Virgin Trains Delay repay

I sent through a VT automatic delay repay through their website page about eight weeks ago. Have heard nothing since so am about to follow up by letter.

Is the address for postal claims still Virgin Trains, Customer Relations, FREEPOST RRAE-UJZZ-ESUR, PO BOX 713, Birmingham B5 4HH?

A bit concerned that if still unprocessed at this time, when the franchise ends, all claims end with them, what happens after that, are they carried over to the new franchise holder

1B85 said:

I sent through a VT automatic delay repay through their website page about eight weeks ago. Have heard nothing since so am about to follow up by letter.

Is the address for postal claims still Virgin Trains, Customer Relations, FREEPOST RRAE-UJZZ-ESUR, PO BOX 713, Birmingham B5 4HH?

A bit concerned that if still unprocessed at this time, when the franchise ends, all claims end with them, what happens after that, are they carried over to the new franchise holder

Click to expand...

EMR took over all outstanding EMT claims, stated this on their website - the claims needed to be dealt with according to EMTs conditions, even if EMR were dealing with them post franchise change date, as you would expect in my view.

1B85 said:

I sent through a VT automatic delay repay through their website page about eight weeks ago. Have heard nothing since so am about to follow up by letter.
Is the address for postal claims still Virgin Trains, Customer Relations, FREEPOST RRAE-UJZZ-ESUR, PO BOX 713, Birmingham B5 4HH?
A bit concerned that if still unprocessed at this time, when the franchise ends, all claims end with them, what happens after that, are they carried over to the new franchise holder

Click to expand...

There was a similar thread a day or two ago. Claims will be carried over to the new franchise holder.

The address above is the one currently given on their web-site. However, I would use email, as it is both faster and cheaper.

When you submitted the claim, you should have got a "complaint received" page giving the reference number, and also an acknowledgement email with the reference number. Using that reference number, you can check progress on their web-site:
https://virgintrains.service-now.com/help_and_contact?id=case_tracker
There is a note on the web-site that claims are taking longer than normal to process at present due to the volume of claims, however 8 weeks is a long time. I submitted a claim on their web-site on 25 October - the page giving the reference number stated the average response time was currently 15 days, and it was paid by letter dated 16 November.

If you didn't get a reference number, it is possible that your claim didn't actually get submitted. If you didn't receive the acknowledgement email, it is possible you didn't give them your correct email address, so any reply has got lost in the ether. I had a case with another TOC where I asked for response by post, and they ignored the address I gave on the complaint and sent the reply to an old address that they had on file for me! Fortunately my post was still being redirected. I suppose the same thing might happen if you change email address, so again worth chasing them up if you don't receive the acknowledgement email within a day or two.

After 8 weeks, you are well beyond the 28 days limit for submitting a claim, so hopefully you kept some proof of submitting the claim, e.g. a screenshot of the "complaint received" page or the acknowledgement email giving the reference number?

You don't get a reference number when you submit the claim. It took them 7 weeks to send me a reference and then a further 2 weeks to actually process it.

I would send this into them again. I would do this by email to customer relations and attach a copy of the tickets. I would stress the original date you contacted them and are concerned you have not heard back. I'd try and get this done before the franchise change over date.

Normally when you submit a claim to Virgin you get confirmation on the screen. Also, an email saying its been received, then another email with a reference number. If you haven't received this then it sounds like they've not received your claim.

It might be worth Tweeting Virgin and explain the issue. Ask if they can look to see if they've received it. I'm thinking they might be able to check against your name and address.

paddington said:

You don't get a reference number when you submit the claim.

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Well I certainly have whenever I have submitted an on-line claim with VTWC. The page that displays "Complaint received" goes on to say "Your case reference is VTxxxxxx", and I always keep a screenshot of it to record the reference number. I recommend doing this as proof that they have received the claim, in case the email acknowledgement fails to come through. It only takes a second or so to print screen to pdf, but it could save a lot of grief later-on.

The first claim that I submitted on-line, I assumed that the confirmation screen or email would repeat back the details I had submitted. I was a bit taken aback that neither did, and so I had no record of what I had submitted. So I now also keep screenshots of the pages that I fill-in, in case there is any dispute (or I forget the details, as it takes so long to process, and I may have several similar claims awaiting resolution).

OK, I'm just reporting what happened with my two recent claims. I got the first email saying submission received, but the second email with the case number took 7 weeks to arrive.