Delay repay - passenger or ticket buyer?

[cb a1]

Myself, my son and two friends went to Manchester for the day yesterday (great fun at the Urban Playground, an Escape Room and some excellent food and drink at Bundobust). I bought all the train tickets (in advance using RailUK Split Ticketing ) for us.

Return journey was on TPE and the train was cancelled. Not a massive problem and we caught the next Northern Service and picked up an Avanti at Preston.

I put in a delay repay claim for the four journeys but I only got one accepted. The rejection emails state "you have already claimed that you were travelling on a different service at this time. You can only claim for the actual delay you experienced and therefore this claim has been rejected." [my bold]

I don't have an issue with this and my son and friends can all make their own claim.

Conversely, I was on a delayed rail journey a couple of months ago, but the ticket had been bought on my behalf by the organisation I was visiting. I didn't know that ticket had automatic delay repay enabled on it, so when I made a claim it was rejected as the refund had already been made to the organisation which bought my ticket. The organisation which bought me the ticket didn't experience any delay. They got full utility out of my journey. As it happens, I didn't mind that they got the refund as the organisation in question is a charity and I was volunteering my services anyway and they were just covering my out of pocket expenses.

For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not looking to challenge any of the delay repay decisions.

My question is about the philosophy of delay repay. Should the refund go to whoever experiences the delay or whoever pays for the ticket?

My personal view is that as it is the passenger that experiences the delay, the delay repay should go to the passenger. It's then for the passenger to decide whether that money back should be returned to the purchaser of the ticket (where different).

Apologies if this has been discussed before. I did a search, but couldn't find such a discussion.

 

[m00036]

As per the corresponding legislation which can be found here (links to Regulation 1371/2007 on Rail Passengers’ Rights and Obligations), compensation is due to the passenger and not the organisation that bought the ticket.

 

[Haywain]

As per the corresponding legislation which can be found here (links to Regulation 1371/2007 on Rail Passengers’ Rights and Obligations), compensation is due to the passenger and not the organisation that bought the ticket.

However, if the organisation that bought the ticket have signed up for automatic delay repay and claimed it, the matter should be taken up with them.

 

[Watershed]

Delay Repay is compensation for the inconvenience experienced as a result of the passenger's delay; it is therefore claimed from the operator responsible by the passenger, who also receives the compensation (unless they nominate someone else's bank account for instance). Some operators allow one passenger to claim on behalf of others, but you have to make this clear in your application and have to provide their details. Delay Repay isn't a refund, even though many TOCs (including frontline staff) wrongly label it as such.

Refunds are when you return your ticket to get your money back, because you aren't travelling to your destination anymore. That could be because of a change of plans, or because of disruption. Either way it needs to be applied for by the person who bought the ticket, from the retailer they bought the ticket from.

The confusion comes because some operators operate an Automatic Delay Repay system in their capacity as retailers, whereby they will automatically pay Delay Repay (or upon a single button press) if you buy an Advance ticket and they deem the journey to have been sufficiently delayed. In this case, this is still Delay Repay but it is usually credited to the card used for buying the tickets. As in your case, that may mean the passenger doesn't receive the compensation they're owed. This is one of many flaws with Automatic Delay Repay in my view.

 

[Bletchleyite]

However, if the organisation that bought the ticket have signed up for automatic delay repay and claimed it, the matter should be taken up with them.

And there is nothing in law that prevents a company having a policy that Delay Repay or EU261 must be paid back to them as they bought the ticket.

If I ran a business, my policy would be that if the delay caused a loss of personal time it could be kept by the employee but if the delay caused a loss of company time (i.e. the member of staff was being paid throughout the time of the delay, or they were paid overtime due to the delay) then the company would ask it be repaid. That's a simple contractual matter.

 

[JBuchananGB]

I have found that Avanti will pay delay repay for 2 passengers to a claimant who submits the tickets for both passengers in one claim, and where the claimant bought the tickets and quotes one booking reference number. I received payment for two such claims yesterday, for journeys made on 19th and 21st October. In both case 100% of the fare due to delays exceeding 60 minutes. My wife is OK with this, she is happy for me to make the claim on her behalf!

 

[Haywain]

I have found that Avanti will pay delay repay for 2 passengers to a claimant who submits the tickets for both passengers in one claim, and where the claimant bought the tickets and quotes one booking reference number. I received payment for two such claims yesterday, for journeys made on 19th and 21st October. In both case 100% of the fare due to delays exceeding 60 minutes. My wife is OK with this, she is happy for me to make the claim on her behalf!

Similarly, they will pay such claims where the tickets have been purchased elsewhere.

 

[JBuchananGB]

Indeed they did. My tickets were purchased from Greater Anglia and sent to me by post.

 

[greatkingrat]

And there is nothing in law that prevents a company having a policy that Delay Repay or EU261 must be paid back to them as they bought the ticket.

If I ran a business, my policy would be that if the delay caused a loss of personal time it could be kept by the employee but if the delay caused a loss of company time (i.e. the member of staff was being paid throughout the time of the delay, or they were paid overtime due to the delay) then the company would ask it be repaid. That's a simple contractual matter.

The problem with such a policy is that staff won't bother to claim in the first place if they have to pay the money back.