I have not used my ticket for a while due to Covid-19 and TfL and NR said they offer refunds. Can I get one?

Hi there,

Thank you for getting in touch!

Please understand we are currently receiving significantly higher volume of enquiries while having reduced teams which means it will take a while for us to get to every query. We have always tried to help our members, but this crisis has hit us strongly and we are doing our best to manage members while managing the well being of our teams. 

We are aware that both Transport for London and National Rail websites state that you can apply for a refund if you have a season ticket, and if there is at least:

• 6 weeks remaining on an Annual ticket
• 7 days remaining on a Monthly ticket
• 3 days remaining on a 7 Day ticket

While we can appreciate that this may appear as good news, we want to make sure there is no misunderstanding for Commuter Club members as season ticket refunds is something that the industry was doing before the COVID-19 crisis and those refunds are in effect a cancellation.

When tickets are returned for cancellation/ refund, TfL/ National Rail calculate the refund value by calculating how much of the ticket was used based on the start date and the last usage date;. however because of the discounts of a season ticket, the usage is not calculated pro rata to the period before / after the ticket is returned, the usage is calculated based on the next cheapest tickets - a combination of monthly, weekly and daily tickets.

The reason why they advise that you can get a refund if your annual has more than 6 weeks left on it is that after that period, a ticket will no longer receive a refund from TfL / National Rail which means you are better off keeping the ticket.

For more information on season ticket cancellations, please visit National Rail's Condition of Travel: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/46427.aspx .

Please note the following:

* we are unable to do partial refunds. if you wish to access a refund on the unused portion of your ticket, this is considered as a cancellation and your ticket will no longer be valid

* Please note – that from Monday 07 September 2020, retailers will not be able to process backdated refunds unless you can provide evidence that illness prevented you from travelling (Condition 40.4 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel)

* if you have used more than 10 months of your annual, we advise against cancelling. Due to pro-rated calculations imposed by the industry, the refund would be £0 as all annual lose their value after 10 months of usage.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/coronavirus_refunds.aspx