Request reducing the amount of payment for Pre-court settlement offer - traveling with an expired Railcard

[Crist]

Hi
I have got a pre-court settlement offer from GWR for traveling with an expired rail card and they calculated all travels I did without a valid rail card. Am I able to ask for reducing the amount ? Or is it better to just pay the requested amount now?
I just have 11 more days to pay.

Thanks for your help.

 

[spotify95]

Others will be around with better advice, but unless there are some obvious errors in their calculations (such as the number of times traveled etc) I'd recommend paying. Otherwise, the out of court settlement offer may disappear and you'll end up in court - not a good solution because the railway will win.

 

[jfollows]

I agree with spotify95, unless you dispute the facts behind their calculations such as your not having made the journeys they claim with an expired railcard then I think you're better simply to pay.

If you disagree with the basis of their calculations - full single fare for each journey made with an expired railcard I imagine - then that's just what they tend to ask for. Unless you dispute the facts behind these, I wouldn't argue at this point.

 

[AlterEgo]

Hi
I have got a pre-court settlement offer from GWR for traveling with an expired rail card and they calculated all travels I did without a valid rail card. Am I able to ask for reducing the amount ? Or is it better to just pay the requested amount now?
I just have 11 more days to pay.

Thanks for your help.

On what grounds are you asking to reduce the amount? Have they correctly calculated the fares avoided, or is there a dispute in facts?

 

[Hadders]

We really need to know more about your specific case to be able to comment but it’s quite usual for the fares charged in an out of court settlement to be the full Anytime price with no discounts.

We have seen errors in the calculation successfully challenged but it’s a risk as GWR could withdraw the settlement offer and send the matter to the Magistrates Court.

 

[island]

Hi
I have got a pre-court settlement offer from GWR for traveling with an expired rail card and they calculated all travels I did without a valid rail card. Am I able to ask for reducing the amount ? Or is it better to just pay the requested amount now?
I just have 11 more days to pay.

Thanks for your help.

It depends.

If you can show that the calculation was wrong or based on incorrect facts, you may be able to get this corrected.

If you are just arguing that the amount is "too much" or "too harsh", it's unlikely such an argument will be entertained.

We have seen errors in the calculation successfully challenged but it’s a risk as GWR could withdraw the settlement offer and send the matter to the Magistrates Court.

This is very good advice.

 

[Brissle Girl]

If GWR has not set out a schedule with each journey and the fare it is charging you then you might want to work it out yourself to satisfy yourself that it is correct. It will almost certainly be based on an Anytime Single fare for each journey, with no offset for the fare you paid.

Now if your journeys were long distance, then these can quite quickly add up to significant amounts. As an example, an Anytime Single from Bristol to Paddington is currently £132.60, whereas you might have paid as low as £20 for an Advance Single. And there would be two of those for a return journey.

If they have calculated the amount correctly then it isn't worth appealing, as a) these settlements are non-negotiable unless they have made an error, and b) the risk is that they withdraw it and say "see you in court", as others have highlighted.