Claiming for a taxi

[Grumpy Git]

On 9th December, I was hoping to catch the EMR 1L09 Liverpool-Norwich service at Liverpool South Parkway (departing at 10:02) en-route to Manchester Airport. Changing at Manchester Oxford Rd and scheduled to arrive at Manchester Airport at 11:00.

Unbeknown to me, there had been a points failure at Edge Hill and all trains were at a standstill when I arrived at approximately 09:35.

Upon inquiring, none of the staff at the station (or a Northern driver stuck on a service in platform 2) knew when it was likely to get resolved, or had any information whatsoever (just a shrug of the shoulders)!

As I was in danger of missing my flight (scheduled to depart from Manchester at 13:00), I arranged and paid for my own taxi to the airport, (several other passengers were also arranging taxis).

How do I claim a refund from EMR for the cost of the taxi, which was almost £63 (and do I have a right to a refund for the taxi cost under railway regulations)? I have tried calling EMR by 'phone, but each time after waiting in the queue, as soon as I reach "position 5", the call cuts-off (this has happened 3 times, hence this post).

In the event, EMR turned around the next inbound Norwich-Liverpool service at South Parkway and it actually departed 18 late at 10:20 (arriving at my change station of Manchester Oxford Rd 20 late at 10:58), but by this time, I was half-way to the airport in the taxi.

As always, thanks in anticipation for all advice.

 

[Dewedin]

You have a right to a full refund of your unused ticket due to the disruption and that's probably it. This is always a risk when planning to arrive at an airport only 2 hours before the flight departs.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Did you even have a ticket prior to arriving at the station and being informed of the delays? If not then you couldn't possibly have any claim. If you did then you could claim through some consumer legislation but personally I doubt you would win. Persisting with EMR's customer service is probably your best realistic chance of recouping anything.

 

[Fokx]

Might be one for your travel insurance rather than the railway if the train only departed 18mins late.

 

[LowLevel]

If your flight was due to depart (not check in close) at 1300, the Airport recommend you arrive at least 90 minutes to 2 hours before departure time and you weren't due to arrive at the Airport Station until 2 hours before.

That leaves no margin for error and I feel you would be unlikely to be successful in a claim that the railway had failed to deliver their service in such a way that a £63 consequential taxi fare would be reasonable for them to foot, though I would expect a refund for the train fare.

They might give it to you as a gesture but I wouldn't expect success.

 

[Trainman40083]

I suspect in most cases, consequential losses are not covered.

 

[Titfield]

I suspect in most cases, consequential losses are not covered.

No they aren’t. Travel providers ts and cs state this. Because my bus could be late (£3 fare) which means I missed my meeting with a top film producer who was going to pay me £10M to star as the villain in the next Bond movie.

 

[Trainman40083]

No they aren’t. Travel providers ts and cs state this. Because my bus could be late (£3 fare) which means I missed my meeting with a top film producer who was going to pay me £10M to star as the villain in the next Bond movie.

I bet if you were being offered £10m you'd make sure you got there, no matter what it cost

 

[Titfield]

I bet if you were being offered £10m you'd make sure you got there, no matter what it cost

True Even if it meant commandeering a double decker bus and driving it under a low bridge.

 

[Trainman40083]

True Even if it meant commandeering a double decker bus and driving it under a low bridge.

I think that was a different film. Cracking RT job

 

[Starmill]

No they aren’t. Travel providers ts and cs state this. Because my bus could be late (£3 fare) which means I missed my meeting with a top film producer who was going to pay me £10M to star as the villain in the next Bond movie.

This really isn't related though. We're not talking about a consequential loss, we're talking about a direct loss. In any case consequential losses can be covered under the NRCoT, so I don't know what a bus company has to do with anything.

The problem in this case is that a short delay of less than 20 minutes is just to be expected and doesn't warrant replacement transport by taxi.

 

[All Line Rover]

Correct, 20 mins won't cut it for a taxi, I'm afraid.

 

[Starmill]

The train arrived at Manchester Piccadilly at 1102 and there was a Transport for Wales service behind it from the same platform, which arrived at Manchester Airport at 1126. So you wouldn't even have qualified for the half-hour level of delay compensation had you stuck, only the quarter-hour.

 

[AlterEgo]

Planning to arrive less than two hours before a flight by rail is in "asking for trouble" territory I'm afraid.

 

[Grumpy Git]

You have a right to a full refund of your unused ticket due to the disruption and that's probably it. This is always a risk when planning to arrive at an airport only 2 hours before the flight departs.

Thanks for the information.

No luck at my local ticket office at Cressington where I bought the ticket. I didn't recognise the clerk, he wasn't one of the regulars, but he said he previously worked in the Merseyrail office that processed refunds. He recons I have to claim my refund on the unused portion from EMR?

Is he telling me porkies?

According to the conditions of travel, I'm due 50% of my ticket cost back as it was caused by disruption. £15.70 off-peak return is my ticket and I used the return portion. An off-peak single is exactly half price (£7.85)

 

[island]

No luck at my local ticket office at Cressington where I bought the ticket. I didn't recognise the clerk, he wasn't one of the regulars, but he said he previously worked in the Merseyrail office that processed refunds. He recons I have to claim my refund on the unused portion from EMR?

Is he telling me porkies?

Yes. For an abandoned journey due to disruption, the refund is claimed from the seller. Merseyrail clerks tend not to like doing anything other than a single to town or a day saver, so you'll need to contact customer services. And soon, as there's a 28 day time limit and it's been 24 already.

As others mention, claiming for a taxi is most unlikely to go anywhere.

 

[Starmill]

As you've left it a tad late, I'd be tempted to telephone 0151 555 1111 today, and explain that you bought a ticket from a Merseyrail station, but need a refund owing to the train being delayed and you seeking alternative means of transport. Get them to give you a reference number for the case and ask them to explain how you'd send the ticket back to them. This will ensure you don't miss the deadline. You can mention you visited a ticket office and they were unable to proceed with the refund.

 

[Haywain]

£15.70 off-peak return is my ticket and I used the return portion.

I don't think you did yourseldf any favours in using the return portion of the ticket. It would have been better to have bought a new ticket and leave the original unused.

 

[Grumpy Git]

I don't think you did yourseldf any favours in using the return portion of the ticket. It would have been better to have bought a new ticket and leave the original unused.

In hindsight, this appears to be the easiest option, however, after traveling for several hours, the last thing I needed to be thinking about was buying a new (single) ticket at MIA station. I'm just ready to crash on to the next departure heading towards MCO.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Jan 2026 ==

Merseyrail have refunded it without quibble (as their WhatsApp agent said they would under the circumstances). Interestingly, the reason given on their email approving this is 'train fault 777', which is completely incorrect as it was a points failure at Edge Hill and totally unrelated to the 777's which were all running to time!

If anyone needs to get in touch with Merseyrail in the future, I would highly recommend their WhatsApp service (0151 555 1111). They answer very quickly and have never failed to resolve an issue for me, (unlike their website which must be one of the least intuitive rail websites in the country to navigate)?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Starmill]

A sensible outcome given the circumstances. Glad Merseyrail customer service were able to refund the ticket. Thank you for updating us.