MILLIONS of train customers are owed their share of a £25million payout after being overcharged for travel on South Western Rail – here is how to find out if you can claim.
South Western train companies – including Stagecoach South Western Trains (SSWT) and First MTR South Western Trains – were accused of overcharging 2.1 million rail passengers in a £57million lawsuit filed by consumer champion Justin Gutmann.
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The Competition Appeal Tribunal approved the settlement between Justin and Stagecoach in May.
Stagecoach agreed to the settlement without any admission of liability, meaning they do not accept responsibility.
Now around 1.4million customers are owed compensation if they held a Transport for London travelcard and travelled on South Western Trains between October 1 2015 and August 20 2017.
To make a claim, you must have held a valid Travelcard for within one or several of Transport for London’s fare zones, and the rail fare you paid for will have overlapped with these zones.
You can claim for yourself or for someone you bought tickets for.
The £25million settlement has been divided into three pots – with each pot requiring different levels of proof that you are owed compensation.
The pots have been divided based on how much evidence travellers have to support their claim.
The first pot has allocated £19million and you must show evidence of all journeys for which you are making a claim for – this can include receipts or bank statements.
The average claim size is £32.17, but some travellers who made multiple journey over the two years could be entitled to compensation of up to thousands of pounds.
To make such a claim you will need to submit proof of purchase of your Travelcard and rail or season tickets.
The second pot has allocated £4million and you must show proof of purchase of a relevant TfL travelcard or relevant fare.
The most you can get back is £100, which would work out as twenty £5 payouts.
The third and final pot has an allocation of £2million and you must show proof of residence and a signed statement of truth.
This is a statement that confirms what you are saying is factually correct and it does not need to be done in the witness of a solicitor.
Successful claimants of pot three can get up to £30 and this will be paid out in six payments of £5.
UNDERSTANDING THE CLAIM AGAINST STAGECOACH
STAGECOACH was sued for £39 million for its part in allegedly overcharging rail passengers by not making “boundary fares” sufficiently available to customers who also bought TfL Travelcards.
Boundary fares allow passengers who own a Travelcard to get discounts on tickets to take them from the boundary of their travelcard to their final destination.
For example, if you own a zone 1-4 Travelcard but need to travel between Waterloo and Reading, you should be able to buy a fare from the edge of zone 4.
Gutmann claimed these cheaper fares are not easily available online and rarely offered at a ticket office.
How do I make a claim?
If you think you have been impacted you can visit the Boundary Fares Claim website.
You have until 10 January 2025 to submit your claim for compensation.
If you are making a claim for pot one or pot two you will need to show proof of purchase.
For claims covered by the first two post, you may need to obtain bank or credit card statements as part of the required documentation.
For the third pot you will need to show a proof of residency.
It does not cost you any money to make a claim.
Also you should remember that only journeys outbound from London are covered.
It is also worth noting that SSWT stopped operating the South Western franchise at 1.59am on 20 August 2017.
So for example, if you purchased your ticket before 1:59am on August 20 2017 but took the journey after 1.59am on August 20 2017, you are not eligible to claim compensation from this settlement.
Other ways to claim compensation from your train journey
Travelling can sometimes be unpredictable and you are sometimes entitled to compensation if your train is delayed.
If you have bought an advance train ticket and it’s affected by the cancellations, you will be able to claim at least some of your money back, though in most cases it’s a full refund.
If you are travelling and arrive late at your destination due to a cancelled or delayed service, you may be able to claim compensation.
You will need to request compensation directly from your train company.
Compensation will depend on:
- which train company you travelled with – different companies have different schemes, but they all offer compensation
- the type of ticket you have – for example, compensation for a single Day ticket is calculated differently than that for a 7-Day Season ticket
- the length of the delay in arriving at your destination – each train company has its own compensation threshold, which will be detailed in their Passenger’s Charter on their website. For example, if you are delayed by over an hour, you will generally receive more compensation than if you were delayed by 15 to 30 minutes
Claims can be made online, or by post using a form that you can download from your train company’s website or a staff member at a train company can give you one.
You can find more information by visiting the website of the train company you travelled on.
Stagecoach has been approached for comment.
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