Advice On Rail Ticket Evasion Fine
bully36
Forumite 12 Posts
Good Evening,
My Mother has recently received a letter for Rail fare ticket evasion by her boyfriend ( was her boyfriend up until now).
It has been sent by the courts stating that he has been fined £800. He has been with her a couple of years, and has only stayed from time to time.
He has had absolutely no mail sent to her address in the past, as he always had it sent to his old residence. So he has never been on the electoral roll either.
Stupidly she allowed him to take out one of those railcards which allows discounts and used her address, and It looks like the court have used this as his address to send the fine.
But as i say this is the only mail he has ever had sent there and has never paid any bills, only she has. So they're all in her name.
Where does she stand legally?. Although it is in his name it has her address attached and she is worried that bailiffs will come take her stuff away if he doesn't pay, as she doesn't have receipts for everything to prove it's hers.
He is going to visit the court to see if he can come to an arrangement or get the court to change the address to his previous place.
Oh and also the letter arrived yesterday and the courts want the money in five days!. £800 pound is a lot of money she doesn't have.
I really could do with some advice and extremely grateful for your help. Thank you ever so much!!
My Mother has recently received a letter for Rail fare ticket evasion by her boyfriend ( was her boyfriend up until now).
It has been sent by the courts stating that he has been fined £800. He has been with her a couple of years, and has only stayed from time to time.
He has had absolutely no mail sent to her address in the past, as he always had it sent to his old residence. So he has never been on the electoral roll either.
Stupidly she allowed him to take out one of those railcards which allows discounts and used her address, and It looks like the court have used this as his address to send the fine.
But as i say this is the only mail he has ever had sent there and has never paid any bills, only she has. So they're all in her name.
Where does she stand legally?. Although it is in his name it has her address attached and she is worried that bailiffs will come take her stuff away if he doesn't pay, as she doesn't have receipts for everything to prove it's hers.
He is going to visit the court to see if he can come to an arrangement or get the court to change the address to his previous place.
Oh and also the letter arrived yesterday and the courts want the money in five days!. £800 pound is a lot of money she doesn't have.
I really could do with some advice and extremely grateful for your help. Thank you ever so much!!
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If the alleged fare evader genuinely claims that the letter your mother has received is the first they have ever heard about it, they should contact the court ASAP to tell them that. The court would be able to explain what the options are.
So if i am correct in what you're saying is that because it's a court letter and because of the amount involved is not the first instance and due to accruing fines, that it has now become a court matter?
Would the court be able to send bailiffs to take things away from her even though he has no items at her address?. Some things she has receipts for, but as you can imagine not everything like most people.
As mentioned previously he is not on the electoral role either.
Yes, potentially the court could send baliffs to take away goods to the value of the fines and costs, because he has given your mother's address.
Your mother should insist that he pays the fines and costs, and start saving so she can pay them if the bailiffs come and she forgets not to open the door to them. (This is one reason why everyone should have an emergency fund.) With luck, no bailiffs will ever come and your mum will have £800+ to treat herself.
The trouble is couldn't pretty much anybody lie to a ticket inspector about their address, and get away with the fine?, and the victim at the address given be liable. Which is wrong?. Which is how the electoral role comes into play.
Thanks again for your time it's greatly appreciated.
This.
If the debt is in his name (I am assuming the railcard is in his name, too) then the bailiffs (should they come) cannot touch anything that belongs to her - nor does she have to pay it.
As others have said, your mum should tell the court that he no longer lives there.
If she does get a bailiffs letter information here :-
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/action-your-creditor-can-take/bailiffs/stopping-bailiffs/stopping-bailiffs-if-you-dont-owe-the-debt/
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/action-your-creditor-can-take/bailiffs/what-bailiffs-can-take/check-what-bailiffs-can-take/
I suggest that she visits her local Citizens Advice/advice centre for more detailed help and support. Take the letter with her.
This is not strictly true, as NeilCr has explained. A debt always attaches to a person, not to an address. The only goods that could, in theory, be taken are those belonging to the person who has the debt.
If so, and if bailiffs come round, and if they find his stuff there, and she has no receipts for her own stuff, there could be trouble.
For things to have got as far as a fine the train company will have written to the boyfriend, and if there was no response the court would have sent him a summons, and only then after being found guilty in his absence would he get a fine. Here's an example of how ignoring this stuff doesn't make it go away.
Possibly. But there are a lot of ifs in there. And OP's mum is not there yet. It sounds like ex boyfriend is going to try to reach agreement with the court re repayments. And the mum should get in touch with them herself
And she may have receipts - and/or (quite common) there may not be anything in the house worth much, anyway.
I repeat my advice of going to CAB if she has any concerns.
They went to the court today (as she didn't trust him to do it on his own) and have removed my Mum's address and used the other address he will now be staying at for good, and agreed a payment plan.
The court have said that should anymore mail come to my Mum's address to get straight back in touch with the courts. The court by the way were of the opinion that it is the person that has the debt attached and not the address. Not quite sure how that works to be honest if the person doesn't pay?