How to get a refund on your Greater Anglia rail ticket because of Coronavirus - update

I can’t go to work, there’s no football and the concert I’d booked in London has been cancelled because of coronavirus. How can I get a refund from Greater Anglia?

These are difficult times that we’re living in and life for everyone has been disrupted. We know that many of you have been told to work from home, schools are shut and that events you’d booked train tickets for in advance have now been cancelled.

Our staff will try to make it as easy as possible for you to get your refund. If you’re not sure what to do, our customer relations department can tell you what you need to do – although they cannot issue refunds. These are unprecedented times and we’ve never had to deal with such large volumes of refunds, so please be patient and polite to our staff. They’re trying to help you as much as possible.

I’m self-isolating for 12 weeks, so I’ve got to work from home. How do I get a refund on my season ticket?

If you’re self-isolating, you obviously can’t go to the ticket office where you may have bought your season ticket. If you bought a smart card season online or through our app, request a refund here .

If you have got a paper season ticket bought at a station or online, or a Smart card at a station, please submit a refund request here . And, if you purchased a season ticket through Abellio Corporate Travel, please visit their website for more on info on online refunds.

Remember we are dealing with a lot of enquiries at the moment, so you won’t hear back immediately and it may take longer than the usual 28 days to process your refund (for online refunds with Abellio Corporate Travel, they advised they're aiming to process all refunds within 35 days of receipt).

The normal national rail industry refund terms and conditions apply for season tickets, with the usual £10 admin fee. We’ll keep you posted if there are any changes.

You can find an estimate using this season ticket refund calculator . Season tickets with more than 7 weeks remaining are entitled to a refund. The coronavirus season ticket refunds before 11 May 2020 can be backdated to the date last used for travel or at least 17 March 2020 and the ones made after 12 May 2020 can only be backdated by a maximum of 56 calendar days. This will be a rolling 56-day backdating period, until further notice.

There’s no school or college for the foreseeable future. How do I get a refund on my child’s scholar pass?

If you have bought a scholar pass for the whole academic year, please contact our Business Travel team at [email protected] . If you have a termly pass for the Spring term, there is no refund available, sorry.

I’d got a day out in London booked for the Easter holidays and I’d already booked some Off-Peak tickets for the family – what do I do now that we can’t go?

If you’ve got a walk-up ticket – any single and return, Peak or Off Peak, you can get a full refund free of charge – along with the rest of the rail industry, we’ve waived our admin fee. You can apply for a refund within 56 days of the date of the ticket. This applies to any tickets bought between now and 31 May 2020.

If you bought it online, you will be able to request a refund online by logging into your account. If you’ve got a mobile ticket which is either an e-ticket or a mobile ticket, then contact our web support team for a refund by email [email protected] . The call centre has closed due to coronavirus so they’re no longer able to take your phone calls. Please be patient – they’re receiving a lot of enquiries at the moment.

For refunds on daily tickets bought at a station - submit a request through this form .

If you bought it from a non Greater Anglia ticket office or online retailer, contact the same retailer to arrange the refund.

I’d booked a show in London ages ago and I was feeling really pleased with myself as I was super-organised and managed to book your cheapest Advance fares too. The show’s been postponed, so I don’t need to travel anymore. What can I do?

So many shows and events that people were looking forward to have been cancelled, it’s such a shame, but obviously the right thing to do to stop the spread of the disease. We, along with the rest of the rail industry are now able to offer full refunds without any admin fee for any Advance tickets bought before 07.00 on 23 March for travel after 23 March 2020 – but you need to apply for your refund before the date you were due to start your journey. If you buy an Advance ticket after 7.00 on 23 March, you’ll only be able to get a refund on your ticket if the service you’ve got a ticket for is disrupted or cancelled. If the train you were booked onto has been cancelled in the new reduced timetable, then you are entitled to a full refund.

If like most people you bought your Advance ticket online, please apply for a refund by logging into your account. And if you bought it from ticket office instead, contact our customer relations for help. If you’re self-isolating, contact our customer relations team for advice – but please note that they do not process refunds.

You can also postpone your ticket for the same journey for up to and including 31 August 2020. You can postpone it more than once. We’ve waived the usual fee. If the ticket costs more, then you’ll have to pay the difference.

You can change your ticket online, however you bought it. We are currently working on a new process for customers to use this. The new system should be online early next week. If you bought it online or at a ticket office. If you bought it at a ticket office, but are self-isolating, contact our customer relations team for advice about what to do.

I got one of your “hare fares”, but now I can’t use it. Can I get my money back for it?

The rules for hare fares are exactly the same as for walk-up Off Peak tickets, so you can get a full refund, and the admin fee has been waived. Log in to your online account to apply for your refund.

Why is it so confusing and complicated getting a refund?

Sorry, we know it appears confusing because of different terms and conditions on different ticket types. The rail industry, working with the Government, has tried to simplify it as so many people are having to cancel travel due to the coronavirus outbreak. Our staff will guide you through getting a refund to try to make it easier for you. As we’ve said, they’re dealing with a lot of requests for refunds, so please bear with us, if you have to wait longer for your enquiry to be dealt with.

If there are any further changes we’ll keep you updated. Keep checking our website, Twitter and app.