Wednesday 22 June 2022 10:23 PM Beware costly claims firms cashing in on holiday chaos trends now

Wednesday 22 June 2022 10:23 PM Beware costly claims firms cashing in on holiday chaos trends now
Wednesday 22 June 2022 10:23 PM Beware costly claims firms cashing in on holiday chaos trends now

Wednesday 22 June 2022 10:23 PM Beware costly claims firms cashing in on holiday chaos trends now

Money Mail is today calling for a travel ombudsman to stop costly claims companies cashing in on airport chaos. Holidaymakers have been warned to brace themselves for a summer of cancellations and delays as airlines face a staffing crisis.

Complaints about flights have already soared by 544 per cent compared to last year, according to research by consumer website Resolver.

The law states that if your trip is cancelled your airline must refund you or arrange an alternative route.

Cancellations: Complaints about flights have already soared by 554% compared to last year, according to research by consumer website Resolver

Those who are given less than 14 days’ notice are entitled to up to £520 in compensation if a replacement flight delays your arrival by two or more hours.

If you are delayed by more than three hours and the airline is to blame, you can also claim compensation.

In theory, this should be paid out within a week — but a growing backlog means it could be months. 

And airlines have been accused of shirking their responsibilities, with thousands of travellers forced to lodge official complaints every year.

Even then, many could still be missing out because the current complaints system is so complicated.

Pocketing a cut

There is no single ombudsman service where disgruntled holidaymakers can seek help. Instead, airports and airlines can choose to sign up to one of five ‘alternative dispute resolution’ (ADR) services.

In the UK, the two schemes approved by watchdog the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are AviationADR and the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). More than a dozen major airlines accounting for around 80 per cent of all passengers flying from the UK are signed up.

Yet when Money Mail searched ‘flight refund’ on Google — a search term which has doubled in use since last year — neither appeared on the first page of results.

Instead, three claims firms which had paid the internet giant to advertise were promoted at the top.

Airlines say they inform customers of which scheme they belong to on their websites.

But James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, says: ‘Google should be scrutinising the way it sells advertising more closely.

‘It does seem wrong that official dispute resolution services are not coming up [in online searches], and everyone is being directed towards more expensive claims firms.’

'I've waited three years for payout' 

Neil Atack has been waiting for a payout more than three years

Neil Atack has been waiting for a payout more than three years

Neil Atack, 56, is still waiting for a payout more than three years after he took his case to claims firm AirHelp.

A mechanical fault caused his Air India flight from Copenhagen to Delhi to be delayed by three hours and he missed his connecting flight, adding seven hours to his journey.

The father-of-two, from Leeds, submitted his €600 compensation claim in April 2019. 

But he was only informed last week that a court had ruled in his favour. 

He will get only half the payout as the firm takes a 35 per cent fee, plus 15 per cent if the case goes to court. 

Neil says: ‘I am so angry, especially as I chose to go with the company because I wanted the process to be as straightforward as possible.’

AirHelp says it does not comment on individual cases but would contact Neil.

One firm, AirHelp, which pockets a 35 per cent cut of any payout, says it is taking on ten times more UK customers than last year.

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