Taking The Airlines To Court

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  • JPears
    JPears Posts: 5,086 Forumite
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    lucyonline wrote: »
    Hi there

    Reposting this in the right thread because apparently I posted my first enquiry in the wrong place - for which I humbly apologise. I have been through this thread and cannot find answers to most of these questions - particularly question 1 - since most of the people posting here seem to be talking about UK airlines so the question doesn't apply to them...

    I have been pursing Iberia for compensation since a delayed flight from Bogota to LHR in 2009 got me home over 30 hours late. Iberia have fudged and evaded and refused over and over again, even though the Spanish regulator AESA have now ruled that they DO owe me EUR600 compensation. So the time has come to take them to court. The forums seem to suggest that I can do this through MCOL in this country, but when I rang the CAA for their advice they told me I have to do it through the European Court.

    So can someone advise....
    1. MCOL or European Court (and if so, which one, there are so many websites!) And if MCOL do I address it to Iberia's UK office or their head office in Madrid?
    2. Can I just go ahead and claim now? I already wrote to them 2 weeks ago demanding the money that AESA say they owe and threatening court action if they don't pay and they have written back to me saying they won't. But I can't reply to it because it's from a no-reply email address.
    3. Can I claim interest? If so how much and how do you calculate it (compound every year or just as a percentage on top of the 600 EUR)?
    4. Do I just claim 600 EUR or do I have to work out what it would have been in 2009?
    5. Can I claim court fees back?
    6. Does anyone have any advice about how to prepare the claim to make sure it is successful? You can't look ahead on MCOL to see what they're going to require without filling the first pages in.

    Your advice would be much appreciated. I'm not a lawyer and have no experience of this, but I WON'T let those B%£$^%DS win just because I'm the little guy and they think if they stonewall me enough I'll go away...!
    1. If iberia have a registered office in UK then you can use MCOL. If not then ECSC.
    2. If you have sent and NBA - ie given them reasonable time to consider but stating that you would take legal action, then yes.
    3. Yes simple interest at a daily rate. Typical claim is 8% but judges, IF they award use 3-5%
    4. The rate is fixed in euros. to convert use exchange rate at the time of delay.
    5. Yes they are automatically added.
    6. Yes read as many threads as possible. Large pot of tea and several sticky buns later......
    If you're new. read The FAQ and Vauban's Guide

    The alleged Ringleader.........
  • David_e
    David_e Posts: 1,498 Forumite
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    JPears wrote: »
    4. The rate is fixed in euros. to convert use exchange rate at the time of delay.

    There seem to be differing views on this. This is mine:

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...postcount=4460

    I would shamelessly (!) use whichever rate gives the best Sterling equivalent.
  • legal_magpie
    legal_magpie Posts: 1,194 Forumite
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    The Law is not clear on this. If a claim is made in Euros it is normally converted at the time of issue but the Court has power to make an award in foreign currency. See CPR practice direction 40B 10. "Where judgment is ordered to be entered in a foreign curency it should be in the following form:

    It is ordered that the Defendant pay the claimant [e.g. 600 Euros] or the Sterling equivalent at the time of payment."

    It is usually best to follow David_e's advice though.
  • lucyonline
    lucyonline Posts: 23 Forumite
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    JPears wrote: »
    1. If iberia have a registered office in UK then you can use MCOL. If not then ECSC.
    ....

    Thanks for this. I looked on their website and they don't seem to list a Uk office but I know they have one in Hammersmith (London) as I walked past it about 3 days ago.

    What constitutes a registered office? Another very helpful forumite, Thalia22, said in a post that they had had success with a claim through MCOL but the CAA told me to go to the European Court. Clearly I'd prefer to MCOL if possible as it's much more user-friendly but I don't want to get it wrong and waste my time, particularly as if they stonewall me for much longer I will go over the 6 year deadline!
  • lucyonline
    lucyonline Posts: 23 Forumite
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    lucyonline wrote: »
    Thanks for this. I looked on their website and they don't seem to list a Uk office but I know they have one in Hammersmith (London) as I walked past it about 3 days ago.

    What constitutes a registered office? Another very helpful forumite, Thalia22, said in a post that they had had success with a claim through MCOL but the CAA told me to go to the European Court. Clearly I'd prefer to MCOL if possible as it's much more user-friendly but I don't want to get it wrong and waste my time, particularly as if they stonewall me for much longer I will go over the 6 year deadline!

    To add to the confusion I just rang the MCOL helpline and even the girl at the end of the phone didn't know... she told me to go to Citizen's Advice... but I'm sure the collective wisdom of this forum will be much more likely to have the answer than whichever random CA volunteer I end up with...
  • David_e
    David_e Posts: 1,498 Forumite
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    lucyonline wrote: »
    the CAA told me to go to the European Court.

    If they put that in writing, can you post a scan?
  • Vauban
    Vauban Posts: 4,736 Forumite
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    Bumping, as I have linked to Dr. Watson's ESCP guide in post 1.
  • Musicology
    Musicology Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Hi there,

    I registered my claim for myself and my husband via MCOL due to denied boarding (as a result of knock on effects) a few weeks ago. On looking at mcol BA issued an acknowledgement of service on the 22nd Jan and I see that they have ticked the box stating they intend to defend all of the claim. Does this now give them longer to respond to my claim? 28 days instead of 14. Does this also mean that they are unlikely to settle and we will end up battling it out in court? Or do they do this regularly to delay settling and to give them more time to look into the particulars of the claim?

    I am not worried about the case I have against them I am just concerned that I may not have followed the correct procedures. I am listed as the claimant on my own although the address for sending documents states "Mr and Mrs ...." and my husband is mentioned in the particulars of the claim. Is it possible that they will try to state I can't claim for my husband and I should therefore not have used MCOL?

    Many thanks for any responses.
  • Musicology
    Musicology Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Thanks Centipede and yes I am aware of David_e's pointer which I tried to follow and which I still feel is not very straightforward.

    When you register on MCOL you have to register for a Government Gateway account and this only gives you the opportunity to input ONE name which then becomes the "claimant". There is no way of listing a second claimant via MCOL online. The only opportunity you have to enter details as a couple is where I did so in relation to sending documents or payments.

    So we shall wait and see but for future advice to others submitting claims for more than one person I would suggest downloading the N1 claim form and completing and posting it. This is however more expensive so I shall be arguing that I was trying to keep costs to a minimum if it does become an issue.
  • Vauban
    Vauban Posts: 4,736 Forumite
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    Musicology wrote: »
    Thanks Centipede and yes I am aware of David_e's pointer which I tried to follow and which I still feel is not very straightforward.

    When you register on MCOL you have to register for a Government Gateway account and this only gives you the opportunity to input ONE name which then becomes the "claimant". There is no way of listing a second claimant via MCOL online. The only opportunity you have to enter details as a couple is where I did so in relation to sending documents or payments.

    So we shall wait and see but for future advice to others submitting claims for more than one person I would suggest downloading the N1 claim form and completing and posting it. This is however more expensive so I shall be arguing that I was trying to keep costs to a minimum if it does become an issue.

    I believe the judge has discretion to add other claimants during the course of proceedings. But you take a gamble - some have their claim struck out, some have it amended so they can only claim for themselves, and some get through no bother. The perils of the small claims track.
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