Rail disruption across England, Scotland and Wales is expected to last for the next few days as cracks were detected in some Great Western Railway (GWR) and London North Eastern Railway (LNER) high-speed trains.
The trains in question have since been removed from the line to undergo precautionary safety checks and both train company are advising passengers to check before they travel as some journeys been cancelled.
Passengers affected by these delays or cancellations should get in touch with the company they bought their ticket from in the first instance. Where journeys are severely impacted, customers will be able to claim for compensation from the train firm in most cases.
Anyone travelling for a UK holiday and impacted by these temporary delays may also be able to claim for a delay benefit through their travel insurance provider.
Some UK-specific or staycation policies allow holidaymakers to claim for a benefit if their arrival to their holiday destination is delayed by several hours. The benefits available range from £20 to £50 for each 6 or 12 hours delayed, and travellers can usually claim up to a maximum of £500 for each person named on the policy. However, the exact amount that can be claimed and the time frame in which travellers are delayed by varies between insurers.
It’s worth being aware that this cover does not come as standard. Therefore, travellers will need to double-check their policy wording to see if this is included. If the policy includes this sort of cover, it may be worded something similar to: “we will pay £XX for every X hour period you are delayed to your trip destination, up to a maximum of £XXX”.
Additionally, anyone affected by these delays should be aware that as this event has now been publicly broadcasted, only those with existing policies will be able to claim for this event through their travel insurance. This means that if anyone who buys a policy today will not be able to submit a claim for this particular incident as it is now classed as a known event.
