Delay repay LNER/Scotrail

[zero]

A friend has asked me about a delay repay claim he has made. I do not have the full details but I think the following is sufficient information:

He had one advance ticket, on Scotrail to Edinburgh, then connecting to LNER.

There were delays in Scotland and so he obtained permission to take an earlier Scotrail train than on his itinerary.

Had he stuck to the original itinerary, he would have missed his booked LNER train (and been entitled to take the next one), but because he travelled earlier, he arrived at Edinburgh in time to get his booked LNER.

This LNER train was delayed and so he filed a delay claim with LNER. However LNER said that Scotrail is liable for the delay repay.

He says his ticket was checked on the LNER train so they should know where he was delayed.

I advised that he was correct to claim from LNER because LNER caused the delay. Although Scotrail would be liable if he was delayed by them, he was not in fact delayed by Scotrail - but it seems that LNER did not check his e-ticket scan history when rejecting the claim. I have told him to reply to LNER and restate the above information.

Does everyone agree?

 

[ainsworth74]

Yes he was delayed by LNER and correctly claimed from them. I suspect a computer has done this automatically and once a human reads the email it will all be sorted.

 

[3rd rail land]

You are correct. The delay experienced was caused by LNER. Your friend should appeal and go to the ombudsman if unsuccessful. People should not be fobbed off by TOCs in this way.

 

[Watershed]

Yes, I would agree. Had your friend taken his booked ScotRail service and missed the connection onto his booked LNER service, ScotRail would have been liable. However, as he took an earlier service, he wasn't delayed (even if he was inconvenienced by having to leave earlier) and so ScotRail aren't liable.

It's likely that LNER simply haven't taken account of this (I don't think that ticket scan history is routinely looked at when claims are processed) and have gone based on the fact that the OP's booked ScotRail train would have caused them to miss their LNER connection.

 

[WF4HA5HE]

A friend has asked me about a delay repay claim he has made. I do not have the full details but I think the following is sufficient information:

He had one advance ticket, on Scotrail to Edinburgh, then connecting to LNER.

There were delays in Scotland and so he obtained permission to take an earlier Scotrail train than on his itinerary.

Had he stuck to the original itinerary, he would have missed his booked LNER train (and been entitled to take the next one), but because he travelled earlier, he arrived at Edinburgh in time to get his booked LNER.

This LNER train was delayed and so he filed a delay claim with LNER. However LNER said that Scotrail is liable for the delay repay.

He says his ticket was checked on the LNER train so they should know where he was delayed.

I advised that he was correct to claim from LNER because LNER caused the delay. Although Scotrail would be liable if he was delayed by them, he was not in fact delayed by Scotrail - but it seems that LNER did not check his e-ticket scan history when rejecting the claim. I have told him to reply to LNER and restate the above information.

Does everyone agree?

I know it's been answered by a few people already but I work for a TOC dealing with delay claims(FYI not scotrail or LNER) but I agree LNER are the ones who should deal with the claim. The claims goes to the operator who first caused the delay. Although maybe not convenient scotrail provided an alternative that caused no delay so they shouldn't have to pay out.

 

[robbeech]

One of the key issues with delay repay systems is in order to make them efficient they’re mostly automated in the initial stages. Most claims are completed without a human intervention at all I suspect, but for the financial safety of the railway they’re setup in such a way that if the system isn’t sure, or doesn’t have enough data then rather than pass it onto a human it just rejects it. At this point most people give up so it keeps things running smoothly for the railway whilst sadly not being very passenger focussed.

The next issue is staff are likely poorly trained, and will be frightened to get it wrong in the passenger’s favour. As such they tend to bias towards the result of the automated system. Computer says no so I say no.

What you need is for your claim to be looked at by a human with an actually interest in customer service and knowledge of how the delay repay system works. Luckily for you, LNER do have a good chunk of people that fit this criteria.