- By Louise Parry, Justin Dealey & Tony Fisher
- BBC News, Bedfordshire
Image source, Justin Dealey/BBC
David has a whole folder of letters demanding payment of rail fare penalty fines from as far away as Germany and The Netherlands
An elderly couple say they are living in fear of “debt collectors knocking at the door” after receiving letters about rail fare-dodging.
David and Marjorie Ball from Luton have been receiving penalty notices from across western Europe.
But they said they had not travelled abroad since 2008.
“It’s completely ruined our lives. We wait for the post, the letterbox goes and we say ‘Oh God, I hope it’s not another letter’,” said Marjorie, 78.
“But it is, and your stomach completely turns over… we don’t know how to handle it.”
The first penalty letter arrived in 2017 from a British train company demanding £165.50 for an unpaid fare.
Although it was sent to the Balls’ home, it was not addressed to them in person.
“That was resolved by me contacting the company, and I was able to get it squashed,” said Mr Ball, 81.
“The train company apologised.”
David Ball said they were getting a letter a week demanding fines for fare dodging
More recently, letters began turning up from rail companies and debt collectors in France, Germany and The Netherlands.
“Before the pandemic, we were getting one or two letters a week,” said Mr Ball. “Then it stopped in 2020. And this year it started again.”
“Both me and my wife are old age pensioners and it’s just beating us down day on day, never knowing what to expect in the post.”
One letter seen by the BBC is a court order from The Hague.
Another letter from Credit Limits International, purporting to be issued on behalf of SNCF (French National Public Railways) said: “The French Treasury may instruct doorstep collection agents to visit you at the above address”.
After Mr Ball contacted CLI, he said they agreed to not send any further letters or take further action.
But despite paying a solicitor £400 to write a “cease and desist” letter, he said most other companies had not responded.
The Balls said they were at a loss to work out who was giving out their address and suspect someone else is trying to avoid paying their train fares and fines.
Having bought a new house 36 years ago, no-one else has lived at their home and they do not have any children.
“They’ve used four or five different names over a period of time,” said Mr Ball.
Legally, the letters are not addressed to Mr and Mrs Ball, so why are they so worried?
“Someone is out there with our address. How is he getting away with it? Are others doing the same?” said Mr Ball.
“There’s always a fear of debt collectors knocking on the door,” added his wife.
“So far it’s not happened. But we just don’t know where it’s all going to end.”
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