Great Northern, Thameslink, Northern and TransPennine offer up to a month's fare back as compensation

Whether you can claim depends on the route you travel on, when you were travelling and the kind of ticket you had – but tens of thousands are expected to be owed money, and many will get £100s back.

Northern season ticket holders can claim cash back straightaway, with some due up to a month's travel costs back. TransPennine Express is offering a week's compensation, but passengers will have to wait until Monday 23 July to claim.

Great Northern and Thameslink season ticket holders are being offered up to a month's travel costs back but won't be able to claim until late August at the earliest.

See our guide for full help on your rights.

Northern season ticket holders can claim extra compensation NOW

If you have a weekly, monthly or annual Northern season ticket, you may be able to claim, depending on the route you travel and how much disruption you experienced.

You could be eligible for one of two possible levels of compensation:

• If you had a season ticket for four weeks between 1 April and 30 June, you can get a refund for up to a month's travel. You'll need to provide evidence of four weeks of travel during this period on certain routes. Most who fall into this category will be refunded a full month's travel, but Northern says commuters who travelled on some routes/dates may receive slightly less, if they weren't as severely affected.

• Failing that, if you had a week's season ticket between 20 May and 30 June, you can get a refund for a week's travel. You'll need to provide evidence of one week of travel during this period – again, on eligible routes.

The actual amount you're owed will be worked out as a proportion of your ticket – eg, annual season ticket costs will be divided by 12 or 40 depending on whether you're eligible for a month's or week's worth of compensation.

You can claim for your compensation between now and 19 September 2018. Here's how:

1. Check if you travelled on an eligible route. The eligible routes vary depending on which period you're claiming for.

2. Gather evidence. This could be copies of train tickets or proof of payment. If you're struggling to find this, call 03332 220 126 or email

   compmay18@northernrailway.co.uk

   for assistance.

3. Submit your claim. Do this via the Northern website – you'll need to enter your journey and ticket details as well as your contact info.

You can choose to be paid via bank transfer, a payment to your card or National Rail voucher and you should receive your compensation within 20 working days of your claim being approved. See Northern's website for more info.

TransPennine season ticket holders can claim from 23 July

If you're a TransPennine Express season ticket holder and travelled on an affected route (see a full list on the TransPennine website) between 20 May and 30 June, you'll be entitled to one week's worth of travel costs back.

You'll be able to apply for compensation from Monday 23 July and have until the start of October to make your claim. As with Northern, the amount you'll get will be worked out as a proportion of your ticket. You'll have to apply online via the TransPennine site.

Great Northern and Thameslink season ticket holders will have to wait

If you're a season ticket holder on a route where Thameslink or Great Northern operates a significant proportion of the train service you may be owed extra compensation – though again it depends on your route, ticket and travel dates.

You won't actually be able to claim until late August at the earliest – we'll update the site with full details of how to claim when the scheme launches. Both firms say they intend to contact eligible passengers by the end of August to inform them they can claim, using season ticket databases and online sales records.

To qualify you'll need to hold between one and four weeks' worth of season tickets which are valid between 20 May and 28 July on qualifying routes. Thameslink and Great Northern haven't specified why some customers only need one week and others four weeks – we're checking and will update this story when we know more.

There will be two levels of compensation offered – you'll get a week's worth of travel back or a month's worth depending on where you travel from or to. See which stations fall into which category on the Thameslink website.

Make sure you also claim for each individual delay within 28 days

The Department for Transport has confirmed that making a Delay Repay claim for each individual delay you suffer will not exclude you from being eligible for the lump-sum compensation scheme – so make sure you claim now.

If you're on Northern and TransPennine Express services you can claim if you arrive at your destination at least 30 minutes after you were supposed to – regardless of the reason. If on Great Northern or Thameslink services you can claim if you arrive at least 15 minutes late.

You need to claim for individual delays within 28 days of the delay. See our Train Delays guide for full help on how to claim for disruption.

What if I'm not a season ticket holder?

Travellers buying daily tickets or using Oyster pay-as-you-go or carnets and most using their contactless card to pay for travel have been told they AREN'T due additional compensation, and will only be able to submit Delay Repay claims for each individual delay. See our Train Delays guide for full help.

For the purposes of these compensation schemes though, Oyster season travelcards and those who use their contactless cards' weekly fare-capping feature will be eligible.