Why we built Untap

A small thank-you note to the UK, and a little help collecting it.

I moved to the UK a few years ago. Like a lot of people who arrive here, I spent my first months getting used to how things work: the trains, the Tube, the bills, the rhythm of daily life. It is an expensive country to live in, and sometimes things do not go quite to plan. A train runs late. A flight slips by a few hours. A tap-out is missed on the Underground.

What surprised me, and what I grew to really appreciate, is how well the UK looks after consumers when those things happen. There are clear rules, fair schemes, and genuine routes to get your money back when a service falls short.

The first time I really saw this was with a short trip I had been looking forward to. My flight was delayed by almost a day and the plans fell apart. I was disappointed, but then I read about UK261 and learned I could claim compensation. I wrote the letters myself, followed the steps, and a few weeks later the compensation came through, along with the cost of the return tickets. The system had actually worked. I just needed to know it was there.

A while later I noticed that one of my TfL charges looked way too high. I was confused, so I asked my girlfriend, and she explained that I'd probably tapped in with one card and tapped out with another. I had no idea that this gives you a maximum fare for the day. She told me I could log in on the TfL site and ask them to look at it. I was sure it would be a hassle, but I gave it a go, and they sorted it out. It was genuinely a nice surprise.

Around the same time, my partner was moving out of a rented flat and the return of her deposit became complicated. We used the free deposit adjudication scheme, presented what we had, and she got the full amount back. Another well-designed process, once we knew it was there.

Then trains. I was commuting for work on a line that had its bad days, and a colleague mentioned Delay Repay in passing. I gave it a try, a little unsure, and the refund landed without fuss.

The UK has thoughtful consumer protections, and when you use them, they tend to work. The tricky part is knowing that something has happened, remembering in time, and finding the right form. Most of us are simply too busy to keep track.

That's what Untap is for. You drop in the booking confirmations and notices you already receive, we check whether a refund or compensation might apply, and we show you exactly what to do next. We never take a cut of your refund, and we never file anything for you. You decide what to send, and the money lands in your account.

I built Untap because these small wins meant a lot to me, and I wanted them to feel easy for other people too. I hope it saves you a bit of time and a bit of paperwork, and that it gives you the same feeling I had the first time a refund actually came through.

With warmth,
The founder