Features

Platform: Delay repay

31 Mar 2014 by Alex McWhirter

Alex McWhirter has his say on the issues facing rail passengers. This month, he focuses on compensation for delays
 

When it comes to passenger rights, our TOCs (train operating companies) need to pull their socks up in terms of compensating customers for late-running trains.

Under the current Delay Repay scheme, 50 per cent of the ticket price is refunded for delays of between 30 and 59 minutes. The fare is fully refunded for delays of 60 minutes and more.

That seems generous but, in fact, it doesn’t come out of the TOCs’ pockets – they simply claim the money back from Network Rail. Still, many claims are never made because passengers find the system too complex or are unaware it even exists. Unlike EU airlines, our TOCs are under no obligation to inform passengers of their rights.

Rail compensation chart

ORR rail compensation chart

That is backed up by a recent Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) report, which concluded that only one in ten passengers bothered to make a claim. One in four were unsure of how to claim, while one in 20 wouldn’t claim because the payout would be in the form of vouchers and not cash. Vouchers are tricky to redeem for online bookings so it means having to visit a ticket office, which can be a palaver when booking Advance offers, as offices may restrict the hours they will sell such fares.

When it comes to paying up, some TOCs are more proactive than others. Contrast the current paper timetables issued by East Coast and East Midlands Trains. One contains Delay Repay information, the other does not.

East Coast is the most helpful. Contributors to our forum report that staff meet late-running services at London King’s Cross to hand passengers Delay Repay forms. Figures for 2012 published last year in the Evening Standard show East Coast paid £6.83 million in Delay Repay refunds – over four times more than each of the other listed TOCs.

Interviewed in February on BBC Radio 4’s consumer programme You and Yours, rail expert Tony Miles explained some of the complexity. He said: “Not all TOCs abide by the more generous Delay Repay scheme. Some remain signed up to the older scheme, which dates back to privatisation and is not particularly generous.

“There can be confusion where routes are served by more than one TOC. A passenger making two different journeys with different TOCs could find that two sets of rules apply. Oxford-Reading would be an example.”

The fact that UK trains do not have compulsory reservations can complicate the issue further. It’s fine if you have booked an Advance ticket, which requires a compulsory booking, because the TOC can track your train. But if you’re using an open-dated ticket then you must take care to note the journey details.

Miles said passengers had 28 days to submit a claim and that for passengers using open tickets, “it might speed up the claim if you can get a staff member to note the train and delay details on the ticket”.

Another issue is exit barriers that swallow up tickets. In theory, when trains are delayed staff are supposed to leave the ticket barriers open, but this doesn’t always happen. No ticket, no claim.
Remember, too, that rail tickets – unlike their airline counterparts – must be treated like cash. (Open-dated rail tickets carry no name so can be used by anyone.) When you submit a claim, they should be sent recorded.

Claiming rail compensation remains problematic. The above ORR chart will help to unravel what you can and cannot claim for.

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