Monarch flight delay claim - are they stalling?

[womble005]

Hi there, I've put this thread in the "General Consumer Issues" forum as I wasn't sure where else it should go!

 

I have started a claim with Monarch for a flight from Mallorca to LGW that landed five hours later than the scheduled time. I sent all my paperwork to Monarch on the 16th September, and they confirmed the same day that they had received it (it was scanned and emailed correspondence).

 

Today, ten days after submission, I have received an email from them to say they are still looking into my claim and that they have 28 days to get back to me. Surely the 28 days started when they acknowledged receipt of all my documentation?

 

Any help and advice on how to respond will be very welcome. Thank you.

[gerson]

Hi Womble005,

 

This may be best posted into the 'Holiday and Airlines' forum

 

In the meantime I think that Monarch's own complaints procedure allows 28 days for simple issues, and IMHO I would agree with you that the 28 days begins when they have received your complaint - so they now have 18 days left

 

Good luck

 

G

[ims21]

Thread moved to the Holiday and Airline forum.

 

Thanks gerson

[womble005]

Hello, and thank you for moving this thread to the correct forum!

 

I've emailed Monarch back to say that, in my view, the 28 days began when they first acknowledged safe receipt of my documents on the 16th September. I'll let you know if I get any kind of response.

 

If, however, they don't respond to me within the required 28 day period, please would someone be so kind as to let me know what sort of communication I should send to them?

 

Many thanks,

Kirsty

[Cityboy62]

Hello, and thank you for moving this thread to the correct forum!

 

I've emailed Monarch back to say that, in my view, the 28 days began when they first acknowledged safe receipt of my documents on the 16th September. I'll let you know if I get any kind of response.

 

If, however, they don't respond to me within the required 28 day period, please would someone be so kind as to let me know what sort of communication I should send to them?

 

Many thanks,

Kirsty

 

You should then send them a Letter before Action, briefly restating how your claim arose and what monetary compensation is due per passenger and state that unless you receive that compensation or a valid defence under the Regulation for not paying up within 14 days of the date of your letter you may commence legal action without further notice.

[womble005]

Thanks for the info, Cityboy62. I'll do that once the 28 days expire.

[womble005]

Morning all,

 

OK, the 28 days are up today for Monarch to have replied in relation to my claim. Could someone please point me to the correct "letter before action" template? I've had a look around the site, but can't seem to find to right template. Many thanks?

[Cityboy62]

Morning all,

 

OK, the 28 days are up today for Monarch to have replied in relation to my claim. Could someone please point me to the correct "letter before action" template? I've had a look around the site, but can't seem to find to right template. Many thanks?

 

You could try post #4 of this thread on MSE: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4384583

[womble005]

Thanks, city boy, done and ready to post!

[womble005]

Hi all,

 

Okay, so I posted the "Letter Before Action" by registered post to Monarch yesterday, and today (a day after the original 28 days expired), I have received this by email from Monarch:

 

QUOTE "Further to your claim for delay compensation, we are writing to advise the outcome of our investigation into your case.

 

Monarch Airlines aims as its first priority to provide its passengers with a safe and efficient service. We are sorry for the delay you experienced that has led to your claim for compensation. We would like to reassure you that every reasonable effort is made to ensure that our flights depart on time and in the unlikely event we are unable to do so through disruption, we aim to provide a solution at the earliest opportunity.

 

As previously advised, in some circumstances passengers may be entitled to compensation for delay arising from such disruption under European Union laws. However, any monetary payments are subject to certain criteria being satisfied. Under these laws where the disruption is caused by an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ which the airline was reasonably unable to prevent, the carrier is not obliged to pay compensation. The European Commission have published guidelines regarding what can and cannot be considered as extraordinary circumstances and we base our decision on these guidelines.

 

Our records show that your flight was delayed as a result of a structural damage being found on the left wing upper surface panel shortly prior to you departure. Engineers contacted the manufacturer (Airbus) who advised the aircraft should be taken out of service until a full repair could be carried out. As a result our operations team made arrangements for a rescue aircraft operated by a third party carrier, to operate your flight on our behalf. Despite our best efforts this event led to an unavoidable delay to the departure of your flight.

 

Having considered the factual background of this case in accordance with the published guidelines, we are satisfied that the disruption was caused by an extraordinary circumstance that could not have reasonably been prevented by Monarch Airlines. We are, therefore, unable to accept your claim for compensation for the reasons given.

 

All flight delays are fully documented in accordance with the requirements of our regulator and the relevant legislation in place. Please note that this documentation cannot be disclosed to passengers nonetheless we actively supply this to the Civil Aviation Authority and National Enforcement Bodies upon request.

 

Please note that the contents of this letter and the circumstances surrounding your delay are strictly confidential" UNQUOTE.

 

Firstly, I don't believe this information is correct because, as far as I was aware, it was the SAME aircraft as originally scheduled which flew me home. That an airline would simply be able to find a "spare" aircraft resulting in a mere five hour delay is to be questioned. Secondly, there was a chap sitting behind me on the flight who actually worked for Monarch, and was overhead informing several passengers that the reason for the delay was a crack in the windscreen - although, I realise this is circumspect information, and I doubt anyone on the flight would be able to quote this as "proof".

 

What's my next step? Is it to simply wait out the 14 days given in my Letter Before Action and proceed with the small claims process via MoneyClaim online? Or, is there a different route I should take in light of Monarch's "defence"?

 

Many thanks for any guidance and comments.

[twofoot]

You are being fobbed off and only a court summons will make them pay. They would settle before court. However, you do need to do your homework. Even a cracked window means they would not have to pay. Unless you intend to call their bluff you need to show they are lieing. You would need a record of of actual flight times for that aircraft on that day. You would then see where the delay started and need to show some other reason for that delay. I read on the web recently that all this is normal practice for airlines to get out of paying, including Monarch. You will get nothing without taking out a court claim. A good situation for you would be if your flight was the first flight that day. You would then claim they should have fixed it overnight.

[FairWorldCitizen]

I was browsing this fantastic forum for a totally different reason when I saw posts on airline issues – it doesn’t surprise me after all!

As a first post on the forum I wanted to share some experience which connects to your problem. I think I’ll take the time to create a separate post to keep you informed by perhaps the following will help you quicker.

 

18 months ago, our flight from Italy to UK operated by EasyJet was delayed of 14 hours.

On that day, EasyJet was operating 2 flights from/to the same cities, 12:00 and 21:40.

The aircraft used for the first flight suffered some technical issue which delayed the first flight.

They chose to use our aircraft for the first flight (this was explained by the airport staff) and … they let us down (flight cancelled at 00:40). We got a replacement flight for the following day but at the end we reached UK after a 3 hours night and 14 hours late.

 

I wrote to the EasyJet customer service 4 times. I requested 500 EUR compensation as per European regulation (250 EUR per passenger).

They denied that they had to pay any compensation, on top of that they wrote a number of things that directly deny the regulation contents.

 

My own response is that the law is clear, that they have been disgusting, that a low cost company is low cost because they give you a 1 cm space for your legs and not because the law doesn’t apply to them, and therefore I moved to legal action.

 

I complained to the UK Consumer centre which confirmed I was entitled to a compensation.

I complained to the UK Civil Aviation which confirmed I was entitled to a compensation.

I complained to the Italian Civil Aviation which confirmed I was entitled to a compensation.

I then registered a complaint to the Italian Enforcement Body which accepted the claim. However after 7 months, no response at all.

 

Seeing that European bodies are useless, I got in touch with the Saturday Telegraph as they have travel experts. The well-known person advised me that for this company the best thing was to take them to the court.

 

Going to the court alone is possible but I have registered with a specialized solicitors service. They run a database of flights and they know whether the claim can be successful or not.

(on the side information, I believe you can also check your own flight even before you sign up.)

On the down side, they take 30% of the compensation.

 

They have issued the ‘letter before court claim’ now, I am waiting for news.

 

In your case I wanted to highlight the following.

- ‘Low cost’ airlines just make it difficult, it will be up to you to get your compensation.

- flightstats.co.uk will give you a proven record of the actual status of that flight if you need it.

- The EU law was updated recently, and now doesn’t protect the airline in many cases of technical problems. In your case it means you might be able to claim a compensation. Please have a look at Money Savings Expert, Travel, Flight Delay page (I can't put links yet). Refer to “Can I claim if…”, “...there was a technical fault with the plane?”

- Enforcement bodies are supposed to request some investigation output, and you might use it to support a claim. Normally, they would obtain a report from the local authority such as airport or civil aviation office to check your claim and would provide you with the output. However i) due to the change of regulation, the enforcement bodies are probably flooded with complaints and ii) their goal isn’t to help passengers. This is the main reason I have chosen a lawyer to handle the case. I also think (personal opinion) that airlines submit data to airports and therefore I’d be surprised if CAA records are entirely accurate.

 

Hope it helps. Good luck!

[womble005]

Thank you for your detailed response. It really is appreciated. I too am wondering whether to engage the services of a company to act on my behalf. The trouble is, owing to some new work commitments, I honestly won't have time to deal with the case myself.

[FairWorldCitizen]

No problem. The service provided by these companies just make me feel sick. EasyJet isn't the only company I've had problems with. I believe that they base their bad service on the principle that passengers won't put time and effort on getting compensation (and money as well, as court claims mean fees). This is the real problem.

However I've just decided that I won't accept that, and the lawyer service is no-win-no-fee anyway.