Published on: Wednesday, 8 May 2019
Last updated: Wednesday, 8 May 2019
Greater Anglia rail passengers enjoy one of the most efficient delay compensation schemes in the UK, latest figures have revealed.
Greater Anglia closed over 326,000 claims between April and December 2018, 99.5% of which were dealt with within the 20 day target period, according to data from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).
Greater Anglia’s Head of Customer Service, Lynsey Flack, said, “We’re really proud of our Delay Repay scheme.
“It’s been developed and improved by listening to our customers, making it quick and easy for them to claim.
“If you register online the system remembers all your details so you don’t have to resubmit information into a lengthy form – it’s all done for you.
“We’re also really proud that we’ve reduced the amount of time trains have to be delayed before you can make a claim to 15 minutes - and we’ve sped up the processing time for claims so that customers get their money back quicker too.”
In 2018, Greater Anglia introduced a faster compensation system which remembers the customer’s details, season ticket information and refund preferences.
As a result, around 70,000 season ticket holders are now saving time if they have to make a claim.
One customer said on Twitter: “From submitting my complaint it took Greater Anglia only six minutes to refund me.”
Another commented: “Greater Anglia may not have been able to get me to Norwich on time yesterday but they were super quick at processing the delay repay claim.”
Customers can opt to have their compensation paid straight back into their bank account via BACS.
The online claim form is now easier to use with better design and navigation, and all previous and current claims can be accessed in one place. The form can be reached with one click from Greater Anglia’s home page.
Refunds are given via credit / debit card, Paypal, via BACS or as an Amazon voucher.
There is also an option to make a donation to Greater Anglia’s chosen charity, Samaritans, while making a claim, which has helped raise over £12,000 to date and was introduced at the request of customers.
Last month, Greater Anglia’s average punctuality figure was at just over 93% for its whole network, but the company’s ‘Delay Repay’ scheme compensates customers on the occasions there are delays of 15 minutes or more.