CrossCountry, Delay Repay processing times

[Adam Williams]

Very much a rant, but: How on earth can it take nearly 48 days to assess a Delay Repay claim?

Why does the industry persist in preventing retailers (or a central service) from paying out claims efficiently, and making passengers jump through these stupid hoops after they've been inconvenienced?

I've already submitted a (related) complaint about this journey, but that's had no response either. I suspect it'll ultimately all need to go to the Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman who I'm sure will simply parrot what they're told by the train operator [all their staff appear to be capable of doing].

It's wild to me how low some of the standards are amongst train operators when it comes to customer service.

 

[speedy1]

How on earth can it take nearly 48 days to assess a Delay Repay claim?

They've realised there's no legal or financial downside to taking so long. See also: UK261

Businesses love optimising their cashflow, not paying out until absolutely necessary

edit: and Ombudsmen just exist to make the public think there is a fair process and oversight. It's all a lie. I certainly understand your frustration

 

[jamietw]

I had one with XC that was still pending over a month recently. Rang them up, and after about 20 minutes on hold found them very helpful and it was paid within a couple of days. Obviously an inconvenience to have to call compared to an online claim going through quickly, but it did get it sorted.

 

[robbeech]

If someone were to tell you you owed me £10 and went on to ask you if you wanted to give me £10 or not and expressed clearly that if you didn’t want to you just didn’t have to bother and it would almost certainly go away then I suspect most people would choose not to bother. If they knew the consequences of not bothering was that 1 in 250 times they’d be forced to pay the £10 then it’s really a no brainer for them.

There is absolutely zero real world regulation forcing the railway to follow any rules whatsoever (from a retailing and compensatory angle), so they can and essentially do do as they please here.

It’s a smack in the face with the spade of irony really, they’re (quite rightly and justifiably) clamping down on passengers that evade the fare and have got away with paying when challenged, yet the railway is the absolute master of paying when challenged.

 

[1D54]

I've had a few with XC this year and a decision has been made (all in my favour)within 14 days and money credited to my account the following day. I had a couple during one of the hot spells which seemed to be dragging on but the e-mailed me apologising for the delay so credit where it is due.

 

[WesternLancer]

More generally I find the claim processes frustratingly difficult and un intuitive in many cases (but not used every train company to compare)
eg 2 recent claims I have outstanding

GTR - stuck 'in process' after my original claim was put in where I entered the trains I got as a result of an en route delay without it being clear to me that I should have entered the connections originally intended (I assume) but which I could not have go due to the original late train. The form is not clear on what info they require you to enter - no clear online appeals process but an unintuitive indication that I should 'resubmit' the claim - now claim seems stuck in limbo - I assume I'll have to chase it up at some point

EMR - one of the better on line claim forms I have used I tend to think - but a recent claim for a simple A-B journey with no changes that was 29 mins late didn't seem to ask me clearly the info needed about the ticket when filling the form in, so it was pushed back to me 24 hours later requesting I complete those sections - how could the form be designed to be able to let me submit it without those details included and how could it be designed such that it was not obvious to me they were missing to start with - even tho I looked hard for them since I assume it might be needed but gave up looking as I assumed it was perhaps somehow identifiable to them from the QR code I entered (but now I assume it wasn't)

The claims seem to need various numbers printed on the tickets but it's often not as clear as it could be what number is wanted for which box on the claim.

My heart sinks every time I know I need to make a claim...

 

[Starmill]

Looks like your 40 working days is on 17 September. So if the money hasn't reached you by next Friday morning you could send the Ombudsman a complaint.

I would do this even though they are pretty useless. I do this now, if the claim goes unreponded to for the qualifying time.

Forty working days is eight weeks with an allowance in their favour for any bank holidays, so in my view there are never circumstances which justify exceeding this to pay a claim, as it's already double the time allowed by the ORR for normal processing.

The ORR's opinion is as follows:

4.1 Licence holders must process correctly completed claims within 20 working days, from receipt of Claim to communication of decision and payment, where relevant.

...

4.5 Where the processing of a Claim takes longer than 20 working days, licence holders must notify the passenger of the status of the Claim, the reasons for the delay, and anticipated timescales for resolution.

 

[1D54]

My heart sinks every time I know I need to make a claim...

Which is why i suspect half the people who have every right to put in claims don't bother and are just relieved to have got to their destination.

 

[Minnietheminx]

I know anecdote is not data, but my experience with Northern is that the longer the delay (and therefore the greater the value being claimed), the longer I've had to wait for the claim to be honoured.

Was it the sheer number of claims being made or the value of my claim that caused the delay in paying out? I couldn't possibly comment...

 

[WesternLancer]

Which is why i suspect half the people who have every right to put in claims don't bother and are just relieved to have got to their destination.

I tend to think so too.... tho published stats on claims made / claims paid do make interesting reading.
Even tho staff on delayed trains I've been on d tend to announce it - certainly on heavy delays - it's hard to imagine that a high proportion of the people on board any particular train typically submit a claim

 

[gembercannelle]

Among the recent claims I made, the longest was WMR. They have had to manually review my day return from Kenilworth to Warwick to verify its period of validity so that they can issue me £5.10 rail travel voucher.

 

[MrJeeves]

Nothing on my 6 months and 4 days it took Avanti to pay out 89p... eventually by cheque!

 

[Coleridge]

My own experience is that Delay Repay claims are taking longer to process than they used to, and that more are being initially rejected. I do wonder whether it's a deliberate policy, perhaps following instructions from government to reduce the amount paid out.

I always claim DR, even if the delay is only 15 minutes and/or it's only a matter of a couple of pounds. But it mounts up: last year I received almost £1,000 in compensation for delays.

 

[Vexed]

After 6 successive claims approved first time by Thameslink, I'm currently trying to get them to pay out £2.40 instead of 40p (after originally declining the claim). I claimed at the end of July. After the original 20 working day wait they've been quite responsive, we'll see what happens.

 

[WesternLancer]

My own experience is that Delay Repay claims are taking longer to process than they used to, and that more are being initially rejected. I do wonder whether it's a deliberate policy, perhaps following instructions from government to reduce the amount paid out.

Its difficult not to conclude the same sort of thing

 

[VT 390]

I find Cross County to be one of the most difficult operators to claim delay repay from as they not only take a long time (I am still waiting on a claim submitted at the start of May) but consistently try to underpay the amount due. 4 out of my 5 most recent Cross Country claims were initially approved for half the amount actually due and 3 of those were approved for the wrong amount after being completely rejected the first time.

 

[Adam Williams]

Looks like your 40 working days is on 17 September. So if the money hasn't reached you by next Friday morning

Cool, well it's with the Furniture Ombudsman now. Not going to hold my breath for a timely, informed response but we'll see.

 

[1D54]

Put in a claim on Saturday night and it was approved yesterday. Probably helped that it was slam dunk and only for £4,85 but they all add up.

 

[Starmill]

Cool, well it's with the Furniture Ombudsman now. Not going to hold my breath for a timely, informed response but we'll see.

I've actually received a claim approval today from another company , following my refferal of the complaint to the Ombudsman. The claim was made in the first week of July. They have accepted it in full and apologised for the delay in processing.

I did actually give them slightly longer than the forty working days and by the time payment arrives it'll still be three months.

 

[Amaranthe]

I find Cross County to be one of the most difficult operators to claim delay repay from as they not only take a long time (I am still waiting on a claim submitted at the start of May) but consistently try to underpay the amount due. 4 out of my 5 most recent Cross Country claims were initially approved for half the amount actually due and 3 of those were approved for the wrong amount after being completely rejected the first time.

Cross Country seem to be really bad for this. I remember that they would only pay £12.95 for a 30-59 minute delay while I was travelling on a 14 day 1st class ALR when every other TOC paid £25.89.

 

[VT 390]

Cross Country seem to be really bad for this. I remember that they would only pay £12.95 for a 30-59 minute delay while I was travelling on a 14 day 1st class ALR when every other TOC paid £25.89.

I had exactly the same issue with my 14 day ALR earlier this year where I had multiple XC delays 2 of which initially only paid £17.24 instead of £34.49, it was only after the appeal being rejected and having to put in a separate complaint they eventually paid the remaining amount over 3 months later.
XC appear to really struggle more than other operators when it comes to rover/ranger ticket delay repay claims.

 

[Amaranthe]

I had exactly the same issue with my 14 day ALR earlier this year where I had multiple XC delays 2 of which initially only paid £17.24 instead of £34.49, it was only after the appeal being rejected and having to put in a separate complaint they eventually paid the remaining amount over 3 months later.
XC appear to really struggle more than other operators when it comes to rover/ranger ticket delay repay claims.

I should have probably pursued it further at the time but didn't which of course leads them to think that they will get away with it more often than not, so kudos to you for pursuing it.

 

[Belperpete]

Well, at least a long wait is better than just rejecting the claim for some completely spurious reason (unable to find journey, ticket not valid, etc). Just press the button on a standard template rejection. Which is what I am convinced some TOC DR teams do in order to quickly close claims and reduce their backlog.

I now have a number of outstanding claims with three different TOCs. They all seem to be taking much longer to resolve than usual. But at least two of those TOCs do send out emails apologising for the delay.

 

[mickey]

Appreciate it’s just one datapoint, but I had a XC DR claim approved in full this week, a mere 6 days after being submitted. I think for them it’s probably a record. It wasn’t even a bogstandard simple claim, as it involved a connection onto another TOC.

 

[styles]

I should have probably pursued it further at the time but didn't which of course leads them to think that they will get away with it more often than not, so kudos to you for pursuing it.

I do it on principle sometimes. The only way they'll learn is if people persist with chasing them up or taking it to the Ombudsman. Plus, £17.25 may not be the thing avoiding me going to a foodbank (though it will for some), but 6 such errors over the course of a year if you travel regularly and they keep messing up, becomes £100 which is worth the chasing in my opinion!

 

[pdq]

I've just come off a frustrating call with XC (after being on hold for over half an hour) where they are flatly refusing a DR claim that they caused.
Journey by my daughter: Tenby to Huddersfield on Aug 14th, changing at Swansea, Bristol PW and Manchester Picc.
The 0936 TEN-SWA was delayed, and arrived at SWA at 1121ish. 1122 SWA-PAD was held for less than a minute as passengers were ushered onto the PAD train.
No issues on that train, or at BPW. The XC BPW - MAN was then heavily delayed towards MAN meaning she missed her planned TPE train there and ended up in Hud somewhere under an hour late.

They are telling me that TfW are responsible even though that train's delay was not material as it was mitigated by good management at SWA. If the later XC train hadn't been delayed, she would have arrived at HUD on time. They say it was 'impossible' for her to get the 1122 - even though she did! Surely if I claim from TfW it's under false representation as their delay didn't cause my daughter's.

Any thoughts on next steps? It feels fraudulent to persue the claim from TfW, but apparently the XC computer says no.
Also, could anyone get me some screenshots of these services from RTT please? If I'd known a straightforward 30-60 delay would cause this hassle, I'd have captured them myself.

The sooner DR is centralised, the better!

Ta muchly.

 

[MrJeeves]

I always claim against the first company who causes the minimum connection time against the scheduled journey to be breached, so would claim against TfW in this instance.

 

[Vexed]

As 1121 to 1122 is below the Minimum Connection Time, Transport for Wales would almost certainly approve the claim based on missing the connection. Just claim from them with the actual delay experienced and don't worry about it being fraudulent - TfW will forward the claim to XC if they think XC are liable. The forms don't ask for what connections you made, just how delayed you were in the end. Just be truthful with what they do ask.

 

[pdq]

OK will do.
I thought the rule was to claim from the company that caused the delay (XC) not the one that could have done but didn't, due to efficient station management where TfW staff at SWA made sure the connection WAS made. The frustrating thing was that even though I told the XC rep that the connection was made (whether it was allowable on paper or not) he would not accept that XC were at all to blame.

As for being truthful - I was, and that got me nowhere with XC.
What a crazy system!

Edit
Just logged onto TfW, and I'm out of time to claim there, due to XC dragging their feet.
The initial claim to them was made on 14th Aug, and rejected on the 15th as they passed the buck to TfW. I ignored the email from TfW knowing I would appeal to XC.
I appealed on the 15th and heard nothing since - hence me phoning today.

 

[WesternLancer]

Edit
Just logged onto TfW, and I'm out of time to claim there, due to XC dragging their feet.
The initial claim to them was made on 14th Aug, and rejected on the 15th as they passed the buck to TfW. I ignored the email from TfW knowing I would appeal to XC.
I appealed on the 15th and heard nothing since - hence me phoning today.

There must be some process to deal with the situation where you submitted a claim on time within the deadline, but the train company you claimed from were inefficient in their handling and then made you miss the deadline with an online form for another operator - when this isn't really a new claim so the original claim date should stand.

Wonder if Transport Focus might be more help than the Ombudsman?