Delay repay split tickets, ticket A-B-C only used to B

[allotments]

Ticket 1: A to C via B (advertised as break of journey permitted)

Ticket 2 B to D

Continous journey changing trains at B: A to B, B to D

Train operating company (ToC) emailed me in response to delay repay claim , stating "Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT), when using multiple tickets for a single journey, the train must stop at the station where one ticket ends and the next begins. As your train did not call at C, the ticket was not valid for the journey taken, and therefore, the journey was not fully covered by valid tickets".

I think that's nonsense.

NRCoT actually reads "you may use a combination of two or more Tickets to make a journey provided that the train services you use Call at the station(s) where you change from one Ticket to another”. My journey and tickets comply with this.

I would appreciate advice from experienced people here!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've had Avanti do this to me. Going via Customer Services and explaining exactly what I did resolved it.

 

[bcarmicle]

I would point out that you changed tickets at station B, not station C.

 

[allotments]

I've had Avanti do this to me. Going via Customer Services and explaining exactly what I did resolved it.

I did and it's customer services who dreamed up the unsubstantiated interpretation of NRCoT more than once （multiple claims）

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Mar 2026 ==

I would point out that you changed tickets at station B, not station C.

I did more than once

 

[superkopite]

It took me a while to understand this. I agree their reply is nonsense, you did have valid tickets for your journey. But I don't understand what that means from a delay replay perspective, your tickets are somewhat overlapping. What should the DR calculation/payment be based on, considering you chose not to use some of your journey entitlement (B to C).

 

[bcarmicle]

I did more than once

OK, in that case my advice would be to submit a formal complaint, and to go through the complaints process and take it to the Ombdudsman if necessary.

It took me a while to understand this. I agree their reply is nonsense, you did have valid tickets for your journey. But I don't understand what that means from a delay replay perspective, your tickets are somewhat overlapping. What should the DR calculation/payment be based on, considering you chose not to use some of your journey entitlement (B to C).

The delay is calculated based on the journey actually undertaken (against the planned journey); the payment is calculated based on the price of the tickets. It does not matter that there was unused validity remaining.

 

[AlterEgo]

Ticket 1: A to C via B (advertised as break of journey permitted)

Ticket 2 B to D

Continous journey changing trains at B: A to B, B to D

Train operating company (ToC) emailed me in response to delay repay claim , stating "Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT), when using multiple tickets for a single journey, the train must stop at the station where one ticket ends and the next begins. As your train did not call at C, the ticket was not valid for the journey taken, and therefore, the journey was not fully covered by valid tickets".

I think that's nonsense.

NRCoT actually reads "you may use a combination of two or more Tickets to make a journey provided that the train services you use Call at the station(s) where you change from one Ticket to another”. My journey and tickets comply with this.

I would appreciate advice from experienced people here!

What are stations A B C and D? Much easier than doing algebra.

 

[Belperpete]

I've had Avanti do this to me. Going via Customer Services and explaining exactly what I did resolved it.

In my experience, Avanti are good at rejecting claims where the journey start and end don't match those shown on the ticket (which in essence is what the OP did with their first ticket, stopping at B, short of the destination C shown on the ticket). They usually approve it on first appeal, when presumably a human looks at it.

 

[allotments]

In my experience, Avanti are good at rejecting claims where the journey start and end don't match those shown on the ticket (which in essence is what the OP did with their first ticket, stopping at B, short of the destination C shown on the ticket). They usually approve it on first appeal, when presumably a human looks at it.

That's my experience with delay repay claims from several ToCs but now I've twice and only recently received very similar copy paste text from different customer service advisors at the same ToC.

Here is a second earlier recent example response：

“After reviewing the details of your journey and the tickets used, I’m afraid we are unable to approve your claim on this occasion. This is because the ticket you held for travel from A to C was used on a train service that did not stop at C.

Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel, when using multiple tickets for a single journey, the train must stop at the station where one ticket ends and the next begins. As your train did not call at C, the ticket was not valid for the journey taken, and therefore, the journey was not fully covered by valid tickets.“

I had already escalated this to a formal complaint requesting a call back when another similar response arrived for a different claim this week.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Mar 2026 ==

What are stations A B C and D? Much easier than doing algebra.

I've not used station names because I would prefer this thread to remain generic and not about a specific journey

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Mar 2026 ==

The following from the ToC was also included about a third claim “I can confirm that after investigating your claim, your Delay Repay case 123456789 has been approved in error...
Your ticket was valid via E and not B”

On the ticket it said “Only valid via E“

My route with that ticket was A-E-B-C breaking at B and it's not possible to travel by rail from A to B without going through E.

National Rail app shows A-E-B-C is valid for the ticket.

More algebra (sorry) and more exasperating nonsense from ToC

With regret, if humans can't evaluate ticket validity and delay repay claims consistently and according to the rules defined in NRCoT and ToC Passenger Charter, then the solution could be introduce AI. Unlike humans it seems - AI will learn from previous delay repay resolutions and not repeat variants of the same mistakes messing customers around again and again.

 

[ThisIsSurbiton]

But I don't understand what that means from a delay replay perspective, your tickets are somewhat overlapping

I think the train companies would need to look at the journey as a whole - it's a split because it's cheaper to do it that way so they'll be paying out x% of a lower amount than the through ticket, saving themselves a bit of money. Complaining about passengers doing this is a bit like claiming they didn't use all of a Travelcard!

 

[superkopite]

Complaining about passengers doing this is a bit like claiming they didn't use all of a Travelcard!

Was I complaining or asking a question?

 

[ThisIsSurbiton]

Was I complaining or asking a question?

Sorry, not you, the TOC