Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

richardw

There's also https://www.euclaim.com but note the fees.

Mike_Railton

My family and I were delayed on a schedule flight with Monarch from Gatwick. The delay was 17 hours. This happened last August and I successfully claimed under my travel insurance. Looks like I can also claim directly from Monarch but, as it was Aug 2010 is there a time limitation to claim compensation

themilkman23

themilkman23 wrote: »

So bit of an update.

We were stuck in Vegas because of the snow. Did everything were were told and sent the receipts off recorded delivery after being told they could not accept a credit card statement. After a month of chasing and being told they had not been scanned on yet finally admitted they had been misplaced and they would accept a credit card statement.

Now they have come back to say that they will only pay £25 per person per day for food. I cannot find a reference to this anywhere on BA's website but they are standing fast and will not budge.

We were also told on the phone when we eventually got through to them to rebook that they would allow for social activities and to keep the receipts. Now this is their word against mine that I was told it so am guessing I don't have a leg to stand on regarding this (we went to the cinema, a zoo and a show)?

But am I right in fighting the £25 food a day? We did go out for a proper meal in the evenings, but for breakfast we were having coffee and a bagel, but that was like £13 on it's own!

Another update - tried to put this in the hands of my legal expenses and received a letter back saying that they didn't think there was more than a 51% chance that I would get anymore money back so recommended that I accept the amount from BA.

Emailed BA to ask for a breakdown of the amount they were paying and they were paying the £25 per day for food and the accommodation but not the £50ish for the taxi's because there were no receipts. I advised them that these were all sent in and I have confirmation that they signed for them and have since misplaced them and they still won't budge.

So I phoned the legal expenses to advise them that I was willing to accept their offer as long as they refunded me for the taxi journey as per I'm entitled to but they wouldn't. The legal expenses then advised me that because the delay was down to the weather the airline doesn't have to pay me anything so I should still accept it!

Because I was caught on the hop and didn't have info in front of me I advised that she was wrong and under a European ruling they did need to refund the accommodation, food, phonecalls/emails and taxi amounts.

The line went silent for a bit and she advised me to send in any information and she would look into sending a letter on my behalf.

So I don't know whether to send her all the details of the guidelines and still let her deal with it or just do it myself as it seems I have researched this far more than she has.

I did have a letter when I first put the claim in asking if I was happy for them to deal with it 'in house' or whether I would like it farmed out to an external source. Now when I spoke to the person dealing with it she asked me to email it to her but they don't have their own email addresses and would need to mail her supervisor - so it seems it is just a call center set up there. Nothing wrong with that (used to work in one) but not where I would expect legal matters to be dealt with.

themilkman23

Cityboy wrote: »

Your legal insurer or their legal advisors are fools IMO. You need to ask them to farm out your claim to a solicitor competent in providing advice under the Regulation as you have a valid legal claim to your expenses (you have no doubt seen threads under the Volcanic Ash sub-board substantiating your own similar claim).

Get tough with the insurer.

Wow - thanks for that.

Just so I don't mess up when I go back to them I assume it is Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 that you are referring to?

themilkman23

Cityboy wrote: »

Yes, EC 261/2004 reimbursement of Article 9 expenses. Either do as I advised in the previous post or take it on yourself if the insurer refuses to play ball. Once you issue a county court small claim it should only be a matter of time before the airline concedes.

Once again, thank you for your help.

I have sent a brief email to the person's supervisor asking that it is passed out and why it should be.

Will wait and see what they come back with but am more than happy to take this on myself if there are any further problems with the legal cover.

Would rather cut my losses with the legal cover so that I can concentrate on the small claims court procedure.

Layla_CK

Hello!

Quick update, we received a letter and a cheque from Virgin reimbursing all of our expenses when we were stuck in NY before Xmas due to Heathrow being closed.

Result!

guitardragon

My UK-originating TCX flight in February was delayed by 9 hrs due to a technical fault. They did provide a £10 meal voucher during the delay at the airport.
I have asked for compensation and received this reply, key point highlighted:
[FONT=&quot]Thank you for writing to us about your holiday and I am sorry to hear that your flight was delayed. Tour Operators and airlines do work very hard to ensure flights leave on time, however, factors outside of our control can occasionally affect departure times. Some common examples are weather conditions, technical problems or the sheer volume of air traffic. I am pleased to say that Thomas Cook have one of the best on-time performance records, and only a very small percentage of our flights are delayed beyond 15 minutes. We know how upsetting delays can be which is why we do our best to look after all of our customers and provide up to date information. However, the amount of information we can provide does depend on the reason for the delay. Where a technical fault or bad weather is the cause, it may not always be immediately apparent as to when the fault can be repaired, or when the weather will clear. Information can therefore change. I appreciate this is frustrating for our customers, and we do all we can to give accurate updates when they are available to us. All customers are also protected by the new Air Passenger Rights obligations, which were introduced in 2004. This dictates what welfare arrangements the airline have to make available if delays extend beyond a certain period. Full details of these Rights are displayed around the airport terminal buildings, and I can see that these were complied with. Unfortunately, there is no provision within legislation within the Airline Industry to make compensation payments if a flight is delayed. It is because of this that Insurance Companies usually make some provision within their policies. I would, therefore, recommend that you contact them to see if cover is available. I would like to thank you for taking the time and trouble to write to us. Your opinions and suggestions will be used as part of our review procedures in the hope that we can improve on our handling of delays.
Do I have any options to secure a refund from them. My Insurance only covers delays over 12 hrs?
Many Thanks
[/FONT]

guitardragon

Many thanks! The flight details are [FONT=&quot]TCX184K MAN - BJL on February 12th 2011.
I'm writing to TC to see if I can get details of the reason - it was a tech fault one hour after take off necessitating return to MAN and a total 9 hr delay awaiting replacement aircraft. I'll let you know when I get a reply.
Best Wishes
[/FONT]

Vern58

Hi all,

I've been trying to get compensation for Thomson delaying my flight by 24hrs in December and us missing a day's holiday as a result, with no success.

After my last round of posts beginning with #1105 (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=40618512&postcount=1105), I wrote a 2nd letter to Thomson, to which they replied and refused to offer compensation. They stated that "As the reason you missed time in Florida was because of the delay, the Package Tour and Regulations do not apply in this case. We don't pay compensation for flight delays...". !!!!!!?? And grrr.

I then registered a complaint with ABTA and forwarded my Thomson correspondence, and they replied (in a disturbingly semi-illiterate letter) saying they did not think I had a case because technical trouble is 'totally beyond a tour operator's control'. (What about decent customer service - is that beyond their control?) Worryingly, their reply is all too similar to Thomson's. (Where is the impartiality!?) They feel I do not have strong grounds for compensation and advise against pursuing a case.

Even more annoyingly, both the Thomson and ABTA letters seem to continually ignore points that I have raised in my letter, such as the weather and strikes not being factors (as the plane was at the gate) and the woeful customer service and non-assistance we received. It seems like this is a tactic to cover their a**es (and annoy!).

Has anyone reached this stage with a similar situation and gone on to the small claims court? I don't have legal cover and am starting to think it's not worth the hassle and potential costs involved if I lost the case. Does anyone have a rough idea how much this could come to?

I might write another, stronger, letter to Thomson, threatening legal action. Good idea or a waste of time?

You could say that if I give up, then Thomson's have won, but I travel quite a lot and will never use these b*ggers again! And I'll tell everyone I know too!!

Cheers.

Vern58

Thanks once again Cityboy. Is that right then that the Package Travel, Package Holidays & Package Tours regulations 1992 don't apply because we missed holiday time due to a delay? Or are they just trying it on because they are putting the delay down to force majeure? Surely if the plane was at the gate, it can't be due to force majeure? I believe the plane was a First Choice plane that was hired to replace one that was stranded due to weather - is that a factor?

Is a claim for improper performance of contract or breach of contract under the Package Travel, Package Holidays & Package Tours regulations not likely to succeed in the small claims court, and hence, a claim under EC 261/2004 and the Sturgeon judgement is a better bet? Should I (or do I have to) choose one piece of legislation over the other? This was a package holiday and not booked as separate parts.

I did mention EC 261/2004 in my first letter to Thomson and they said (as expected) they 'do not support the recent decision'. I also mentioned the Package Travel regulations to hedge my bets, and they ignored this in their first reply.

If I lose in the small claims court, how much in costs am I likely to be liable for?

Cheers.