Delay Repay Rejected Query

[benj3495]

Hi, I have a question regarding a delay repay rejection. Yesterday (22/06) I travelled from Llandudno Junction to Leighton Buzzard, via Milton Keynes Central. The 10.26 Avanti service from Llandudno Junction to London Euston was delayed into MKC by 9 minutes, however my main delay was caused by the 13.05 and 13.22 LNWR services both being cancelled, meaning I arrived in LBZ 30 minutes late exactly. LNWR have rejected my claim because it wasn't the first delay, even though it had no impact on my onward journey. Should I therefore claim with Avanti, even though their service was only 9 minutes delayed, or should I appeal the decision made by LNWR?

I will also be inputting a claim for Friday's journey because I was delayed by over an hour in the Crewe to Llandudno Junction leg. However I was also delayed by 15 minutes in the Leighton Buzzard to MKC leg, run by London Northwestern. Does that mean I should claim with London Northwestern as they were the first delay, even though I caught my connection at MKC just fine because it was also delayed.

Sorry for the essay, I don't tend to travel by train very often as I find it too unreliable over a long distance, and my journeys seemed to prove that right!

Thanks for your help!

 

[Watershed]

Welcome to the forum.

For multi-leg journeys, you should claim Delay Repay from the first company whose disruption (delay/cancellation) materially affected your journey. In your first example, it is immaterial that the Avanti service arrived into MKC late because you would not have been able to catch your intended LNR train either way as it was cancelled.

In your second example, since the delay from Leighton Buzzard to MKC did not prevent you from making your connection at MKC, similarly it is down to whichever operator ran your Crewe to Llandudno Junction train (assuming you also made your connection in Crewe as planned).

Unfortunately train companies use automated systems to deal with Delay Repay claims, and whilst they do get it right some of the time, for anything that isn't completely straightforward, they often come up with the wrong result. You should appeal as claims are generally reviewed by a person on appeal.

 

[1955LR]

A couple of years ago I was travelling to Hereford changing at Newport. I was on a GWR train that ran late meaning I would miss the TFW connection at Newport . In the event the TFW train was cancelled . This really meant the late running of the GWR train, was irrelewant but I was advised to claim Delay Repay off tGWR as they were the first to cause the delay. They payed out without any hassle

 

[chesterred16]

I had a recent delay travelling from Euston to Chester via Crewe, where Avanti ran around 15 minutes late but the TfW connection was itself 30 minutes late, meaning that even if Avanti had been on time I would still have had the same length of delay into Chester. I claimed off Avanti first, as they caused the first delay and were also the ticket retailer. They rejected and forwarded the claim to TfW who rejected and sent it back to Avanti. I got hold of TfW via Whatsapp, and to be fair once I had a chat with a human being rather than AI TfW accepted responsibility straight away. Speaking to a human was the key.