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Rail fare fine
Moomoo12345
Posts: 3 Newbie
Hi everyone, hope someone can advise me!
A couple of months ago my 14 year old daughter bought a return ticket for our local train service (Merseyrail).
The outward part of the journey went to plan and then when coming back she was unable to find her return ticket for the journey, she had lost it from her pocket during the day sometime.
She gave her correct details. I wanted to challenge the fine so I waited until receiving the letter from them regarding it. From memory the letter, when I received it said I had 21 days to respond, but due to me being away I never received the letter until day 22/23 after they had sent it.
I emailed them and stated my daughters case, they said the fine had now doubled from £20 to £40 as I hadn’t replied in 21 days!
I called them and emailed again to request they reset the fine to the original amount of £20, I explained I had been away and not received the letter until I returned. At this point I did not want the fine escalating more and more, and I had given up trying to reason with them to get the fine squashed. I received no reply to my request to reset the fine back to £20.
Then last week I received a letter, from their solicitors (or appears to be) stating the fine was now over £80 and to avoid further action to pay now?!
The letter was sent to my first name (spelt incorrectly) then “parent of xxxxx xxxxx (my daughters name)”.
My question is - what do I do? My daughter is 14, had genuinely bought a ticket. Merseyrail are doubling the fine when they see fit.
A couple of months ago my 14 year old daughter bought a return ticket for our local train service (Merseyrail).
The outward part of the journey went to plan and then when coming back she was unable to find her return ticket for the journey, she had lost it from her pocket during the day sometime.
She gave her correct details. I wanted to challenge the fine so I waited until receiving the letter from them regarding it. From memory the letter, when I received it said I had 21 days to respond, but due to me being away I never received the letter until day 22/23 after they had sent it.
I emailed them and stated my daughters case, they said the fine had now doubled from £20 to £40 as I hadn’t replied in 21 days!
I called them and emailed again to request they reset the fine to the original amount of £20, I explained I had been away and not received the letter until I returned. At this point I did not want the fine escalating more and more, and I had given up trying to reason with them to get the fine squashed. I received no reply to my request to reset the fine back to £20.
Then last week I received a letter, from their solicitors (or appears to be) stating the fine was now over £80 and to avoid further action to pay now?!
The letter was sent to my first name (spelt incorrectly) then “parent of xxxxx xxxxx (my daughters name)”.
My question is - what do I do? My daughter is 14, had genuinely bought a ticket. Merseyrail are doubling the fine when they see fit.
Is this a “fine” or just an “invoice”.... obviously this is a civil matter.
What will happen if I ignore it? Or should I respond to it?
Im really confused and don’t know what to do for the best. Any help help greatly appreciated here!!
What will happen if I ignore it? Or should I respond to it?
Im really confused and don’t know what to do for the best. Any help help greatly appreciated here!!
0
Comments
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This is beyond the scope of this forum however in my opinion it would depend on whether the journey was necessary as to whether they could enforce it. Minors can only be held liable for goods and services that are necessary.
I would imagine that this would struggle if taken to court. If you have the ticket for the outward journey that would surely prove that she bought a return.
Nolite te bast--des carborundorum.1 -
Its a difficult one, as mersey rail are very quick to end up in the mags court
But i am not sure not about liability as a parent on this, it was an adult then id just say pay it otherwise it would definitely end up in the magistrates, its not a county court issue2 -
No she didn’t have the return ticket when she was asked for it by the ticket inspector. She thought it was still in her pocket from when she first bought the return ticket in the morning, but when asked to produce it she couldn’t find it 🙈 typical 14 year old lol.
I’m not sure where I stand with it as I requested they set the fine back to the original amount of £20 (they didn’t respond to this request) and now it’s over £80! Surely I’m not liable as I was not on the train and what can they do to my daughter as she is 14?! So confused lol0 -
You would do better by getting this moved to the Public Transport forum TBH - that’s where most questions of this type get handled.1
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"No she didn’t have the return ticket when she was asked for it by the ticket inspector. She thought it was still in her pocket from when she first bought the return ticket in the morning, but when asked to produce it she couldn’t find it
typical 14 year old lol."
When you buy a return you have two tickets one for the outward journey and one for the return journey and these are marked as such. You don't always have to hand in the outward journey ticket at the destination. If she still has this it will prove that she has bought a return even though she has lost the return ticket. It would otherwise say single on that outward journey ticket.
Nolite te bast--des carborundorum.1 -
No she hasn’t got the ticket now so we have nothing to show the ticket was originally bought.0
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I would suggest you seek advice from the experts...
2 -
Why has this been posted on a motoring forum?You never know how far you can go until you go too far.0
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