Oyster and contactless card refunds from TfL

Are you owed a share of £560 million stuck on unused Oyster cards?

The latest Transport for London (TfL) figures from June 2026 show there are more than 95 million Oyster cards out there that haven't been used for at least a year. And there's more than a whopping £560 million sitting on them, made up of over £267 million in initial deposits when getting the card and over £292 million in pay-as-you-go credit.

• If you got your Oyster card ON or AFTER 4 September 2022: The fee you paid for a your card – it's currently £10.50 for a new one – is non-refundable, but you can still reclaim any remaining pay-as-you-go credit (any money you put on your card via the website or app, or at a station or shop, to pay for travel).

• If you got your Oyster card BEFORE 4 September 2022 and AFTER 23 February 2020: The initial deposit (the £5 you paid to get it) will automatically be refunded as pay-as-you-go credit after a year. To collect the refund you'll need to make a journey using the card within six months. You can also reclaim unused pay-as-you-go credit.

• If you got your Oyster card BEFORE 23 February 2020: If you no longer need it, you can get a refund of the initial £5 deposit you paid and any remaining pay-as-you-go credit. Bear in mind that your card will be stopped when you request a refund of the deposit, and you won't be able to use it again.

Here's how to claim your Oyster balance and deposit back

Firstly, you'll need to check your balance to find out if there's anything to reclaim. You can do this by registering your card online, downloading the TfL Go app (though you can't currently claim credit or deposit refunds through it) or checking at a Tube station ticket machine. Then follow the steps below:

• Online. To apply online, sign into your Contactless and Oyster account (or create one for free if you don't already have one). Select the Oyster card you'd like refunded (if it isn't registered, you'll need to link your card to your account first) and hit the 'Apply for a product refund' button. Follow the instructions to get a refund to your bank account.

• At stations. If you have £10 or less pay-as-you-go credit, you can get a refund from Tube station ticket machines. Just touch your Oyster on the yellow card reader, select 'Oyster refund' and follow the instructions. The ticket machine will dispense a refund in cash. You can find your nearest station using the TfL website.

• By email. Get in touch with TfL by filling in its online form, which asks for your contact details and Oyster card number. TfL says it aims to provide a full response within 10 working days.

• By phone. To apply over the phone, call TfL customer services on 0343 222 1234 (which costs the same to call as a normal 01 or 02 number) with your Oyster card number. It's open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.

• By post. TfL says that if you have a Visitor Oyster card, you should send it together with your name, address, email and phone number to TfL Customer Services, 9th Floor, 5 Endeavour Square, London E20 1JN. TfL will then get in touch to refund you.

Getting a refund can take as little as a few minutes, and often the amounts aren't trivial:

Claim a refund if your Tube's delayed by 15 minutes or more

Delays can be fury-inducing, but if your journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more, you can at least get your money back for the inconvenience.

Whether you travelled using an Oyster card, contactless card, paper ticket or mobile device (using Apple Pay, Google Pay or similar), you can ask Transport for London (TfL) for a refund as long as it happened within the last 28 days. You'll get the value of a single fare for the distance you travelled – you can visit the TfL single fare finder to check what that is.

TfL says you can't apply for a refund for "delays outside our control" including:

• Bad weather

• Customer incidents, such as a person falling ill on a train

• Engineering works

• Security alerts

• Strikes

It does not give refunds to those travelling for free via a Freedom Pass, 60+ Oyster photocard or Veterans Oyster photocard, or to children aged 11 or under who are travelling for free while accompanied by an adult.

How to claim a refund if you're delayed

Before you do anything, wait at least 48 hours as you might be refunded for your delayed journey automatically – check if you have been by signing into your TfL account (you'll need to create one for free if you don't already have one, then register your card – if you paid by mobile, register the card you use for Apple Pay, Google Pay or similar). Then go to 'View refund history', where you'll be shown refund applications from the last 12 weeks.

If you don't receive an automatic refund, you can apply for one by going to the 'Refunds and replacements' section of the TfL website and signing into your account.

Once you've logged in, select the Oyster card or contactless card you used to travel (again, if the card was unregistered at the time of the delay, you can register afterwards to claim) then hit the 'Claim for service delay' button and follow the instructions.

If you'd prefer to claim by phone, call TfL customer service on 0343 222 1234. It deals with Oyster card and paper ticket queries 8am to 8pm each day and contactless card queries 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5.30pm Saturday and Sunday.

For full help with claiming, see our Tube delay refunds guide.

Check if you can get a refund for not tapping in or out

If you use an Oyster card, contactless card, mobile phone or smartwatch to travel on most Transport for London (TfL) services (plus National Rail services in London), you must touch in and out using the same method via the yellow card readers when you travel. If you don't, you'll be charged the maximum fare, which can be as much as £16.30.

In 2025, TfL recorded over 28 million incomplete journeys – where passengers failed to tap in or out so were typically charged the maximum fare – and collected over £210 million as a result. Not all of that can be reclaimed though, as anyone getting a refund still has to pay the correct fare for the journey they made.

Yet it's possible to get up to a year's worth of charges refunded, and some have got back over £70. But before you claim, wait at least 48 hours as you may get an automatic refund. If that doesn't happen, you can claim manually relatively quickly...

Here's how to claim using the TfL website (recommended):

• Sign into your TfL contactless and Oyster account.

• You may see a notification for incomplete journeys when you sign in, in which case click or tap on the card in question, then the 'Apply for Incomplete journey refund' button, then the journey or journeys, and then fill in the form below the info.

• If you don't see a notification, and you travelled by Oyster card, tap or click on the one you used – if your card wasn't registered when you travelled, you can register it afterwards and claim for eligible journeys made within the previous eight weeks – then on the 'Apply for Incomplete journey refund' button, and you'll see any journeys eligible for a refund.

• If you don't see a notification, and you travelled by contactless (whether a physical card or one linked to a mobile phone or smartwatch), tap or click on the one you used – again, if your card wasn't registered when you travelled, you can register it after and claim for eligible journeys made up to eight weeks before. 

• Then look for journeys with a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark in it next to them – these usually indicate an incomplete journey – click or tap on them, then make your claim by filling in the form below the info. 

And here's how to claim using the TfL Go app:

• Sign into your TfL contactless and Oyster account.

• Select the card you used to pay for your journey (whether a physical card or one linked to your mobile phone or smartwatch) and tap on 'More history' – if your card wasn't registered when you travelled, you can register it afterwards and claim for eligible journeys made within the previous eight weeks.

• Look for journeys with a yellow circle with a question mark next to them – these usually indicate an incomplete journey – then tap on them, then the 'Apply for a refund' button (infuriatingly, the app then directs you to the website to complete the process – see above).  

TfL says it can take up to 10 working days to review claims. If your claim is successful and you used an Oyster card, the refund will automatically be added to it the next time you touch in or out at a station. If you used a contactless card, phone or watch, the amount will be refunded to your account or your fare will be adjusted accordingly when you next travel.

What if my Oyster card is lost, stolen or stops working?

If you lose your Oyster card, it's stolen or it stops working, notify Transport for London (TfL) and it will transfer your credit to a new Oyster card and cancel the old card – as long as the old card is registered. If you didn't register your old card, create a free TfL account and register your new card when you get it, as if your card isn't registered you cannot get a refund or replacement.

You can report an Oyster card as lost, stolen or not working by signing into your TfL account, selecting the card, clicking or tapping on 'Report card lost, stolen or failed' and following the instructions. If you want to do it over the phone, call TfL customer services on 0343 222 1234 between 8am and 8pm.

For full info on what to do about lost, stolen or faulty Oyster cards, see the 'Refunds and replacements' section of the TfL website.