What is a letter before action?

A letter before action (LBA) is a formal notice sent before starting court proceedings. It sets out your claim, the legal basis (e.g. Consumer Rights Act 2015, Housing Act 1988), the remedy you seek, and a deadline to respond — typically 14 days. Civil Procedure Rules require this step before most court claims, and courts take a dim view of parties who skip it.

Can I write my own legal letter?

Yes. You do not need a solicitor to write a legal letter. What matters is citing the correct legislation, stating your claim with precise dates and amounts, and giving a clear deadline. A well-drafted letter citing the right Act and section often resolves disputes without court proceedings — and costs nothing extra to send.

Does a legal letter actually work?

In many cases, yes. Most businesses, landlords, and employers respond when they receive a formally worded letter that cites specific legislation and mentions court or tribunal proceedings as the next step. It signals you know your rights and are prepared to escalate — which is often enough to get a resolution.

What UK legislation covers consumer complaints and refunds?

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is the primary law. Section 9 requires goods to be of satisfactory quality; section 20 gives you the right to a full refund within 30 days if goods are faulty. For services, section 49 requires reasonable care and skill. For distance/online purchases, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give you a 14-day cooling-off period.

15 July 2026

Train Delayed or Cancelled? How to Claim Delay Repay Compensation — and a Fee-Free Refund (UK)

A delayed or cancelled train wrecks your day — you miss the meeting, the connection, the evening — and most people just grumble and move on. But in the great majority of cases, a delay comes with a right to real money back. The main route is the Delay Repay scheme, which pays a slice of your fare based on how late you were. And unlike flight compensation, it pays out regardless of what caused the delay. Here is how the rules work, how much you can claim, the deadline to watch, and what to do if the train company tries to fob you off.

Delay Repay: Compensation Based on How Late You Were

Delay Repay is the industry-wide compensation scheme that almost every train operator in Britain now uses. It pays you a percentage of your ticket price according to how long your journey was delayed. The standard bands are:

15–29 minutes late: 25% of the cost of a single fare (where your operator runs the 15-minute version of the scheme);
30–59 minutes late: 50% of the single fare;
60–119 minutes late: 100% of the single fare;
120 minutes or more: 100% of the cost of the ticket (single, or the full price of a return).

For a return ticket, each leg is generally treated as roughly half the return fare, and the delay is measured on the leg that was actually delayed. The compensation is worked out on the price you paid — so keep your ticket or booking confirmation.

The 15-Minute vs 30-Minute Threshold Varies by Operator

One important detail catches people out: the delay at which compensation starts is not the same on every operator. Many train companies now run "Delay Repay 15", which pays out from just 15 minutes of delay. Others still only pay from 30 minutes ("Delay Repay 30"). Which one applies depends on the operator you travelled with, so it is always worth checking your train company's own Delay Repay page before assuming a 20-minute delay is too short to claim — with many operators, it is not.

The Key Difference From Flight Compensation: Cause Doesn't Matter

With flight delays, the airline can escape compensation by pointing to "extraordinary circumstances" — bad weather, air-traffic strikes, and the like. Delay Repay works differently. It pays out based purely on how late your train was, regardless of the cause — whether it was a signal failure, staff shortage, weather, or a fault entirely outside the operator's control. So do not let a train company tell you that you cannot claim because the delay "wasn't our fault" or was caused by Network Rail or the weather. Under Delay Repay, the reason is irrelevant — only the length of the delay counts.

How to Claim — and the 28-Day Deadline

You claim directly from the train company you travelled with (the operator whose service was delayed), usually through the Delay Repay form on its website or app. You will normally need your ticket or booking reference and details of the delayed journey, so hold on to your ticket rather than binning it at the barrier. The most important thing to know is the deadline: you generally have 28 days from the date of the delayed journey to submit your claim. Miss that window and you may lose the right to compensation, so claim promptly. Compensation should be paid in the form you ask for where possible — you are entitled to insist on cash or a bank transfer rather than being pushed towards vouchers or rail credit.

If You Chose Not to Travel: A Fee-Free Refund Instead

Delay Repay is for journeys you actually made (or attempted) and completed late. But what if the disruption was so bad that you decided not to travel at all? In that case you are generally entitled to a full refund of your ticket, with no administration fee. Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel, if your train is cancelled or delayed and, as a result, you choose not to travel, you can hand your unused ticket back and get your money back fee-free — rather than being charged the usual refund admin fee. This is a separate remedy from Delay Repay: you either travel and claim Delay Repay for arriving late, or you abandon the journey and claim a fee-free refund. You cannot claim both for the same ticket.

Season Ticket Holders

If you hold a season ticket, you do not usually buy a fresh ticket for each journey, so Delay Repay is calculated differently — typically based on the daily equivalent of your season ticket's cost for the delayed journey, using the same percentage bands. The exact method varies between operators, and some run additional compensation arrangements for season-ticket holders who suffer repeated poor performance. If you commute on a season ticket, it is well worth checking your operator's specific season-ticket compensation terms — the payouts add up over a year of delays.

If the Operator Refuses or Ignores You: How to Escalate

If your Delay Repay claim is wrongly rejected, underpaid, or simply ignored, do not give up. First, put your complaint in writing to the train company, set out the journey and the delay clearly, and ask them to reconsider. If they still refuse or you cannot reach a resolution, most operators are covered by the Rail Ombudsman, a free, independent dispute-resolution service. You can generally take your case there once you have a deadlock letter from the operator, or after a set period has passed without your complaint being resolved. The Ombudsman can direct the operator to put things right. Check your train company's complaints page for the exact route and time limits to escalate.

Beyond Delay Repay: Bigger Losses

Delay Repay is a fixed, no-fault scheme that compensates a proportion of your fare — it is deliberately simple. It does not automatically cover wider "consequential" losses such as a missed onward flight, a pre-booked hotel, or a taxi you had to take. Consumer law does apply to rail services, and in some circumstances there may be scope to pursue losses beyond the fare — but that is a more complex, fact-specific route than a standard Delay Repay claim, and it is not guaranteed. For most delays, Delay Repay is the fast, reliable way to get money back; for a large, out-of-pocket loss caused by a serious failure, it can be worth taking advice and putting the operator on notice of the full loss in writing.

What to Put in Writing

Whether you are submitting a claim, challenging a rejection, or flagging a larger loss, a clear written record does the heavy lifting. Your letter or claim should:

Identify the journey — date, operator, scheduled and actual times, and the length of the delay;
State that you are claiming under Delay Repay and which band applies to your delay;
Make clear that Delay Repay is payable regardless of the cause, if they try to blame a third party or the weather;
Set out what you want — the correct percentage of your fare, paid as cash or bank transfer — and a reasonable date to respond; and
Keep copies of your ticket and any evidence of the delay.

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