Some horrible teenager has given my address to get out of paying for a train ticket

[Al991]

A have got a letter from the train company telling me that my son, whom I’ve never heard of, tried to dodge a ticket and now I need to pay for it. I want to ring them and tell them what’s happened but partner says we shouldn’t engage and should just write return to sender not at this address on the letter. Says if we appeal the fine that’s sort of like saying it’s our fine.

What would be the least ridiculous way to deal with this stupid situation 🙄

I had this. I wrote to them and told them this person doesn’t live at the address and they apologised and that was the end of it.

It’s likely someone that lives on your street to know your postcode because I’d have no clue about anyone else’s postcode but my own.

Unfortunately, writing Not Known and reposting the letter, is exactly what someone trying to evade paying a fine would do.

Companies know this, so tend to ignore the returned letter, moving on to the next step in their debt collecting procedure.
Much better to engage with them, and bring it to a neat conclusion, with you fully exonerated.

Total non-event. Just write/email and explain the person in question doesn’t live at your address, you’ve never heard of them. It’s happened to me several times and on each occasion it’s been a two minute job to sort.

This^

The least ridiculous way is just following his advice and not needing to post on here about it. They’re not pursuing you personally - it won’t impact your credit report or anything for example just because it’s been sent to your address. You don’t even know if it’s a teenager as all the information on there could be incorrect. Plus it could be someone that’s just got the door number wrong, so no need to jump to conclusions.

Pps made a good point about having a written record - I would email.

I wouldn’t recommend returning to sender as you don’t know who will deal with it and whether the records will be amended. I would contact them to clarify what has happened.

I used to do this as a homeless teen. Just give random names and address's. Didn't realise people still done it.

Going against the grain here but I would call AND send a recorded delivery letter. I used to work in a similar environment and calls were never logged properly but recorded delivery made a difference.

In my old place of work bailiffs had been sent to the incorrect people before due to them not replying to letters about driving in a bus lane

I have had something similar; someone registered a car to my address then didn't tax it. I wrote a short letter that stated that this person was not known at this address, that I believed the registration of the car was fraudulent, I was unable to help them further so I expected them to update their records and send no further correspondence to my address.

Put the letter in the envelope, taped it shut again, crossed out the address and wrote "Return to Sender".

Never heard anything from them again.

Oh, and don't bother calling them. They want something in writing for the file.

@Al991
If you've been given a named person and an email address/direct phone no. who is dealing with the matter such as the railway company's prosecution dept then email them or call them to tell them that your address has been given to them fraudulently. Follow up any verbal conversations with an email. Lots of railway company's now have dedicated revenue fraud sections and they want the correct person to pay.
What is most worrying OP is that in order to get a penalty notice sent to your address the fare evader must know you well enough to pass the address and I.D. check made at the time. It's in your interest to get this sorted sooner rather than later.

I had this at work - a letter arrived addressed to someone who didn’t work there (as sometimes happens) so I had opened it and it was about a charge for not having a train ticket, sounds exactly what you have had. I phoned the general number on the letter and explained. It seems to happen regularly - they cancelled the charge and we heard no more about it. Phone and tell them it’s a fake - should be easily sorted.

@MothralovesGojira are you sure they do an address and ID check? I can’t think how that could work if someone says they can’t pay for a ticket and don’t have ID or proof of address on them. In our case they would have had to have ID/address showing that they live at an IT business! It’s a very small business and the name given had no connection with us.

Which rail company? They will keep writing and depending on who it is, a claim may be processed through court.

your best bet is to send it back - and say not known at this address.

usually though, they cross reference addresses on a database but if it’s someone under 18 then I suppose they’d not be on a database.

Isn't phoning and saying it's fake exactly what someone could do if they were trying to get away with it!

Should the onus of proof be on the companies? They should have to prove it was you / your child. And just having a name and address that someone said was theirs shouldn't be seen as proof

It wasn’t addressed to the OP though.

Email them if possible and just tell them it’s a fictitious son. It could be a scam or it could be something that happens a lot!

@Al991 Post the letter, minus the name and address (even if it is not yours) on Railforums.co.uk - they will tell you exactly who to reply to and exactly what to write.

Ah, she didn't say that, she said "A have got a letter from the train company telling me that my son, whom I’ve never heard of, tried to dodge a ticket and now I need to pay for it" which would be a weird way to word it if it was addressed to the "son"

This.

You need to call them.

Makes you wonder if there's actually anyone who gives their real address when stopped for non payment on a train.

ActualCannibalShiaLeBeouf · Today 11:49
If you don't know them how did they know your name and address?”

This. Of course they could make up an address but they’re extremely unlikely to have also made up your name and got it right. It’s someone you know.
Do you know anyone with a teenaged son?

Who are they going to collect a debt from though? The OP’s non-existent son?

send an email so you have a record.