Delay Repay | Great Northern

What is Delay Repay?

Delay Repay is a national scheme that train companies use to compensate you for unexpected delays and cancellations.

If you arrive 15 minutes or more late at your destination because of a delay or cancellation to a Great Northern service, you can claim Delay Repay compensation. The amount of compensation you are entitled to depends on the length of delay and your ticket type.

Details of the scheme are outlined in our Passenger's Charter which is available at all our staffed stations or online on the Passenger's Charter page.

How to claim Delay Repay

You need to apply for compensation online or by post within 28 days of your delayed journey. We'll respond to your claim within 20 working days, however unless there has been a period of disruption you should hear back from us within 5 days.

Please note that each individual traveller must submit their own delay repay claim (unless it is for a child or under mitigating circumstances - please review our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on this page for more information. If you submit multiple claims for the same journey these will be declined and will add a delay to you receiving any compensation due.

To complete the online or printed form, you’ll need proof of travel. Valid proof of travel depends on what type of ticket you have.

Proof of travel required to apply

To complete the online or printed form, you’ll need proof of travel. Valid proof of travel depends on what type of ticket you have.

Paper ticket (you need one of the following)

Your original ticket
The ticket receipt (if you no longer have your ticket)
A scan or photograph of your season ticket and photocard

We ask you to provide the ticket number if you apply online. This allows us to assess your claim more quickly and accurately. Details of where to find your ticket number are on the online form.

The Key Smartcard

Key Smartcard number (found on the front of your smartcard)

Smartcard from another train company

If you have a smartcard issued by another train company, please provide the card number and the receipt/booking confirmation showing details of the ticket(s) held on your smartcard

Oyster season ticket

A receipt showing the date of purchase, the price you paid and the zones covered by your Oyster card

Oyster pay as you go or Contactless payment

A print-out showing where you touched in and out and the cost of your journey

(You can get detailed information about your Oyster and Contactless journeys from your account page on the TfL website)

If your card is registered, you can obtain a statement by visiting tfl.gov.uk.

eTicket

The UTN number of your ticket or
An image of the ticket valid for travel

mTicket

The UTN number of your ticket or
An image of the ticket valid for travel

(Your Retailer should be able to supply you with these details)

What are you entitled to?

If you have a season ticket

We’ll calculate your compensation by working out the value of each single journey your ticket covers:

an annual season ticket covers 464 single journeys
a six-monthly season ticket covers 240 single journeys
a quarterly season ticket covers 120 single journeys
a monthly season ticket covers 40 single journeys
a weekly season ticket covers 10 single journeys

So if you're delayed by:

15-29 minutes you're entitled to 25% of the cost of a single journey
30-59 minutes you're entitled to 50% of the cost of a single journey
60-119 minutes you're entitled to 100% of the cost of a single journey
120+ minutes you're entitled to 100% of the cost of a return journey (a full day’s travel)

Flexi season ticket holders

To calculate the compensation value of each journey, we divide the cost of your Flexi season ticket by 16.

If you're delayed by:

15 to 29 minutes you’re entitled to 25% of the cost of 1 single journey using the above calculation
30 to 59 minutes you’re entitled to 50% of the cost of 1 single journey using the above calculation
60 to 119 minutes you’re entitled to 100% of the cost of 1 single journey using the above calculation
120 minutes or longer you’re entitled to 100% of the cost of 2 single journeys using the above calculation

If you have a day ticket

If you're delayed by:

15-29 minutes you're entitled to at least 25% of the single fare paid, or if you bought a return ticket at least 25% of the fare paid for the affected portion
30-59 minutes you're entitled to at least 50% of the single fare paid, or if you bought a return ticket at least 50% of the fare paid for the affected portion
60-119 minutes you're entitled to 100% of the single fare paid, or if you bought a return ticket at least 50% of the fare paid
120+ minutes you're entitled to 100% of the cost of the fare paid whether it was for a single or return journey

How we'll compensate you

The full range of repayment options available through the online claim form is:

Amazon account balance (you must have an Amazon account)
Electronic bank transfer (BACS)
E-voucher (you must have an online account with us)
PayPal (you must have a PayPal account)
Credit or debit card (we are currently unable to process MasterCard and AMEX repayments)
National Rail vouchers

The online form is the most secure way for us to receive your payment details. We can’t accept financial information by post, so the repayment options are more limited.

We now offer compensation payment to your Amazon account. Select Amazon account balance in the repayment options and sign in to your account. To do so login and grant access using your amazon email address. You have the option to associate these details with your Great Northern account to speed up this process in future. Once your claim is processed we will reimburse your Delay Repay claim directly into your Amazon account balance.

National Rail vouchers can be used as payment (or part payment) towards any National Rail ticket, including season tickets. You can also exchange National Rail vouchers for cash at any Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern or Thameslink ticket office, as long as they were issued by one of these four train companies.

National Rail vouchers and E-vouchers are valid for 12 months.

Avoiding failed BACS and PayPal payments

Repayments using BACS or PayPal can fail if the payment information you give us is inaccurate or incomplete.

If you select BACS payment, double-check that the sort code and account number you supply are correct and are for the account you want the payment to go into.

If you select PayPal:

you must have a PayPal account
the email address you enter must be valid
the email address you enter must be the one that relates to your PayPal account

Apply online

If you create an online account with us, we will store your personal information, season ticket details and repayment preferences which will save you time if you need to apply for Delay Repay in the future. You can also benefit from the full range of repayment options.

Scanning and uploading images

You can only upload one image per claim. If you are uploading images of several documents, please scan them all as a single image
The maximum size for scanned images is 1MB each

Apply online

Apply by post

Download, print and post your form to claim Delay Repay compensation.

Please note: we can’t accept financial information by post, so the repayment options are more limited.

Send your form and supporting documents to:

Freepost RUET-ZEJB-TKKZ
Govia Thameslink Railway
Derby
DE1 9RQ

Download the form

All claims are checked and verified. Southern reserves the right to prosecute fraudulent claimants. Claims must be made by the person who experienced the delay except under mitigating circumstances.

Our policy does not affect your legal rights. For more information about your legal rights please contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Trading Standards office.

Get refunded easily with a Key Smartcard

When you register for a Key Smartcard, and sign up for Auto Delay Repay in your account, you may find claiming for delays more straightforward and hassle-free.

Find out more about Auto Delay Repay.

How do I make a claim on behalf of a third party if we travelled together?

Although our process is designed for the person who experienced the delay to make the claim, and we will only accept third party claims if there are mitigating circumstances, we do understand that it isn’t always possible or practical to do so, for example, when travelling with minors. Our online form allows you to make up to 3 claims in one submission as follows:

1. After you have made a claim for yourself using the ticket you travelled on, select ‘add another claim’

2. Choose ‘copy details from claim 1’ which will populate the same journey information

3. Make sure you give the correct ticket information for the other person who travelled following the on screen instructions. If you give the same ticket information more than once the claim will be rejected as a duplicate

4. If you need to make more than 3 claims, simply repeat the process

Just so you know, each claim submission is assessed separately so you may hear from us at different times.

Can I submit more than one Delay Repay claim at a time?

What if I am delayed on a multi-leg journey?

If you are travelling with more than one train operator and you experience a delay, it is important that you make your claim for compensation to the operator that caused the initial delay. It is important that you leave sufficient time to maintain connections (including crossing London connections). Compensation will only be paid for missed connections when enough time has been left to meet the connection and you hold a ‘through’ ticket that covers the entire journey. Further details can be found at nationalrail.co.uk

Why can I only make one 120 minute (2 hour) delay claim in a day?

Why can’t I have money put back onto my American Express card?

Why was my claim declined or not processed?

Your claim may be declined for a number of reasons and the specific reason for this will be provided to you in our response. Common reasons for turning down a claim are:

Your claim was submitted outside of 28 days
Your ticket was not valid for the journey you have claimed for – please check the details of your ticket
We were unable to find a delay of 15minutes or more
The delay occurred with a different train operator
You have exceeded the maximum compensation payable for a day’s travel*

Can I claim for additional losses following disruption?

Our Passenger’s Charter describes the compensation available through the 'Delay Repay' scheme.

The compensation we offer exceeds that which is set out in the National Rail Conditions of Travel. You cannot recover the same money twice, but you may be entitled to recover up to the price of your ticket where you can demonstrate that a service has not been delivered with reasonable care and skill.

If you feel you may be eligible for further payment please contact our customer relations with the full details of your claim.

Donate your Delay Repay

We have set up a new partnership with both Samaritans & Railway Children, following customer feedback, giving you the option to donate to either cause if your train is delayed for 15 minutes or more.

We have chosen to partner with these organisations as they support mental health and young people, two key focus areas for us. 100% of the funds raised by passengers will go to ensuring that Samaritans and Railway Children can continue their life-saving and life-enhancing work.

Simply apply for Delay Repay and select the charity that you would like to donate to.

Period	Volume of delay compensation claims received	Volume of delay compensation claims approved	Value of total delay compensation paid	Average time for claims to be processed in working days
Period 4 (26/06/2022 - 23/07/2022)	5,752	3,944	£46,139.30	2.2
Period 5 (24/07/2022 - 20/08/2022)	12,868	9,954	£126,128.30	2.2
Period 6 (21/08/2022 - 17/09/2022)	7,481	6,336	£63,809.20	2.4
Period 7 (18/09/2022 - 15/10/2022)	8,575	6,598	£71,321.80	2.1
Period 8 (16/10/2022 - 12/11/2022)	3,513	3,066	£22,635.50	2.2
Period 9 (13/11/2022 - 10/12/2022)	4,233	3,710	£29,753.30	2.2
Period 10 (11/12/2022 - 07/01/2023)	5,675	3,790	£40,612.60	1.9
Period 11 (08/01/2023 - 04/02/2023)	4,584	3,848	£33,297.70	1.9
Period 12 (05/02/2023 - 04/03/2023)	5,128	4,569	£35,795.30	1.9
Period 13 (05/03/2023 - 31/03/2023)	4,805	4,189	£32,736.70	1.9
Period 1 (01/04/2023 - 29/04/2023)	2,989	2,472	£14,384.80	1.9
Period 2 (30/04/2023 - 27/05/2023)	6,113	4,559	£40,776.30	1.9
Period 3 (28/05/2023 - 24/06/2023)	7,117	6,004	£51,824.00	2.1

Delay Repay compensation

What is Delay Repay?

How to claim Delay Repay

Apply online

Scanning and uploading images

Apply by post

Get refunded easily with a Key Smartcard

Frequently asked questions about Delay Repay