Delay Repay: No PayPal Option?

[Sorcerer]

I am currently trying to claim delay repay for my journey from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street for the 14 November. My original booked train was the 17:07, but due to Storm Claudia it was cancelled the night before, so me and my friend got the 16:41 instead but later incurred a delay that resulted in us arriving into LIV about 59 minutes late, though in my case it was only 40 minutes due to my original train being booked in to arrive after the service we got. Nevertheless it still falls within the 30-59 minute range.

I booked my tickets through Avanti West Coast directly, but I hadn't signed up for a Delay Repay account until Saturday and opted-in for automatic repay, though after 48 hours I haven't received any emails, therefore I can only assume it wouldn't apply since I signed up after the journey. I also paid for my tickets through PayPal and opted for the Pay-in-3 option to split the cost of the tickets over three months.

However, when trying to manually claim Delay Repay the option to be compensated through PayPal does not appear, so I am unsure how to proceed. The remaining two payments will not be done within the 28 days permitted to make a Delay Repay claim but since me and my friend paid a lot of money for these tickets, we were hoping to get some form of compensation. I am trying to claim for both of our tickets on the return journey.

On another note should I actually be claiming for the original 17:07 service that was cancelled since that was my booked service, or should I be claiming for the 16:41 since that was the actual service I travelled on? I was thinking the latter but I want to be sure. In either case, any advice on where to go with this would be greatly appreciated!

 

[AlterEgo]

Whether you borrowed money to pay for the tickets or not is immaterial to the amount owed. Which methods of payment are Avanti offering you? Surely bank transfer is an option?

 

[Watershed]

From what I remember of my last Avanti DR claim, you can receive compensation via multiple methods other than PayPal - such as card (which could go to the payment method you used for PayPal) and bank transfer.

Technically you're correct that they should offer to compensate you in the same way you paid but I don't think there would be much mileage in pursuing a claim along those lines when you are likely able to receive the compensation perfectly easily via another method.

As for your claim, given that the cancellation of the 17:07 entitled you to instead take the Avanti trains 2 before or 2 after, and you chose to travel earlier to mitigate the delay, I don't see that Avanti can "have their cake and eat it" by limiting your claim based on the arrival time of your original booked train. I would submit it based on the 16:41.

 

[Sorcerer]

Whether you borrowed money to pay for the tickets or not is immaterial to the amount owed. Which methods of payment are Avanti offering you? Surely bank transfer is an option?

Bank transfer is an option but I was also operating on the assumption that it would've had to be the same method that you paid for. Might seem a bit presumptuous or even a bit thick on my end but I want to try and get this right and I can be extremely cautious. So as silly a question as it might be, is selection for a bank transfer still a valid option despite not originally paying through that method?

As for your claim, given that the cancellation of the 17:07 entitled you to instead take the Avanti trains 2 before or 2 after, and you chose to travel earlier to mitigate the delay, I don't see that Avanti can "have their cake and eat it" by limiting your claim based on the arrival time of your original booked train. I would submit it based on the 16:41.

Thank you, I'll run with the 16:41 then. The delay is within the same range anyway so I was never too worried about it being an issue.

 

[AlterEgo]

Bank transfer is an option but I was also operating on the assumption that it would've had to be the same method that you paid for. Might seem a bit presumptuous or even a bit thick on my end but I want to try and get this right and I can be extremely cautious. So as silly a question as it might be, is selection for a bank transfer still a valid option despite not originally paying through that method?

Yes. How you paid for the tickets - or even if it was you that paid for them - is not relevant. Delay Repay is compensation, not a refund (which does have to be done via the same payment method).

 

[Watershed]

Bank transfer is an option but I was also operating on the assumption that it would've had to be the same method that you paid for. Might seem a bit presumptuous or even a bit thick on my end but I want to try and get this right and I can be extremely cautious. So as silly a question as it might be, is selection for a bank transfer still a valid option despite not originally paying through that method?

Yes, that's fine. You can choose whichever method suits you best. Not at all a silly question, since train companies seem to enjoy penalising people for even small mistakes!

Thank you, I'll run with the 16:41 then. The delay is within the same range anyway so I was never too worried about it being an issue.

No problem.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

It's also worth bearing in mind that Delay Repay comes from the train company that delayed you, rather than who you bought the tickets from. If I've understood the thread properly, it doesn't make a difference here as the ticket was bought through Avanti, and it was their train that was late, but that's not always the case. So when my TPE train from Manchester to Liverpool is delayed, I claim Delay Repay from TPE and have it paid into my bank account, although I bought my ticket through Uber with vouchers that I paid for with my credit card.

 

[Sorcerer]

Yes. How you paid for the tickets - or even if it was you that paid for them - is not relevant. Delay Repay is compensation, not a refund (which does have to be done via the same payment method).

Yes, that's fine. You can choose whichever method suits you best. Not at all a silly question, since train companies seem to enjoy penalising people for even small mistakes!

Many thanks to you both for clearing this up for me! I think conflating it with a refund rather than compensation is why I assumed it had to be the same payment method, so that does make me feel slightly less silly for asking what was probably a very trivial question.

Just one more question though to clear up a bit of confusion. Both me and my friend's single tickets cost £93.90 each, but when claiming for both tickets it only says I can expect to receive £46.95 in compensation. The confusion for me here is while that is 50% as is the case with delays of 30-59 minutes, that is only half the price of one ticket when surely both should be compensated? The total price for the return journey was £187.80.

I did say I was claiming for both tickets and uploaded a picture of them both so I don't quite understand how this is working right now? If necessary I can upload a picture of the tickets here too for anyone to double check, just need to know which parts I might need to blank out. You can probably tell I've never done this before.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Both me and my friend's single tickets cost £93.90 each, but when claiming for both tickets it only says I can expect to receive £46.95 in compensation. The confusion for me here is while that is 50% as is the case with delays of 30-59 minutes, that is only half the price of one ticket when surely both should be compensated? The total price for the return journey was £187.80.

Presume £93.90 was the cost of a 1st class Advance ticket from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street, route "Avanti West Coast", with some railcard discount applied. 50% 'Delay Repay' (i.e. £46.95) for a 30-59 minutes delay on the one single ticket looks about right. Has a separate 'Delay Repay' claim been submitted for your friend? (Not sure if this will be done automatically, given you were likely both travelling on advances).

 

[Sorcerer]

Presume £93.90 was the cost of a 1st class Advance ticket from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street, with some railcard discount applied. 50% 'Delay Repay' (i.e. £46.95) for a 30-59 minutes delay on the one single ticket looks about right. Has a separate 'Delay Repay' claim been submitted for your friend? (Not sure if this will be done automatically, given it seems that you were likely both travelling on advances).

Yes, those price details are correct, but as well as myself I am also claiming for my friend's ticket as well so I haven't submitted a separate one for him and instead ticked the Yes option for claiming multiple tickets which includes claiming for a travelling companion, though I have still uploaded a picture of both tickets where requested.

 

[JBuchananGB]

I recently claimed DR off Avanti for a ticket I had bought from Northern. No problem. Received the money very quick into my credit card account. Some TOCs can be a bit fussy about paying DR to someone other than the passenger, even when two people travelled together and the tickets were bought by one for both. This is because the compensation is for the passenger, not the ticket purchaser. This is particularly relevant when a business buys a ticket for an employee, who is subsequently delayed. The DR is due to the passenger, not the business who bought the ticket.

I have had success in the past claiming for two passengers who travelled together, so you might be OK.

 

[styles]

Technically you're correct that they should offer to compensate you in the same way you paid

Really? Why?

Delay Repay is compensation rather than a refund, so how the tickets were originally paid for should be immaterial, surely?

Also wouldn't really stack up when the train company you're claiming Delay Repay from isn't the one you bought the tickets from. E.g. tickets bought on Trainline with a credit card but claiming from Avanti who won't know whether you paid by credit card (and which one), PayPal, travel vouchers or Pokémon cards.

Offering compensation payments by PayPal is handy, but far from essential.

 

[Watershed]

Really? Why?

Delay Repay is compensation rather than a refund, so how the tickets were originally paid for should be immaterial, surely?

Also wouldn't really stack up when the train company you're claiming Delay Repay from isn't the one you bought the tickets from. E.g. tickets bought on Trainline with a credit card but claiming from Avanti who won't know whether you paid by credit card (and which one), PayPal, travel vouchers or Pokémon cards.

Offering compensation payments by PayPal is handy, but far from essential.

I agree it seems a somewhat arbitrary rule, but condition 34.1 of the NRCoT refers:

Where the delay was caused by a fault of the Train Company, you are entitled to payment by the same means as your Ticket was paid for unless you agree to another payment method.

(This is about delay compensation - conditions 29.4 and 30.4 deal with refund payment methods)

 

[styles]

Condition 34.1 of the NRCoT refers:

(This is about delay compensation - conditions 29.4 and 30.4 deal with refund payment methods)

So if I paid for a train ticket by Bitcoin through Trainline, Avanti would be obliged to offer me payment in return by Bitcoin?

That's quite remarkable.

 

[Watershed]

So if I paid for a train ticket by Bitcoin through Trainline, Avanti would be obliged to offer me payment in return by Bitcoin?

That's quite remarkable.

Well, if you can find an accredited retailer who will take Bitcoin then yes!

 

[styles]

Well, if you can find an accredited retailer who will take Bitcoin then yes!

I'm just surprised that retailers can effectively force operators to make payments using payment methods they might not themselves accept!

Trainline accepts Satispay for example. I'd be interested to see how Chiltern handles a request to pay compensation via Satispay.

 

[AlterEgo]

That Condition must be as old as time, back when you could only pay by cash, card, or cheque/warrant! So much of the NRCoT needs updating.

 

[Sorcerer]

The concern for me is that despite claiming for two passengers travelling together it says I'll only receive £46.95 which is only half the price of one ticket (£93.90) and not two (£187.80). I'm not sure if this is accounting for me sending my friend's share of the money afterwards or if they mean on a per ticket basis which is why I'm confused.

To maybe clear things up a bit more, I've attached some screenshots below. I've crossed out the ticket numbers for privacy but they are the same because I bought them all in one booking and collected them with a single reference number at a ticket machine. (Mod note: if such images are not allowed here I apologise in advance and will duly remove or modify them accordingly).

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't know for certain regarding Avanti as I've not done a claim for multiple people with them before, but you may need to put in two separate claims, one for each person. The "multiple tickets" feature is primarily for splits. Not saying it won't work the way you've done it, but provided you do enter the two different ticket numbers two separate claims definitely will work, as the system is geared up for each person to do their own.

The ticket numbers shouldn't be the same. The booking reference will be, but that isn't the ticket number. The ticket number is on the ticket itself, if they're paper tickets it's a 5 digit number. It might be because you entered both the same so it thinks it's two pictures of the same ticket?

 

[Sorcerer]

I don't know for certain regarding Avanti as I've not done a claim for multiple people with them before, but you may need to put in two separate claims, one for each person. The "multiple tickets" feature is primarily for splits.

I did think about doing this or having my friend claim it for himself, but what's more confusing is that the info relating to claiming for more than one ticket does cover travelling with a companion. I can only assume the asterisk means that it will be my responsibility to make sure my friend gets their share of the compensation once I've received it and isn't actually suggesting I somehow compensate for them out of my own pocket?

 

[Bletchleyite]

OK, fair enough, if they say that then it should work. I would suggest deleting the tickets, finding the actual ticket number (a five digit number typically as part of a longer hyphenated number - their site has examples of where to find it) and re-entering the two tickets with their individual ticket numbers which will not be the same. If that then doesn't work, simply make two claims, one for each ticket - but again use the ticket number, not the booking reference - two the same may confuse it.

If it's as buggy as their sales site I'm not surprised it isn't working very well.

 

[Sorcerer]

OK, fair enough, if they say that then it should work. I would suggest deleting the tickets, finding the actual ticket number (a five digit number typically as part of a longer hyphenated number - their site has examples of where to find it) and re-entering the two tickets with their individual ticket numbers which will not be the same. If that then doesn't work, simply make two claims, one for each ticket - but again use the ticket number, not the booking reference - two the same may confuse it.

If it's as buggy as their sales site I'm not surprised it isn't working very well.

Thanks very much. I will try this out and see what comes of it.

I don't know about buggy by the way, but it has been very annoying with session time outs. Gives me three minute countdowns but logs me out anyway when I ask to stay logged in!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Nov 2025 ==

So I can confirm that adding ticket numbers rather than the booking reference worked and I have now since put in my claim. This is a good lesson for both myself and anyone else in future hoping to claim for multiple tickets: Use the individual ticket number, not the booking reference, otherwise it confuses the system.

Thanks to everyone for their help, and with any luck this should now be the end of the matter (and on another note hopefully won't affect any potential future careers with the company or within the industry if I go down that path ).