How To Take An Airline To Small Claims Court For A Flight Compensation Claim

Can I Take An Airline To Small Claims Court Myself?

Yes. You can take an airline to small claims court yourself without instructing a solicitor. If you choose to represent yourself, you are known as a “litigant in person”.

However, you should be prepared for the airline to defend your claim. Issuing court proceedings doesn’t necessarily mean the airline will agree to pay, and you may need to understand its defence, prepare your case and attend a court hearing.

Our research suggests that just 24% of passengers who pursue flight compensation claims themselves are successful.

Even consumer champion Martin Lewis has recommended seeking specialist legal help when an airline rejects a claim or the case is particularly complex. He has described Bott and Co as a firm that “has been at the forefront of flight delay compensation in the UK, taking many of the test cases that were needed to court…they’re the professionals when it comes to these claims, and are worth considering.”

We recognise that some passengers will still prefer to take the airline to court themselves. We’ve used our experience of handling and litigating flight compensation claims to explain the process, the potential pitfalls and what you should consider before starting court proceedings yourself.

How Can Bott And Co Help If I’m Taking The Airline To Court Myself?

If you decide to pursue your flight compensation claim yourself, we offer several free tools and resources to help.

Our free flight compensation calculator can check your flight and tell you if your flight is eligible for compensation. Just enter your flight details for an instant decision.

You can also download our free flight compensation letter template to help you contact the airline and get your claim started.

Our website includes guides to on the specifics of claiming for flight compensation including landmark court cases, with explanations of the decisions and why they may be relevant when researching and preparing your own case.

However, while we can provide free information and resources, we cannot provide legal representation or protect you from mistakes when you act as a litigant in person. As we explain below, mistakes during litigation can result in your claim being unsuccessful.

What Should I Expect If I Represent Myself In Court?

If you decide to take an airline to court yourself, you should be prepared to spend time understanding the regulations and court cases that may be relevant to your claim.

The rules surrounding flight compensation can be complicated if you’re unfamiliar with the legal language being used. As a litigant in person, you’ll need to understand the arguments supporting your claim and be prepared to explain them if your case goes to court.

You may also need to attend a court hearing, present evidence and explain why previous court judgments are relevant to your particular circumstances.

Preparing Your Skeleton Argument

If your claim proceeds to a hearing, you may need to prepare a skeleton argument setting out your case and the arguments you intend to rely on in court.

Your argument may reference important European Court of Justice (ECJ) cases that support your position. However, simply referring to a previous judgment may not be enough. You should be prepared to explain why that judgment is relevant to the circumstances of your own flight compensation claim.

The airline’s legal representative may argue that your claim is different from the previous case you’re relying on, so you should also be prepared to respond to those arguments.

How Much Time Does It Take To Take An Airline To Court Yourself?

Taking an airline to court yourself for a flight compensation claim can involve a significant amount of your own time, particularly if the airline defends your claim.

We’ve spoken to passengers who represented themselves in flight compensation claims and estimated they spent at least 20 hours on their case over several months.

This can include time spent understanding the regulations and relevant court cases, preparing your arguments and evidence, handling correspondence, and preparing for a court hearing.

How Much Does It Cost To Take An Airline To Small Claims Court?

As well as the time involved in taking an airline to court yourself, there are upfront court fees you may need to pay.

If you use the Money Claim Online (MCOL) service, you will need to pay an issue fee and may also need to pay a hearing fee if your case reaches that stage. The amount you pay will depend on how much you are claiming.

You should also consider the potential costs if you lose your case. You may have to pay some of the airline’s reasonable expenses and, in certain circumstances, could be ordered to pay legal costs if the court considers that you have behaved unreasonably.

This could include circumstances where you fail to attend a hearing, refuse a reasonable offer from the airline or pursue a claim that had no reasonable prospect of succeeding.

What Are The Most Common Mistakes When Taking An Airline To Court Yourself?

We’ve seen many passengers make the same mistakes when taking an airline to court themselves, so we want to help you avoid making them too.

Issuing court proceedings without proper preparation can leave you exposed and allow the airline to defend your claim on a procedural technicality, rather than just the facts of your flight delay.

Taking the time to prepare your claim correctly can help avoid these procedural issues, allowing you to focus on the facts and arguments that determine whether you are entitled to compensation.

Below are some of the most common pitfalls we see for litigants in person.

Naming The Airline Correctly

The defendant, in this case the airline, must be identified correctly using its full legal title.

For example, you would need to issue proceedings against ‘Jet2.com’ rather than ‘Jet2’. If you don’t name the defendant correctly, your claim could be struck out by the Court, or you could be unsuccessful at trial.

Even if you are successful, you may not have a valid judgment if the defendant’s name is not legally accurate. There is no grey area here – the defendant must be correctly identified.

Claiming For More Than One Passenger – The ‘Locus Standi’ Point

‘Locus standi’ refers to whether you have the legal right to bring a claim on behalf of another passenger.

The courts encourage people to issue proceedings electronically using Money Claim Online (MCOL). However, this service doesn’t give you the option of naming multiple passengers.

As a result, we often see one passenger issuing proceedings on behalf of others. It is at the discretion of the District Judge whether they will accept this.

It is important to note that airlines often run this argument to a final hearing. If you are unsuccessful, the other passengers included in your claim will have to issue their own court proceedings if the airline still refuses to pay.

Pleading Your Case Properly

Take care to plead your case properly. This means clearly setting out the basis of your claim, including the regulations you are relying on, your flight details, the length of your delay, the flight distance and the statutory amount of compensation you are claiming.

The more information you can provide to correctly set out the history and circumstances of your claim, the better.

Claiming On Behalf Of A Child

Children under 18 cannot issue court proceedings themselves, even as part of a group of claimants.

They will need to appoint a Litigation Friend instead. This must be pleaded, and a certificate of suitability should be filed at court along with the pleadings.

Preparing Properly

We recommend filing a skeleton argument before the trial, as well as filing your witness statement 14 days before the court hearing.

The way you present your skeleton argument is important. It should include references to the applicable parts of the judgments you are relying on, copies of those judgments in full, and reasoned justification explaining why you believe the court should find in your favour.

Limitation Expiring

Something that catches a lot of people out is limitation, which is how long you have to bring a flight compensation claim against the airline.

You have six years to bring a flight delay claim in England and Wales, but it’s important to remember that the ‘clock doesn’t stop ticking’ on your claim until you have issued court proceedings.

If your claim is nearing six years old and the airline is disputing it, make sure you start court proceedings before the deadline to avoid your claim expiring.

What Happens If I Make A Mistake When Taking An Airline To Court?

If you’re representing yourself in court, it’s important to get the process right. The Courts may show some leeway to litigants in person, but the Civil Procedure Rules are there for a reason and must still be followed.

We’ve had numerous clients come to us for help after issuing proceedings incorrectly. In some cases, it isn’t economical to continue with the existing pleadings, and instead we have to discontinue the claim and start again.

If this happens, you cannot recover the issue fee you paid for the incorrect proceedings, even if your claim is ultimately successful. This can mean recovering less compensation overall because of mistakes made during the litigation process.

More seriously, the court has the power to strike out incorrect proceedings as an ‘abuse of process’ and award costs against the claimant. This could mean that you not only fail to recover your compensation, but also have to pay some of the other side’s costs.

Can Bott And Co Take Over My Claim If I’ve Already Started Court Proceedings?

We’ve had lots of clients turn to us after starting a claim themselves and then deciding they would prefer specialist legal help with the court process.

If you’ve already started court proceedings and would like Bott and Co to take over your flight compensation claim, we’ll look at the full circumstances of your case and determine whether it’s possible for us to take over the file or issue a Notice of Acting.

If we can take over your claim, we’ll handle it on a no win no fee basis and represent you through the court process if necessary.