Delay Repay rules
Automatic Delay Repay: which operators claim for you
Check the amount you should see in the operator’s email: pick the company, the ticket and the minutes late.
TransPennine Express would pay
£16.50
50% of the single fare paid
| Scheme | Delay Repay 15, from 15 min |
| Band applied | 30–59 min |
| From 60 min late | £33 |
| Claim by | 23 November 2026 (28 days left) |
Estimate from the scheme TransPennine Express publishes, read on 26 October 2026. The operator checks the train you were on and decides the claim.
Automatic Delay Repay means the operator detects your late journey and starts the claim, or pays it, without a form. Of the 28 operators on this site, 16 offer some form of it, but always for limited tickets: Advance tickets bought on the operator's own website or app, or season tickets and pay-as-you-go journeys on its smartcard. In most cases you receive an email after the journey with a link, and you confirm the claim and the payment method in a few clicks; some smartcard schemes credit the money with no action at all. Tickets bought from another retailer, paper tickets and fares outside the scheme are not covered: for them you claim on the form within 28 days, as usual. Several schemes require you to opt in, in your account, before the day of travel. An automatic email that never arrives does not extend the time limit, so if nothing has come within a few days, claim yourself.
Last day to claim Delay Repay
Claim by
23 November 2026
| Time limit at TransPennine Express | 28 days |
| Counted from | 26 October 2026 |
| National Rail minimum | 28 days |
The operator’s form refuses claims after its limit; a late claim can only be asked as a goodwill gesture.
Schemes and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Who offers it, for which tickets
The table lists what each operator says about automatic claims on the pages read. "No" means no automatic route is mentioned: claim on the form.
| Operator | Automatic claims |
|---|---|
| Avanti West Coast | Advance tickets bought on its website or app: the claim is started for you |
| c2c | c2c Smartcard tapped in and out: paid automatically, from 2 minutes late |
| Caledonian Sleeper | Tickets booked on its website or by phone: a claim link arrives within 24 hours |
| Chiltern Railways | No |
| CrossCountry | No |
| East Midlands Railway | No |
| Elizabeth line | No |
| Gatwick Express | No |
| Grand Central | No |
| Great Northern | Key Smartcard holders who sign up in their account |
| Great Western Railway | Opt-in notifications for Advance tickets bought on its website and for its smartcards |
| Greater Anglia | No |
| Heathrow Express | No |
| Hull Trains | No |
| LNER | One-click Delay Repay for Advance tickets bought on its website or app, if you opt in |
| London Northwestern Railway | One-click Delay Repay for Advance singles bought on its app or website |
| London Overground | No |
| Lumo | Opt-in Auto Delay Repay for Advance tickets bought on its website or app |
| Merseyrail | No |
| Northern | Advance tickets bought on its website or app by registered customers |
| ScotRail | No |
| South Western Railway | Automated Delay Repay, after sign-up: seasons on its smartcards and Advance tickets bought on its website |
| Southeastern | One Click Delay Repay: Key smartcards, and e-tickets and Advance tickets bought on its website or app |
| Southern | Key Smartcard holders who sign up in their account |
| Thameslink | Key Smartcard holders who sign up in their account |
| TransPennine Express | Advance tickets bought on its website or app: a one-click claim email |
| Transport for Wales | Advance tickets bought on its website or app: a claim is created within 24 hours for you to confirm |
| West Midlands Railway | One-click Delay Repay for Advance singles bought on its app or website |
Three kinds of automatic claim
- Advance tickets bought direct. The most common. The operator knows the train you booked, checks its arrival and sends an email with a pre-filled claim. You confirm and choose a payment.
- Smartcards. Some commuter operators read the times you tap in and out and pay delays on your smartcard. c2c goes furthest: its smartcard pays small sums even for delays of a few minutes, under the 15-minute band.
- Travelcards on Oyster in London. For the Elizabeth line and London Overground, Transport for London asks holders of a Travelcard on Oyster to wait 48 hours before applying online, as some refunds are made automatically.
What it does not cover
Automatic claims stop at the edge of the operator's own sales. A ticket bought from a third-party retailer, from another train company or from a ticket office is not known to the system in the same way, and paper tickets cannot be tracked. Journeys involving two operators are also a weak point: the email comes from the operator you booked with, and only for its own train. If the delay came from a connection on another company, claim that one yourself, as explained on the missed connection page.
How an operator handles Delay Repay claims
Claims approved
64.3%
| Closed within 20 working days | 99.1% |
| Claims closed | 468,423 |
| Period | April 2025 to March 2026 |
Office of Rail and Road, Table 4410 (OGL v3.0). Where the ORR reports a group, the figure covers all its brands.
Setting it up
- Create an account with the operator you travel with most, and buy Advance tickets there if you want the email.
- Look for an opt-in setting for automatic or one-click Delay Repay, and tick it before the day of travel.
- Register a smartcard season in the same account if the operator pays smartcard delays.
- Add a payment method you prefer: a bank transfer or a card refund rather than vouchers.
If the email has not arrived a few days after a late journey, do not wait: the 28-day limit of condition 33.1 of the Conditions of Travel still applies. The claim guide covers the form.