Delay Repay Downgrade

[Zoner]

GWR has looked at a delay repay claim of mine and decided I was delayed 30-59 minutes, when I actually arrived 85 minutes late.

This is the second time GWR have done this to me. Last time I appealed and got a short message saying my appeal had been refused, with no reasons given.

How are they getting away with this? Both occasions I was travelling Oxford to Paddington and my intended train was cancelled. I can only assume they are saying I ought to have gone some obscure route with multiple changes, against the advice of all the station staff who were pleading with everyone not to get on the Didcot trains.

The more I use delay repay the more I feel it's a scam. Technically you can claim, but the amount of friction in the process is so huge compared to the few quid you get back that it totally disincentives you to bother.

 

[Hadders]

Can you give details of the trains you intended to make, along with what actually happened, and forum members will be happy to assist.

Without this information we cannot help.

 

[Zoner]

Can you give details of the trains you intended to make, along with what actually happened, and forum members will be happy to assist.

Without this information we cannot help.

I was at OXF in time for the 1600 to PAD, which was cancelled.

The next train to PAD was the 1632 - it was marked as "on time" until just a few minutes before departure. It came in to the platform and stopped, but never opened its doors and was marked cancelled. It continued on to Paddington and I believe it may have opened its doors to passengers at RDG, and arrived in PAD about 17 minutes late.

We were all strongly advised not to get the Didcot train, even though journey planners suggested it would get us to Paddington by 6pm. We were ushered on to the 1649 to MYB which arrived around 1820.

 

[Watershed]

You are entitled to Delay Repay based on your actual delay. It can only be reduced if you delayed yourself unreasonably, for example by stopping off for a meal along the way. The fact that you didn't take the absolute fastest alternative, with the benefit of hindsight and based on information that may not have been available on the ground, is not grounds for reducing your Delay Repay compensation.

Certainly if you are following staff instructions or advice, even if this turns out to delay you further, I don't think that could be said to be unreasonable.

As a further point, whilst train companies may offer an appeal procedure with a claimed 'deadline', a rejection of your claim is not final, nor do such deadlines have any real legal basis provided you first submitted your claim within 28 days of the journey. Certainly there is nothing in the National Rail Conditions of Travel or most Passenger Charters about such appealing deadlines.

You always have the option of making a complaint and if not satisfactorily resolved, you can raise this with the Rail Ombudsman, or ultimately being a claim in the County Court.

Delay Repay isn't a scam, in fact it is a very good scheme by international standards. Many train companies abroad (and even Eurostar and some domestic operators outside the scope of Delay Repay) only pay the legal minimum amount. That's generally nothing for delays of under an hour, 25% of your single fare or 12.5% of a return for a 60-119 minute delay, and twice that for a 120+ minute delay. Delay Repay is 4 times more generous in percentage and threshold terms!

The problem is with the implementation and the fear that TOCs have of paying out more than they should. I recently saw a statistic released by SWR under a Freedom of Information request - something like 60% of rejected claims were successfully appealed.

Obviously in some cases the passenger will have given insufficient information to allow a claim to be properly assessed, but that cannot account for all 60%. So the industry has a lot of work to do to improve.