SWR disputing delay repay claim

[handsomelife]

Hi there, I made a delay repay claim for last Tuesday when I was disrupted on my journey home, I had to enter this manually because it doesn’t appear on the journey planner (I believe this is because any change at Clapham includes 10 minutes cushioning. I make this journey every day and have never missed the connection) and SWR have rejected this on the basis that the journey doesn’t exist in their journey planner.

My journey was

15:41 depart Victoria
15:48 arrive Clapham Junction

15:52 depart Clapham Junction
16:30 arrive Farncombe

I have disputed this and received a response today that states the below. Does anyone know if this is correct that I cannot claim because the journey isn’t in a journey planner?

Thanks in advance.

Thank you for getting in touch with us.

I am sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the outcome of your Delay Repay claim.

The journey that you have claimed for is the 15:41 service from London Victoria to Clapham Junction and the 15:52service from Clapham Junction to Farncombe on 10th February.

All stations and connections on the entire National Rail network have minimum connection times. These times are taken into consideration when planning a journey and no journey planner would suggest an itinerary where the minimum connection time had not been allocated. Similarly, you cannot claim for a journey which has not allowed the minimum connection time to have been met had all services ran as scheduled.

The first leg of your claimed journey was scheduled to reach Clapham Junction at 15:48 and the second leg due to depart at 15:52. This is below the minimum 10 minutes connection time for changes at Clapham Junction and therefore the connection is not valid and cannot be claimed for. This journey would not appear on journey planners.

I appreciate that whilst an able-bodied passenger during quieter times may be able to make connections allowing less time than is allocated, such journeys cannot be claimed for.

I am sorry that this is not the answer that you were hoping for. If there is anything else that we can help with, please let us know.

 

[methecooldude]

Does anyone know if this is correct that I cannot claim because the journey isn’t in a journey planner?

As far as I understand it yes, the journey must be valid per a journey planner in order to claim delay repay.

Looking at tomorrow (being a Tuesday), NRE's journey planner doesn't even offer the 15:41 as an option.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Is that a valid connection at Clapham Junction? Minimum ten minutes there for a change between Southern and SWR services, so you won't ever get an official itinerary offered, coming off the 1541 Southern service from Victoria to Clapham Junction (arrives 1548) onward to the 1552 from Clapham Junction to Farncombe.

 

[z444z]

As far as I understand it yes, the journey must be valid per a journey planner in order to claim delay repay.

I believe it’s not that it has to show up on a journey planner - you could claim delay repay for a journey that a journey planner wouldn’t suggest as long as it’s valid - but any connections must comply with the published minimum connection time.

https://www.brtimes.com/!board?stn=CLJ&date=20260216 shows the MCT as 10 minutes, except changing between two Southern services which is 5 minutes.

 

[methecooldude]

I believe it’s not that it has to show up on a journey planner - you could claim delay repay for a journey that a journey planner wouldn’t suggest as long as it’s valid - but any connections must comply with the published minimum connection time.

https://www.brtimes.com/!board?stn=CLJ&date=20260216 shows the MCT as 10 minutes, except changing between two Southern services which is 5 minutes.

Well sure, but it's not shown up on the journey planner *because* it's outside the MCT, so same thing basically.

 

[z444z]

Well sure, but it's not shown up on the journey planner *because* it's outside the MCT, so same thing basically.

In this case yes

 

[furlong]

What was delayed? You haven't provided enough information.
If you were on the platform by 15:52 and that second train was delayed, then you could try to pursue a claim for that segment of the journey, as the connection time was irrelevant as you were present in time to catch it.

 

[yorkie]

Hi there, I made a delay repay claim for last Tuesday when I was disrupted on my journey home, I had to enter this manually because it doesn’t appear on the journey planner (I believe this is because any change at Clapham includes 10 minutes cushioning. I make this journey every day and have never missed the connection) and SWR have rejected this on the basis that the journey doesn’t exist in their journey planner.

My journey was

15:41 depart Victoria
15:48 arrive Clapham Junction

15:52 depart Clapham Junction
16:30 arrive Farncombe

I have disputed this and received a response today that states the below. Does anyone know if this is correct that I cannot claim because the journey isn’t in a journey planner?

Thanks in advance.

In a normal M-F timetable, the valid itinerary to take that Farncombe train is:

15:35 depart Victoria
15:41 arrive Clapham Junction

15:52 depart Clapham Junction
16:30 arrive Farncombe

You may take an earlier train, but not later if you want to have a valid connection.

Without knowing what happened, it is difficult to comment. But if the 13:35 made the connection, you don't have a valid claim.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What was delayed? You haven't provided enough information.

The 1552 SWR service from Clapham Junction looks to have been possibly ~13 to 15 minutes down arriving Farncombe, assuming it did actually call there and it wasn't skip-stopped.

Realtime Trains | 1545 London Waterloo to Portsmouth & Southsea | 10/02/2026

Real-time train running information for 1545 departure from London Waterloo to Portsmouth & Southsea on 10/02/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[handsomelife]

Thanks for the responses so far. A little more info:

I boarded the 15:52 from Clapham but en route to Woking the guard announced that it was running fast from Woking to Hilsea/Fratton (can’t recall which)

So I got off at Woking and was delayed by 20/30 minutes there waiting for the next Farncombe train.

 

[yorkie]

Thanks for the responses so far. A little more info:

I boarded the 15:52 from Clapham but en route to Woking the guard announced that it was running fast from Woking to Hilsea/Fratton (can’t recall which)

So I got off at Woking and was delayed by 20/30 minutes there waiting for the next Farncombe train.

As you did make the connection, in a sane world SWR would accept they did delay you. However, the system is abused by train companies, who look for any excuse they can possibly come up with to get out of claims.

Had you got the earlier train from Victoria, you'd have still ended up being delayed, but the fact you didn't have a valid connection allows them to invalidate the entire claim, even though the connection isn't relevant.

Make no mistake, companies such as SWR do not value our custom in any shape or form, nor do they genuinely want to give us a good service. The priorities of such companies are keeping the DfT happy, maximising the price people pay, and minimising compensation payments.

 

[Metal_gee_man]

I know it’s too late now & ill advised to lie but by telling them you were on the 15:30 or the 15:35 VIC to CLJ service the connection becomes valid and the delay repay becomes accepted by SWR

It’s SWRs level pedantry that’ll make people lie and it shouldn’t be our default position to take a defensive tactic against a TOC just to get a genuine claim accepted

 

[furlong]

Delay Repay for Delayed & Cancelled Trains | South Western Railway

Delay repay is a compensation that you can claim when your train is delayed or cancelled. Claims can be made up to 28 days after your journey.

www.southwesternrailway.com

If you are delayed by 15 minutes or longer when you travel with us, you can claim Delay Repay. This is a national scheme that makes it easy for you to get compensation for delayed journeys.

Even the small print says

This could be when your train service is running behind the planned, advertised timetable.

When determining how long the delay was, remember it is based on when you get to your destination and not when you departed.

You should also make sure that you leave enough time to make your connections under normal circumstances. Compensation will only be paid for missed connections when enough time has been left and you hold a ticket that covers the entire journey,

If it was the first train delayed and you missed the connection, that would apply. But in your case the connection time is irrelevant as you are not claiming for a missed connection and were already on the delayed train. I would suggest SWR has misinterpreted that statement and is fundamentally wrong here.

Your argument is that you were on a train that was delayed by more than 15 minutes, therefore self-evidently you are contractually entitled to this compensation.

You should pursue this one. To the ombudsman if necessary. You can try to argue the unambiguous statement on the web page (my first quote) forms part of your contract, and further that nothing in the small print on the page contradicts that.

 

[z444z]

You should pursue this one. To the ombudsman if necessary. You can try to argue the unambiguous statement on the web page (my first quote) forms part of your contract, and further that nothing in the small print on the page contradicts that.

But the OP wasn’t prevented from claiming, which is all that the first quote actually entitled them to do. I don’t disagree with your position at all, just pointing something out

 

[SuspectUsual]

I know it’s too late now & ill advised to lie but by telling them you were on the 15:30 or the 15:35 VIC to CLJ service the connection becomes valid and the delay repay becomes accepted by SWR

It’s SWRs level pedantry that’ll make people lie and it shouldn’t be out default position to take a defensive tactic against a TOC just to get a genuine claim accepted

To my mind this would have been awful advice. What if the gateline scan at Victoria was checked and found to be after 1535?

Thanks for your delay replay claim, here’s a report for prosecution

 

[furlong]

But the OP wasn’t prevented from claiming, which is all that the first quote actually entitled them to do.

Then just read it in conjunction with the next bit:

The amount of delay repay compensation paid is based on the cost of your ticket and the length of your delay.

The table below shows the amount of compensation available for each ticket type:
...

"the cost of your ticket and the length of your delay". No caveats that some delays are more equal than others!

 

[Metal_gee_man]

To my mind this would have been awful advice. What if the gateline scan at Victoria was checked and found to be after 1535?

Thanks for your delay replay claim, here’s a report for prosecution

If you genuinely believe they did this for all delay repay claims you’re delusional, plus being able to access that data from another TOCs barriers would be like getting blood from a stone

It’d only happen in cases where they are investigating repeated claims or known cases where the claimant has been in trouble before

 

[z444z]

If you genuinely believe they did this for all delay repay claims you’re delusional

I don’t think that was implied. The wording was “what if”.

 

[Haywain]

plus being able to access that data from another TOCs barriers would be like getting blood from a stone

If the ticket is an eTicket or smart card checking that scan/touch would be easy for any TOC.

 

[boiledbeans2]

[...]
If you were on the platform by 15:52 and that second train was delayed, then you could try to pursue a claim for that segment of the journey, as the connection time was irrelevant as you were present in time to catch it.

Yes, you should have just claimed for that segment from the beginning. From Clapham Junction to Farncombe. It doesn't matter what happened earlier. You could have discarded the first bit validity (Victoria - Clapham) and started short at Clapham, or broke your journey at Clapham and are resuming the journey.
But it's probably too late to change the claim as you have already declared your actual journey to SWR.