Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

David_e

DIYBaldyman wrote: »

It is almost certain that you will ultimately need to prove that you were on the flight (passport stamps can prove your presence at the airport & have been accepted as proof of flying). You could try going around the back with Thomas Cook, call their Customer Relations team & make up a reason as to why you need to track down your original booking reference, copy invoice, hotel & flight details etc... (tell them you have an old insurance claim that had been forgotten & are being asked for the details etc.). They have been known to be able to provide such information fairly easily as they won't know you need the information to make a claim against them.

Would a Data Protection Act "Subject Access Request" oblige them to divulge any info that they have (assuming they won't play ball)?

From their site:

"Access to your personal data

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to check that your personal data is being processed lawfully (“subject access right”). Your subject access right can be exercised in accordance with the Act. Any subject access request must be made in writing to: The Company Secretary, Legal & Compliance Dept., Thomas Cook Retail Ltd, The Thomas Cook Business Park, Unit 17 Coningsby Road, Peterborough, PE3 8SB, and may be subject to a fee of £10 to meet our costs in providing you with details of any personal data we hold about you."

DIYBaldyman

David_e wrote: »

Would a Data Protection Act "Subject Access Request" oblige them to divulge any info that they have (assuming they won't play ball)?

Excellent suggestion, definitely worth a go for £10...

trixie73

We flew out with Thomas cook last Saturday from Manchester to paphos. We set off on time (1.10pm) and was 30 mins into the flight when the pilot told us there was a problem with the landing gear, and because facilities aren't as good in Cyprus he was turning round and going back to Manchester. He told us that because the plane was full of fuel we couldn't land until he'd burnt it off, which took another 2 and a half hours. By the time we landed it was 4.10 pm. We then had to transfer us and luggage to another plane. We finally set off at 6 pm and arrived in paphos at 12.30am (4and half hours late). Today I filled in the complaints form on Thomas cook website.I got an immediate response saying they were investigating it. Just 1 hour later I got another emailing saying investigation was complete and I was getting £650 compensation and will be in my bank account within 10 working days. Very happy with that and well done to Thomas cook for a speedy response, didn't expect it to be so easy.

legal_magpie

Most airlines (but not all) are taking a more sensible approach and, hopefully, your response is perhaps a sign of better things to come.Well done!

razorsedge

DIYBaldyman wrote: »

Excellent suggestion, definitely worth a go for £10...

It is unlikely that they will supply you 'proof' you were on a flight from an SAR. Most likely because they do not have that info any more after such a long time. However even if they had it, given the time limits for responses to SAR's (40 days) and follow up appeals because you did not get what you needed you would probably end up out of time.

Some posts on the SAR subject:


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=69383690&highlight=sar#post69383690

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=67540660&highlight=sar#post67540660

DIYBaldyman

Email just received from Thomas Cook's legal department;

Without Prejudice

Good Afternoon Mr Ward,

We are willing to offer £1,144.98 in full and final settlement on a without admission basis.

If you could please provide me with your account details I can ensure payment is sent within 14 days.


:j:beer::j:beer::j:beer::j:beer::j

Based on €400 x 4 passengers, date of delay 14/08/2015.

:rotfl::j:rotfl::j:rotfl::j:rotfl::j:rotfl:

legal_magpie

Well done. A great result

David_e

razorsedge wrote: »

It is unlikely that they will supply you 'proof' you were on a flight from an SAR. Most likely because they do not have that info any more after such a long time. However even if they had it, given the time limits for responses to SAR's (40 days) and follow up appeals because you did not get what you needed you would probably end up out of time.

It's impossible to know what they may and may not have kept so worth asking, even if they charge the modest fee. Of course you don't have to await the outcome of the SAR before sending NBA and issuing a claim. Any actual hearing would be some time after and, as we know, the time limit is for the commencement of proceedings.

It appears that McDougall44 has no documentary evidence at all so got to be worth a try.

Straying well beyond my sphere of knowledge, is it ultimately up to the judge to decide what evidence to accept? If the airline can't prove McDougal44 wasn't on the flight (by producing a manifest showing his/her name absent) and McDougal44 insists he/she and partner were, does the balance of probability favour the airline or the passenger?

DIYBaldyman

David_e wrote: »

Straying well beyond my sphere of knowledge, is it ultimately up to the judge to decide what evidence to accept? If the airline can't prove McDougal44 wasn't on the flight (by producing a manifest showing his/her name absent) and McDougal44 insists he/she and partner were, does the balance of probability favour the airline or the passenger?

I've been looking into this in more detail & what I said previously about proving you were on the flight was not quite correct.

Regarding the actual wording of the Regulation - it was originally only aimed at cancellations or denials of boarding, delays were included later by a binding judgement that ruled delays over a certain time had to be treated the same way.

The Regulation only requires that you can show, in the balance of probability, that you presented yourself for check-in, it does not require you to prove that you were actually on the flight.

Such things as credit card receipts / statements car-parking, duty-free purchases, sign-in logs from airport lounges, passport stamps at destination airports etc... could be presented as proof that [in the balance of probability] a passenger presented for check-in.

Anything that you can produce that will tip the probability in your favour will assist your case.

And to reiterate what David_e said just now, don't let not having any of these details now prevent you from commencing your legal action before the 6 year date or it will all have been for nothing anyway.

Tyzap

Another winner, I didn't expect anything less.

Very well done Steve.:)