MSE has explained you could be owed money if you took a South West train out of London between October 1, 2015 and August 20, 2017, and you had a TfL Travelcard
Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com website has urged South West train passengers to check if they’re due compensation – but they need to “be quick” as the deadline is today.
You could be owed money if you took a South West train out of London between October 1, 2015 and August 20, 2017, and you had a Transport for London (TfL) Travelcard. The compensation relates to legal action that was taken against Stagecoach South West Trains, the company which operated the South Western rail franchise until August 2017.
Consumer rights campaigner Justin Gutmann argued that an estimated 1.4million passengers who held TfL Travelcards had effectively been charged twice for parts of their journeys, as they were not made aware of boundary fares. Boundary fares allow rail passengers to travel beyond the zones covered by their travelcard to their final destination without paying twice for the part of their journey already covered by their travelcard.
The case was settled out of court, with South West Trains agreeing to pay up to £25million in compensation without any admission of liability. MSE explained: “Boundary fares would’ve saved passengers between £3.85 and £5.11 for each journey, according to estimates from legal documents relating to the case. The same documents show that each affected passenger lost a total of £27.90 on average.”
MSE says you could be owed money if you bought one or more South West Trains tickets for travel from a station within the zones covered by your TfL Travelcard, to a station outside those zones – although only journeys outbound from London are covered by this case.
You must also have lived in the UK on both October 19, 2021 and April 30, 2024. If you don’t have any evidence of the tickets you purchased of your TfL Travelcard, your compensation is capped £5 for up to six journeys, so a total of £30. If you have proof of purchase for a TfL Travelcard, or proof of purchase of your South West Trains tickets, compensation is capped at £5 for up to 20 journeys, so a total of £100.
If you have both proof of purchase for a TfL Travelcard, plus your South West Trains tickets, then there is no cap on the compensation you can claim back. You can submit a claim online by 11.59pm today. You’ll be asked to state that the information you’ve given is true and correct to the best of your knowledge.
This is important, as random anti-fraud spot checks may take place. There is no date set yet for when the payments will start to be issued, but it is expected that they will be made later this year.
