Small claims post Brexit issues - flight compensation help!

ellenpal

Hi all,
I cannot find any solution to this problem. Really need some advice please! Here's the scenario. 
Had a flight booked with Sky Express - they overbooked the flight and as it happens, me and my family were the unlucky ones to get bumped off. Terrible customer service, they wouldn't rebook us until 24 hours later, etc. They owe us for flight delayed compensation and for the flights we had to book last minute to get us to the destination. 
We complained directly to Sky Express, but they were useless and never replied to the complaint. Also tried their social media accounts - all useless. After several months, I escalated this to the CAA. 

It took CAA nearly a year to investigate and they finally reached a decision. They said they were making some progress with Sky Express and then they stopped communicating. CAA says based on the evidence, they would support my claim but cannot enforce anything but I could use their decision to go to Small Claims Court. They encouraged me to do so and to give them an update on the outcome. 

Ok, I am happy to make a claim, no problem. Here is where it gets very tricky.

Sky Express do not have an official address in the UK, they are headquartered in Greece. To use money claims, the business has to have an address in England. Sky Express cannot be found on companies house, since they are not a registered company here. I tried calling money claims for advice, but they could give me none. 

I tried contacting Citizens advice bureau but it's been 3 months and still haven't received an appointment! 

So, I then try to make a claim through the court in Athens. I submitted everything and it looked like things were progressing but I received an email that since Brexit, they will no longer accept cross border small claims with the UK, unless it was initiated before the transition period. I knew that was likely going to happen, but thought it was worth the chance. 

Now- here I am, stuck in this dead zone. The UK gov website offers no help either - says to seek legal advice. From whom? I cannot find answers anywhere. 

My thoughts are:
1. Try to use Gatwick airport address as the Sky Express address. This is where they fly from daily. I can prove that easily. What I cannot prove is if the UK court would accept the airport address or if post does get passed to Sky Express from the airport. Like many small airlines, they don't have actual Sky Express staff people at the counter, it's shared between different airlines. Does anyone know if that will work? Maybe someone on this forum who works at Gatwick can advise? I'm thinking ahead that Sky Express will also ignore a court order and I would need to take it to the high court for bailiffs - I have no faith Sky Express will respond at all. So ideally, I want to keep things in the UK. This is my first choice. 

2. Find a UK solicitor to sue in Greece. But I can't find any! And I'm afraid I will lose so much money that route. I may need to get a solicitor in Greece, but as I am not Greek, I worry I will get scammed and never see a penny and still have no recourse. Any thoughts on this?

3. Write to MP? I am not sure if they will have any influence. But I can see that our consumer rights are being violated due to post Brexit issues. Companies will shirk their responsibility to the customer and now that there is no pathway for the consumer to get restitution, it's an easy win for crap cross border companies. 

Anyone out there have a similar situation? Any advice? Please share any thoughts you have about this. 

Just to add that this is a lot of money and I don't want to give up. Also, on principle, I am determined to make sure Sky Express make things right. 

Thank you all! 

BoGoF

Ignoring any compensation for now, how did you pay for the flights? I would have thought debit or credit card so why did you not pursue flight refund from card provider.

How long ago was this?

I cannot see that Option 1 is a starter. That would be like serving papers to Ryanair at any UK airport.

Option 2, very few UK lawyers will no anything about Greek law so would suggest you would need a Greekn awyer

Option 3, waste of time.

I would add that 'principles' sometimes come at a cost and you could end up spending lots more for no gain.

So potentially Option 4. If no joy getting a refund through card chalk it down to experience.

DullGreyGuy

Which legal jurisdiction applies?

MCOL has some limitations but they are tighter than the overall scope of the County Court. If they dont have a UK address but English Law applies then follow the instructions on https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/make-claim for claiming by post

Sending things to a random airport is just an easy way for the claim to be thrown out and wasting more court fees

ellenpal

DullGreyGuy said:

Which legal jurisdiction applies?

MCOL has some limitations but they are tighter than the overall scope of the County Court. If they dont have a UK address but English Law applies then follow the instructions on https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/make-claim for claiming by post

Sending things to a random airport is just an easy way for the claim to be thrown out and wasting more court fees

Oh, I'm not sure how to find out about the legal jurisdiction. How can I find out if English law applies? 

ellenpal

BoGoF said:

Ignoring any compensation for now, how did you pay for the flights? I would have thought debit or credit card so why did you not pursue flight refund from card provider.

How long ago was this?

I cannot see that Option 1 is a starter. That would be like serving papers to Ryanair at any UK airport.

Option 2, very few UK lawyers will no anything about Greek law so would suggest you would need a Greekn awyer

Option 3, waste of time.

I would add that 'principles' sometimes come at a cost and you could end up spending lots more for no gain.

So potentially Option 4. If no joy getting a refund through card chalk it down to experience.

Thank you, it's not necessarily the refund that's the issue. 
It's the delayed flight compensation plus the cost of same day flights for a family of 4 - this is roughly £4k. 
I will look into Greek lawyers.

DullGreyGuy

Generally look at their condition of carriage or the T&Cs if you purchased the flight directly. If those are silent then it's research time... you've not mentioned if this was your flight from the UK or a flight back to the UK which may impact things too. 

BoGoF

As a Greek airline based in Crete with a Greek website domain I doubt you will get very far with the 'English law' angle

eskbanker

Have you tried your travel insurance provider?  They'll typically decline claims where the costs are recoverable from other parties, but if the airline isn't playing ball then they might step in, either to refund or to assist with a claim against the airline, albeit that would be something of a long shot....

ellenpal

DullGreyGuy said:

Generally look at their condition of carriage or the T&Cs if you purchased the flight directly. If those are silent then it's research time... you've not mentioned if this was your flight from the UK or a flight back to the UK which may impact things too. 

This flight was from UK to Athens. 

I bought the flight through a travel website, so not directly. 
Thank you 

ellenpal

eskbanker said:

Have you tried your travel insurance provider?  They'll typically decline claims where the costs are recoverable from other parties, but if the airline isn't playing ball then they might step in, either to refund or to assist with a claim against the airline, albeit that would be something of a long shot....

Yes, that is a thought! Now I just have to remember who I used as this was now 2 years ago. But yes, not very hopeful they will take responsibility. Worth a try though!

Wonka_2

When did this happen ? You mention 'several months' and 'nearly a year' ?

How did you pay ? - still not answered

Part of a package or flight only ? Assuming flight only then who did you pay ?

And on the day when you were bumped what actually happened ? Were you given any paperwork by the airline/handling agent ? Or any advice on next steps ? Or did you contact the people you booked the flight with ?  Depending on the airport(s)/time of year there may well have been other options - did you push for those on the day or accept the next day flights and then organise your own expecting them to pay ? 

As others have said insurers/credit card is likely to be the best option at this stage - if not you're looking at greek lawyers which aren't likely to come cheap.

I'd also forget your desire to see SunExpress 'make things right' - it's unlikely to happen