Delay Repay - Train cancelled but joined at different station

[paulfoel]

Bought ticket from A to C. Due to overrunning engineering works train cancelled. Next train would be 3 hours time.

So I got taxi from home to B (which is mainline station on the route). Train an hour later than planned.

In terms of delay repay compensation, should I be claiming for the 3 hours delay? (Which is what my journey should have been). Or just the one hour because I made my own arrangements?

Seems fair to me to claim the 3 hours delay because of the extra costs incurred.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Difficult one. Delay Repay is generally paid on what *did* happen, not what *could* have happened, so probably only one hour. Though you could send in the taxi receipt and appeal for a discretionary payment.

 

[paulfoel]

Probably cheaper for them to process the delay repay lol.

One thing I've always thought as a bit of a flaw in the system where a passenger can use any train they wish and no record is made of it.

If I catch the 8am train to somewhere and then notice that the 10am train was cancelled or was one hour late, I could submit a claim. The TOC have no way of knowing which train I'd caught or planned to catch.

Not suggesting its done because, it is, after all, fraud (and I dont need the £8 or whatever that badly!)

However, wasn't there a website where you paid for a subscription and it pretty much advised you of all the delayed trains on your route that day. Implying to me that a customer could claim for any journey that was thus flagged.

 

[yorkie]

Bought ticket from A to C. Due to overrunning engineering works train cancelled. Next train would be 3 hours time.

So I got taxi from home to B (which is mainline station on the route). Train an hour later than planned.

In terms of delay repay compensation, should I be claiming for the 3 hours delay? (Which is what my journey should have been). Or just the one hour because I made my own arrangements?

Seems fair to me to claim the 3 hours delay because of the extra costs incurred.

The problem with claiming for a theoretical delay is that you may not be able to be certain that alternative arrangements were not made for people who actually made the journey.

If I catch the 8am train to somewhere and then notice that the 10am train was cancelled or was one hour late, I could submit a claim. The TOC have no way of knowing which train I'd caught or planned to catch.

There are cases when you could get away with it, yes.

Not suggesting its done because, it is, after all, fraud (and I dont need the £8 or whatever that badly!)

There have been cases of people being caught doing this.

However, wasn't there a website where you paid for a subscription and it pretty much advised you of all the delayed trains on your route that day. Implying to me that a customer could claim for any journey that was thus flagged.

Yes, people have done this, but given that the information informs people of delays to trains, yet what matters is the delay to your journey, which may not always be the same thing, it is unsurprising that some people have been caught committing fraud.

 

[sheff1]

In out of the ordinary cases such as this, I would not use any online Delay Repay forms. Instead I would write to/email Customer Services explaining exactly what happened and what you did. That way there is no possibility of perceived 'fraud'.

In this specific case, there is nothing to be lost by stating in the letter/email that you believe you should receive compensation based on a 3 hour delay as that is how late you would have been if you had not proactively taken the taxi. If it turns out that the TOC did provide alternative transport from 'A' to 'B' they can then say so and calculate the compensation accordingly.