Received a fine of £318 from SWR and dont know where to begin...

[georgefirmino]

I was at waterloo station on 29 oct 2023

was stopped and asked to provide my ticket,

i did

they proceeded too try and interrogate me about it

told me id be receiving a letter or email about the case.

I just have

its a total of £318.70.

DO i guilt trip orrrr?

[honeybee13]

Hello, welcome to CAG.

Could you post up SWR's letter please so we can start to understand your issues? Cover up your name, address and any reference numbers.

Best, HB

[honeybee13]

We really need to see SWR's letter please, so we can understand what's happened so far and what you can do about it.

If you're having trouble putting the letter onto your thread, have a read of our upload guide [click on the word upload].

HB

[BazzaS]

Why do you think they wanted to "interrogate" you on the day, and have now written to you?

Was your ticket valid for you (bearing in mind any age and railcard restrictions), and valid for the time of day, class of travel, and whole length of your journey?.

It isn't possible to give you reliable detailed advice without knowing such details, of why they weren't happy with the ticket you produced, and what the letter you have received states.

[georgefirmino]

Here’s the letter. 
Upon remembering, at this date I accidentally selected a 16-17 Saver card.

I told this to the man and said it was simply an accident and he looked over it.

Id like to make it clear however it was a £3.70 ticket, which the saver reduced to to £1.85. (50%)

I wouldn’t risk a fine over £1.85 , and thought they’d understand that it was a simple mistake that it was on, but I guess not.

 

trainfine.pdf

[honeybee13]

Thank you for the letter.

Where were you travelling from and to please?

HB

[georgefirmino]

I was going Vauxhall to Waterloo 

[honeybee13]

Their letter doesn't give much away but it sounds as if they think you travelled further than that. Do you know why?

HB

[georgefirmino]

I have no idea, this happened with my ex girlfriend who was charged £1300 for multiple offences, im not sure if I’ve done this in the past but not from what I can remember unless I have accidentally selected it multiple times without me knowing. 

But I have absolutely no other knowledge of how it could’ve added up to this much, considering I told the ticket inspector what platform I got on, how I got tot the station and from what side I approached

[honeybee13]

I see a forum regular is hovering and will see what they say first but I have another question.

What kind of ralicard do you have?

HB

[Grotesque]

15 minutes ago, honeybee13 said:

Their letter doesn't give much away but it sounds as if they think you travelled further than that. Do you know why?

HB

Because Vauxhall is the last stop until Waterloo itself. Unfortunately, they have an innate suspicion of passengers who arrive with not only a wrongly discounted ticket but also the cheapest available ticket to Waterloo. It seems to them as if they losing out twice. That is what they mean by "if we have cause to report you for furthjer offences".

They are basically offering you the oopportunity tio settle out of court, but mindful that, if they then find out that you travelled from further away (a "short stopper"), the offer could be withdrawn.

Presumably you gave them the correct address?

 

Edited January 17 by Grotesque
further

[georgefirmino]

I don’t have a railcard at the minute and not even sure why the option was on. The last time I’ve even selected it from that date was to check the difference in prices between the regular ticket and one with a  railcard.

Just now, Grotesque said:

Because Vauxhall is the last stop until Waterloo itself. Unfortunately, they have an innate suspicion of passengers who arrive with not only a wrongly discounted ticket but also the cheapest available ticket to Waterloo. It seems to them as if they losing out twice.

So does this explain the massive penalty and why it may be bigger than just the ticket price itself?

[honeybee13]

So at the time you travelled, did you have a railcard at all?

HB

[georgefirmino]

I did not, no

[honeybee13]

Maybe @Grotesque can answer this if you don't know.

If you bought tickets online, are you able to view if a particular railcard was used to buy them?

HB

[Grotesque]

Yes, see this image.

[georgefirmino]

I bought it on my old phone, and it wasn’t linked to an account. I’m looking at my Trainline account now and it’s not showing anything purchased for that date

[honeybee13]

I'm running out of ideas for now. @Grotesque, what would you think about asking SWT where how they calculated their figure please?

Moving on for a minute, this letter says you can pay the £318 to make this go away, or you can ask to go to court to argue your case.

HB

[georgefirmino]

I’m thinking of sending an email to the prosecutions office so I maybe able to talk to someone directly to figure out how it’s amounted a figure this high

[honeybee13]

While we wait for Grotesque, I'm wondering why SWT didn't send a letter asking for your version of events. I didn't think they normally went straight to this kind of letter.

1 minute ago, georgefirmino said:

I’m thinking of sending an email to the prosecutions office so I maybe able to talk to someone directly to figure out how it’s amounted a figure this high

Do you have the name of whoever wrote the letter or a phone number?

HB

[Grotesque]

@honeybee13 I don't think there's much point. They're offering to keep this out of court, but that just means a penalty fare instead. That's £100 plus the unpaid fare. (Apologies, @georgefirmino, I've just realised that I am only now answering your post to me.)

As you say above, there's a suggestion that they don't believe that the OP's journey originated in Vauxhall.

So, since they don't know where the OP began their journey, they will charge the maximum single fare as the basic ticket price and the PF on top. I note that the standard saver single Waterloo to Weymouth is £66.60, which puts us in the right ballpark.  

I would strongly advise the OP take the hit - sorry! - and go with option 1. Firstly, since they're making the offer, you don't have to beg, and it will be over and done with.

Secondly, they obviously think there's more to this than meets the eye. Taking their offer would avert any subsequent action.

As they see it: the cheapest ticket on the route was presented, with the cheapest (50%) discount applied; the OP suggests this is accidental, but when a passenger chooses a discount card, this has to be confirmed, so decreasing the chances of it happening accidentally; and - apologies if I've misunderstood - you were travelling with someone who was also prosecuted for fare evasion? I'm afraid the prosecution office might be ringing alarm bells at this point.

Of course, it's totally up to you. Best of luck!

[georgefirmino]

Ah no I was travelling by myself, the ex girlfriend of mine was issued this letter for a different event in July of last year. 

I can see how this adds up now yes, but am struggling to see the operations costs and do think that’s a bit steep but, it is what it is.

Only issue is me being just turned 18 so the money side is the issue rather than anything.

[Grotesque]

Ah, then the ex can remain well out of the picture  

If you'd just turned 18, if you don't mind me asking, how long after your birthday were you stopped at Waterloo?

It might be worth writing. Bear in mind that as far as money goes, I think they've got a pretty slam dunk case, and the court will uphold their costs, etc and impose their own. So option one is still cheaper.

That's if you're happy with it, of course. And since you need to respond in writing to agree, it might be worth emphasising that money's tight - although that applies to everyone. It's ironic that you could've legally held the discount card at the time, being under 18.

[honeybee13]

How are you getting on, GF?

HB

[georgefirmino]

Honestly, I’m still really stressed out about it. I don’t have enough to pay the fine so I’ve requested an extension that until the end of the month so I can get this sorted