When a journey fails for a non-disabled passenger, it is a delay. When it fails for a disabled passenger, it is often a taxi fare, a missed hospital appointment, a carer paid for nothing and a day written off.
The compensation system was not built with that in mind, but there are more routes through it than most people use — and importantly, they stack. You can claim more than one thing for the same journey.
Route 1: Delay Repay
The standard rail compensation scheme. If your train is late, you claim a proportion of your fare back depending on how late — thresholds vary by operator, commonly starting at 15 or 30 minutes, with more paid at 60 minutes and above.
The part people miss: the delay is measured on your arrival at your destination. If a missing ramp meant you could not board and you took the next train, your delay is measured from the train you actually arrived on — not from the one you were stopped from taking.
- Claim through the operator you travelled with, usually online, usually within 28 days.
- Keep the ticket or the booking reference — photograph it before you post it.
- Say in the free-text box why you were delayed. “No ramp available at the station” is more useful to them and to you than “train late”.
Route 2: Reimbursement of costs the operator caused
Separate from Delay Repay, and often worth much more. If an operator failed to provide accessible transport it was required to provide, it should cover the cost of the alternative you had to arrange.
- Taxi fares where the station was inaccessible, the lift was broken, or the rail replacement coach could not take a wheelchair.
- Onward travel where you were carried past your stop or set down at the wrong station because no ramp was available.
- Overnight accommodation where a failure left you stranded.
Keep receipts, and ask staff on the day to authorise the expense if you can — but do not let a refusal on the platform stop you claiming afterwards.
Route 3: Damaged mobility equipment
If your wheelchair, scooter or walking aid is damaged in transit, that is a claim in its own right, and a serious one — this is not lost luggage, it is your independence.
- Report it before you leave the station, airport or terminal, and get a written record with a reference number.
- Photograph the damage straight away.
- Ask for immediate provision — a loan chair or a repair arranged at their cost.
- Get a repair quote or replacement valuation from your supplier and submit it.
On buses and coaches, and on ferries, retained passenger rights rules specifically cover compensation for lost or damaged mobility equipment. On flights, liability can be capped at a level well below the cost of a powered chair — see flying while disabled for how to handle that.
Route 4: A discrimination complaint
This is the one most people never make, and it is the one that changes anything. A refund addresses your ticket; a discrimination complaint addresses the failure.
Under the Equality Act 2010, transport providers must make reasonable adjustments. If you were left behind, refused boarding, or could not use a service that non-disabled passengers used without difficulty, that may be unlawful discrimination — and a claim can include compensation for injury to feelings, which is often larger than the fare.
The time limit is short: normally six months less one day from the incident for a services claim in the county court. Get free advice early from the Equality Advisory & Support Service on 0808 800 0082.
A refund says sorry about your ticket. A discrimination complaint says the service was not available to me — which is the thing that actually needs fixing.
Writing the claim so it lands
- One incident, one letter. Date, time, stations or route, ticket reference, vehicle or fleet number.
- Say what happened factually, in order, without editorialising. The facts are damning enough.
- Say what it cost you — in money, and in the practical consequences.
- Say what you want: the refund, the taxi fare, the repair, the policy change, an apology. Be specific.
- Give a deadline — 14 days is reasonable — and say what you will do next if you do not hear.
- Keep everything. Screenshot online forms before you submit them; they often disappear.
Full templates and the escalation ladder are in our guide to complaining and being heard.
Where to escalate
- Rail: operator, then the Rail Ombudsman. Policy failures also to the Office of Rail and Road.
- Bus and coach: operator, then Bus Users UK; London TravelWatch in London. Copy the local transport authority.
- Air: airline, then the Civil Aviation Authority.
- Taxi and private hire: the council that licensed the vehicle — see taxis and private hire.