Southeastern pays Delay Repay when a delayed or cancelled Southeastern train gets you to your destination 15 minutes or more late: 25% of a single for 15-29 minutes, 50% for 30-59, the full single for 60-119 and the full return from 120 minutes. Claim within 28 days on Southeastern’s Delay Repay claim portal. If you travel on a Key smartcard or a Southeastern eTicket, sTicket or Advance ticket, you can opt in to One Click Delay Repay, which prepares the claim for you to confirm.
Southeastern Delay Repay at a glance
| Southeastern | |
|---|---|
| Threshold | 15 minutes |
| Covers | Delays and cancellations |
| Automatic claims | One Click, for Key and tickets bought from Southeastern |
| Proof | Ticket or ticket reference; no receipts |
| Time limit | 28 days |
| Claim online | delayrepay.southeasternrailway.co.uk |
How much does Southeastern pay?
| Delay at destination | Single | Return |
|---|---|---|
| 15-29 min | 25% | 12.5% of the return fare |
| 30-59 min | 50% | 25% of the return fare |
| 60-119 min | 100% | 50% of the return fare |
| 120 min or more | 100% | 100% of the return fare |
Southeastern words its return figures as a share of the whole return ticket, which is the convention we use across Journey Radar. 12.5% of a return is the same as 25% of the delayed leg.
Contactless and Oyster pay-as-you-go journeys count as single tickets, so the single column applies to each delayed journey.
Season tickets
Southeastern calls the per-journey value of a season ticket the journey rate.
| Season ticket | Journey rate |
|---|---|
| Weekly | price ÷ 10 |
| Monthly | price ÷ 40 |
| Quarterly | price ÷ 120 |
| Annual | price ÷ 464 |
| Flexi Season | price ÷ 16 |
You get 25%, 50% or 100% of the journey rate for the first three bands. At 120 minutes or more Southeastern pays the return journey rate (two journeys), and that return rate is also the most a season ticket can earn in compensation in one day.
Example: a £3,712 annual season has a journey rate of £8. A 25-minute delay pays £2, a 70-minute delay pays £8, and a 2-hour delay pays £16. Two badly delayed trains on the same day still cannot pay more than £16.
One Click Delay Repay: how Southeastern’s automatic claims work
One Click covers:
- Key smartcard holders;
- anyone who bought an eTicket, sTicket or Advance ticket on the Southeastern website or app;
for journeys on the Southeastern network.
Setting it up. Opt in through your Southeastern account. Saving your regular journeys helps it match your travel.
What happens next. Southeastern compares your Key taps or ticket barcode scans with the timetable. When a journey qualifies, it sends you a pre-filled claim within 48 hours, by email or in the Southeastern app. You check the details and confirm, and then you are paid. It needs at least one tap or scan to know you travelled, and a ticket bought from another retailer is not covered.
For any journey One Click does not pick up, claim through the online portal below.
How to claim manually
- Go to Southeastern’s Delay Repay claim portal.
- Enter your journey, the train you planned to take and your arrival time.
- Upload your actual ticket or give the ticket reference. Southeastern does not accept receipts or confirmation emails, which catches out people used to GTR, where receipts are fine.
- Choose bank transfer, PayPal, eVoucher, a cashable voucher or a donation to one of five charities. Southeastern does not pay to cards.
There is also a paper claim form, linked from Southeastern’s Delay Repay page, if you prefer to post your claim.
How fast. Southeastern’s published figures for 28 June to 25 July 2026 show 60,335 claims received, 56,180 approved, £513,388.35 paid out and an average of 4.15 working days per claim.
Split tickets and journeys with other operators
Southeastern sets out its own method for split tickets:
- make one claim for the whole journey;
- enter 00000 as the ticket number;
- choose Other / split ticket used as the reason;
- put all your tickets in a single image and upload that.
If your journey involved another company, claim from the operator that caused the first delay. If you send it to Southeastern by mistake, Southeastern forwards it. That follows National Rail’s Conditions of Travel (condition 32.1), which also measures the delay at your final destination. Our Delay Repay guide explains connections and multi-operator claims.
Cancellations, strikes and engineering works
A cancellation counts if you still made the journey and arrived 15 minutes or more late. If you decided not to travel, you need a refund from the ticket seller, not Delay Repay, and condition 33.5 rules out claiming both. Southeastern looks at taxi costs on a case-by-case basis rather than paying them as standard.
Southeastern does not publish a separate strike rule for Delay Repay, so National Rail’s rule applies. A delay caused by industrial action that reaches the 15-minute threshold is claimed from the operator you travelled with; if a strike cancels, delays or reschedules your train, condition 30.1 gives you a fee-free refund or change from the retailer. See our train strikes page for upcoming action.
During planned engineering works, condition 32.1 measures delays against the timetable that applies on the day, including any replacement timetable published in advance.
If Southeastern refuses your claim
If the problem was evidence, for example you uploaded a receipt, resubmit with the ticket or ticket reference. Otherwise, reply through the claim portal with your reference and the details you think were missed. For delays of 60 minutes or more, condition 32.1 entitles you to compensation regardless of fault. The Delay Repay hub explains what to do if Southeastern will not change its decision.
Frequently asked questions
What is Southeastern One Click Delay Repay?
It is Southeastern's automatic claim service. If you opt in through your Southeastern account and travel on a Key smartcard or an eTicket, sTicket or Advance ticket bought from Southeastern, it builds a claim from your taps or scans and sends it to you within 48 hours. You confirm the details to be paid.
Can I use a receipt as proof for Southeastern Delay Repay?
No. Southeastern does not accept receipts or booking confirmation emails. You need the ticket itself or its ticket reference.
Can Southeastern pay Delay Repay to my card?
No. Southeastern pays by bank transfer, PayPal, eVoucher or cashable voucher, or you can give the money to one of five charities. Card refunds are not on its list.
How do I claim Southeastern Delay Repay on split tickets?
Make one claim for the whole journey. Enter 00000 as the ticket number, choose Other / split ticket used as the reason, and upload all of your tickets together in a single image.
Does Southeastern Delay Repay work with contactless or Oyster?
Yes. Southeastern treats contactless and Oyster pay-as-you-go journeys as single tickets for Delay Repay, so a 15 to 29 minute delay pays 25% of that single fare.
How quickly does Southeastern pay Delay Repay?
Southeastern's published figures for 28 June to 25 July 2026 show an average of 4.15 working days to deal with a claim, with 56,180 of 60,335 claims approved in that period.
Will Southeastern pay for a taxi if my train is cancelled?
Southeastern says it looks at taxi costs case by case rather than promising to cover them, so keep the receipt.
Sources
- Southeastern - Delay Repay
- Southeastern - Delay Repay FAQs
- Southeastern - One Click Delay Repay FAQs
- Southeastern - Delay Repay claim portal
- National Rail Enquiries - Industrial action
- National Rail Conditions of Travel (July 2026)
Checked 25 October 2026.