British airways flight cancellation - Expense claim rejection

CJ01

Hi all, looking for some advice 

We had BA flights booked via Iberia at the end August - the return flight was cancelled due to hurricane in Palma.

Nobody notified us of the cancellation but we checked the app just before leaving for the airport  and saw that the flight was cancelled.

Tried to call BA, but simply got a message saying nobody available pls try later.  So we made contact with Iberia who offered us a flight home a week later or advised us to try to make our own arrangements if we needed to get home earlier.  If we were to do so we should keep the Reciepts and could claim back our expenses (hotel, flights & meals)

We managed to book a flight with jet2 for 4 days later.  The hotel we were currently residing booked us a room - so we called Iberia back to let them know that we had made alternative arrangements so they said they would refund the return leg and we should claim the expenses on the way home.  The Iberia call was on a recorded line & we took screen shots of the flight availability on sky scanner.

We submitted in an expense claim with Iberia initially and they came back saying we needed to submit to BA.

We submitted the same detail to BA and 8 weeks later they have came back with the following 

“With regards to your claim for the expenses you incurred. Whenever a flight is delayed or cancelled, it’s our obligation to assist you with rescheduling and rerouting you to your intended destination under comparable transport conditions. This means on the next available flight and with the same airline. If you decide not to fly with us anymore and book a flight with another airline or arrange any other transport, the contract of carriage between you and British Airways is terminated. This means we’d no longer be responsible for the expenses you had as a result of your original flight being cancelled. I'm sorry to disappoint you but you might want to contact your travel insurance company who may be able to reimburse these costs for you.”

Our insurance company have refused claims as they said airline cancellations our of scope.

Should I lodge a letter of compliant with BA - there’s no telephone number or now I have their response - should I submit a claim via the regulator? I don’t have a copy of my initial claim form as it was submitted via the online portal and BA aren’t proving me with a copy.

Completely stuck and £4k out of pocket with flight and hotel costs - not sure if Iberia agent gave the wrong info but there must be something I can do? 

Any advice very welcome! Thank you

eskbanker

If BA was the operating airline then it was their responsibility to make alternative arrangements so going to Iberia will have clouded the issue a bit.  However, if you can demonstrate to BA that you made multiple attempts to contact them, and that there was no availability on their flights via their app or Skyscanner, then they should accept responsibility, so revert to them on that basis, via email.  If that doesn't get anywhere and they issue a final response that isn't satisfactory then take it to CEDR, their nominated ADR provider.

JPears

"This means on the next available flight and with the same airline. If you decide not to fly with us anymore and book a flight with another airline or arrange any other transport, the contract of carriage between you and British Airways is terminated. This means we’d no longer be responsible for the expenses you had as a result of your original flight being cancelled."

This statement by BA is totally incorrect and disingenuous to say the least.

The cynic in me would say that this lie, deliberate or not is to put you off,

If the person that wrote this believes it to be true then they shouldn't be working in this department of BA!

eskbanker

JPears said:

"This means on the next available flight and with the same airline. If you decide not to fly with us anymore and book a flight with another airline or arrange any other transport, the contract of carriage between you and British Airways is terminated. This means we’d no longer be responsible for the expenses you had as a result of your original flight being cancelled."

This statement by BA is totally incorrect and disingenuous to say the least.

The cynic in me would say that this lie, deliberate or not is to put you off,

If the person that wrote this believes it to be true then they shouldn't be working in this department of BA!

Yes, good point - the CAA makes it clear what its rerouting expectations are and they don't bear much resemblance to what BA claims in that wording!

https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/Re-routing Guidance (CAP2155).pdf

Paragraph 4.2 in particular highlights that:

airlines will normally prefer to offer affected passengers a re-routing option on their own services or, where applicable, those of their partner airlines. In many cases, this will also be the best outcome for affected passengers. However, in circumstances where there is no re-routing option under Article 8(1)(b) on its own services or, where applicable, on the services of its partner airlines, on the same day as the original flight and via the same route, the CAA’s view is that the airline should next seek to identify rerouting options on the services of alternative airlines on the same day as the original flight and via the same route.

and 4.4 emphasises the importance of minimising disruption, i.e. not proposing that passengers wait a week when earlier flights are available:

In circumstances where there are no re-routing options under Article 8(1)(b) on the same day as the original flight, the CAA’s view is that the airline should identify re-routing options both before and after the day of the original flight, both on its own services and those of other airlines and transport modes, and via the same route as the original flight as well as alternative routes. Given that such rerouting options are likely to lead to additional disruption15 to the journey plans of the affected passengers, airlines should seek to identify re-routing options which minimise this disruption.

mdann52

CJ01 said:

we called Iberia back to let them know that we had made alternative arrangements so they said they would refund the return leg and we should claim the expenses on the way home. 

Unfortunately, I can see why BA have responded the way they have given this bit of information.

By accepting the refund, I think you've lost your right to claim expenses from that point forward. Others might disagree with me, however I believe you should be able to claim the expenses or a refund, not both, per regulation 8(1). 
I don't disagree Iberia/BA have not properly offered rerouting here, however the refund might cause issues taking this forward.
Personally, I would still open a CEDR case against BA and see what happens.