Slip of paper from Ticket Inspector??

[Mrssimmy]

Good Morning - I wonder if someone might be able to help with a problem my daughter had last week. My daughter has a monthly season ticket purchased with a 16-17 saver card but she didn't have this railcard with her at the time and ended up in trouble with the Ticket Inspector. The inspector completed a form and gave her a slip of paper. Unfortunately, she subsequently lost this bit of paper whilst walking to college (she was in full panic mode and in tears to me on the phone as she was late). Does anyone know what this was and whether we should now expect a fine in the post? Or, is there a website that we need to upload the railcard to to prove she bought her ticket legally. I have called Southern rail and 2 prosecutions teams but they need a penalty notice reference, which we don't have! I have now received advice now on how railcards should be used and my daughter makes sure she has her railcard to hand should she get asked again - we are very new to this!
Thank you.

 

[Rich McLean]

More than likely wan an Unpaid Fare Notice (UFN), but could have been a penalty fare. As she didn't have her railcard on her, the Monthly season ticket would be Null and Void without it, so a Full Anytime Single Fare would be due.

What amount was she asked to pay, and where did she travel to and from?

 

[Mrssimmy]

Thank you for your response.

The (very small) piece of paper given was torn off from the bottom of the form so doesn't sound like a normal penalty fare notice (but I've not seen a rail one before to be honest!). She seems to think that she needed to upload her railcard to a website and didn't mention anything about paying a fine or another ticket for her journey. She was travelling from Barnham to Chichester.

 

[clagmonster]

It sounds like a slip to send the valid railcard in to the prosecutions office. A few have been pictured on the forum before. Sadly, I think they do usually have a reference number.

First piece of advice I would say is to search high and low, in case it is in a crevice of a bag or pocket or similar.

 

[Haywain]

The (very small) piece of paper given was torn off from the bottom of the form

This could have been an MG11, which would mean your daughter is being reported for potential prosecution. Whether this or a missing railcard form, if it cannot be found, then you are likely to have to wait for a letter from the train company to come so that you can respond properly.

 

[Hadders]

Southern is operated by GTR so it's highly likely to be a slip to send a copy of the railcard in. It's rail industry policy that passengers who forget their railcard should be given an opportunity to send a copy of it in to avoid further action on the first occasion.

The best advice I can give is to find out the address of the Prosecutions Office (GTR do have a prosecutions office at Kings Cross but I'm not sure if that covers the whole of their operation or just the Great Northern part) and write an old fashioned letter to them giving as much detail as you can about the case, i.e. your daughters full name, date of birth, day the incident happened, exact train travelled on etc. Send the letter by recorded delivery.

Hopefully this will give them sufficient information to locate the case and conclude it without further action. If anything more does come of it then you can use the fact that you sent them a letter with full details by recorded delivery as evidence that you have tried to engage with them and hopefully they would take this into consideration when deciding how to proceed.

 

[tsr]

Either that or a TIR slip. GTR staff do still use Travel Irregularity Report forms, and the slip from these is particularly small (and awkward to tear off...).

 

[Mrssimmy]

Thank you everyone

All sorted - spoke to a lovely lady @ GTR who asked me to email her the railcard and she will print it off and tie up with the notice when they receive it!

 

[Wolfie]

Thank you everyone

All sorted - spoke to a lovely lady @ GTR who asked me to email her the railcard and she will print it off and tie up with the notice when they receive it!

Just make sure that you give all of the details in your covering email and get an acknowledgement. Written conformation is always better than oral - things can go wrong....