How to Claim Delay Repay in the UK

If your train was delayed, you are probably owed money back. The system is called Delay Repay, and most UK operators now use it. But working out who to claim from, what threshold applies, and where to actually submit the form is more confusing than it should be.

This guide walks through the whole process. If you booked with Choo Choo, several of the steps below are done for you automatically.

Eligibility is straightforward. If you travelled and your train arrived late at your destination, you can claim. If you chose not to travel because the train was cancelled or severely disrupted, you are entitled to a full refund of your unused ticket instead. That comes from whoever you bought the ticket from, not the train operator.

The key question is whether you actually made the journey. If you did, Delay Repay applies. If you did not, it is a refund, not compensation.

If you booked with Choo Choo: We monitor your journey in real time using National Rail live feeds. If your train is delayed enough to qualify and you have notifications enabled, you will receive a push notification. If not, you can check your eligibility at any time under the Notifications tab in the app.

This trips people up. Compensation goes to the train operating company whose service caused the delay, not the retailer you bought from.

If you booked through Choo Choo and travelled on an Avanti West Coast service that ran late, your claim goes to Avanti. Choo Choo sold you the ticket. Avanti ran the train.

On a journey with multiple operators, the claim goes to whoever operated the delayed leg. If a late connection caused you to miss a subsequent service, the picture gets slightly more complicated, but National Rail's guidance is clear: the operator responsible for the initial delay is liable.

If you booked with Choo Choo: The app identifies which operator was responsible and sends you directly to their claim page. You do not need to hunt around for the right form.

Not every operator uses the same rules.

Delay Repay 15 (DR15): Compensation starts from 15 minutes late. The following operators use DR15 as of early 2025: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, East Midlands Railway, Govia Thameslink, GWR, Greater Anglia, LNER, Lumo, Northern, Southeastern, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express, Transport for Wales, West Midlands Railway.

Delay Repay 30 (DR30): Compensation starts from 30 minutes late. Operators: c2c, CrossCountry, ScotRail, Caledonian Sleeper.

Other schemes: Grand Central uses a 60-minute threshold. The Elizabeth line uses a TfL scheme rather than standard Delay Repay.

The scheme matters because it determines whether a 20-minute delay gets you anything. On DR15, yes. On DR30, no.

Under DR15, payouts are structured in four bands:

For return tickets, the calculation applies to the affected portion only. If your outward journey was delayed but your return ran fine, you claim on the single fare value of the outward leg, not the full return price. Most operators split a return ticket 50/50 for this purpose unless the pricing structure clearly shows otherwise. The exception is a delay of 120 minutes or more, where you are entitled to claim 100% of the full return fare. Season ticket holders use a per-journey calculation based on their daily rate.

Under DR30, most operators pay 50% for 30 to 59 minutes and 100% for 60 minutes or more.

These are two different things.

If you did not travel at all because the service was cancelled or disrupted, you can claim a full refund of the unused ticket. You can do this through the retailer you booked with, but we would recommend going directly to the train operator instead. Retailers can charge a refund admin fee; operators cannot.

If you did travel and arrived late, you claim delay compensation directly from the operator. You keep the ticket. The operator compensates you for the delay.

You cannot claim both for the same journey.

Before you open the claim form, have the following to hand:

• Your ticket or e-ticket. Most operators accept a photo or PDF.
• Your booking reference or UTN (unique ticket number).
• Journey date, planned departure and arrival times, and actual arrival time.
• Origin and destination stations.
• Your payment details for the refund (bank transfer, card, or PayPal).

If you booked with Choo Choo: Your e-tickets are stored in the My Tickets tab and accessible through the delay compensation page. If you travelled on split tickets, each ticket for that journey is saved there. You can download a PDF of all the tickets used and upload them together when submitting your claim.

Almost all operators have an online Delay Repay form. You will usually need to create an account or log in with your booking reference.

Most operators set a 28-day deadline from the date of travel. Do not leave it longer than that.

Some operators (LNER being the main example) have an automated system that detects eligible journeys and sends you a claim link by email without you needing to do anything. For most operators, you still need to submit manually.

If you booked with Choo Choo: Your delay notification includes a direct link to the relevant operator's claim page. You are not left searching around for it.

Most operators offer:

• Bank transfer (BACS)
• Refund to the original payment card
• PayPal
• Rail travel vouchers

If an operator offers only vouchers, you are entitled to request cash compensation instead for Delay Repay claims. Some operators also allow you to donate your compensation to a charity partner.

Most operators provide an online portal or email updates so you can track the status of your claim. Expect a decision within about a month. If your claim is refused or the amount offered seems wrong, you can raise a formal complaint with the operator first. If that does not resolve it, the Rail Ombudsman is a free and independent service that can require operators to put things right. You can find them via the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) website at orr.gov.uk.

If you travelled on split tickets, your Delay Repay claim works the same way as for a standard ticket. Each ticket covers a segment of the journey, and you claim from the operator responsible for the delay. If a delayed first leg caused you to miss a connection and arrive late overall, the operator that ran the delayed leg is liable for the full consequential delay at your destination, not just the segment they operated.

Delay Repay is straightforward once you know which operator to claim from and which scheme applies. The 28-day deadline is the main thing to stay on top of.

If you booked with Choo Choo, the app handles steps 1 through 4 automatically, notifying you when you are eligible and which operator to claim from. It also stores your tickets so you can download them for upload, and links you directly to the right claim page.