UK: FirstGroup is to compensate passengers who were affected by an IT error which wrongly rejected claims for train delay repay compensation.
When a passenger submits a delay repay claim to the wrong train company, the claim should be redirected to the appropriate operator for processing. An error with FirstGroup’s IT system meant this was not happening, and claims were rejected leaving the passenger to contact the correct company themselves. This affected more than 53 000 claims.
FirstGroup self-reported the issue to the Office of Rail & Road after a audit identified the issue, which affected Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express and open-access operators Hull Trains and Lumo.
Eligible passengers will now receive a goodwill payment on a tiered system in proportion to the value of the original claim. If the claim value was £10-50 passengers will receive a goodwill payment of £10, and if the claim value was £50-£100 passengers will receive a goodwill payment of £25. They will be contacted by FirstGroup, and do not need to take any action.
ORR said it was satisfied that the matter had been resolved, and FirstGroup had not made a financial gain from the issue.
