Delay Repay is the nationwide scheme that pays you back when your train arrives late. If you travel on a participating National Rail service and reach your destination 15 minutes or more behind schedule, most operators will refund between 25% and 100% of your fare, depending on how late you were. You claim from the train company that ran the delayed service, and you must submit your claim within 28 days of the journey.

The scheme exists because delays are measured against the timetable, not against excuses. National Rail explains that Delay Repay is a nationwide scheme that makes it easier to get compensation for delayed train journeys, and that if you are delayed for any reason when you travel on a participating National Rail service, you can claim. The delay is calculated against either the normal timetable or an amended timetable that was published in advance, for example during planned engineering works at weekends. That means a late train is a late train for compensation purposes, even if the railway had a good reason for the delay.

How much you can claim depends on two things: how late you arrived, and which operator you travelled with. Most operators use Delay Repay 15, which starts paying at 15 minutes late. Under the standard Delay Repay 15 rates, a delay of 15 to 29 minutes pays 25% of a single fare, or 12.5% of a return fare where one leg was delayed. A delay of 30 to 59 minutes pays 50% of a single fare, or 25% of a return fare. A delay of 60 to 119 minutes pays 100% of a single fare, or 50% of a return fare. A delay of two hours or more pays 100% of the fare, whether single or return. Compensation cannot normally exceed the price you paid for the ticket or tickets used for the journey.

A worked example makes the rates concrete. Suppose you paid 40 pounds for a return ticket and one leg of the journey was delayed. A 20-minute delay would usually pay 5 pounds. A 45-minute delay would usually pay 10 pounds. A 75-minute delay would usually pay 20 pounds. A delay of two hours or more would usually pay the full 40 pounds. These are the standard Delay Repay 15 rates, and operators with a different starting point or a different Passenger's Charter may use different bands, so always check the operator's own figures before relying on an amount.

Not every operator starts paying at 15 minutes. Most of the large operators, including Avanti West Coast, GWR, Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink, South Western Railway and Northern, use the 15-minute threshold. Some use a 30-minute threshold, including CrossCountry, Hull Trains, LNER, Lumo and ScotRail. Grand Central's published threshold is 60 minutes. Open-access operators may use different arrangements under their Passenger's Charter. The National Rail Conditions of Travel set the minimum that every operator must offer: if you arrive 60 minutes or more late at your destination, you are entitled to at least 50% of a single fare, or 50% of the relevant portion of a return fare, regardless of fault. If the delay is under 60 minutes and its cause was entirely outside the railway industry's control, an operator may not have to pay under the minimum rules, although most operators pay more than the minimum and cover shorter delays anyway.

One point that catches people out is who to claim from. You claim from the train company whose service caused the first delay to your journey, including a delay that made you miss a connection. That company may be different from the retailer that sold you the ticket, and different from the operator whose train you were on when you eventually arrived late. If you are unsure, the National Rail Conditions of Travel allow you to submit a claim to any train company whose services you used for the journey, and it should pass the claim to the responsible operator where necessary. Make only one claim for the same delayed journey. Submitting duplicate claims to several operators can slow the process down rather than speed it up.

Claiming is a short online process with most operators, and it helps to have the details ready before you start. Keep your ticket after you travel. Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel, operators must let you hold on to your ticket so you can make a claim, and you will need the ticket, e-ticket, booking confirmation or Smartcard details. You will also need the date of travel, your station of origin and final destination, the scheduled services you intended to use, the services you actually used if you know them, your arrival time or total delay, and your preferred payment details. Find the right operator, go to the Delay Repay section of its website, and fill in the form. Claims can also be made by post using a form downloaded from the operator's website or collected from a staffed station, but postal claims are usually paid by cheque or National Rail travel vouchers rather than in cash.

The deadline is the part people most often miss. You must submit your claim within 28 days of completing the affected journey, unless the operator extends that deadline. An operator may choose to accept a late claim, but you should not rely on an extension, so it is worth submitting the claim on the day you travel or the day after. Once you have submitted, the industry target under the National Rail Conditions of Travel is to process claims within one month of receipt, and any compensation due should normally be paid within 14 days of the claim being agreed. Payment options vary by operator and may include bank transfer, a refund to your payment card, PayPal, cheque or National Rail travel vouchers.

Season ticket holders can claim too, but the calculation is different. A season ticket covers many journeys, so the operator works out the assumed value of the single journey that was delayed, and that value varies according to the ticket type and the operator. Weekly, monthly, annual and Flexi Season tickets may be calculated differently, so use the relevant operator's calculator or Passenger's Charter rather than estimating the amount yourself. If you used a Railcard or another discounted ticket, compensation is based on the discounted price you paid, not the pre-discount fare.

Split tickets are covered as well. A valid combination of tickets can be used for one continuous journey, so if that journey is disrupted, include every ticket covering it in one claim and give the details of the complete journey. Compensation is normally assessed on how late you reached your final destination, rather than treating every ticket as an unrelated journey, and you submit the claim to the operator whose service caused the first delay.

Cancelled trains need a different decision. If the cancellation causes you to travel and reach your destination late, you can claim Delay Repay in the usual way. But if disruption means you decide not to travel, or you cannot complete your journey, you should normally request a refund from the retailer that sold your ticket instead. National Rail says an unused ticket can be refunded without any fees by the original retailer in that situation. You cannot claim both a refund for not travelling and Delay Repay compensation for the same journey, so choose the route that matches what actually happened.

If your claim is rejected and you believe it was valid, do not simply give up. Check the reason the operator gave, because many rejections come from a wrong operator, a wrong time, or a missing ticket. The train company normally verifies the disruption against its own service records, so make sure the scheduled and actual times in your claim match the timetable for the day you travelled. If the operator still refuses, you can escalate the complaint. The Rail Ombudsman can investigate eligible complaints after 40 working days or after the operator has issued a deadlock letter, and its decisions are free for passengers to use.

There are a few common mistakes worth avoiding. The first is claiming from the company that sold the ticket rather than the company that ran the delayed train. The second is missing the 28-day deadline, which is the most common reason a good claim fails. The third is measuring the delay from departure rather than arrival: Delay Repay is based on how late you reached your destination compared with the timetable in place for that day, so a late departure does not qualify if you still arrived within the operator's compensation threshold. The fourth is submitting the same claim twice to different operators, which can hold the whole process up.

Is Delay Repay based on departure or arrival time? It is based on how late you reach your destination compared with the timetable in place on the day of travel. A late departure on its own does not qualify if you arrived within the operator's compensation threshold.

Can I claim Delay Repay if my train was cancelled? Yes, if the cancellation caused you to travel and reach your destination late. If you chose not to travel because the train was cancelled or delayed, request a full refund for the unused ticket from the retailer instead.

How long do I have to claim? You must submit your claim within 28 days of completing the affected journey. An operator may accept a late claim, but you should not rely on that, so claim as soon as you can.

Can I claim if I used split tickets? Yes. Include every ticket covering the journey in one claim, give the details of the complete journey, and submit it to the operator whose service caused the first delay.

Does Delay Repay cover delays caused by strikes or bad weather? The scheme applies when you are delayed for any reason on a participating service, and the National Rail Conditions of Travel say you do not have to prove the delay was the train company's fault. For delays of 60 minutes or more you are entitled to compensation regardless of fault. For shorter delays, check your operator's Passenger's Charter, because the minimum rules allow an exclusion where the cause was entirely outside the railway industry's control.

Delay Repay is one of the clearest passenger rights on the railway, and it is widely underused. Keep your ticket, note the times, claim from the right operator, and do it within 28 days. Compensation rules and operator thresholds can change, so check the current Passenger's Charter for the operator you travelled with before you rely on a figure.