GTR's delay repay oopsies

[MrJeeves]

Has anyone else been incorrectly awarded (benefitting themselves!) delay repay on GTR?

A few times this year, I've been awarded incorrect sums of delay repay much higher than what I was entitled to, and wondered if it's a common theme for others too.

I've just had a claim approved for £4.20 for a ticket that cost £4.15, and was a return with a 60-119 min delay.

A week or so earlier, I received compensation for my Z1-6 travelcard that appeared to be based on the travelcard being interpreted as a single rather than a return.

My friend, in summer, received £12 for a £2 ticket and a 15 min delay!

 

[NorthWestRover]

Not on GTR, but both times I've claimed from Avanti, they've bumped me up to the next level of delay even though my claim set out precisely what my delay was. I just gratefully accept it on the basis I don't always claim and obviously under 15 minutes delay you can't.

 

[robbeech]

This is all well and good of course until in 12 to 18 months time we see stories of people being contacted by the operator threatened with police action if they don’t pay back every penny of delay repay they have ever claimed since creation of the railway plus a £200 admin fee.

 

[gabrielhj07]

This is all well and good of course until in 12 to 18 months time we see stories of people being contacted by the operator threatened with police action if they don’t pay back every penny of delay repay they have ever claimed since creation of the railway plus a £200 admin fee.

Would that sort of behaiviour have any legal basis?

 

[ChewChewTrain]

Would that sort of behaiviour have any legal basis?

Theft by finding (IANAL)?

 

[skyhigh]

Theft by finding (IANAL)?

Really doubt it.

Delay repay is the statutory minimum TOCs must pay out in the event of delay. But they're entirely able to hand out additional compensation above those levels if they deem fit it.

As long as you provide accurate and honest details in the claim I really can't see any realistic issues.

 

[ashkeba]

Would that sort of behaiviour have any legal basis?

No, but that hasn't stopped another operator apparently trawling their delay repay claims and making accusations when any anomaly is detected, such as not tapping in for a cancelled train (as well as many anomalies which probably do merit questioning).

Take photos and keep notes if you're going to claim.

 

[BenS123]

As long as the passenger enters the correct delay time in the DR form, I can't see how the passenger could possibly be told that they are in the wrong?

The passenger followed the procedure completely correctly, its just the operator that paid out more than they were meant to (there's also the argument that the passenger themself might not even notice they've been overpaid as some DR forms don't actually say how much to expect)

 

[Haywain]

There's a very big difference between being overpaid for a completely legitimate claim and making a false claim.

 

[jon0844]

There's a very big difference between being overpaid for a completely legitimate claim and making a false claim.

Indeed. There's no way they're going to make a higher payment as some sort of evil trick to catch you out later!

 

[robbeech]

Indeed. There's no way they're going to make a higher payment as some sort of evil trick to catch you out later!

There's a very big difference between being overpaid for a completely legitimate claim and making a false claim.

Absolutely, they wouldn’t do it deliberately for this reason, that would be ridiculous.

However, there’s no real connection between departments there so prosecution teams would use it to make a case not knowing that it was the operator who had wrongly issued too much. Something that ought to be easily sorted but it would be the passenger having to prove innocence as usual on the railway.

 

[jon0844]

I cannot imagine such a situation arising as they'd surely look at the claim first and quickly establish where the 'fault' was.

Nor can I see them wasting time saying 'sorry we got it wrong, can you pay us back please' as they're probably busy enough as it is, and would surely appreciate the negative PR it would cause.

Right now all eyes must be focused on e-ticket fraud.

 

[Haywain]

However, there’s no real connection between departments there so prosecution teams would use it to make a case not knowing that it was the operator who had wrongly issued too much. Something that ought to be easily sorted but it would be the passenger having to prove innocence as usual on the railway.

That is nonsense. In delay repay you claim for a specified amount of delay, not an amount of money. If the specified amount of delay is correct in the claim then any overpayment is entirely the train company's fault.

 

[AlterEgo]

It’s also worth bearing in mind the GA debacle involved a large number of people - only one of whom in the thread claimed to be completely innocent - who were suspected of making *false claims* using their season tickets.

 

[island]

That is nonsense. In delay repay you claim for a specified amount of delay, not an amount of money. If the specified amount of delay is correct in the claim then any overpayment is entirely the train company's fault.

Precisely. Any suggestion that train companies will somehow "come after" people whom they have overpaid this way is simply outlandish.

 

[robbeech]

I certainly hope you’re right.

 

[Runningaround]

Right now all eyes must be focused on e-ticket fraud.

Is that why they are so slow at processing legitimate claims and are often rejecting valid ones? Sounds like the railway putting plenty of resources into finding passengers doing wrong but as little as it can to anything that is it's own fault

 

[MrJeeves]

Is that why they are so slow at processing legitimate claims and are often rejecting valid ones? Sounds like the railway putting plenty of resources into finding passengers doing wrong but as little as it can to anything that is it's own fault

Who is "they"?

GTR are one of the fastest at processing DR claims in my experience, often paying out within 5 days.

 

[jon0844]

Is that why they are so slow at processing legitimate claims and are often rejecting valid ones? Sounds like the railway putting plenty of resources into finding passengers doing wrong but as little as it can to anything that is it's own fault

I doubt the people processing delay repay claims are in any way related to the fraud investigation and prosecution team, so I doubt there's any connection whatsoever.

 

[paul1609]

Who is "they"?

GTR are one of the fastest at processing DR claims in my experience, often paying out within 5 days.

Do GTR actually look at Delay repay claims, I was under the impression it was all dealt with by an agency at coalmine way, ashby de la touch, apparently its somewhere in the North, the french is just to make it sound cosmopolitan.

 

[bubieyehyeh]

I've had load of incorrect rejections with GTR over the years, but to be fair since they updated the website where you select the train you took, they have paid out correctly and quickly.

 

[W-on-Sea]

I was overpaid by GWR for delay repay once - receiving something like £40 (a round figure at that) whereas I was owed in the region of £20-£25. The context was that GWR had a big backlog of unpaid claims, and consequent slow processing times. On that occasion I presume the overpayment was, in part, an apology for the lengthy delay in processing the claim (of maybe two or three months), and, in part a round figure was paid, not directly related to what was owed, in order to speed up the processing of outstanding claims.