FCC Prosecution threatening court summons

[Smadziel1]

Hello,

 

I recently returned from a holiday in Poland to find a delayed letter from the FCC wanting to prosecute me for an unpaid fare. I was travelling from Hatfield towards Kings Cross and before the stop at Kings Cross the ticket inspector arrived in my carriage. I was in possession of a 16-25 Young Persons Rail Card but I lost it on earlier on that day which I told the inspector. The ticket Inspector wrote me a ticket, i provided all the necessary details and told him that I could prove my Young Persons card from the receipt i received when i was originally issued it. He said that he will still have to write a ticket and you can write a letter in appeal once i receive a copy of the penalty.

 

However, a week later I was due to leave for Poland and the penalty still didn't come and when I returned it still did not arrive in my mail. Only today I found a letter with my name on it regarding the FCC prosecution written to the wrong address.

 

I am clueless as to what i can do. I attempted to contact them but no response. I am an 18 year old student wanting to become a teacher and a criminal record is the last thing I would want especially before my career has even started. Any help to avoid getting a criminal record even if it means paying an extra fine i would gladly take.

 

Many Thanks,

Szymon

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG. Iexpect the forum regulars will be along later with advice for you.

 

Can you tell us what the letter says please? Is it asking for your version of events? If it is, then the guys should be able to tell you what to write.

 

My best HB

[Smadziel1]

Well the problem is my mother took my letterl mistakenly to France and it was her that found out the problem and the issue. My mom stated that in the letter it is saying that i am required to attend a court summons. However this morning i called the FCC office and said i did not receive any penalty notice only a court summons meaning I couldn't defend my case. The correspondent then asked for my address and turns out that rather than 15G it was mistyped 159 which doesn't exist in my area so the ticket was sent to the wrong address. They said that the issue has been reopened and that i have 14 days to reply. I have the receipt with me for my Young Persons Railcard and will photocopy it tomorrow and send it again with a letter that i drafted.

 

Any suggestions or help that I would be able to receive regarding this issue?

[Old-CodJA]

Firstly, if this was a Penalty Fare matter, you will have been handed a printed, numbered Penalty Fare Notice at the time of travel. If not, you were reported for possible prosecution.

 

If you were issued a Penalty Fare Notice and did not respond within 21 days, there will have been two further letters before a Summons was issued. They may have also gone to a wrong address, but the Penalty Notice would have been handed to you

 

Secondly, the Terms & Conditions of the Railcard make clear that you MUST SHOW the actual railcard, which has your photograph on it, for the discounted ticket to be accepted as valid. If not, then a new full fare ticket becomes due. The holder of the Railcard accepts these conditions when applying or the Railcard will not be issued.

 

Sending a photo-copy of a receipt is unlikely to be accepted as proof, because it MUST be the actual Railcard with your photograph on it. If you send a letter with a clear photocopy of your complete Railcard you may be lucky and they may accept it, but they are not obliged to do so.

[Smadziel1]

Ah. Well The inspector said that when i get a copy of the receipt I could respond to it so i understood that when i receive it I would be able to defend my case, the receipt did not come and the only letter i received was a threat of court summons.

I also did say to the inspector that if needed i would be prepared to pay the fare on the spot at the time because I had no intention of buying a discounted ticket but he said there was no need if I have proof so would he not be in the wrong?

 

I guess if they don't accept it I will send a photocopy of my railcard. However, because I couldn't find my original receipt I went ahead and paid for a completely new one because i needed it for university. Now i have two receipts with one card that was issued after the date of the penalty issue so would that complicate my case? I would send them photocopy of both the receipts and my current railcard but inform them that as I could not find the receipt of my old one at the time I was forced to create a new one.The railcard has the same details as the previous one.