater Anglia website.

 

[burberri333]

You need to answer the question as to what type of ticket you held. Was it an e-ticket, bought online, or bought at the station? If we know the answer to that we can tell you how likely it is that you will be contacted.

e ticket online

 

[John R]

e ticket online

In which case they have all the information they need to contact you and if necessary bring a case against you.

 

[WesternLancer]

In which case they have all the information they need to contact you and if necessary bring a case against you.

which essentially means that all @burberri333 can do at this stage is wait and see if they get contacted within the next 6 to 8 months, by keeping an eye on their post, e-mail and spam.

When they receive something they should return here to ask for specific advice on how to respond to that.

The OP needs to consider (and they don't need to say it here) if there are other times they have bought child fares after they turned 16 years of age, as it is likely the railway company will ask them about that and will have checked on line ticket buying to see if there is evidence of this happening.

meanwhile the OP should buy a 16-17 Saver Railcard so they can buy fares at a discount (which means the ticket is the same rate as child fares) and use them to travel without breaking the law. In my view they should do this as soon as possible as it will show the op has 'learned a lesson' which is the sort of thing the Railway want to see when investigating things.
see:

16-17 Saver | Half Price Travel | Railcards - 16-17 Saver

50% off Rail Fares for just £35 with the 16-17 Saver Railcard. Enjoy great train journeys for less - Buy Now.

www.16-17saver.co.uk

 

[burberri333]

which essentially means that all @burberri333 can do at this stage is wait and see if they get contacted within the next 6 to 8 months, by keeping an eye on their post, e-mail and spam.

When they receive something they should return here to ask for specific advice on how to respond to that.

The OP needs to consider (and they don't need to say it here) if there are other times they have bought child fares after they turned 16 years of age, as it is likely the railway company will ask them about that and will have checked on line ticket buying to see if there is evidence of this happening.

meanwhile the OP should buy a 16-17 Saver Railcard so they can buy fares at a discount (which means the ticket is the same rate as child fares) and use them to travel without breaking the law. In my view they should do this as soon as possible as it will show the op has 'learned a lesson' which is the sort of thing the Railway want to see when investigating things.
see:

16-17 Saver | Half Price Travel | Railcards - 16-17 Saver

50% off Rail Fares for just £35 with the 16-17 Saver Railcard. Enjoy great train journeys for less - Buy Now.

www.16-17saver.co.uk

Can I ask why they didnt give me any paperwork? Surley It would make more sense for me to fill out my details?

 

[WesternLancer]

Can I ask why they didnt give me any paperwork? Surley It would make more sense for me to fill out my details?

Because they don’t need to give you paper work to report you for investigation. They would give paper work for a penalty fare I think.

This is my guess.

 

[chrisjo]

Was the £70 paid in cash? Was a receipt issued?

 

[burberri333]

Because they don’t need to give you paper work to report you for investigation. They would give paper work for a penalty fare I think.

This is my guess.

I wish they gave me any paper to confirm everything because I've been stressing about it since it happened with no true confirmation about whats happening. thanks tho

Was the £70 paid in cash? Was a receipt issued?

no i dont think so

 

[WesternLancer]

I wish they gave me any paper to confirm everything because I've been stressing about it since it happened with no true confirmation about whats happening. thanks tho


no i dont think so

Yes. It’s not very helpful that they don’t issue some sort of paper notice at the time.