They do get (via Delay Repay) a full "refund" of the first class element paid.
I do think it unfair that you cannot get more than 100% of the fare back even if you're delayed by 2 hours or more on both legs of your journey. Admittedly this wouldn't happen very often (only once to me) but it did cause lots of inconvenience and a financial loss to me even after the 100% ticket repayment.
Sure, but I was reflecting on their financial position following the delay being identical for the "demotion" to standard class as it would have been had they had the opportunity to travel first class.
It is interesting what you mention about a 2 hour delay. It seems that once the delay has gone over an hour they don't care anymore. Last year I had some trains cancelled from Stockport to Warrington Central. Once a Liverpool bound train did finally come, it was rerouted to avoid Warrington Central, thereby extending my delay further. Admittedly, I could guess that the reason for this was to enable to reach Liverpool more quickly and so reduce further delays in the opposite direction.
