Monarch delays & Compensations. Listed flights denied in O.P.

rippingale19

I have read this forum with great interest since its inception. I have also made a claim under this scheme and expected the reply that the majority of posters have received. One for the list of flights been declined due to EC. I have now just applied to the CAA as well as replying to the Monarch department dealing with this. I do not hold out much hope but am willing to pursue this through the courts. I will keep you updated on decisions, correspondence etc. What is interesting is that no surname has been used in any correspondence

09 May 2013


Re: MON3692 London Gatwick to Mombasa on 07th July 2008

Further to your claim for delay compensation, we are writing to advise the outcome of our investigation into your case.

Monarch Airlines aims as its first priority to provide its passengers with a safe and efficient service. We would like to reassure you that every reasonable effort is made to ensure that our flights depart on time and in the unlikely event we are unable to do so through disruption, we aim to provide a solution at the earliest opportunity.

As previously advised, in some circumstances passengers may be entitled to compensation for delay arising from such disruption under European Union laws. However, any monetary payments are subject to certain criteria being satisfied. Under these laws where the disruption is caused by an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ which the airline was reasonably unable to prevent, the carrier is not obliged to pay compensation. Extraordinary circumstances have been defined by the courts and the European Regulations themselves provide a non-exhaustive list of which circumstances can indeed be categorised as extraordinary.

Our records show that the aircraft scheduled to operate your flight had a damaged thrust reverser and for safety reasons, engineers declared the aircraft unserviceable. Spare parts were shipped to London Gatwick by lorry and once serviceable, the aircraft departed at the earliest possible opportunity. Unfortunately these events led to a delay in the scheduled departure time of your flight.

Having considered the factual background of this case, we are satisfied that the disruption was caused by an extraordinary circumstance that could not have reasonably been prevented by Monarch Airlines. We are, therefore, unable to accept your claim for compensation for the reasons given.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can provide any further assistance or information.

Yours sincerely,

Danielle
EU Claims Advisor
Monarch Airlines
Tel: +44 (0) 1582 531712

russetred

As some of you will be aware the Russetred family have issued summons against Monarch and were awaiting a response within the next week. Today I received this letter.

WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

Dear Russetred family,

We write further to the above matter. I have now taken the time to review your file and circumstances surrounding your delay. In the spirit of compromise we would like to make you an offer to settle this claim therby saving everyone's time. Our offer is £2000 (inclusive of costs of £71). We consider our offer to be reasonable and hope that this matter can be settled amicably.

We trust you find the above in order.

Morgan Mulay
Group Lawyer.
Monarch Airlines.

Under EU law 5 passengers @ E600 is what we are entitled to as compensation. I will be responding to their offer shortly.

Vauban

russetred wrote: »

As some of you will be aware the Russetred family have issued summons against Monarch and were awaiting a response within the next week. Today I received this letter.

WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

Dear Russetred family,

We write further to the above matter. I have now taken the time to review your file and circumstances surrounding your delay. In the spirit of compromise we would like to make you an offer to settle this claim therby saving everyone's time. Our offer is £2000 (inclusive of costs of £71). We consider our offer to be reasonable and hope that this matter can be settled amicably.

We trust you find the above in order.

Morgan Mulay
Group Lawyer.
Monarch Airlines.

Under EU law 5 passengers @ E600 is what we are entitled to as compensation. I will be responding to their offer shortly.

I am sure you won't be short of advice on this forum! Let's be clear: this is a great result for you. Well done for pushing the court button and forcing Monarch to engage you seriously. Contrast your experience with those who simply write to the CAA or conduct a lengthy correspondence: you've got much further.

By my recokoning, Monarch owe you about £2600, including costs. So it is up to you whether you want to pursue them for the extra £600. On the one hand, it is a bit of a fag to pull the paperwork together. On the other, Monarch would not have made you an offer for about 80% of the amount owed if they thought they could defend it in court, and your own case looked pretty damn strong to me. So I wouldn't be surprised if - should you hold firm - they settle the full amount. Personally, I'd also want the satisfaction of getting paid what was due to me in law: not just some of it, because Monarch say so.

russetred

It is due to the invaluable advice and support from this forum that I have arrived at this point. I did say my middle name was tenacious! I do not mind getting the paperwork together and I am confident to put my case in court if I need to. I have put a counter offer together to send to Monarch. We shall see what comes of that.

friendofbillw2

Vauban wrote: »

Monarch would not have made you an offer for about 80% of the amount owed if they thought they could defend it in court, and your own case looked pretty damn strong to me.

There's the crux of this for me.

So it really comes down to whether you want to go the distance for £600?

Please let us know what you decide.

And well done!!!

Mark2spark

Well done russetred - sort of lol
There's simply no way that an offer would be made if the airline thought they could win.
IMO they do not want to go to court and be the next big headline in the papers for contesting a case that is as cut and dried as can be.
The gamble is whether the DJ awards you interest, and, if any, at what rate, and also whether the DJ uses a historical exchange rate applicable at the date of travel, or todays rate. DJ's can do some strange things.
So it's money in your bank within a couple of weeks (or so) or a further wait - there might be an adjournment yet and a hearing as late as September isn't out of the question.
Choices, choices.
Don't take this to mean that I don't think you'd win. Just stating some obvious things for your perusal really.
All the best,
Mark

JPears

friendofbillw2 wrote: »

There's the crux of this for me.

So it really comes down to whether you want to go the distance for £600?

Please let us know what you decide.

And well done!!!

If that's the first offer then time to haggle.
Depends if its the principle or the money that is priority

Vauban

JPears wrote: »

If that's the first offer then time to haggle.
Depends if its the principle or the money that is priority

Yes, I think that's probably right. Though I would reiterate my conviction (though it's easy to say!) that Monarch wouldn't be dealing if they thought they could defend it. AFAIK, no one else on this forum has been made such an offer. Perhaps capacity issues mean they are no longer prepared to defend their most indefensible cases? (Another argument, possibly, for pushing for court now, rather than biding one's time?).

My only other reflection is that £600 tax free is hardly an inconsiderable sum of money - at least not to me!

JPears

Vauban wrote: »

Yes, I think that's probably right. Though I would reiterate my conviction (though it's easy to say!) that Monarch wouldn't be dealing if they thought they could defend it. AFAIK, no one else on this forum has been made such an offer. Perhaps capacity issues mean they are no longer prepared to defend their most indefensible cases? (Another argument, possibly, for pushing for court now, rather than biding one's time?).

My only other reflection is that £600 tax free is hardly an inconsiderable sum of money - at least not to me!

Agreed

Pez4

ZB846 Luton-Alicante 23/5/12

Hurrah!

At Last. Originally delayed by 3-4 hours on this flight. Tried to claim compensation in June 2012 but was denied. But in the email from Monarch they said that the delay was caused by a delay in re-fuelling at Luton. After the EU ruling in November I again applied for compensation and after jumping through all the Monarch hoops they eventually paid me 50% of compensation due in February this year.

I sent then a NBA giving 7 days and then issued a MCOL. Monarch replied saying that they would defend the case. After 28 days Monarch had still not provided a defence so a default judgement was issued against them. I intended to issue a warrant against them in 2 weeks as I am going on holiday tomorrow, flying with easy jet, but today I received a check for the full amount claimed including interest and court costs.

Thanks to everybody on here for all the help and advice over the last few months. The effort has all been worthwhile.