Flight Delay Compensation – Frequently Asked Questions

No-win no-fee means that when you claim flight delay compensation with us, you won't have to pay anything upfront and if we can't successfully recover your compensation – you won't have to pay at all!

Our pricing is displayed as a flat fee, so you can see from the outset how much will be deducted from your compensation to cover our costs if your claim is successful.

If your case requires us to issue court proceedings on your behalf, there will be an increase in administrative fees to cover some of the extra work involved in doing this. All relevant costs associated with your claim are clearly stated in your T&Cs.

If we can't recover your compensation, you pay nothing, meaning no financial risk to you whatsoever, even if your case goes to court.

Find out more about our fees.

We have a flat rate to make it easier for passengers to clearly see what it costs for our service. There are no other costs or fees in addition to that one figure.

However, we are often asked if the figure stays the same if we recover less. The simple answer is no. It is rare that we recover less than the entitlement because the Regulation has fixed amounts; it is not variable like other types of claims. That being said, in the unlikely event that we do recover less than was pursued, our fees would adjust accordingly. It is effectively a flat percentage.

Absolutely nothing! Bott and Co has an outstanding track record in winning flight delay claims. However, there is a very small chance that we may not win your case. If this happens, our no-win no-fee policy guarantees that you will not have to pay a penny in legal costs neither to us nor to the other side.

If you are pursuing your flight claim yourself, there are likely to be some upfront costs for you to pay. If you have to issue court proceedings against the airline, you are advised to go through the Money Claim Online Service (MCOL), where you will have to pay an issue fee (average £75) and a hearing fee (average £105).

But it is not just the financial cost involved in claiming flight compensation yourself that you need to think about. You also need to consider the time that it takes. You will need to write letters, read up on the Regulation, prepare court proceedings, and attend court. We estimate you would need to dedicate around 20 hours in total (over several months) to handle your own flight compensation claim.

Bott and Co takes on cases on a no-win no-fee basis, which means that there is absolutely no financial risk to you whatsoever of using us to handle your flight delay claim. To give you the best possible chance of success, at no extra cost to you, Bott and Co will pay for:

• Drafting and sending a formal legal letter to the airline
• An expert report to combat technical defect arguments if required (up to £750)
• An expert report to combat weather arguments if required
• Drafting of court proceedings if required
• Court fees if requires (average £150)
• A specialist flight delay lawyer to represent you in court (if required)

None at all. Here at Bott and Co, we are totally upfront about the claim process and our charges. You will never be faced with any hidden costs either before, during, or after your flight compensation claim has settled.

If you want to cancel your flight delay claim, whether or not you have to pay any fees will depend on what stage you cancel the claim and your reasons for doing so. If you want to cancel your claim because the airline has paid you directly, you will still be required to pay our agreed fees of 25% VAT of the total compensation amount plus a £25 per passenger administration fee. If we have issued court proceedings on your case and you wish to cancel you may be liable for any court fees and fixed costs we have paid on your behalf.

Regulation EU 261/2004 deals solely with compensation for long flight delays, cancellations and denied boarding. You cannot claim for any other form of damages under this particular law and therefore Bott and Co do not handle claims for any other costs associated with flight delays such as parking tickets, taxis, food etc.

It helps us to start your claim as quickly as possible if you can provide us with at least some of the following:

• Your flight number
• The date you were scheduled to fly
• The name of the airline
• The airports you were flying from and to
• A booking reference or e-ticket

Once we’ve accepted your claim we’ll need your full name and the names of any other passengers that you were travelling with who also wish to make a claim. We’ll also need your contact details including your email address so we can correspond with you throughout the claims process.

Yes. We have a huge database with the details of thousands of flights on record, so even if you can’t find your flight number, we can trace it for you. You do need your flight number to be able to use our flight checker to find out if you can make a claim, but if you can’t find it you can give the Client First Response Team a call on 01625 415 850.

Any information, such as the name of the airline, the time and date of the flight or the airports you were flying from and to, will help a friendly member of the team to locate the flight number for you and let you know whether you can make a claim.

Yes. We can still pursue the claim on your behalf without your booking reference. Any other information that you might have, such as your flight number, the airline, the date of the flight and the airports you were flying from and to will help us establish whether or not you are entitled to make a claim.

We don’t need to know the price of your ticket from your booking reference because it has no effect on how much compensation you are entitled to. Ideally we do need an old boarding pass or email confirmation to prove you were on the flight but in some cases there are additional steps that we can take to provide evidence to show you were on the flight, should the court require it.

In an ideal world you would have an old boarding pass or email confirmation to prove that you were on the flight in question. However, that is not to say that it’s impossible to make a successful flight compensation claim without this paperwork.

In the first instance you may find you have proof you were on the flight that you didn’t realise. It’s worth:

• Going through your email inbox to look for old booking confirmations
• Log on to your travel website accounts and go through your booking history
• Have a shake of your passport and root through your drawers to see if you can find an old boarding pass
• Dig your suitcases out of the garage and see if you still have the baggage label on them
• Contact the travel agency where you made the booking and ask for a reprint of your travel documents

If you still cannot find the paperwork you need, don’t fret! We will investigate your claim further and, if need be, there are steps that we can take to provide evidence to show you were on the flight, should the court require it.

If the flight claims calculator tells you Bott and Co doesn’t have ‘jurisdiction’ to handle your claim it simply means that as a law firm based in England, we do not have the legal authority to take your claim to court.

Bott and Co Does have jurisdiction to handle your flight compensation claim if you were:

• On a flight leaving England or Wales
• On a flight arriving in England or Wales
• Flying on-board an English or Welsh airline

We’ve helped delayed passengers from all over the globe receive flight compensation, so it doesn’t matter what country you live in; it just matters whether or not your delay falls under one of these three categories.

The good news is we may still be able to help you on your way to receiving the compensation you’re entitled to, even if we don’t have jurisdiction. If you call us on 01625 415 850 or email us at aviation@bottonline.co.uk, we can take a look at your case and provide you with free advice on your best course of action.

Our first step will be to write a letter to the airline, telling them that if they don’t respond to your claim within 30 days, we will take them to court. In some circumstances the airline will agree to pay compensation at this early stage, but very often they will delay the process by arguing that your claim is not valid or ignoring your claim entirely.

If this happens, we’ll represent you in court against the airline. We’ll pay all of the court fees and the expert reports to combat any “technical defect” and “weather” arguments.

If we do take the airline to court it’s at no extra cost to you. We won’t charge you any more than we would have if your claim had been settled immediately. There’s no financial risk to you whatsoever as we work on a no-win no-fee basis.

Very little; we’ll handle your claim for you so you don’t have to concern yourself with the complicated legal process. When we first accept your claim we’ll request all the information we need and a signed copy of our Terms & Conditions instructing us to start work on your behalf.

We’ll handle everything from there; all you’ll have to do is provide us with your bank details when we notify you that your claim has been settled so we can pay the compensation directly into your account.

No. Once we’ve accepted your claim we’ll write a letter to the airline notifying them that you’ve instructed us to work on your behalf. If you’ve already sent a letter to the airline yourself and you’re not happy with their response, you don’t need to reply; we’ll let them know that you have put your claim in our hands. If the airline subsequently tries to contact you directly after you have instructed us please let us know straight away.

We’ll keep you updated by automated email whenever there has been a significant development in your case. Depending on how the airline deals with your claim, this could mean that we don’t contact you for weeks or even months at a time. If we haven’t sent you an update then that means that your case is between one of the main stages in the claim process.

While we try our best to get the quickest resolution for our clients, the flight delay claims process allows for time protocols that need to be observed. The airline is entitled to use the entire timescale allowed by law before responding to us or making payment after settlement.

We are aware that whilst many of our clients are happy with the level of communications they receive during the claims process, there are some who feel that they receive too many update emails and others who would appreciate more frequent update emails. This is a delicate balancing act and we are always looking at ways to address this.

If you have been told that your claim has been stayed pending the outcome of a court case, we cannot update you until the outcome of the other case is decided on.

If your claim is listed for a court hearing we will let you know the date of the hearing when we are in receipt. We will file the necessary paperwork with the court in preparation for the hearing and let you know the outcome when the Judgement is handed down.

If your claim has been heard in court, the Judge will write up his/her judgement based upon the submissions put forward. The court will then hand down the judgement. This can take anywhere between three to six weeks. As soon as we’re in receipt of the judgement, we will let you know the outcome.

We’ll update you whenever there has been a significant development in your claim. Depending on your case, this might mean that you don’t hear from us for a matter of weeks or even months, but that doesn’t mean that our Flight Delay Lawyers aren’t working hard on your case behind the scenes.

If at any time during the claims process you would like an individual update, you can contact the flight delay team at aviation@bottonline.co.uk or call us on 01625 415 800.

We’ll send you an automated email whenever there has been a significant development in your claim. The time in between these emails can vary greatly on a case by case basis, but rest assured that you will be notified as soon as the airline agrees to pay out. If you haven’t heard anything from us for a while, that doesn’t mean that we’re not still working hard to recover your compensation.

If you would like to speak to someone about your individual claim, you can contact the flight delay team at aviation@bottonline.co.uk or call us on 01625 415 800.

It’s not always necessary to issue court proceedings to settle claims. For example, we may already have settled for other passengers on the same flight as you and use this evidence to prompt the airline into paying. In other instances it will be necessary to issue court proceedings on your claim.

There are several circumstances which will usually prompt us to issue court proceedings on your claim:

Your claim is close to expiring. In England and Wales you have six years to bring a flight delay claim. The only way to “stop the clock ticking” on your claim is to issue court proceedings. If we think we’re unlikely to be able to settle your claim with the airline directly before this six year limit is up then we will issue court proceedings for you to make sure your claim remains valid for as long as it takes to settle with the airline.

The airline refuses to admit responsibility but we have evidence to suggest the delay was their fault. Often clients come to us after contacting the airline themselves and have a letter from the airline with an explanation of the cause of the delay. If the reason given in the letter contradicts information we have on our systems about the flight then we may decide to issue court proceedings to disprove the airline’s defence in front of a judge.

The airline claims they don’t have to pay because the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances but we believe the explanation given does not meet the legal definition of extraordinary circumstances.

Our flight claim calculator cross references your flight details against our extensive database of millions of pieces of information to give you our opinion on whether you have a successful claim.

What we cannot prevent however is the airlines contesting claims. We find they will often try to argue cases in the hope that people will get disheartened, be put off and drop their claim. The more of a fight the airlines put up, the more chance that passengers will think “is it really worth all this hassle?”

The airlines are totally within their rights to defend claims and argue they don’t have to pay. Our job is to fight on your behalf and to keep on going long after you may have otherwise given up. We are committed to seeing our clients’ claims through to the very end and have proved this by taking two cases for our clients all the way to the Supreme Court – the highest court in the country!

How long it takes to settle your claim will depend entirely on the individual circumstances of your case and if/how far the airline decide to defend the claim. If you’re not paid, then neither are we so you can rest assured that it in our best interests as well as yours to settle your claim as soon as we possibly can.

When we first contact the airline with details of your claim, they have two options: They either admit liability straight away and pay out, in which case you claim can be settled in just a matter of days. More commonly, the airline will choose to defend the claim and give reasons as to why they think they are not legally obliged to pay out.

When we receive the airline’s explanation for why they believe they are not liable to pay compensation, we cross reference this information against ours. We may for example commission expert weather reports, check the length of delay on our systems, or find other claimants who have previously successfully claimed on the same flight.

If we present the airline with our findings and they still continue to argue, it is at this point that we will litigate (issue court proceedings).

Once we have litigated the matter then needs to progress through the stages of the UK legal system and there are certain timescales associated with each step of the process.

Our flight delay claims process is completely paperless, so you can provide all the information we need by email. We use eSign, allowing you to sign and fill out any documents online without ever having to put pen to paper. Our online claims process means we can handle your claim faster in a way that’s as simple and hassle-free for you as possible. It’s also much easier on the environment than traditional paperwork.

It’s our legal responsibility as a law firm to keep all of your personal details confidential, and we take great pride in doing so. Rest assured that only our Flight Delay Lawyers and specially trained client support staff will be dealing with the details of your case. We’ll never sell your details to a third party and we’ll never use your information for anything other than settling your claim.

You shouldn’t have to appear in court, even if we have to take your case to the Supreme Court. Whether or not your case goes to court depends on the response we get from the airlines. It could be that the airlines agree to pay as soon as we send them our initial letter, or it could be that we have to take your case all the way to the Court of Appeal. However far we have to go to recover your compensation, our fees remain the same and we will carry on working for you on a no-win no-fee basis.

You’ll never have to come to our offices at any point during the claims process. We can get all the information we need from you by telephone and email, and will keep you updated on any developments in your case online. Communicating with our clients entirely by telephone and email means that we can handle claims from all over the world!

If you want to speak to your lawyer regarding your claim, you can contact them by email at aviation@bottonline.co.uk or by calling on 01625 415 800.

In most cases we can handle your entire flight claim from start to finish online and via email.

Once your claim has been accepted, your case will be dealt with by our dedicated Flight Delay legal team. Our friendly, knowledgeable team are available to speak to you about your individual claim by telephone or email throughout the claims process to give you any information you may need about your case.

When you claim with Bott and Co you won’t need to speak directly to the CAA or to the airline, and you shouldn’t need to appear in court either.

The flight delay claims process can take anywhere from a few days to a number of years (in extreme cases) but this doesn’t mean that we work harder on some cases than we do others.

If an airline admits liability and agrees to pay straight away then the compensation could be in your bank account around four to six weeks from the start of your claim. But if the airline refuses to pay we will have to take your claim to court. If this is the case then a claim can take anywhere from several months to over a year.

The good news is that no matter how much work we have to put in to settling your claim, our fees remain the same. It can be frustrating waiting a long time to receive your compensation but remember: we don’t get paid until you do, so we’re just as keen to get your claim settled quickly as you are!

We have invested over £1/4 million in cutting edge IT systems to ensure the quickest most efficient service for our flight delay clients. As you may know we offer a 100% online process which means that you receive automatic status updates any time there is a change in the status of your case. That means that almost as soon as we know that the airline has settled your claim, you will receive an email to let you know. In most instances we will transfer the funds directly to your bank account so no need to keep an eye out for a cheque.

As part of our service, we provide regular updates about the latest developments in all of our current compensation claims. Unfortunately, because we’re working on tens of thousands of cases at any one time in order to make the process as quick as possible, it’s not possible for us to send information as detailed as this for each individual person every time.

That’s not to say that the updates we send are pointless from your perspective – we condense as much information as we can into one email so that you can see explanations as to why your compensation might be taking a long time, any developments in the aviation legal industry and any other cases that could affect your own in the long-run.

We understand that it can be frustrating when it seems as though you haven’t heard anything about your individual case for what seems like a long time. But rest assured, whenever there is a development on your individual case you’ll be the first to know. Just because you haven’t heard from us in a while, it doesn’t mean we’re not working hard to get you the compensation that’s rightfully yours.

In the meantime, if you would like to ask any questions specifically about your case, you can email us at aviation@bottonline.co.uk, or call us on 01625 415 850.

We don’t charge extra for our correspondence with you so if you have any questions regarding your claim at all, fire away.

We don’t get paid until you do so we are just as keen as you are to settle your claim.

To a large extent we are at the mercy of the airlines when it comes to the speed and order in which claims are being settled. Remember that airlines are settling cases on an individual basis. It may be that someone you know gets their compensation from an airline and you also have a claim against the same airline but you’re still waiting on your settlement. This is the nature of the process so don’t be alarmed or concerned; we’re still working on your claim as well

Our 100% online system means that you will automatically receive an email update as soon as the airline has agreed to pay you. We will never delay in letting you know once we receive payment from an airline.

In most circumstances, we can take over a case from your current representation, but this does depend on the exact circumstances of your case and the stage that it is currently at in the claims process. You can always call us to ask for free, impartial advice on whether handing your claim over to us would be the best move for you.

Yes. If you contact the airline and either they don’t respond or you’re not happy with their response, we can take the case out of your hands.

Many of our customers approach the airline themselves before they come to us for help. We even provide a flight delay compensation template letter so you can try to claim compensation direct from the airline on your own.

A lot of our customers find that the airlines will tell them that their claim isn’t valid when it actually is. That’s where we come in to make sure you get the compensation that is rightfully yours.

Yes. Many people come to us with their claim after the Civil Aviation Authority has either failed to respond or has sided with the airline, telling the delayed passenger that they are not entitled to compensation.

On the other hand the CAA might agree with you and tell the airline that they should pay you compensation, but they have little power to enforce their decision, which can leave delayed passengers feeling disappointed and helpless in a long drawn-out claims process.

Because we are a law firm specialising in flight delay compensation, we have the power and expertise to take your claim to court, which is why many people come to Bott and Co when they initially went directly to the CAA.

If you change your mind about going ahead with your flight delay claim, what happens will depend on the stage of your claim and the reason for cancelling. If you are unhappy with the way your claim is proceeding and wish to cancel we would first ask that you contact us to discuss your claim and let us know the reason why. We’ll do our very best to address any concerns you may have and present you with options for cancelling the claim.

We understand that it’s not your job to know about how the claims process works, so we try to cut out any unnecessary legal jargon. If you don’t understand anything at all, you can call your Flight Delay Lawyer on 01625 425 850 or email them at aviation@bottonline.co.uk.

The amount of time it takes for you to receive the money in your account after your claim has been settled varies from airline to airline. It can take anywhere from 7 to 42 days after the airline agrees to settle your claim for us to receive the money from them.

Once Bott and Co has received your money from the airline, we aim to process your payment and transfer your compensation directly to your bank account within 14 days.

If the airline still does not pay compensation at this stage, Bott and Co will start enforcement proceedings on your behalf.

Bott and Co offers a 100% online claims process to our flight delay clients for maximum speed and efficiency. We ask for the bank details of everyone involved in your claim and pay your compensation directly into your account.

If you would prefer to be paid via cheque, just email aviation@bottonline.co.uk with your case reference number to let us know, and we will arrange to post your payment out to you.

Once the airline has settled your case, we will send an email to each person involved in the claim asking for the bank details where they would like their money to be paid into.

To a large extent we are at the mercy of the airlines when it comes to the order in which claims are settled. We tend to be seeing that airlines are settling cases on an individual basis. Therefore it may be that someone you know gets their compensation from an airline and you also have a claim against the same airline but you’re still waiting on your settlement. This is the nature of the process so don’t be alarmed or concerned, we’re still working on your claim as well!

In the meantime make sure you have everything signed and returned that you need to so that there are no delays in transferring your compensation to you once we’ve received it from the airline. Make sure everyone in your party has signed and returned their T&Cs and that you have submitted your bank details. Where there’s more than one of you claiming together, we cannot pay out anyone in the party without everyone’s completed claim information.

Our policy is that each person is entitled to their own compensation. The payment form will make clear that we cannot accept one set of bank details for all passengers. We require each person’s own bank details to make payment. Unless a passenger has pre-authorized the payment to be made to a specified person or the passenger is a child and the parent who wants to accept the payment has signed a form to demonstrate this relationship.

If your claim has settled, please allow 28 days for the airline to make payment to us. If necessary, we will use the small claims court to recover funds not paid as agreed.

Once we are in possession of your compensation, we will let you know. Please allow at least 14 working days for payment to be processed via BACS.

If you have requested your compensation via a cheque, please allow three to five workings days for it to come in the post. Please check that the address we have on file for you is your current address and let us know if this needs changing and we will get a new cheque out to you.

Bott and Co has been pioneering in the UK’s flight compensation market since 2013. We have successfully taken two landmark cases all the way to the Supreme Court in order to clarify the law, opening up billions of pounds in compensation for millions of air passengers each year. Our team of expert flight delay lawyers are regularly asked for comment by the media and even Martin Lewis of Money Saving Expert recommends people come to Bott and Co if they need help claiming flight compensation.

Unlike other claims management companies, Bott and Co is a law firm which means we have the power to take your flight claim all the way to court. A claims management company is effectively just a middle man who can do little more for you than you can do for yourself. Whilst they can handle the administrative parts of your claim like writing a letter to the airline, they cannot take legal action on your behalf. If the airline disputes your claim you will have to issue court proceedings and a claims management company would not be able to do this themselves. Instead they would have to instruct a solicitor like Bott and Co to do this on your behalf.

We are able to handle every element of your claim. With us, there are no middle men. Our specialist flight delay lawyers will see your case through from the moment you submit your claim to the moment the money is paid into your bank.

Bott and Co takes the stress out of claiming delayed flight compensation. We’re here to secure your compensation as quickly as possible and with minimum effort from you.

From our online flight compensation claim calculator which instantly tells you if you have a valid claim to our automatic bank transfer to get the money into your account, Bott and Co make each step of the claims process as simple as possible. Our handy table below sets out the added service and protection you have from making your flight delay claim with Bott and Co:

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Bott and Co is an award-winning firm of solicitors which means we have more power than a claims management company to secure you the compensation you deserve. As a solicitor we are regulated by the SRA which means you can rest assured you will receive a quality and reliable service.

We take data from numerous different sources to ensure maximum accuracy when providing an opinion on whether or not you have a valid claim. We monitor flight times, weather, news events and activity at airports all round the world every single day so we know when your flight departed, when it arrived and what was going on that day. That allows us to give the most qualified opinion of whether there were any extraordinary circumstances affecting your flight, which may invalidate your flight delay claim.

We are confident enough to take on cases on a no-win no-fee basis based on checking the flight details against the information held in our database. Given that we often pay out hundreds of pounds in upfront court fees, not to mention the time involved in preparing your case before we are paid, this should offer you some reassurance as to how confident we are about the quality of our data.

Our outstanding success rate at winning flight compensation cases should also give an indication of the reliability of the information we hold on our flight database. We’ve successfully settled thousands of flight delay claims based on the data that we hold.

You may be able to find some of the individual pieces of data that we hold online, but there is not a single site which provides all of this on one page. To find and cross-check all of the data would require a huge amount of time trawling the Internet. Our flight compensation checker combines all of the relevant information in an easy to use calculator that gives you an instant answer on whether or not you have a claim.