Delayed flight passengers who are claiming compensation with some of Britain’s biggest airlines are being told they must pay a £25 charge if their claim turns out to be unsuccessful.
Under EU rules, travellers can claims up to €600 (£510) in delayed flight compensation, however flight delay passengers who flew with British Airways, Thomson, Thomas Cook and Easyjet face having to pay a £25 fee if their claims go through the ombudsman and they are unsuccessful. We would be able to assist with this matter and risk assess your case and advise the likelihood of you being unsuccessful with your flight delay claim – contact us today on a no win no fee basis.
If a claim is rejected or a passenger is unhappy with the result then they can ask for an independent service to decide whether the outcome is fair. Earlier this year the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) – which deals with flight delay complaints handed over responsibility to independent dispute settlers.
The CAA has approved three services for airlines to use. One, The Retail Ombudsman Service , has 11 airlines signed up including Ryanair, Flybe and Air Canada, and imposes no fee on passengers.
The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), to which British Airways, Thomson, Thomas Cook and Easyjet are signed up, does level the charge.
Another firm, NetNeutrals has also been approved by the CAA but so far no airlines have signed up. A service based in Germany – called Sop – is also used by four airlines, Swiss, Lufthansa, Germanwings and Germania.
If an airline has not opted for one of these services, for example, Monarch, Aer Lingus or Virgin, then passengers can still use the CAA to resolve their delay compensation issue.
Under the “EU261” rule, travellers can claim compensation for delays to flights that departed from an EU country or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, or if they were flying with an EU airline to one of those destinations. Up to €600 can be claimed for a flight delay of more than 3 hours, the amount that passengers are entitled to depends on the distance of the flight and length of the delay and it must be the airline’s fault. This means that if a delay is caused by bad weather, industrial action, security or technical problems that are outside of their control you cannot claim.
In England and Wales you have up to six years to make a claim. In Scotland you have five.
If you think that you are entitled to compensation make a note of any details, keep your ticket and any relevant receipts and contact us to take the hassle and risk out of your claim on a no win now fee basis.
