Have you been delayed on the train again?

Last year there were 47 million delayed rail journeys in Britain.

Yet only 80% of us bothered to claim compensation,

even though that could have cut the cost of a ticket by more than half.

I completely understand.

I'm a commuter, I've got all my stuff.

I've got my FT subscription, I've got my travel mug, I've got my season ticket,

what I don't have is any knowledge about how to claim for a delayed journey.

There's no information anywhere at my station.

Well, forewarned is forearmed.

The best place, the best source for how to claim back cost on a delayed rail journey is the website of the train operating company that's running your service, find out what it is.

In the past, I have even gone on to the website while I've been on the delayed train to download the online form to claim back the compensation.

However, not all train companies will tell you what you're legally entitled to.

For example, there's now a system called Delay Repay,

where you must get compensation if your journey is delayed by over half an hour, not many people know that.

Um, also, train operating companies often don't mention that you can get cash instead of vouchers as compensation.

You're good at claiming, aren't you? But you have had vouchers in the past.

Yeah, I once claimed on a really delayed journey. I got back 120 pounds.

But that's a huge amount of money to spend on a rail journey.

Anyway, you'd have to go a really long way or go first class, so cash frankly would have been better.

And if you look at the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, there online you can download them onto your smartphone and brandish them at people,

it does say that you're allowed to ask for your refund in money as well as vouchers.

Now, some train companies are further ahead of the curve than others. For example, Virgin Trains.

If you're delayed on one of their trains, they're offering some customers an automatic refund back onto the card that they've used to book the ticket.

However, you've got to book in advance, you have got to have booked on their website, or via their app.

But why aren't the other train companies doing this?

Simply Claer, they don't have to.

Retailers now have to pay your refund in the form that you bought the item,

so if you paid on your Visa, you get it back on your Visa.

But the government's given rail companies until October 17 to sort this out,

so until then, while you can always ask for cash, you may not get it.

If you're fed up with delays to your train journey and want help reclaiming the money back, go online now to read our free guide, ft.com/raildelay.

And don't delay!