Delay repay - who do I claim from?

[MrGum]

I wonder whether anyone could advise, please?

I travel from a Southern station, and buy my season ticket from Southern. If I change to a train run by another operator (SouthWest Trains) and am delayed on that stage of the journey by an hour plus, would I make a claim from Southern, explaining my route? Or from SWT?

I have received compensation from SWT twice previously, but was told last time that I should claim from the people who sold me the ticket. Seems a bit harsh to claim from Southern for signal failures outside their area eg. - is this really how it works, please?

It's not something I've been able to confirm (without going back to one or both parties). All advice very gratefully received!

 

[221129]

You claim from whoever delayed you. So in this case SWT.

 

[Romilly]

As I understand it, South West Trains do not operate the modern "delay repay" scheme but the older "passenger charter" compensation scheme.

If you have a non-season ticket, or a weekly season ticket, SWT will compensate you for delays of 60 minutes or more unless the cause of the delay is outwith their control.

If you have a monthly or longer season ticket purchased from them, and renew it for the same journey with them, they offer discounts based on average under-performance or void days. They do not offer any other compensation to monthly+ season-ticket holders.

The Southern 2016 passenger charter leaflet does not deal expressly with the question of Southern season-ticket holders who are delayed on non-Southern services.

 

[Wolfie]

As I understand it, South West Trains do not operate the modern "delay repay" scheme but the older "passenger charter" compensation scheme.

If you have a non-season ticket, or a weekly season ticket, SWT will compensate you for delays of 60 minutes or more unless the cause of the delay is outwith their control.

If you have a monthly or longer season ticket purchased from them, and renew it for the same journey with them, they offer discounts based on average under-performance or void days. They do not offer any other compensation to monthly+ season-ticket holders.

The Southern 2016 passenger charter leaflet does not deal expressly with the question of Southern season-ticket holders who are delayed on non-Southern services.

Can I clarify:

When you say a "Southern season ticket" do you mean:
a A season ticket issued by Southern;
b A season ticket for a route which is completely or predominantly operated by Southern;
c Something else - if so what exactly?

I'm not trying to be pedantic but aren't aware, apart from a few specific examples eg Milton Keynes to London - VTWC only, of TOC-specific season tickets.

 

[MrGum]

You claim from whoever delayed you. So in this case SWT.

Seems sensible, of course. Many thanks.

When I last received compensation from them, they said "We enclose £4 in rail vouchers as a gesture of goodwill, but you should make any future claims from the ticket issuer". Emphatically avoiding responsibility for compensating me for delays on their services.
I'll try them again and see what happens

Thanks again for all your advice

 

[221129]

Seems sensible, of course. Many thanks.

When I last received compensation from them, they said "We enclose £4 in rail vouchers as a gesture of goodwill, but you should make any future claims from the ticket issuer". Emphatically avoiding responsibility for compensating me for delays on their services.
I'll try them again and see what happens

Thanks again for all your advice

Although as Romilly says, they do not operate Delay Repay so the voucher was a gesture of goodwill.

 

[MrGum]

Can I clarify:

When you say a "Southern season ticket" do you mean:
a A season ticket issued by Southern;
b A season ticket for a route which is completely or predominantly operated by Southern;
c Something else - if so what exactly?

I'm not trying to be pedantic but aren't aware, apart from a few specific examples eg Milton Keynes to London - VTWC only, of TOC-specific season tickets.

Thanks for the advice, and to clarify:
I travel from a Southern station to Clapham Junction, and change there onto an SWT service to Feltham (and after that, catch a bus or two to work, yawn). My season ticket is an annual one covering travel into zone 6 and zones 2-6, on a (Southern) Key smartcard.

If that makes sense, and helps?

 

[swt_passenger]

I don't think you'll ever get a satisfactory explanation.

I strongly suspect that the inventors of delay repay just didn't even think about through journeys between TOCs using different compensation schemes. They probably assumed there'd be quite a short transition period before all TOCs would be on delay repay, so any loose ends would disappear before they had a chance to become a big problem.

The other main issue is that you are being delayed on a journey made on the travelcard part of an 'out-boundary travelcard'. If you think this is a difficult 'who to claim from' issue, imagine if you were using DLR and LU as well...

 

[bb21]

Thanks for the advice, and to clarify:
I travel from a Southern station to Clapham Junction, and change there onto an SWT service to Feltham (and after that, catch a bus or two to work, yawn). My season ticket is an annual one covering travel into zone 6 and zones 2-6, on a (Southern) Key smartcard.

If that makes sense, and helps?

So you are not entitled to compensation for a single journey, only goodwill gestures from SWT. They were correct.

 

[MrGum]

As a season ticket holder, SWT won't compensate me for delays on any particular journey, and Southern won't refund me because it wasn't their train.. I get it now, many thanks all!

 

[greatkingrat]

Yes, this is one of the anomalies of the current system. Someone with say a Woking - Zones 2-6 travelcard, using Southern within the zones, could potentially get double compensation, with both a charter discount from SWT, plus Delay Repay from Southern.