Refunds for strike action
Please apply for a refund if you don't travel.
Strike action refund information
Last updated 2 October 2023
If you have changed your plans because of the strike action, you can claim a refund or change the date of your ticket. Please see below for more information.
Daily tickets bought online
- If you bought your ticket as a guest or your ticket has passed its date of travel, please fill out our refund form, we won’t charge an admin fee.
- If you bought your ticket from our website, you can use our self-service refund facility. If you have an account please log in, go to ‘My Account’, then ‘Manage my tickets/refunds’ to apply. Please note this doesn’t apply to daily tickets which have passed their date of travel.
- If you have a Key smartcard and can't log into your account, and/or use the self-service refund facility, please complete our online Key refund form.
- Please note that we cannot process refunds for Daily or Advance tickets bought from other retailers or operators. Please contact your original ticket retailer for refund assistance.
Daily tickets bought at a station
- If you bought a paper daily ticket from one of our ticket offices, you can return this to any Southeastern ticket office for a full refund with no admin fee. Alternatively you can send your ticket to Southeastern Customer Services at:
- Southeastern Online Refunds
Freepost RUEL-KBZS-YRASwadlincote
DE11 1HZ - If you bought a ticket on your Key smartcard from one of our stations, you can return this to any Southeastern ticket office for a full refund or you can apply online by filling out the Key refund form.
Advance tickets
Advance ticket holders can either apply for a full refund with no admin fee or return to the original retailer for an eVoucher, for use purchasing a future ticket. eVouchers are valid for 12 months from the date of issue. If you have two Advance tickets (an outbound and a return), to be used as a return journey, and either of the legs is on a strike day and the train is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled, you can claim a fee-free refund or change of journey for any unused legs / tickets.
If your ticket was bought online and hasn’t been printed/collected, please use our Contact us form and quote your order reference number. If it's already been printed, please post it to the address below for a refund.
If your ticket was bought at a station, please return it to any Southeastern ticket office to arrange a full refund. Alternatively, please post them to our Customer Services team at the address below:
Southeastern Online Refunds
Freepost RUEL-KBZS-YRAU
Swadlincote
DE11 1HZ
Please note that we cannot process refunds for Daily or Advance tickets bought from other retailers or operators. Please contact your original ticket retailer for refund assistance.
Advance tickets will be non-refundable unless the booked service has been cancelled, delayed or rescheduled by the train operator for reasons such as disruption or strikes in which case refunds will be available.
All tickets except season tickets
- You can claim a full refund with no admin fee for your unused ticket (other than season ticket), if you decide not to travel because the train you intended to use is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled after you purchased your ticket.
- You can request a fee-free change of journey or cash refund for all ticket types (other than season ticket) if the train was cancelled or delayed or rescheduled from that in the published timetable of the day after you have purchased a ticket.
- If you didn’t/couldn't make your outward journey because of strike action, you can have a refund on your outward and return ticket (other than season ticket) even if the latter is not affected by strike action. The same applies if your return journey is affected, but your outward journey is not.
Season tickets
Season ticket holders (Flexi, monthly or longer) can use Delay Repay to claim money back if they choose not to travel on strike days. For a full day back, you only need to make one claim per day of industrial action using ‘Industrial Action – did not travel’ as the reason for the delay. You can claim from the day of industrial action and up to 28 days after that date.
For Flexi season tickets holders, if you only have a few passes left on your Flexi season ticket and were intending on using them on one of the strike days, then please activate a pass on one of the strike days and then claim Delay Repay, using 'Industrial Action - did not travel' as the reason for delay.
Alternatively, you can apply for a refund. There must be a minimum of two unused day passes left to be eligible for a refund and an admin fee of £10 will be charged. Simply log in to your online account, select 'manage my tickets/refunds' and follow the steps to process your own refund.
Weekly Season Tickets and Travelcards that haven’t started yet can be refunded but a £10 admin fee may apply. It’s recommended you use the season ticket calculator to make sure that a Weekly Season ticket is the best value during a period of industrial action, as compensation won’t be available unless your service is cancelled or delayed.