Time between receiving MG11 and contact from southeastern?

[HRC132]

Has anyone got any idea what the waiting time is on hearing from southeastern after receiving an MG11. Unfortunately I was issued with one at the end of feb and still haven’t received anything.

 

[Pushpit]

Southeastern are not the fastest train company. It can be 6 days, 6 weeks or up to nearly 6 months. So long as you gave your correct name and address there isn't a lot more you can do except wait. They may be delving into your previous travel history and that can take a while.

 

[HRC132]

Thank you, if they take longer than 6 months to contact you does that mean they can no longer take you to court?

 

[Hadders]

If they want to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court under the Railway Byelaws or Regulation of the Railways Act then they must 'lay papers before the court' (to give it the technical name) within six months of the date of the offence. Theorectically, depending on what you've done, they might be able to charge you under a different act to which the six month limit doesn't apply, the Fraud Act is the one that's often threatened although prosecutions for fare evasion under this act are very rare.

We are seeing train companies take action through the civil courts to recover fares owed. IIRC they have six years to bing a case in the civil courts.

 

[HRC132]

If they want to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court under the Railway Byelaws or Regulation of the Railways Act then they must 'lay papers before the court' (to give it the technical name) within six months of the date of the offence. Theorectically, depending on what you've done, they might be able to charge you under a different act to which the six month limit doesn't apply, the Fraud Act is the one that's often threatened although prosecutions for fare evasion under this act are very rare.

We are seeing train companies take action through the civil courts to recover fares owed. IIRC they have six years to bing a case in the civil courts.

Thank you!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Might SouthEastern potentially prosecute for some fraud offence if the railcard's expiry date had been inappropriately altered?

 

[John R]

Might SouthEastern potentially prosecute for some fraud offence if the railcard's expiry date had been inappropriately altered?

Even if it doesn’t, it will be very clear that the offence committed was deliberate, as opposed to the (presumably) many accidental cases they and we see where a railcard has passed its expiry date without the traveller realising.

So any letter sent will need to bear that in mind, and the rail company’s response may also reflect a more serious offence.

 

[AlterEgo]

Might SouthEastern potentially prosecute for some fraud offence if the railcard's expiry date had been inappropriately altered?

We don’t see much appetite for this, even though an altered railcard is straight up fraud.

 

[Hadders]

Thank you! Stupidly I hadn’t renewed my railcard and have utilised that to get a discount quite a regularly over a period of around 6 months, my friend had photoshopped the date on my old one to look like it hadn’t expired but this time the officer scanned the card revealing it was out of date. I know it was wrong so don’t need a lecture from anyone on that and expecting a rather hefty fine from them but hoping I will be able to request to settle outside of court?

Altering a railcard is a serious issue and theoretically this could be considered fraud. That said, I don't think I've ever seen a case of a fraud prosecution for an altered railcard mentioned on here.

 

[HRC132]

Altering a railcard is a serious issue and theoretically this could be considered fraud. That said, I don't think I've ever seen a case of a fraud prosecution for an altered railcard mentioned on here.

Thank you, I understand how serious this is. What kinds of approach have you seen before?

 

[Hadders]

The best thing I can suggest is when Southeastern contact you write a very apologetic letter asking if they will consider settling out of court. This will be expensive as you will have to pay the cost of all the fares you have avoided at the full Anytime rate in addition to an admin fee. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, you need to wait for their letter to arrive to see what thet say. When it comes post a redacted copy of it in this thread along with you draft reply and we can proof read your reply.

The good news is Southeastern are normally willing to settle out of court with people whi co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before. If you were dealing with Transport for London you would be off to the Magistrates Court.....