Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Have you been subject to a long delay cancellation or were you denied boarding. You will probably be entitled to compensation of up to € 600,- per person.
We will collect all the relevant proof and take up the claim with the airline on your behalf.
It is often difficult dealing with airlines whose default position is to deny the claim, but we have the knowledge and expertise to bring your claim to a successful conclusion.
We will were appropriate take legal proceeding to secure your compensation. This often becomes necessary as airlines often deny liability.
You can submit your claim by entering your flight details using our claim calculator.
Please enter your personal details and the information relating to the passenger list and your flight schedule.
Only those people on the same booking and only those who paid for a ticket. Other passengers will need to file a separate claim as the correspondence with the airline will need to be done separately
Proof of payment will do instead but we always prefer the travel documents
In the UK the statute of limitation is set at 6 years but other EU countries vary
The initial claim process is relatively quick but we are dependant on the airlines’ responses. The average period is 3-6 months.
Yes if necessary and we will pick up the legal fees. If we do, we do it on a no win, no fee basis. If, however, we do succeed, we will charge 25% of the amount paid out by the airline, plus £25 per passenger involved in your claim.
One Claim. Please note that both flights must be provided by the Airline under the same booking reference. Several flights may be included in the same claim only if they are directly connected (for instance: the delay of your first flight caused you to miss your connecting flight). Remember it is the metal that you fly in that is key not the Airline that sold you the ticket.
Yes, it’s still possible to submit your flight delay claim with us, as airlines generally reject the initial request submitted stating ‘extraordinary circumstances’. After you’ve submitted your claim, we will assess what options we have.
We accept claims on the basis of ‘No win, no fee’. This means we won’t charge you unless we succeed at claiming compensation, even if this requires legal steps. If we’re successful, we will charge 25% of the total compensation received from the airline, plus £25 per passenger (+ VAT if applicable) involved in your claim. We charge some of the lowest fees .
Regulation (EC) 261/2004 regarding flight delays, cancellations & overbookings specifies the amount passengers are entitled to. In this document, the sums are mentioned in euros. Once the airline has agreed to pay you your compensation, the final sum shall be stated in Euros. However, should your compensation be transferred to your UK bank account, you shall receive your compensation in pounds. The final sum you receive will be converted according to the current exchange rate.
You can always send us documents by email as an attachment. Please use info@Flightdelaypay.com. These files will automatically be connected to your account as long as you make sure to email us from your registered email address.
Yes, you can. However, please notify the claims team in advance so we can take this into account when we plan the steps for your claim. After we receive your mail, we will scan the documents and add copies to your dossier. Our mailing address is: Flight Delay Pay – a dvision of Air Passenger Solicitors, Meadowview Faygate Lane, Faygate, West Sussex RH12 4SJ
We prefer to deal with claims via the website or e-mail but you are welcome to call 01342 704445 to speak to a member of our team direct.
In order to correspond with certain airlines they often require a proof that we represent you This is where we use a Letter of Authority/Instruction . This is a form on which the passengers declare that we are authorised to process and submit their claim on their behalf. We also ask that you sign an assignment of the proceeds of the claim. This is so that the Airline must remain engaged with us as they often endeavour to cut us out of the process making it difficult to do our job. We ask all passengers to sign these forms. Please note this may be done digitally. If one of the passengers is a minor then a parent may sign on their behalf. (If the passenger was a minor at the time of the flight but is now 18 years or over, this passenger may sign the form themselves.)
In some cases, the airline will contact the passenger directly for a payment. Please always consult with the claims team before you provide your details, for instance in order to check whether the amount offered is correct. By providing your bank account details to the airline, you may also accept any deal you are being offered. Please also be careful when providing bank or credit card details to third parties; scammers could pose as an airline and obtain sensitive information from passengers. Never disclose the so-called CVC code that is printed on the back of credit cards.
In some cases we require a copy of your passport or identification card. There are two reasons for this. The airline needs to be able to verify whether the information correspond with the booking details to determine whether the person was in fact a passenger on the delayed flight. Secondly, the airline may want to check whether the correct person mandated us. They can determine this by cross-checking the signed power of attorney form with the passport.
Giving out a copy of your passport should be done with care and only when it’s necessary. It goes without saying that we will treat your documents with the utmost of care, but there are a number of things you can do to make sure you’re not at risk of identity theft. For instance, you can write the word ‘copy’ on the copied document, as well as the date and the company the copy is intended for. You can also cross out your passport number.
Am I entitled to receive financial compensation?
You may be entitled to compensation if:
– a delay, cancellation or overbooking/denied boarding caused you to arrive at your final destination 3 hours or more later than scheduled;
– and you departed from an EU airport or from an airport outside the EU to an EU airport with an EU airline.
In addition, with every delay or cancellation it will need to be determined whether the airline can be held responsible, meaning the delay/cancellation wasn’t caused by force majeure.
The regulation sets out a number of ‘extraordinary circumstances’. If the delay or cancellation was caused by such a circumstance, this sometimes constitutes as force majeure. In these cases, an airline may not be required to pay compensation. A volcanic eruption is an example of such a circumstance. A bomb threat at the airport and politic unrest are others. The claim calculator on our website takes the cause of the delay or cancellation into account to a degree, but the claims team will always perform a second check as well. Airlines generally invoke ‘extraordinary circumstances’ in response to claims being brought, but that doesn’t mean that is always just. That’s why we make sure to assess this ourselves. Read this article to find out more – ‘Extraordinary Circumstances Explained‘
How much compensation you are entitled to receive depends on the distance of your flight and the length of your delay. You should receive:
• € 250 in compensation if the flight distance is up to 1500 km
• € 400 in compensation if the flight distance is between 1500 and 3500 km
• € 600 in compensation if the flight distance exceeds 3500 km to or from a non-EU airport (this amount may be reduced to € 300,- if the length of the delay is between 3 and 4 hours)
In the case of cancellations, other categories apply. Generally speaking, passengers are entitled to compensation if a cancellation causes them to reach their final destination more than 2 hours later than scheduled.
Yes; the airline is required to pay the compensation per person. This amount is irrespective of how much you paid for your ticket, because it’s meant to compensate you for the time you lost as a result of the delay, cancellation or denied boarding. So every passenger who travelled under a paid ticket should be entitled to receive this compensation.
This is often difficult to determine for passengers. The delay in arrival determines whether the flight falls under the compensation regulation: if this was 3 hours or more, passengers may be entitled to compensation.
If you’re not sure your delay was 3 hours or more you can submit your claim with us anyway. We will then assess what the actual length of your delay was and whether you’re entitled to receive compensation.
My flight wasn’t delayed in excess of 3 hours. Does this mean I am not entitled to receive anything?
If your flight wasn’t delayed in excess of 3 hours you aren’t entitled to compensation under the Regulation. However, you may still be entitled to receive meals or refreshments, communication facilities and possibly even hotel accommodation, depending on the length of your delay. This would need to exceed 2 hours.
If you arrived 2 hours or more later than scheduled at your final destination as a result of a flight cancellation, you may very well be entitled to compensation as the rules for cancellations are different from those for delays.
You should be entitled to compensation if your total delay in arrival was 3 hours or more. However, you will need to have booked a connecting flight with sufficient time to transfer. Claiming compensation is only possible if you booked with same carrier under the same booking reference.
In the event of a cancellation, the airline is required to either offer you a new flight to your destination, or to refund you for your original ticket. In addition, you may be entitled to compensation, subject to the cause of the cancellation and whether this constitutes extraordinary circumstances. So just because the airline offers you a new flight (and/or care), this doesn’t mean you’re no longer entitled to receive financial compensation as well.
Yes; you would still be entitled to compensation in this case. The operating airline is always responsible for any delays, even when the flight tickets weren’t purchased directly with them.
However: if your travel agent decided to re-book you on another flight but the original flight was operated on time you are not entitled to receive compensation, because in that case the airline cannot be held responsible for the delay you experienced.
In the event of a long delay, the airline is required to offer its passengers care, meaning food, drinks and/or refreshments, hotel accommodation (if applicable, including transfer to the accommodation) and communication facilities.
This is irrespective of the entitlement to compensation, which is based on the time passengers lose when they are delayed. So if you received vouchers from the airline to buy refreshments or meals at the airport, this doesn’t mean you’re no longer entitled to receive financial compensation. However, if the airline offered you vouchers or a discount to be used on an entirely new trip at some point in the future, accepting this could mean you waive your rights to further compensation in some cases.
Airlines may refund you for the expenses you incurred as a direct result of your delay or cancellation, for instance food or drinks purchased at the airport or hotel accommodation in the case of a long layover. But please note you would generally need to have retained your receipts. If you incurred such costs, we can include a request for a refund in our correspondence with the airline. However, if you missed part of your holiday as a result of the delay, the airline will not be required to pay an additional compensation for this. You would therefore need to submit a request with your travel insurance for those losses.
Many different factors may affect your entitlement to compensation. If you flew from an airport outside Europe to a European destination with a non-EU airline, your flight unfortunately does not fall under the Regulation. All flights that are operated entirely outside of the EU also do not entitle you to compensation, as the Regulation strictly applies to the EU.
It’s also possible your flight falls outside of the restrictions mentioned above but you’re still not entitled to compensation. This may be the case if you left with a delay of 3 hours or more but arrived at your destination under 3 hours late. This often occurs when pilots accelerate to catch up, or as a result of the cross-Atlantic jet stream. Because only the delay in arrival counts toward the official delay, you would also not be entitled to compensation in this case.