Received a penalty fare for someone that doesn't live at my address.

kazbox55

Hi all, 

Looking for some advice here. I received a letter addressed to 'parents or guardians of xxx xxxx' and opened it as when I quickly glanced at it I thought it said my sons name (the name on the letter had the same initials as my son and I was on the way out of the door when I was looking at it quickly). Inside was a penalty fare notice saying this child had traveled on the train without a ticket and telling me I had to pay over £100 for this. 

I looked into it and it is a genuine company but to appeal the fare I have to provide personal details such as passport number etc which I'm not comfortable with doing. 

The letter states if it's not paid it will either result in a criminal record or they will send debt collectors. I am concerned about this as we are looking to move in the next year and I'm worried about the affect this will have on my credit score. What should I do?

tacpot12

They have absolutely no need for your passport number. Many people don't have a passport, so requiring this to appeal is clearly bogus.

If you have home insurance, check to see if you have Legal Expenses cover. If you have this cover, you should call the Legal Helpline provided by your insurer for advice.  

The company might be genuine, but the pentaly fare letter doesn't sound as though it is. I expect you will be advised to the company, sending them a copy of the letter you have received and confirming that there is no-one with that name living at your address. 

elsien

Is it possible that your son has been caught fare evading - how old is he? 

heatherw_01

Could your son have given a fake name but your address?

Passport number sounds like it is a scam though.

Keep_pedalling

You don’t have to appeal against the penalty if the person committing the offence was not your child, just write back telling them you do not know who this person is and they don’t live at your address. 

FlorayG

The letter wasn't addressed to you as you are not the parent/guardian of the offender, so just tell them there is nobody of that name at your address. You can't be held liable for a debt that wasn't even addressed to you

daveyjp

No need for any concern about Court or debt collectors becuse as you say the letter is for someone who doesn't live at your address.

 I'd write with the letter enclosed simply stating these facts.

RAS

Any chance that your son knows the errant fare dodger who decided to use a fake address when challenged? 

But meantime just return it with a note that they gave the wrong address and offender not resident.

Exodi

RAS said:

Any chance that your son knows the errant fare dodger who decided to use a fake address when challenged? 

But meantime just return it with a note that they gave the wrong address and offender not resident.

Or, consider the other possibility that the son gave a fake name when challenged. This seems more likely considering the address is the same and the initials are the same.

Honestly I can only imagine how many not known at this address returns they get when billy smith from 1 surrey road tells them his name is bobby smith.

Nasqueron

kazbox55 said:

Hi all, 

Looking for some advice here. I received a letter addressed to 'parents or guardians of xxx xxxx' and opened it as when I quickly glanced at it I thought it said my sons name (the name on the letter had the same initials as my son and I was on the way out of the door when I was looking at it quickly). Inside was a penalty fare notice saying this child had traveled on the train without a ticket and telling me I had to pay over £100 for this. 

I looked into it and it is a genuine company but to appeal the fare I have to provide personal details such as passport number etc which I'm not comfortable with doing. 

The letter states if it's not paid it will either result in a criminal record or they will send debt collectors. I am concerned about this as we are looking to move in the next year and I'm worried about the affect this will have on my credit score. What should I do?

Please note that the fake credit score is not seen nor used by any lender, it plays no part in any credit application -lenders look only at your history and score it themselves on their own systems that you will never see. Further, a debt in your son's name is more complicated, you are the parents but I believe (but could be wrong, this is just what I read), it's not your debt and you wouldn't get the credit record hit - even though it's a civil redress, it's a criminal act and your son would be responsible (if it was his debt) and he would be prosecuted.

The passport stuff seems weird, maybe they are trying to prove it's him not a fake name. Can you have a conversation with him and confirm it genuinely isn't him? Explain that if they know it's him and traced him, he could get a criminal record if he avoids it - stopping travel to some places, making it harder to get a job etc - so he must be honest.

Andy_L

reseal it, write "not known at this address" on it & stick it in a post box