I have read up VERY extensively on the issue of which company is liable for delay claims. I have also tried to track down any cases that have reached court.
Can anybody connected with these forums point me to any legally binding regulation or better still a binding court precedent that allows the ticket issuing company to pass liability to another train operator for a ticket with multiple carriers.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is exceedingly clear that any purchase for a service is contracted with the "Trader". That is very clearly in these cases the ticket issuer. To pass liability to another party would require any agency or assignation to be very transparently stated at contract - i.e. ticket purchase.
I have read just about every document, from franchise agreements through to The Ticketing & Settlement Agreement.
Yes National Rail Conditions of Travel does fudge the issue. But it is very noticeable that the March 2018 version has included multiple references to The Consumer Rights Act 2015. The previous version may have verged on criminally misleading the consumer's rights!!!
Current version " 35, 1. If you need to make a claim against a Train Company or Rail Service Provider for personal injury or any loss or damage to property, or a claim or complaint arising under the Passenger's Charter or these Conditions, you should write to the relevant Train Company or Rail Service Provider in the first instance,"
THEN
"35.2. Please note that a Train Company is not responsible for:
35.2.1. another Train Company not running any trains;"
That is total gibberish in my opinion.
Oh and I have run through the online ticketing screens of both TPE and Virgin through to purchase. Neither company could be deemed to "transparently" assert to be acting as an agent. The multiple cross references can only be found deep in hyperlinked documents. Such linking during a low value ticket purchase are highly unlikely to be enforceable as valid in court - even if they aren't total gibberish as above. Under the act tems that are "incorporated by reference" as these links to other lengthy documents qualify as, are most unlikely to pass a transparency test.
Grateful to hear any views - particular of any test cases. The delay repay system is a mess as exemplified by the Northern fiasco. I'm working with a number of other parties with MP support to get this particular issue nailed or legislated against.
Can anybody connected with these forums point me to any legally binding regulation or better still a binding court precedent that allows the ticket issuing company to pass liability to another train operator for a ticket with multiple carriers.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is exceedingly clear that any purchase for a service is contracted with the "Trader". That is very clearly in these cases the ticket issuer. To pass liability to another party would require any agency or assignation to be very transparently stated at contract - i.e. ticket purchase.
I have read just about every document, from franchise agreements through to The Ticketing & Settlement Agreement.
Yes National Rail Conditions of Travel does fudge the issue. But it is very noticeable that the March 2018 version has included multiple references to The Consumer Rights Act 2015. The previous version may have verged on criminally misleading the consumer's rights!!!
Current version " 35, 1. If you need to make a claim against a Train Company or Rail Service Provider for personal injury or any loss or damage to property, or a claim or complaint arising under the Passenger's Charter or these Conditions, you should write to the relevant Train Company or Rail Service Provider in the first instance,"
THEN
"35.2. Please note that a Train Company is not responsible for:
35.2.1. another Train Company not running any trains;"
That is total gibberish in my opinion.
Oh and I have run through the online ticketing screens of both TPE and Virgin through to purchase. Neither company could be deemed to "transparently" assert to be acting as an agent. The multiple cross references can only be found deep in hyperlinked documents. Such linking during a low value ticket purchase are highly unlikely to be enforceable as valid in court - even if they aren't total gibberish as above. Under the act tems that are "incorporated by reference" as these links to other lengthy documents qualify as, are most unlikely to pass a transparency test.
Grateful to hear any views - particular of any test cases. The delay repay system is a mess as exemplified by the Northern fiasco. I'm working with a number of other parties with MP support to get this particular issue nailed or legislated against.