Make them pay! 5 Steps to earn money off train delays
“Delayed – AGAIN! UGHH! They are going to pay for this,” you mutter under your breath. Now it is time to act. Follow these steps by Crystal Evans, and you will be ready to be rightly compensated the next time your train is delayed. Being in London, it probably won’t take very long!
1. Sign up for a TFL account
A TfL Account not only links your Oyster and/or contactless payment cards together, but it also enables you to get money back for travel delays.
2. Stay alert for Delay Repay
If your train is delayed for more than 30 minutes or 15 minutes, depending on the line. You might be able to get a full or partial refund on your journey.
The pay is usually proportional to your season ticket cost and the delay. Which! gives you a guide to the compensation and how to go about claiming.
When your train is delayed, take note of:
- The time the train was meant to arrive
- The time the train actually came
- What alternate routes you had to take
- The details contained on your paper ticket or Oyster card
3. Claim your money back within 28 days
- Online: You can do this on TfL’s website under Service Delay Refunds
- By phone: Call TfL on 0343 222 1234 and push option 2 at prompt
4. Sign up for Automatic Delay Repay Claims
Can’t be bothered to keep track of delayed trains and the paperwork involved in the claim?
You can get automatic compensation when you connect your TfL account to Reeclaim.
Reeclaim pays attention to your touch-ins and outs and will notice the delays on your behalf. They will also automatically process the claims for you, so sometimes you won’t even realise you were delayed until you hear the cha-ching!
5. Get the money
Now it is time to get paid! How you pay for your train ticket will change how you receive the money.
- If you paid by paper tickets or contactless card, you receive your refund straight into the bank account you provided.
- If you paid by Oyster Card, you can also opt to receive the money in 2 other ways:
- Receive a pay-as-you-go credit the next time you tap in at a station or bus
- Receive the refunded amount as web credit on your online account. You can use this credit when you top up or buy a travel card online.
