Southern Rail refund win

CREDIT card companies are bracing themselves for a flood of claims after a Southern Rail season ticket holder won a £2,400 refund from American Express.

Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act if you pay using your credit card for goods or services and they are not provided, you can claim your money back from the lender.

The passenger argued the rail firm had not delivered the service he’d paid for after estimating half of his journeys had been cancelled or disrupted — and American Express paid up. Experts say rival credit card firms could now be hit by a deluge of refund requests from commuters.

American Express, Barclaycard and MBNA say they will consider claims on a case-by-case basis.

Vickie Sheriff, of consumer group Which?, says: ‘Affected rail passengers shouldn’t have to resort to such measures to get the compensation they rightly deserve for the inconvenience caused due to Southern’s awful service.’