Delay Repay compensation

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 Southern 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?

Levels of compensation

Season ticket holders (weekly or longer)

To calculate the compensation value of each journey, we divide the cost of your season ticket by 464; other period tickets are calculated pro-rata on the same basis.

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

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)

Please see our Passenger's Charter for more information.

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

Day ticket holders

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 for 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 for 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

Your statutory rights are to receive your compensation in the same way you paid for your ticket. We can’t accept financial information by post, so the repayment options are more limited. The online form is the most secure way for us to receive your payment details. Please choose your repayment option carefully as it cannot be changed once your claim is submitted.

What is an Amazon payment?

We can 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 Southern 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.

What are National Rail vouchers?

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. We do not have an agreement with other train operating companies to cash their vouchers and in most cases, these vouchers are not of the cashable variety. You should contact the train company who issued the vouchers if you have any queries.

National Rail vouchers and e-Vouchers are valid for 12 months.

What is an e-Voucher?

An e-Voucher is provided where compensation has been claimed for a delay or cancellation to a service that affected your journey. This is part of the Delay Repay compensation process. An e-Voucher will be added to your online account which in turn can be used for products that are available from this website.

To use your e-Voucher, you will see your voucher total in the delivery options screen once you have selected your product(s) and you will have the option to use some or all of your voucher as payment in full or towards that product.

Please note that e-Vouchers cannot be exchanged and are valid for 12 months from the day of issue.

Avoid failed payments

We’ve been working hard to offer a range of repayment methods for Delay Repay. Some of these payment methods will fail if you do not provide accurate information. Here are some top tips to avoid a failed payment:

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

• If you select PayPal, you must have a PayPal account and you must check that the email address you supply at the payment method stage of the claim is valid and relates to your PayPal account

• If you opt for a cashable voucher, please make sure the address you provide is correct and up to date

In the event that one of the electronic payment methods fail, we will write to you and send a cashable national rail voucher instead.

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.

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 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 15 minutes or more
The delay occurred with a different train operator
You have exceeded the maximum compensation payable for a day’s travel*

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?

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 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.

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 8 (16/10/2022 - 12/11/2022)	33,383	26,771	£178,674.10	2.2
Period 9 (13/11/2022 - 10/12/2022)	29,293	26,336	£165,055.60	2.2
Period 10 (11/12/2022 - 07/01/2023)	41,297	26,125	£222,775.80	1.9
Period 11 (08/01/2023 - 04/02/2023)	43,962	36,202	£296,073.60	1.9
Period 12 (05/02/2023 - 04/03/2023)	31,637	27,423	£208,366.20	1.9
Period 13 (05/03/2023 - 31/03/2023)	20,979	18,770	£141,649.10	1.9
Period 1 (01/04/2023 - 29/04/2023)	12,490	10,406	£74,951.90	1.9
Period 2 (30/04/2023 - 27/05/2023)	22,736	15,695	£152,562.80	1.9
Period 3 (28/05/2023 - 24/06/2023)	31,590	24,535	£213,593.90	2.1
Period 4 (25/06/2023 - 22/07/2023)"	30,593	23,358	£178,699.60	2.1
Period 5 (23/07/2023 - 19/08/2023)"	22,248	16,638	£145,310.90	2.2
Period 6 (20/08/2023 - 16/09/2023)"	21,285	17,845	£150,609.70	2.2
Period 7 (17/09/2023 - 14/10/2023)"	22,381	17,701	£144,964.40	2

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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

Stay up-to-date

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