Hi All,
I need your help and advice. Please excuse any typos in my post. I have received a letter from GWR that I did not pay the UPFN within 21 days therefore I now have 14 days to pay it along with £50 admin fee. The thing is I was not aware of the UPFN and the 21 days period to appeal etc. I am new to this country and the background is as follows:
I purchased a ticket online through my GWR account on March 2016 for the value of £71.20. My Companys head office is in Bristol and I travel to Bristol occasionally for meetings and I travel back the same day. I always buy open return ticket as it gives me the flexibility to catch any return train after I finish my meetings. Because this is a business travel and the company reimburses my expense after I collect the ticket from the ticket machine, while waiting for the train I normally tend to put in my expense claim for travel and then I take a picture of the receipt (train ticket and oyster card top up) and upload it on the system. After that since I have put in my claim I normally throw away the receipts (train ticket and oyster card top up) and only keep the train ticket for my travel.
On that particular day while waiting for the 9:00am service from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads I put in my claim and then instead of throwing away the receipt I accidentally threw away the tickets. I was not aware of this (i.e. that I had thrown away the actual tickets instead of the receipts) until I reached Bristol Temple Station and when I reached the barricades I took out my wallet to take out the ticket to go through it but I could not find it however, I found the receipt. This is when I realised that I had accidentally thrown away the ticket. I went to the GWR staff and explained the situation the person asked me to show him the receipt and the email confirming I bought the ticket online. I showed it to him and he said he was satisfied that I had actually bought the ticket. He then told me that they will let you out here but when you go back to London you might face an issue. He then said I will issue you a ticket and on that I write it that you had lost your ticket. Just show it when you exit at London and they will let you out.
Now I was not made aware by the person who issued the ticket that it was an unpaid fare notice and that I need to appeal against it. He told everything was ok just show this ticket and they will let you out at London. I was in a rush as I was getting late for meeting so I took the ticket and signed as requested as I thought there was nothing else to it.
22 days after the incident I received a letter from GWR of their intention to prosecute if I did not pay within 14 days £121.20 letter. I straight away called the number and explained my case the person asked ot put hti sin writing adn send in any supporting evidence. I did that and I attached the following documents:
1. Print out from GWR online account confirming purchase of ticket
2. Print outs from GWR online account showing summary of other tickets purchased for my business travel to Bristol Temple Meads
3. Print out from the companys expense claim system that the expense for the train ticket was submitted on the system on the said date
4. Print of the picture of the ticket receipt that was uploaded on the companys expense claim system
I called them again to confirm if they received my letter explaining the situation along with the proof of documents I sent across. Initially they said they did not but when I mentioned the time of signature and who signed it they confirmed they have received the letter.
Now when I read different forums and the fact that it is strict liability law etc. I believe I have to pay and even though I paid for the ticket there is no point in appealing. My only worry is, what if GWR replies to me after 14 days will they then go ahead with prosecution? I mean I do not want any criminal record and just to avoid the headache would pay the money. But since I have sent a letter as asked by them along with proof I thought it is better to wait for them to reply.
Please advise
I need your help and advice. Please excuse any typos in my post. I have received a letter from GWR that I did not pay the UPFN within 21 days therefore I now have 14 days to pay it along with £50 admin fee. The thing is I was not aware of the UPFN and the 21 days period to appeal etc. I am new to this country and the background is as follows:
I purchased a ticket online through my GWR account on March 2016 for the value of £71.20. My Companys head office is in Bristol and I travel to Bristol occasionally for meetings and I travel back the same day. I always buy open return ticket as it gives me the flexibility to catch any return train after I finish my meetings. Because this is a business travel and the company reimburses my expense after I collect the ticket from the ticket machine, while waiting for the train I normally tend to put in my expense claim for travel and then I take a picture of the receipt (train ticket and oyster card top up) and upload it on the system. After that since I have put in my claim I normally throw away the receipts (train ticket and oyster card top up) and only keep the train ticket for my travel.
On that particular day while waiting for the 9:00am service from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads I put in my claim and then instead of throwing away the receipt I accidentally threw away the tickets. I was not aware of this (i.e. that I had thrown away the actual tickets instead of the receipts) until I reached Bristol Temple Station and when I reached the barricades I took out my wallet to take out the ticket to go through it but I could not find it however, I found the receipt. This is when I realised that I had accidentally thrown away the ticket. I went to the GWR staff and explained the situation the person asked me to show him the receipt and the email confirming I bought the ticket online. I showed it to him and he said he was satisfied that I had actually bought the ticket. He then told me that they will let you out here but when you go back to London you might face an issue. He then said I will issue you a ticket and on that I write it that you had lost your ticket. Just show it when you exit at London and they will let you out.
Now I was not made aware by the person who issued the ticket that it was an unpaid fare notice and that I need to appeal against it. He told everything was ok just show this ticket and they will let you out at London. I was in a rush as I was getting late for meeting so I took the ticket and signed as requested as I thought there was nothing else to it.
22 days after the incident I received a letter from GWR of their intention to prosecute if I did not pay within 14 days £121.20 letter. I straight away called the number and explained my case the person asked ot put hti sin writing adn send in any supporting evidence. I did that and I attached the following documents:
1. Print out from GWR online account confirming purchase of ticket
2. Print outs from GWR online account showing summary of other tickets purchased for my business travel to Bristol Temple Meads
3. Print out from the companys expense claim system that the expense for the train ticket was submitted on the system on the said date
4. Print of the picture of the ticket receipt that was uploaded on the companys expense claim system
I called them again to confirm if they received my letter explaining the situation along with the proof of documents I sent across. Initially they said they did not but when I mentioned the time of signature and who signed it they confirmed they have received the letter.
Now when I read different forums and the fact that it is strict liability law etc. I believe I have to pay and even though I paid for the ticket there is no point in appealing. My only worry is, what if GWR replies to me after 14 days will they then go ahead with prosecution? I mean I do not want any criminal record and just to avoid the headache would pay the money. But since I have sent a letter as asked by them along with proof I thought it is better to wait for them to reply.
Please advise
