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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to claim for this?

60 replies

Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 21:40

DC4 is 18 and at university - on her way home for reading week. She was due to leave Liverpool at 5.45 but due to a broken down train has gone via Manchester and won't arrive in London till after the last train to our town leaves at 12.10.

DH is set to drive to collect her (SatNav currently says 1h45 from here). We live near the s coast but 35 mins on the high speed she'll miss.

She'll be fine I'm sure but WIBU to ask for compensation for DH's petrol? And how do I go about it?

OP posts:
Original poster
Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 22:15

Thank you THETEENAGEYEARS and LIZS. Very helpful advice. Will look at doing that in the next couple of days.

Wouldn't worry if it was me. Cheapest Premier Inns are £150 and dh is used to driving to London. It's just the principle.

OP posts:
GettingStuffed · 04/11/2022 22:16

The train companies supply taxis when this happens, we have had this numerous times when the last train has been cancelled

mn29 · 04/11/2022 22:20

Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 22:11

It's very straightforward. A ticket was bought from A to C via B. B to C part of ticket cannot be used as there are no more trains because A to B train was not operating. Train company have failed to keep their part of the contract and there is no way dd can get from B to C. We have had to make alternative arrangements therefore train comany should compensate and pay our costs.

They are only obliged to refund the cost of the ticket, not for additional costs incurred, eg petrol/hotel room. I get how frustrating it is. We went to see a West End show which had to be cancelled half way through. Offered tickets for another show on a different day. The fact that we’d spent a lot of money travelling to London by train and would have to do so for a second time was just tough luck.

Original poster
Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 22:21

GettingStuffed dd1 suggested this as her bf has had a taxi back from London to Essex before. Dd at 18 is not keen on a 60 mile taxi journey to the sticks by herself with an unknown driver and I totally see why!

OP posts:
Whataretheodds · 04/11/2022 22:24

The train comoany will refund the cost of the ticket and should be making arrangements to get people to their destination station. She needs to speak to station staff/contact the train company.

Even if she could claim eg the cost of a taxi it would only be from station B to C, in your analogy (assuming the train company get her to B).

Not sure how the planned strikes will affect this though.

namechange3394 · 04/11/2022 22:25

The train company should in theory make arrangements to get everyone to their destination where they've missed connections. Has she asked the guard on the train?

Original poster
Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 22:31

Yes - varied information. Or no information. To be fair to the guards, I don't think they knew much either. And some people were apparently being pretty rude and aggressive to the staff.

I'll help her claim. If she gets money back all well and good. Thanks for the tips on how to do it. Sorry some of you thought I was trying to mug my own daughter off by charging her petrol money.

OP posts:
etulosba · 04/11/2022 22:32

Not once was my train as rubbish as the trains now.

Ah, the bad old days of British Rail.

Only they really weren’t as bad some people like to think.

TheTeenageYears · 04/11/2022 22:38

Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 22:21

GettingStuffed dd1 suggested this as her bf has had a taxi back from London to Essex before. Dd at 18 is not keen on a 60 mile taxi journey to the sticks by herself with an unknown driver and I totally see why!

I would be exactly the same about a taxi - it's a very vulnerable position being alone in a car with an unknown driver particularly for a long journey.

surreygirl1987 · 04/11/2022 22:50

You can't claim for petrol. But you'll get the ticket cost back.

Or, if she asks and does not take no for an answer, they should provide a free taxi etc for the remainder of her journey home. I've done that before. You've got to be pushy sometimes though.

surreygirl1987 · 04/11/2022 22:52

It's just the principle.

But if the train company are willing to provide a free taxi, which your daughter is refusing (understandably), I don't think it is the principle really.

ManefesationofConciousness · 04/11/2022 22:55

Very easy
Your daughter claims delay repay or if she bought on an app is probably automatic.
50% for 30 minutes late
100% for an hour or more late
100% for a cancelled train

Original poster
Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 22:57

She's safe, she'll get home. Just a pity the public transport system isn't the best. Just found out ds is in London tonight. He will go to wait for his sis at Euston. She sounds a bit tired and fed up! I have reminded her it once took us three days to get home from Berlin on Easyjet...

OP posts:
Needmorelego · 04/11/2022 22:59

Definitely put in a claim for compensation (or your daughter put in the claim).
I caught a train last Sunday..some people from another train further up the line had to get off their train because it broke down, catch taxis to get to the station where I was catching the train so they could join that train.
The ticket inspector was going through the train telling them how to claim back the taxi fare.

Original poster
Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 23:11

Thanks, we will.

OP posts:
Nospringchix · 04/11/2022 23:29

GettingStuffed · 04/11/2022 22:16

The train companies supply taxis when this happens, we have had this numerous times when the last train has been cancelled

Exactly, this^ .

Original poster
Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 23:41

For 60 mile journeys? As I said earlier, I wouldn't expect dd to be happy taking a 60 mile journey to the sticks with a random taxi driver. Doesn't help that Sarag Everard's body was found a few miles from our house.

OP posts:
LondonQueen · 05/11/2022 00:35

Unless you have travel insurance, no chance.

Original poster
Mumwithbaggage · 05/11/2022 00:45

We do via my bank. Didn't think of that! Just checked and travel disruption is covered. DD is covered on my account.

OP posts:
NumberTheory · 05/11/2022 03:04

Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 23:41

For 60 mile journeys? As I said earlier, I wouldn't expect dd to be happy taking a 60 mile journey to the sticks with a random taxi driver. Doesn't help that Sarag Everard's body was found a few miles from our house.

This used to happen to me fairly often in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. Normally just a 10 - 20 mile journey, but I had a taxi take me from Birmingham to Matlock once.

There’s no particular reason not to trust a taxi driver on a 60 mile journey if you would on a 5 mile one. Assuming it’s the same as it was 30 years ago, the train company may be happier paying petrol money (likely cheaper) but she doesn’t get to pick and choose if they prefer to supply a taxi. She will be expected to share if there are other passengers heading in the same direction, so they won’t want to pay for the taxi for the other passengers and pay her petrol money. The taxi will only be paid to take them to the station, but I never had a taxi driver who wouldn’t take me straight home for an extra few quid in cash (probably more now!).

Changingplace · 05/11/2022 03:58

Mumwithbaggage · 05/11/2022 00:45

We do via my bank. Didn't think of that! Just checked and travel disruption is covered. DD is covered on my account.

You don’t need to go via your bank, all the info is on the Avanti website of how to claim,

www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/help-and-support/refund-journey#abandonedticket

Original poster
Mumwithbaggage · 05/11/2022 08:53

She got back with dh just before 2.30am - tired but pleased to be home, Hope her journey back is less eventful!

OP posts:
ChicagoNoie · 05/11/2022 08:56

Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 21:46

For dh's petrol. It's not her train, one blocking the line. If she was going to be late (even if she could catch the 12.10) it's one thing, but not being able to get home is quite another.

I had a medical appointment and my connecting train couldn’t move due to a train in front having broken down.

I’d paid £200 for the medical appointment and so I paid for a £100 taxi and the train company refunded me the £100. Worth a shot.

purser25 · 05/11/2022 09:18

You will be able to get the fare back. I had a taxi once paid for when we missed the lady train due to delays

Aprilx · 05/11/2022 09:23

Mumwithbaggage · 04/11/2022 21:56

DD can have all the money by the way (even though we paid her for the ticket)! It's the fact she will have missed the last connecting train from London and we are about 60 miles from Euston - I will encourage her to claim for petrol. Would be a hotel otherwise. She can keep all of the petrol money!

I started at university in 1982 and we lived in Preston. In fact, for years before that, I travelled to London for instrumental lessons. Not once was my train as rubbish as the trains now.

You can’t claim for petrol. You can put in a claim for a delayed train, but you don’t get to choose what you are compensated for, it will be a % of ticket price depending on length of delay. DH does this all the time with his commuting trains because he is fed up with frequent problems.