Virgin Atlantic claim - Advice

Twigglets88

On the 14th of March we went out to Florida for a family wedding (that was cancelled whilst we were in the air). Whilst we were out there the travel ban came into effect and our flights were affected. Originally we were due to fly directly back to Gatwick, then they cancelled and rebooked to Heathrow via JFK on the same day as the original flight and then they were cancelled again and rebooked to Heathrow via Atlanta. 

Due to this we had to extend our hire car by a day. We have claimed for this but apparently that is not covered by EU legislation so they aren't refunding this.

When I spoke to Virgin on the phone the day before our flight home they informed us that a shuttle service would be in operation. When arriving at Heathrow we spoke to the Virgin Atlantic staff near the baggage carousel and they said there was no shuttle service and that we would have to arrange our own transport and claim it back. We had to take a black cab to Gatwick which cost us £150. Virgin have said that they will only refund £50 due to this being what they think is a reasonable cost of 2 people sharing.

The claim for both of these were put in on the 6th of April and the email with the response was sent today (30th September) stating that the £50 was the full and final settlement of all the claims in this matter. We also have 21 days to decide to accept it as the refund link will expire. If we don't agree then they have said to contact our travel insurers

I don't really know how to proceed with this so any advice is appreciated

Caz3121

Twigglets88 said:

we would have to arrange our own transport and claim it back. We had to take a black cab to Gatwick which cost us £150. Virgin have said that they will only refund £50 due to this being what they think is a reasonable cost of 2 people sharing.

I suspect they will have based the claim on the cost of the national express service between Heathrow and Gatwick which is around £25 each. Was taxi the only option? were you told they would reimburse taxi costs?
for info BA also cap their taxi reimbursement at £50

nilanteh

Agree with above. They will cover reasonable costs. They would argue that the method you used was not a reasonable cost. If it was your only option and you can prove that maybe you could argue

mattyprice4004

A taxi between two people in one of the best-connected cities in the world isn't reasonable, sorry. 
Train fare / coach / sharing a taxi would be more in-line with a reasonable expense.