Avanti repeatedly delaying Delay Repay claim

[Coleridge]

I'd very much appreciate some advice on how to deal with Avanti repeatedly delaying, for spurious reasons, a valid claim for Delay Repay.

On 28 July, I was supposed to travel on the 08.52 service from Edinburgh to Birmingham, as the first leg of a journey from Edinburgh to Penarth. I received notice of the cancellation while I was on my way to the station, at about 08.30. The following Transpennine train was also cancelled (broken-down train at Lockerbie), and I eventually caught the 10.52 Avanti service. I arrived home over two hours late, because the Crosscountry and TfW trains were delayed too.

I submitted a claim for Delay repay the same day, 28 July. On 25 August, exactly 28 days later, Avanti rejected the claim, saying:

Our systems show that your provided ticket(s) were used for travel on an earlier service or on an alternative route to avoid disruption. We are only able to compensate for the actual delay you experienced, and therefore this claim has been rejected.

This was nonsense, and I immediately appealed, stating very clearly that their systems were incorrect and that I had travelled on the 10.52 service.

Yesterday, 22 September, Avanti sent an email saying they "are unable to continue processing your claim without you providing further information" and asked me to upload images of my tickets. This is despite the fact that I uploaded everything when I made the claim - you can't submit a claim without doing so.

I shall, of course, do what they ask and upload the tickets again, but am expecting to have to wait another month for a response and possibly have the claim rejected again for a random reason.

Can I now refer this to the ombudsman? It's been over 40 working days since the original claim, but do I now have to wait until 40 days after the appeal?

Or can I go straight to MCOL (online small claims)? Would I need a deadlock letter before doing this?

It's not a huge amount of money, but it's the principle. This should be an extremely straightforward claim.

 

[AlterEgo]

Ring them up first. If no movement after a few days, go to the Ombudsman.

 

[Coleridge]

Ring them up first. If no movement after a few days, go to the Ombudsman.

Thanks.

I did speak to a customer service agent a few days ago, and was told that claims were taking longer than usual to process.

I've re-submitted the tickets, and will give it a few days.

(Attempting to download the tickets from Avanti's website gave me repeated errors, so perhaps their systems are playing up.)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Today at 12:12 ==

So, it didn't take another month as I had feared. Avanti replied within a couple of hours, rejecting the claim again. This time,

The ticket provided is not valid for the journey you've claimed for. Therefore, your claim has been rejected on this occasion.

I have double-checked the ticket numbers and I definitely uploaded the correct tickets.

I don't seem to be able to appeal against this - there's no button, as there normally would be. Do I only get one appeal? So, I now go straight to the ombudsman?

 

[Watershed]

Thanks.

I did speak to a customer service agent a few days ago, and was told that claims were taking longer than usual to process.

I've re-submitted the tickets, and will give it a few days.

(Attempting to download the tickets from Avanti's website gave me repeated errors, so perhaps their systems are playing up.)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Today at 12:12 ==

So, it didn't take another month as I had feared. Avanti replied within a couple of hours, rejecting the claim again. This time,



I have double-checked the ticket numbers and I definitely uploaded the correct tickets.

I don't seem to be able to appeal against this - there's no button, as there normally would be. Do I only get one appeal? So, I now go straight to the ombudsman?

I'm not sure whether the Ombudsman will accept the initiation of a Delay Repay claim as a "complaint" which starts the 8-week clock on taking it to the Ombudsman. But there is no harm in trying on Tuesday, which will be when 8 weeks are up. In the meantime there is also nothing lost by raising a complaint with Avanti (that would ordinarily be the next step in escalating a rejected Delay Repay claim) in the hope that this gets the matter resolved sooner.

 

[Haywain]

But there is no harm in trying on Tuesday, which will be when 8 weeks are up.

Perhaps worth mentioning at this point that the Ombudsman website helpfully has a 40-days calculator.

 

[Dave_D]

If you are claiming to have been on the 0852 train and it was cancelled as was the next one, I would imagine you have an open at shut case, unless there was another route that you could have used (assuming your ticket was valid)

If that’s the case I would consider the small claims court.

I have had similar responses in the past and successfully claimed.

Surely, if your ticket was really invalid they would be chasing you!

 

[speedy1]

If that’s the case I would consider the small claims court.

For which there is a £35 upfront fee, some legal admin work to do, a mandatory arbitration phone call, and potentially 6-14 month wait for an allocation to a court (at which point many companies finally fold)

I'd try to exhaust other avenues first

 

[Haywain]

I don't seem to be able to appeal against this - there's no button, as there normally would be. Do I only get one appeal? So, I now go straight to the ombudsman?

Phone them again, or contact them on social media. Take the easier route first.

 

[robbeech]

It’s becoming increasingly common to see operators trying it on it seems. After an initial incompetence rejection they seek to double down on refusing to accept the pathetic automated systems could get it wrong.

I’ve had claims where they’ve asked for Google timeline data and time stamp photos I took on the journey as proof that I caught a particular train (any time ticket). Needless to say I can also double down and the legal threat had them pay out sharpish but I suspect many people would have either done it or not been able to provide it and never been paid out.
This particular one was GWR but lots of automated comms from GWR, AWC and XC seem identical so I’m not sure if they share systems or staff or other infrastructure.

 

[speedy1]

It’s becoming increasingly common to see operators trying it on it seems

It's only going to get worse IMO - the more policies there are to catch a train 2 hours before, or another operator's train, or take a different route, you can see that turning into an obligation, and as a result, far far less desire to pay Delay Repay especially at current thresholds/rates. This is what the UK does - it won't come out and say what its actual goals are, it will just deny and gaslight and drown you in administration.

(I only mean 'worse' regarding the changeover period and comms and adjustment - ultimately, more flexibility to actually not be inconvenienced is of course good for passengers.)