Scotrail refusing full journey Delay Repay

[Precipice]

Hi all,

On 17 July, I travelled from Exhibition Centre (Glasgow) to London Euston. I had a Off-Peak Day Return from Exhibition Centre to Glasgow Central (the return ticket costs less than the single) and an Advance Single from Glasgow Central to Euston on the Avanti West Coast.

I was delayed for over an hour due to Scotrail trains not running. I think there was a fault on the line – in any case, I got to Exhibition Centre and was told no low-level trains to Central were running. By the time I made it to Central, my planned train was already gone. I was meant to be on the 11:36 from Central and in the end, I was on the 12:40, so I think I should get Delay Repay on the full cost of my WCML ticket and half of my Scotrail ticket.

On 18 July, I tried to submit a Delay Repay claim through Scotrail, but there was no option of adding more than 1 ticket. I tried putting both tickets into one photo, but it asks for the ticket reference and tries to find the ticket, so that wasn’t working. I contacted Scotrail through their web contact form, telling them about my delay, that I couldn’t upload more than one ticket, attaching a photograph of my tickets which I'd run a line through according to their instructions, and requesting the refund.
I received a response today saying this:

“Exhibition Centre - Glasgow Central

The Delay Repay system can normally accommodate one ticket per claim. Under Delay Repay conditions, you can receive a refund of up to the value of your ticket. As the Exhibition Centre - Glasgow Central train was cancelled, you can recover up to the value of your ticket, if you go back to the original retailer.

Consequential Losses

When you purchase a ticket to travel on the National Rail network you enter into agreement with the train companies whose trains you have the right to use. The National Rail Conditions of Travel set out your rights and any restrictions to those rights.

Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel, you are entitled to seek a refund of up to the value of your ticket for a delay or cancellation.

This has the effect that we do not cover for other consequential losses suffered as the result of the delay or cancellation. While I sympathise with your predicament on the day I am unfortunately unable to accede to the request for a refund for additional Delay Repay on a separate ticket.”

This doesn’t seem correct to me. My past experience of claiming Delay Repay has been with Avanti, which allows for uploads of more than one ticket and which has paid out for non-Avanti parts of the journey, on both stretches both before and after the Avanti part of the journey (i.e. when I was travelling Exhibition Centre-Canterbury West, they paid out in relation to the whole journey). The purpose of my travelling to Glasgow Central was to connect to the Avanti train and Scotrail’s unusable Delay Repay has a ‘Missed connections’ box you can check, so they seem to be aware of knock-on delays. “Consequential losses” reads to me like it's suggesting financial losses, but my 11:36 ticket covered me for the 12:40 (they issued me a paper supplement), so my loss is the delay.

Would this line of reasoning be correct/the one I should adopt:

that 32.1 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel states that “if you are delayed in reaching your destination as a result of a delay or cancellation of a train service, you may be entitled to claim compensation from the Train Company that is responsible for the delay in completing your journey.”

in conjunction with

14.2 of the same, which states that “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.” ?

14.2 reads to me more like covering split tickets on the same train, rather than changing tickets while trains are also being changed. However, both the trains in question were supposed to call at Glasgow Central and I would treat them as 'a journey'.

I would be grateful for your assistance in terms of what I should argue.

 

[AlterEgo]

“Exhibition Centre - Glasgow Central

The Delay Repay system can normally accommodate one ticket per claim. Under Delay Repay conditions, you can receive a refund of up to the value of your ticket. As the Exhibition Centre - Glasgow Central train was cancelled, you can recover up to the value of your ticket, if you go back to the original retailer.

Wrong by Scotrail. You were delayed, you didn't abandon the journey, so no, you can't refund it from the retailer. Refunding the used ticket could even be considered fraudulent.

Scotrail must accept it as part of Delay Repay.

Consequential Losses

When you purchase a ticket to travel on the National Rail network you enter into agreement with the train companies whose trains you have the right to use. The National Rail Conditions of Travel set out your rights and any restrictions to those rights.

Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel, you are entitled to seek a refund of up to the value of your ticket for a delay or cancellation.

This has the effect that we do not cover for other consequential losses suffered as the result of the delay or cancellation. While I sympathise with your predicament on the day I am unfortunately unable to accede to the request for a refund for additional Delay Repay on a separate ticket.”

Wrong, and irrelevant by Scotrail, that's a passage in the Conditions totally unrelated to the cost of the tickets and has more to do with missing events or loss of work etc.

This doesn’t seem correct to me.

That's because it's not! You, the customer, are right, and the highly trained and professional staff are wrong. That's actually very common though, so don't feel too surprised or proud now.

Would this line of reasoning be correct/the one I should adopt:

that 32.1 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel states that “if you are delayed in reaching your destination as a result of a delay or cancellation of a train service, you may be entitled to claim compensation from the Train Company that is responsible for the delay in completing your journey.”

in conjunction with

14.2 of the same, which states that “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.” ?

Yeah, that's correct. If they continue with being entrenched in incompetence you can ask for a deadlock letter or otherwise after 40 days escalate to the Rail Ombudsman.

This is not a grey area. Scotrail are wrong.

 

[Watershed]

It's particularly disappointing that ScotRail haven't changed their Delay Repay form to accommodate split tickets in view of the fact that they are the only train company who actually sell them on their own website and app!

There's a possibility the member of customer services is just badly mistaken about ScotRail's internal policy, and that they do actually pay Delay Repay on split tickets without issue (as they should).

If a Delay Repay form doesn't accommodate split tickets then I just take a picture of both tickets, enter something like 00000 as the reference number (so that it has to be processed manually) and enter the combined cost as the ticket value. You can still proceed to claim even if the system can't find your ticket; there are plenty of tickets it wouldn't be able to find so that doesn't prevent you from proceeding with the type of Delay Repay form ScotRail use, in my experience.

 

[gray1404]

You should receive 100% of the cost of the Advance Single ticket and 50% of the cost of the Off Peak Day Return in delay repay from ScotRail for a delay into London Euston of 60-119 minutes.

 

[Precipice]

Thank you all for the confirmation!

If a Delay Repay form doesn't accommodate split tickets then I just take a picture of both tickets, enter something like 00000 as the reference number (so that it has to be processed manually) and enter the combined cost as the ticket value. You can still proceed to claim even if the system can't find your ticket; there are plenty of tickets it wouldn't be able to find so that doesn't prevent you from proceeding with the type of Delay Repay form ScotRail use, in my experience.

Thank you! I got as far as both tickets in one picture, but my thinking did not proceed further.

Would you still recommend trying this now, or having begun the contact process via Customer Services ought I to continue/am I bound to proceed that way?

Will my initial contact with them a day after the journey count as a Delay Repay claim for the purposes of the 28 days allotted to making a claim? Is there a risk that they can draw it out and subsequently claim 'well, you didn't really make a claim because it wasn't through our webform or our physical print-out form'?

 

[Watershed]

Section 33 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel gives you the right to claim delay compensation, which for ScotRail is done via their Delay Repay scheme). It doesn't require you to use a form to make a claim, so a claim couldn't validly be rejected for not using the form. Submitting a claim in writing with the relevant details is all you have to do. You clearly expressed your intention to make a claim so I would suggest you met the deadline in that way.

33.1 In order to make a claim under the industry arrangements set out at paragraph 32.1.1 above, you must submit your claim to the Train Company within 28 days of completing the journey (unless that deadline is extended by the Train Company). You will need to state the scheduled departure time of the train or trains you intended to use for your journey and provide a Ticket or Tickets or other authority to travel which was valid for that whole journey.

Indeed the last sentence indicates beyond all doubt ("provide a Ticket or Tickets") that Delay Repay is payable on all split tickets used for your journey, if ScotRail were to continue to try and deny that.

 

[alxndr]

I have successfully claimed Delay Repay with Scotrail for split tickets so they will do it, albeit I did have to submit the details twice as they asked for more details as the value didn’t match.

My approach to deal with the online form was to submit both tickets in the photograph but just put the reference number of one of them in, but in hindsight that might not have been the best option.

 

[AdamWW]

Would this line of reasoning be correct/the one I should adopt:

that 32.1 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel states that “if you are delayed in reaching your destination as a result of a delay or cancellation of a train service, you may be entitled to claim compensation from the Train Company that is responsible for the delay in completing your journey.”

in conjunction with

14.2 of the same, which states that “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.” ?

14.2 reads to me more like covering split tickets on the same train, rather than changing tickets while trains are also being changed. However, both the trains in question were supposed to call at Glasgow Central and I would treat them as 'a journey'.

I would be grateful for your assistance in terms of what I should argue.

Personally rather than going to the effort of trying to teach them their job I'd be tempted to just ask them to escalate to someone who knows how Delay Repay works, and if unwilling or unable to do so to give me a deadlock letter.

(And yes I know the Ombudsman aren't all that useful but it ought to be a way of getting it moved further up the chain).

 

[Belperpete]

On 18 July, I tried to submit a Delay Repay claim through Scotrail, but there was no option of adding more than 1 ticket. I tried putting both tickets into one photo, but it asks for the ticket reference and tries to find the ticket, so that wasn’t working. I contacted Scotrail through their web contact form, telling them about my delay, that I couldn’t upload more than one ticket, attaching a photograph of my tickets which I'd run a line through according to their instructions, and requesting the refund.

So, when you contacted ScotRail, you requested a refund? If you used the word refund in your message, this might explain Scotrail's response. It looks like they have interpreted your message as a request for a refund because of their cancelled journey. As they say. with a refund, you would not then be entitled to Delay Repay for the missed connection.

Delay Repay is compensation, and is totally different from a refund. As they say you claim a refund from the original retailer, unlike DR which you claim from the TOC that delayed you. It is important that in any communication you are clear about which you are claiming.

I suggest that you treat their response as a rejection of a refund claim, and submit an online delay repay claim, using the methods suggested by other posters when claiming for split tickets.

 

[AlterEgo]

So, when you contacted ScotRail, you requested a refund? If you used the word refund in your message, this might explain Scotrail's response. It looks like they have interpreted your message as a request for a refund because of their cancelled journey. As they say. with a refund, you would not then be entitled to Delay Repay for the missed connection.

Delay Repay is compensation, and is totally different from a refund. As they say you claim a refund from the original retailer, unlike DR which you claim from the TOC that delayed you. It is important that in any communication you are clear about which you are claiming.

I suggest that you treat their response as a rejection of a refund claim, and submit an online delay repay claim, using the methods suggested by other posters when claiming for split tickets.

The OP is very clear they used the Delay Repay form. It's not a refund claim; Scotrail's response references Delay Repay.

 

[styles]

So, when you contacted ScotRail, you requested a refund? If you used the word refund in your message, this might explain Scotrail's response. It looks like they have interpreted your message as a request for a refund because of their cancelled journey. As they say. with a refund, you would not then be entitled to Delay Repay for the missed connection.

Delay Repay is compensation, and is totally different from a refund. As they say you claim a refund from the original retailer, unlike DR which you claim from the TOC that delayed you. It is important that in any communication you are clear about which you are claiming.

I suggest that you treat their response as a rejection of a refund claim, and submit an online delay repay claim, using the methods suggested by other posters when claiming for split tickets.

Part of me wondered that but then ScotRail themselves continually refer to Delay Repay in their response. It doesn't help that they say things like, "Under Delay Repay conditions, you can receive a refund of up to the value of your ticket.", where they should really say compensation rather than refund.

Their response is just all over the shop.

 

[Belperpete]

The OP is very clear they used the Delay Repay form. It's not a refund claim; Scotrail's response references Delay Repay.

The OP stated that they tried to use the DR form, but was unable to, so instead used their web contact form to contact customer services.

If the OP referred to both Delay Repay and Refund in that message, it would explain why the response does too. From the response, it looks to me like they think he was requesting a refund of his Exhibition Centre - Glasgow Central ticket because of the cancelled train, AND delay repay for his missed train to Euston. It would explain why they have told him to contact the original seller for the refund, and why he wouldn't also be entitled to delay repay for the missed train in consequence.

As the saying goes, ask a silly question and you will get a silly answer. The OP needs to be clear that he is asking for Delay Repay (NOT a refund) for the whole journey from Exhibition Centre to Euston. And I suggest that the best way of doing that is by submitting a Delay Repay claim on-line.

 

[styles]

The OP stated that they tried to use the DR form, but was unable to, so instead used their web contact form to contact customer services.

Sure but the response from ScotRail is littered with references to Delay Repay (capitalised no less).

Given the first paragraph of the response from ScotRail, it also sounds like OP made reference to the fact that the Delay Repay form only accepts one ticket.

It seems pretty clear that ScotRail are knowingly responding to a Delay Repay query.

Whether they're giving bad advice based on ignorance or malice I don't know.

 

[Belperpete]

It seems pretty clear that ScotRail are knowingly responding to a Delay Repay query.

It seems pretty clear from the initial posting on here that he wanted delay repay. But as the OP hasn't actually told us exactly what was in the message to ScotRail, I am not so sure that was made clear to ScotRail. Particularly as the OP has said that message asked for a refund.

What seems pretty clear to me is that, rightly or wrongly, ScotRail have interpreted his message as a request for both a refund and delay repay.

 

[AlterEgo]

Never underestimate the incompetence of train company staff. It really is incredibly prevalent and occasionally spectacular.

That’s most likely what’s going on here, just pure confusion from whoever is dealing with this.

 

[ainsworth74]

In any case, whatever the terminology used (and I agree that the industry makes a rod for it's own back in this regard, I've heard on-train staff refer to refunds when they actually mean Delay Repay!), the OP is entitled to Delay Repay, for their whole journey, from ScotRail.

Therefore the OP should contact ScotRail again, I would suggest directly rather than via the Delay Repay form, to raise this issue with them but ensuring that they explicity state "Delay Repay" and clearly indicate the journey was from Exhibition Centre to Euston using multiple tickets.

 

[Precipice]

I don't have the text of my first message, because it was sent by the contact us form, after which I got only a 'case created' acknowledgement and the above response. I was sloppy in saying 'refund' (in the typical sense of 'repayment') once in my text above, but I'm sure that it didn't come up in the message on the form, which wasn't as wordy as my explanation here. I said that I had travelled from Exhibition Centre to Euston on two tickets, and that as the first train was cancelled I was delayed, but that it wasn't possible for me to upload them both to the Delay Repay form because it asked for a ticket reference.

I certainly didn't request a refund of the first ticket since without it there can be no delay triggered and there could never have been a basis for a refund of the ticket I bought from Avanti, since I did travel on their train. There wasn't anything on the basis of my message to suggest that I was asking them for a refund, but while I could see a potential link of (cancelled train->cancelled journey) in someone's mind, I don't see where the idea of consequential losses comes from.

I have replied to them quoting the three National Rail Conditions of Travel from above. I'm a bit wary of the idea of trying to start a claim via the form using 00000000 as suggested above concurrently to that.

 

[Belperpete]

I don't have the text of my first message, because it was sent by the contact us form, after which I got only a 'case created' acknowledgement and the above response.

That unfortunately is the problem with these types of forms. I have learnt the hard way to keep a copy and paste copy for myself before pressing submit. Likewise I keep a copy of the details that I submit on DR forms, as most TOCs don't include it on their acknowledgement. It is unfortunate that you don't have a copy of your message, as their reply does seem to be based on the premise that you are asking for a refund. For example, consequential losses are where you demand compensation in addition to getting your money back.

Rereading your original post, you are very vague about how you got from Exhibition Centre to Central, with no trains running. Might ScotRail, rightly or wrongly, have got the impression that you abandoned your rail journey between Exhibition and Central? This could be why they are talking about a refund for that ticket. You say that you told them about your delay, it would have been good to know exactly what you told them about it.

How were ScotRail advising passengers to travel? And did you follow that advice? My view is that if ScotRail were advising passengers to use alternative means, and you did so, then you should still be entitled to have your journey considered as a through journey. However, if you failed to follow ScotRail's advise, such that they can claim you abandoned the Exhibition to Central leg, then it is less clear cut.

The problem with submitting longhand requests for Delay Repay compensation is that you can inadvertently include extraneous information that muddies the waters. I can understand you not wanting to submit a claim with a fake reference number, but the suggestion of using the reference number of one of the tickets is one I have successfully used myself in similar circumstances.

 

[AdamWW]

How were ScotRail advising passengers to travel? And did you follow that advice? My view is that if ScotRail were advising passengers to use alternative means, and you did so, then you should still be entitled to have your journey considered as a through journey. However, if you failed to follow ScotRail's advise, such that they can claim you abandoned the Exhibition to Central leg, then it is less clear cut.

I believe the NRCoT makes it clear that a journey made with split tickets is treated a single journey.

So I cannot see how that can be a valid view unless the same argument could be made if someone "abandoned" the first part of a journey that was made on a single ticket.

 

[Buzby]

I have to say I find it odd you would have missed your connection, even if you walked to Central (about 10-15mins). Had the Argyle Line train ran - how long had you to connect with the AWC service? As I discovered with a DR claim from Leeds to Glasgow, using Northern & TPE it was Northern who delayed me, but TPE paid out. Suggest you seek DR from AWC whose site allows for split tickets.

 

[Starmill]

I think it would be wise to set this out as a complaint about the delay repay claim not having been accepted. Any possibility of confusion about refunds vs compensation would then go away, although I'm not really sure if there was confusion about that or not.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Aug 2025 ==

How were ScotRail advising passengers to travel? And did you follow that advice? My view is that if ScotRail were advising passengers to use alternative means, and you did so, then you should still be entitled to have your journey considered as a through journey. However, if you failed to follow ScotRail's advise, such that they can claim you abandoned the Exhibition to Central leg, then it is less clear cut.

Most of the time they don't actually give alternative travel advice for short term disruption, so it ends up being on the customer to ask. I always do this and then if I choose to make my own arrangements, at least I'm satisfied that I did give them first refusal.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Aug 2025 ==

I have to say I find it odd you would have missed your connection, even if you walked to Central (about 10-15mins). Had the Argyle Line train ran - how long had you to connect with the AWC service? As I discovered with a DR claim from Leeds to Glasgow, using Northern & TPE it was Northern who delayed me, but TPE paid out. Suggest you seek DR from AWC whose site allows for split tickets.

To be fair not everyone can make that journey under their own steam, although most people would be OK in the end but some may need slightly longer than 15 minutes.