Delay Repay on a Return or Open Return Ticket

On this page

How much you get
Late both ways
The second claim
The 2 hour rule
The cap
If you didn't travel
Late home
Two Singles
How Railhop helps
Questions
Sources

How Much You Get on a Return

Delay Repay is a share of the fare you paid, based on how late you reached your destination compared with the timetable on the day (National Rail Conditions of Travel, condition 32.1). On a Return, most companies pay a share of the whole Return fare for each journey that was late.

Delay Repay 15 (Great Northern, Southern and GWR and most others): 12.5% from 15 minutes, 25% from 30 minutes, 50% from 60 minutes, 100% from 120 minutes of the Return. Until 2 hours that's the same money as the Single share of half the Return.
Delay Repay 30 (LNER, CrossCountry and ScotRail): 25% of the Return from 30 minutes, 50% from 60 and 100% from 120.
Hull Trains and Lumo: 25% of the Return from 30 minutes and 50% from 60, with no higher band.
Grand Central: 50% from 60 minutes, 75% from 120 minutes, 100% from 180 minutes, of the delayed half of the Return.

Whatever the company's scheme, a delay of 60 minutes or more on one leg of a Return pays at least 50% of the price of that leg (condition 33.3).

Bands for every delay length, and Single tickets: How Much Delay Repay Will I Get?

Late Both Ways: Two Claims

The outward and return journeys are separate journeys, so each one that was late is its own claim. That's true of a Day Return and of an Open Return used on different days. Each claim has its own deadline: 28 days from that journey at every company we checked.

Example. You buy a £29.60 Off-Peak Return with a Delay Repay 15 company. The outward train gets you there 42 minutes late: 25% of the Return, £7.40. Coming home, the 18:04 to Brighton arrives 18 minutes late: 12.5%, £3.70. Two claims, £11.10 in all.

The 2 hour band pays the whole Return once. Southern and Thameslink say Delay Repay is capped at no more than the full ticket cost, and that on an Open Return you can only claim the 120 minute delay once.

The Second Claim: Quote the First One

Both claims carry the same ticket, so a company's system can take the second one for a duplicate. Some have turned down the second half of a Return as "already claimed" or "claiming more than once". It isn't a duplicate: it's a different journey, in the other direction.

On the second claim, say it's the other half of a Return and give the first claim's reference. Use the form's comments box where it has one.
If the second claim is still turned down, reply with the first claim's reference, the dates of both journeys, and what each claim asked for.
Keep both references until both claims are paid.

GWR asks for two separate claims when both journeys were late. West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway ask you to send only the outward or return portion of the ticket that was delayed with each claim.

Which Companies Pay the Whole Return at 2 Hours

Most companies pay 100% of the whole Return when one journey is 2 hours or more late, on Delay Repay 15 and Delay Repay 30 alike. c2c pays it from 1 hour. Hull Trains and Lumo stop at 50% of the Return from 60 minutes. Grand Central pays a share of the delayed half only: 75% of it from 2 hours and 100% from 3.

From each company's Delay Repay terms. CrossCountry words it as more than two hours, and up to 100% of the Return. Caledonian Sleeper: National Rail Returns only; its own tickets are sold as Singles.
Train company	2 hours or more on one journey	Guide
Avanti West Coast	The whole Return	Guide
c2c	The whole Return, from 1 hour	Guide
Caledonian Sleeper	The whole Return	Guide
Chiltern Railways	The whole Return	Guide
CrossCountry	The whole Return	Guide
East Midlands Railway	The whole Return	Guide
Gatwick Express	The whole Return	Guide
Great Northern	The whole Return	Guide
Greater Anglia	The whole Return	Guide
GWR	The whole Return	Guide
Hull Trains	50% of the Return	Guide
LNER	The whole Return	Guide
London Northwestern Railway	The whole Return	Guide
Lumo	50% of the Return	Guide
Northern	The whole Return	Guide
ScotRail	The whole Return	Guide
South Western Railway	The whole Return	Guide
Southeastern	The whole Return	Guide
Southern	The whole Return	Guide
Stansted Express	The whole Return	Guide
Thameslink	The whole Return	Guide
TransPennine Express	The whole Return	Guide
Transport for Wales	The whole Return	Guide
West Midlands Railway	The whole Return	Guide

Never More Than You Paid

All the claims on one Return together can't come to more than the fare you paid. You can only recover up to the price of your ticket (National Rail Conditions of Travel, condition 32.2), and Avanti West Coast, GWR and Transport for Wales say the same in their own terms.

Example. You pay £80 for an Anytime Return. The outward train is 2 hours 10 minutes late: the whole £80. Coming home you're 20 minutes late: that's 12.5% on its own, but the £80 is already paid, so there's nothing more to claim.

The other way round works too. If the first claim paid £20 and the return journey is then 2 hours late, the second claim is for the other £60 of the fare.

Outward Train Cancelled and You Didn't Travel

If you decided not to travel because your train was cancelled, delayed or rescheduled, you get a full refund of the ticket from whoever sold it, with no admin fee (condition 30.1). That covers the whole Return, Advance tickets included, and the same applies if you set off, couldn't finish the journey and went back to where you started.

Write to the seller within 28 days of the day you meant to travel (condition 30.2). It's a refund or Delay Repay, not both (condition 33.5). More in Train Cancelled? What Are My Rights.

Late Home on a Day Return

If a delay means your ticket runs out during the journey, you can still finish that journey without paying again (condition 11.2). A Day Return that runs out after midnight on a late train home still gets you home.

If your train home is cancelled, other companies' trains may accept your ticket: see Ticket Acceptance When Your Train Is Cancelled. The delay is still measured against the train you planned to catch.

Two Singles Instead of a Return

Each Single is claimed on its own price, at the Single rates: on Delay Repay 15, 25% from 15 minutes, 50% from 30 and 100% from 60. An Advance Single works the same way: see Delay Repay on an Advance Ticket. Several tickets for one journey: Delay Repay on Split Tickets.

How Railhop Works It Out

Railhop shows the claim-by date for every delay it finds, and the app reminds you 3 days before it runs out. More on how Delay Repay works.

Questions

Can I claim Delay Repay on an Open Return?

Yes. Each journey on an Open Return that was late is its own claim, even when you travel back on a different day.

Can I claim Delay Repay both ways on a Return?

Yes. If the outward and return journeys were both late, you make two claims, each within 28 days of that journey.

How much Delay Repay do I get on a Return ticket?

On Delay Repay 15, 12.5% of the whole Return from 15 minutes, 25% from 30, 50% from 60 and 100% from 120. Delay Repay 30 starts at 25% from 30 minutes.

Do I get the whole Return back?

Yes, when one journey is 2 hours or more late, on Delay Repay 15 and Delay Repay 30 companies (c2c from 1 hour). Hull Trains and Lumo stop at 50% of the Return from 60 minutes.

My outward train was cancelled and I didn't travel. What do I get?

A full refund of the Return from whoever sold it, with no admin fee. Ask within 28 days. You can't have the refund and Delay Repay too.

My Day Return ran out because my train home was late. Is it still valid?

Yes. If a delay makes your ticket run out during the journey, you can still finish that journey without paying again.

Can I claim the 2 hour delay on both journeys?

Southern and Thameslink say no: Delay Repay is capped at the full ticket cost, so on an Open Return the 120 minute delay is paid once.

My second claim was turned down as already claimed. What do I do?

Reply quoting the first claim's reference and the dates of both journeys. The second claim is for the other journey on the Return, in the other direction, and both together stay within the fare you paid.

Is there a limit to what I can get on a Return?

Yes. Every claim on the Return together can't come to more than the fare you paid. One journey 2 hours late pays the whole Return at most companies, so a second claim then gets nothing more.

Sources

Train company terms checked 6 October 2026. Terms change: if something here doesn't match the train company's own page, the company's page is right. Tell us and we'll fix it. Railhop fills in the train company's own claim form, and you check it and submit it yourself. Railhop is not affiliated with any train company, TfL or National Rail.