Bott & Co. Flight Delay Claim - Concerns / Questions

Schnurrbart

First of all, apologies if I should have posted this elsewhere rather than starting a new thread, but I couldn’t find a relevant thread. Also, sorry for the length of this post, I err on the side of providing too much information instead of not enough, so please bear with me. The length is also partly due to quoted text.

This post is about some concerns I have regarding the service I have received from Bott & Co., and regarding a few aspects of their Terms & Conditions.

I very recently initiated a flight delay compensation claim on Bott & Co.’s website. Before doing this I used their webform to submit an enquiry. On this form the phone number field is a compulsory field, and the email address field is an optional one (on the Step 2 page it’s the other way round). I included my email address and, in the Additional Information field, explicitly (but politely) requested that they respond via email and not by telephone. Yet, shortly afterwards somebody from the firm phoned me and left a message (as I didn’t pick up). The caller didn’t even answer my query; they simply said where they were calling from and requested that I phone them back! Shortly after this I received an email answering my question. I was slightly disconcerted by the sloppy wording of the last line, especially given the email’s origin: “If you have any other problems please do don’t [sic] hesitate to contact us.”

Anyway, I submitted the required information to get the ball rolling. The confirmation email I received included the line (in bold print): “If you have documentation such as boarding passes, booking confirmations or letters from the airline then please forward them on to us, as it will greatly assist us in dealing with your claim.” As there was no further information on how to forward such documentation I emailed them last night to ask whether they would accept scans rather than the original documents. At the time of writing, I have not had a reply even though their website states: “We usually get back to you within 30 minutes or less during office hours or first thing the next day if not.” Granted, it says “usually” not “always”, but it’s a fairly straightforward question, and they could have acknowledged it even if they needed longer to actually get back to me with an answer. This stands in sharp contrast to the speed of their response to my initial enquiry.

There also seems to be a contradiction between an email that I received from Bott & Co. this morning and the cover letter for their Terms & Conditions, which I received this afternoon. The email says: “Since taking on your case a 'letter before action' has been sent to the airline informing them that we are now working on your behalf.” However, the cover letter for the T&C says: “In order for us to begin work, we just need you to sign and date the following documents to confirm your instructions for us to act on your behalf.” I’m confused by this; they are apparently already working on my behalf according to this morning’s email, even though at this point I had not even received, let alone electronically signed and returned the T&C document. Further muddying the waters is the statement in the T&C document that “Your continuing instruction in this matter will amount to your acceptance of our terms and conditions of business which is [sic] set out in the Conditional Fee Agreement. However, for the sake of completeness, please sign that agreement. Please further sign and date this letter to confirm your instructions to act on the basis set out above.”

In the section of the T&C headed ‘Case Conduct and Court Rules’ it says: “It is… vital that you deliver to us all information and documents that we require or which are in any way related to your claim as soon as possible to avoid such risks [i.e. the risks of the Court striking out the case or imposing cost penalties].” This makes the submission of paperwork to Bott & Co. look like a far more urgent and necessary requirement than is suggested in the claim confirmation email referred to in paragraph 4 above. Again, though, there is no information on how and where to forward documents, or whether it is absolutely necessary to send (irreplaceable) originals.

One last thing that is bothering me is that the claims procedure is touted as being completely risk-free, e.g. the prominent statement on the website that “Our No Win No Fee Promise means you'll never be at financial risk.” Yet point 2 of the section ‘Conditional Fee Agreement: What You Need To Know’ says: “What do I pay if I lose? If you lose you pay your opponents [sic] charges and disbursements. You may be able to take out an insurance policy against this risk. If you lose you do not pay our charges but you may be required to pay our disbursements.” (Under ‘Charges and Expenses’ [page 2] it says: “Also although we have retained the right in the Conditional Fee Agreement to ask you to pay disbursements we reasonably anticipate that we will not have to ask you to fund any such item but rather Bott and Co Solicitors Ltd will fund the disbursements on your behalf and ordinarily seek to recover these sums from the airline.” That does not read to me like a 100% guarantee that I would not have to pay disbursements). Furthermore, point 2 of the CFA [page 6] says: “If you lose you may be liable for the other side’s costs.” So, is the procedure truly free of financial risk as advertised? Of course, the concept of No Win No Fee (i.e. no fee to the solicitor(s) acting on one’s behalf) does not preclude the possibility of having to pay a fee to a party other than one’s solicitor(s), but to repeat myself, Bott & Co clearly and repeatedly emphasize that no financial risk to the client is involved.

I was initially going to phone or email Bott & Co about all this, but my experience so far hasn’t inspired confidence in them (despite their apparent popularity and high success rate), so I thought I would post here, at least in the first instance. This means I can structure my points more effectively and also - hopefully - get some advice, feedback, etc. (please, no complaints about the length of the post!)

I am hoping to continue with the claim, but am very hesitant about electronically signing and returning the T&C document until my concerns have been adequately addressed. If anybody who has read this can shed some light on any of the issues raised, from an anecdotal or legal perspective, I would appreciate your input.

I guess the main questions arising from the waffle above are:

1 - Am I being over-sensitive about Bott & Co.’s failure to answer my email sent last night, despite having had ample time? Okay, that’s pretty subjective, but for me this (and the fact that they responded to my other enquiry by phone when I clearly asked them not to) raises concerns about their customer service.

2 - Are they now acting on my behalf or not? They claim they are (and have already issued the airline with a LBA), but also say that they need my e-signature in order to act on my behalf (while also saying that my continued instruction constitutes acceptance of their T&C).

3 - Is their claims process truly completely free of financial risk to the client? This is the impression given on the website and in the emails I’ve had from the company, but the elements of the T&C that I’ve highlighted suggest otherwise.

Apologies once again for the length of this post. I do actually have one other question, but I think I’d be pushing it including it here! I look forward to any helpful or positive comments. Thanks.

Tyzap

Have a read through this thread, which is where your post would be better placed. It was hidden away on page 5 tho. You could post there if you still have any questions.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4703719

Schnurrbart

Ah, thanks tyzap!

I've looked through all 19 pages. One particular poster asked the question what happens if you lose, but nobody really addressed that as far as I could tell. Somebody did point out that if Bott & Co. were charging clients for disbursements, etc. after losing a case, then it would probably be well-documented in these very pages (although if Bott & Co. win 99% of cases as claimed, what’s the probability that somebody in the unfortunate 1% will be posting here?). The question of having to pay the opponent’s fees in the event of a lost claim also went unanswered from what I read. It was at least reassuring to see that I’m not the only person who found parts of the T&C confusing and, in some places, apparently contradictory.

I suppose the next step is to contact Bott & Co. directly to obtain a statement to the effect that I would not have to pay a penny - to Bott & Co. or to “the other side” - if the claim were unsuccessful. I just feel that this would be obviated if there were more clarity in the T&C in the first place (and I don’t really understand the defence that the apparently contradictory wording is due to the company’s need to cover all eventualities). I’ll also draw attention to their failure to reply to my email about forwarding documents, and seek some clarity on the issue of whether they are now acting on my behalf (which presumably constitutes a contract) despite the wording in the letter accompanying the T&C document and the fact that I have not yet signed.

I’m a bit dense when it comes to forum rules and etiquette. Would it be okay for me to copy and paste my original post into the thread you kindly linked to - rather than having to re-type my questions - or is that a big no-no? (I wouldn’t be able to delete my above post as it’s the first in a thread - I at least know that much.)

The majority of people have only good words for this company, so maybe I’m being too wary. I’m just perturbed by a few things, namely their failure to respond to my email, the lack of clarity in their T&C, and the unresolved question of fees and costs in the event of an unsuccessful claim.

Thank you again for directing me to the appropriate thread.

Tyzap

Hi,

Yes you could copy and paste into the Bott thread to keep things tidy and together.

JPears

To be fair Schnurr, to appear to be pretty clued up so suggest you DIY your claim, rather than a NWNF firm

Schnurrbart

Thanks JPear, but that's really not the case! I was originally going to DIY it, but was daunted by the whole prospect, especially as I knew how hard the airlines were trying to wriggle out of admitting liability. Also, this was before the ruling had been made on Huzar Vs Jet2 and Dawson Vs Thomson.

My memory's a bit fuzzy on the chain of events, but I think I was going to submit a claim directly to Thomas Cook, only to be put off by reading on their website that they would telephone me to discuss the matter. I did not want them calling me and trying to fob me off, so I left it at that; looking back, I was probably too easily discouraged.

At some point later I tried doing it via Resolver, but didn't get far with that due to a few problems with it, which I won't go into unless anybody wants to know - in short, my experience of it wasn't as positive as other people's.

More time passed, then I decided to have another bash at it, and printed off Vauban's guide. Impressed though I was by the obvious effort and dedication that had gone into producing it, I must admit that reading it made my head spin, and I decided - yet again - that it was all too much hassle (not that I would wish to dissuade anyone else from using and following the guide; my decision was influenced by other factors in my personal life, not just the amount of information in the guide).

Again I put the whole thing to one side, and it was only recently that I decided to go down the NWNF route, feeling - along with many others - that 70% (or so) of something is better than 100% of nowt. And after my two false starts, the prospect of someone else with more time, resources, expertise etc. handling the claim on my behalf was highly appealing, hence going through Bott & Co. But even that has proved to be far less simple and clear-cut than I had envisaged, as detailed in my original post.

On a positive note, I did at least receive an email this morning answering my query regarding scanned documents. I also had a voicemail message from Bott & Co. as a courtesy call, so my confidence in them has been restored somewhat, although I still have some concerns.

I've typed all this, and only just noticed tyzap's second post answering my question about the Bott & Co. thread, so I've narrowly avoided looking really stupid by asking it again, as I was in the process of doing! Thanks tyzap, I shall do that, and will avoid posting again in this thread unless it seems necessary.