The sudden realisation that your flight is going to be delayed can leave a sinking feeling in your stomach. It certainly is not what you want when you travel by air, but the fact remains that delays do happen. While they are frustrating and disruptive, it is essential to keep your head and learn how to claim back your money if your flight is delayed.
Know the Rules
First of all, it is essential to know what you can claim back and when. Under the EU Regulation 261/2004 if your flight has been delayed for over three hours you are entitled to get compensation, and this includes claiming your money back. If you were over two hours late arriving than first planned after being offered a different flight when your original flight was cancelled – you are also entitled to claim your money back. Once you have established the time element, you need to know what category the claim falls under. Flights can be delayed for a massive amount of reasons including mechanical faults and adverse weather conditions. Claims can include disruption to connecting flights, but the rules change if the plane leaves the EU so again, knowing the regulations really helps.
How Do You Begin a Claim
Firstly you will need to gather all the information you have surrounding the flight. This can include but is not limited to, boarding passes, tickets, vouchers for food offered by the airport and details of the events as they unfolded. With the use of mobile phones being so widespread it is now accepted that photos and videos can be used to support cases so if you want to record things as they happen, it might be an excellent idea. The more information you can present the better as this helps the compensation ruling decide what is fair. Under-representing your inconvenience and stress could see your claim dismissed but keep claims real, as details can be checked.
What Happens Next
You now have two choices, you can submit a compensation claim yourself, or you can choose to work with a professional, either a solicitor or a no win no fee flight delay claims company who are well placed to help you make a successful claim. Remember that the scope of compensation is broader than just getting the money back on your ticket. Compensation claims take into account inconvenience and stress placed on the passenger for the flight being delayed. For some people, this might be a minor inconvenience but people fly for many reasons, and sometimes timing is paramount, and the effects of a delayed flight can be devastating. This is one of the reasons why a no-win no-fee solicitor is perfect as you are gaining all the professional knowledge you need without having to pay if you happen not to win the case – which you would with a high street solicitor. They are specialists in their area, so the best people to ensure you are making the best claim possible with the most chance of success.