Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

Vauban

IanHarris wrote: »

In that case I'm thinking we may have good grounds to argue their decision.

In refusing to pay my claim for compensation on Flight VS16 because of damage to the body fairing belly panel on a previous flight from Gatwick (VS15 that Flightstats show arrived 238 minutes late), and by sending you the same excuse for a delayed flight 3 days earlier I would presume that Virgin are now acknowledging that this is actually a common problem? Twice in the period of 3 days would suggest that this should either be considered for regular maintenance or there are insufficient safety measures in place to stop the damage occuring in the first place, therefore this is not an extraordinary circumstance.

Thanks to Virgins inability to correctly post their responses via Royal Mail I now know of 4 claimants on my flight plus the 4 for your family all due to the same problem.

Does anyone else believe we are right to refuse Virgins judgement? If so, what is the best way forward? Do we send our complaint back to Virgin or go straight to small claims via a 14 day NBA?

You need to go back to Virgin with a NBA letter giving them 14 days to settle or you will go to court. Have a read of the FAQs and all of the links. You will need to study very carefully the Wallentin judgement, on which much of your claim will rest - if Virgin's main defence is extraordinary circumstances.

To start you off, he's one point: don't argue that because it is a common problem it is not extraordinary circumstances. Wallentin says clearly that:

The frequency of the technical problems experienced by an air carrier is not in itself a factor from which it is possible to conclude the presence or absence of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ within the meaning of Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004

I am not a lawyer, but paras 20-27 and 38-43 are where the focus of your defence should be. Take a read: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62007J0549:EN:HTML

JPears

Vauban wrote: »

You need to go back to Virgin with a NBA letter giving them 14 days to settle or you will go to court. Have a read of the FAQs and all of the links. You will need to study very carefully the Wallentin judgement, on which much of your claim will rest - if Virgin's main defence is extraordinary circumstances.

To start you off, he's one point: don't argue that because it is a common problem it is not extraordinary circumstances. Wallentin says clearly that:



I am not a lawyer, but paras 20-27 and 38-43 are where the focus of your defence should be. Take a read: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62007J0549:EN:HTML

I agree with you Vauban, but equally, the fact tht it is a common occurance could mean it is a tech and not an EC. It all depends on the actual cause of the delay. eg I would say that a fuel leak, A/C pressurisation fault etc is a common occurance either due to basic aircraft design fault, poor maintenance etc and not an EC.
Delay due to say, poor weather conditions at airport that are regualr eg snow or crosswinds at LBA) are an EC.

Zldh

gazzer82 wrote: »

How long are you all waiting for judgements from Virgin, i sent my initial claim form in December last year, a month later i had a letter telling me i had to fill in there specific form, which i then did. A week after that they sent me another letter telling me they had received my form and would get back to me within 12 weeks.

Well that has now passed and i haven't heard a thing, really starting to feel like they are taking the p*ss. I guess they hope by dragging it out that people will give up/forget.

Anyone have a number i can call to chase them up?

Thanks

Gareth

We sent our forms off at the beginning of April. We got a letter on 09 April acknowledging the claim and then a letter this week (24th) April saying the claim was denied due to EC. We were fully expecting a very long wait for a reply and was surprised it was so quick (shame about the outcome!).

There seems to be no logic as to why some cases are taking so long for a response despite the face that the claim form clearly says that they will be dealt with in strict chronological order. I could understand it if there wast a link between denying or accepting a claim and the length of time, but there doesn't seem to be!

tt2505

I too have now recieved the 'regret due to extra ordinary circumstances' letter.

Virgin state that the flight was delayed due to a medical emergency onboard, the aircraft therefor arrived into Gatwick late which had a knock on effect & delayed our flight to Mo Bay. They state that as this couldn't be anticipated or forseen it was beyond their control & as such no compensation is due

I've read the Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 & to be honest I'm at a loss - Do I leave it at that now?

Thanks in advance

Onearmbandit_2

IanHarris wrote: »

Hi. Can I ask what flight you were on? I have received my letter from Virgin today quoting exactly the same 'extraordinary circumstances'. They also sent me two further letters for other claimants on my flight VS0016 Orlando to Gatwick on 26 october 2008 which I will duly be sending on.

By the sound of things this is either a more common problem then they suggest or there will be quite a few of us on that flight looking to take the case further.

My familly & I were on VS0015 on 23rd October 2008, I also submitted claims last October via the CAA template on MSE website. I heard absolutely nothing from Virgin and emailed them as to what was happening. The response I had was to fill in their forms, which I duly did.

Today I have received exactly the same letter quoting " the flight was delayed due to unexpected damage which came to light during the maintenance and safety checks carried out prior to departure."

Where do we go from here? From what I have read on this forum Virgin have denied liability to almost everyone!

Any advice would br gratefully received.

Vauban

Onearmbandit wrote: »

My familly & I were on VS0015 on 23rd October 2008, I also submitted claims last October via the CAA template on MSE website. I heard absolutely nothing from Virgin and emailed them as to what was happening. The response I had was to fill in their forms, which I duly did.

Today I have received exactly the same letter quoting " the flight was delayed due to unexpected damage which came to light during the maintenance and safety checks carried out prior to departure."

Where do we go from here? From what I have read on this forum Virgin have denied liability to almost everyone!

Any advice would br gratefully received.

The FAQs have comprehensive advice on what to do next. Get reading!

Mark2spark

tt2505 wrote: »

I too have now recieved the 'regret due to extra ordinary circumstances' letter.

Virgin state that the flight was delayed due to a medical emergency onboard, the aircraft therefor arrived into Gatwick late which had a knock on effect & delayed our flight to Mo Bay. They state that as this couldn't be anticipated or forseen it was beyond their control & as such no compensation is due

I've read the Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 & to be honest I'm at a loss - Do I leave it at that now?

Thanks in advance

An EC (such as a medical emergency) applies only 'to the flight concerned' (read the EU261 rules at 14 & 15 - linked in the OP), therefore as it wasn't on your flight - no EC - so continue the claim with a NBA.

tt2505

Mark2spark wrote: »

An EC (such as a medical emergency) applies only 'to the flight concerned' (read the EU261 rules at 14 & 15 - linked in the OP), therefore as it wasn't on your flight - no EC - so continue the claim with a NBA.

Thank you so much for your advice Mark2spark - letter is now on my desktop ready to send :T

Rocket2011

millsmum wrote: »

sorry I keep moving around with this, I hope I am now in the right place we were delayed for just over 4 hours on vs075 from man to orlando on the 21st oct 2010. we sat on the tarmac all the time, we were offered nothing at the time, we were told it was due to a techincal failure of a switch.
I am a little worried as I paid for the holiday with vh and paid with club card vouchers. can I still claim?

Hi, we were on this flight too. Have you submitted a claim and if so, how did you get on? Thanks

millsmum

hi we have just got our refusal letter, it was extra ordinary circumstances so I now need to take it to the next step, I need to read a judgement first before sending my letter