More than a million train passengers could be in for a payout after a train company agreed to a massive settlement.
Up to 1.4 million passengers who used South West Trains could make a claim after its owners agreed to a £25,000,000 package.
A class action claimed passengers with Travelcards may have overpaid for part of their journey between 2015 and 2017.
Even claimants without proof of travel may be eligible to apply, but they need to do so before the deadline in the new year.
It is thought to be the largest ever compensation package awarded in a UK collective action.
Justin Gutmann, the Class Representative, said: ‘After yet another summer of travel misery for UK train passengers, I’m delighted to say there is good news at last, and that money is finally going back to passengers.’
Gutmann urged all South West Trains passengers at the time to ‘come forward and collect the money they may be entitled to under the settlement.’
Why can passengers get compensation?
It comes after a claim brought in the Competition Appeal Tribunal by Gutmann, a consumer champion, along with Charles Lyndon, a law firm specialising in consumer litigation.
Many passengers with Travelcards who purchased a rail ticket in London are believed to have overpaid for a section of their journey, the claim said.
Those travelling beyond the zones covered by the card should have been charged only from the edge of the Travelcard limit,
This is known as a ‘Boundary Fare,’ but many passengers were not offered the option and ended up paying more.
The South West Trains network was run by Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited at the time.
The financial settlement was reached without any admission of liability by the company.
A Stagecoach spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘We are pleased that the Competition Appeal Tribunal has now approved the collective settlement that we have agreed with the claimant, without finding or providing an admission of liability in this long-running case related to historic matters.’
