Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

legal_magpie

Cityboy wrote: »

There are a number of posts in the 2 pages immediately preceding this which summarises the airline's approach (deny deny, legal stay on proceedings under Sturgeon etc) but ultimately you must decide whether you wish to claim or not. It's not necessarily an easy path and it may take some months to resolve or come before a court.

Have you access to legal expenses cover via your household contents insurance policy?

Before you embark on a claim, decide before starting whether you think it is worthwhile in terms of the investment of your time and emotional input to see it through and only start it if you are determined enough to see it through.

I have seen many claimants state their intention to see a claim through only to be put off by the first letter from the airline's solicitors.

Much appreciated, thanks. I will send the letter and see what they say. Your advice about having the will to see it through is very sound. If we decide to sue, it will be a small claim and as a lawyer myself I'd enjoy conducting the case.

richardw

themoogster, perhaps edit out the identifying subject reference from your post.

RocknRollStar

Hi,

Seems like Cityboy is really clued up on the situation, great to know that people are fighting these companies.

Me and my girlfriend came back from Cancun 6 weeks ago and had our Condor flight delayed by 24 hours. After we got back I came on here to see if there was anything we could do with regards to compensation and found the letter template for a 600 euro compensation claim. I copied it, and included all my booking references/confirmation and photocopies of our ticket stubs that we still had and sent it off to their German head office.

A week later they have responded but they are asking us to include our booking confirmation/references and tickets?! Can anyone please advise as this is to me, not deemed an acceptable response. The letter we sent was to be signed for, by the chief secretary so they must have seen these details and documents upon opening.

Any advice on where we go from here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ste

Mathew

This morning I recieved a letter from the solicitor who said that my case passed the relavant tests (prospect of winning and a money issue). The case relates to a delayed Cancun flight (25hrs) from Gatwick, and a claim under denied boarding reg (261/2004).
However, they refer to a claim of 250 euros per person! Before I challenge them regarding this, am I right in thinking that 3 catorgories are available relating to compo and that this flight falls into the highest tier ie.. 600 euros per head?

richardw

Distance between airports http://www.world-airport-codes.com/dist/?a1=lgw&a2=cun

Looks like Article 7.1(c) of http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004R0261:EN:HTML may apply.

Mathew

Yeah, I've read and re-read and can't see that it's anything other than 600 euros each. Overlooked by them I reckon, not a great start!

wyklety

Hi everyone, I'm writing to ask you some advice regarding my claim against WizzAir. Last year I sent them a letter, largely edited from the default pattern someone has provided in this thread. The important bit was:

"With no prior notification we were informed at Warsaw airport that
this flight was delayed and we were not offered re-routing allowing us
to arrive at our intended destination, London Luton, within the time
frame provided within EC 261/2004 (three hours). We were told by the
airline staff that the delay was due to the unavailability of the
aircraft which had not been brought to the airport on time from its
base in London Luton. The delay experienced amounted to 5 hours."

and also:

"Following
the judgement in the Case C-204/0 Rehder v Air Baltic Corporation, we
inform you that the court proceedings would be taken before the
relevant Courts of England and Wales, for these courts have
territorial jurisdiction over the place of arrival of the aircraft as
agreed in the contract."

(my parents live in Poland, hence the above).

Two months later(!) I received a reply from WizzAir saying:

As per your claim regarding the flight W6 409, from Warsaw (WAW) to
London-Luton (LTN) on June 29, 2010 it had a delay of 4 hours 52
minutes on arrival.

Please allow me to sum up the events leading up to the delay of your flight:

-The inbound flight was delayed due to technical problems. The
aircraft serving this route (Aircraft registration number HA-LPB) had
an unpredictable technical problem, which rarely occurs, with its
Landing Gear Control and Interface Unit (LGCIU). The mechanical
problem leading to the delay was beyond the airline’s actual control.
The technical failure was unpredictable, and unforeseen."

I replied:

"thank you for your reply to our claim from 30.08.2010, which we have
recorded. Please be advised that since you have admitted in writing
the occurrence of a technical fault that had prevented the inbound
aircraft from a timely arrival, we shall be commencing court action in
a small claims court on 4 April 2011, unless you provide us with
compensation as requested previously.

Let me point out that in your reply you have misleadingly quoted an EC
Regulation 261/2004, rather than the ruling in Wallentin-Hermann vs.
Alitalia case that you suggested. We note that this proves either your
inadequate knowledge of the law or intentional deceitfulness on your
part.

Wallentin-Hermann vs. Alitalia ruling established that a technical
problem with the aircraft does not constitute 'extraordinary
circumstances beyond the airline's actual control'. Specifically, the
ruling states that:

"Air carriers are confronted as a matter of course in the exercise of
their activity with various technical problems to which the operation
of those aircraft inevitably gives rise. The resolution of a technical
problem caused by failure to maintain an aircraft must therefore be
regarded as inherent in the normal exercise of an air carrier’s
activity."

Regarding your statement of rare occurrence of the specific technical
failure you mentioned, the ruling states:

"3. 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."

The above ruling is legally valid and therefore applicable to our claim.

As before, we reserve our right to present this correspondence in
court and look forward to your reply in a timely manner."

Do I have a case? Is a 'no win-no fee' solicitor likely to accept me? if not, what charges am I likely to incur in court? I guess my situation is more complicated by the fact that my parents actually live in Poland but we decided to file this case in the UK since they wanted me save them from any hassle and deal with the claim myself.

Thanks,
Karol

Mathew

Thanks Richardw. As suspected the solicitor was wrong and it's 600 per person for my case. They have sent the letter to Thomson requested 1200 euros as per the judgement. I guess now I sit back and wait... Any guidance on timescales for this process?

richardw

wyklety wrote: »

Do I have a case?

Have a browse https://www.euclaim.com

2sides2everystory

Apologies if this story already appears somewhere in the forum ... it was in the hardcopy Daily Mail today in a similar story as £2 but appeared yesterday at this link as 2€:

Ryanair adds £2 (or is it 2€ ?) to all bookings

Also at the beeb today:

BBC News - Michael O'Leary's Ryanair to increase cost of flights