Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (12 Feb) welcomed the Court of Appeal ruling upholding Ryanair’s policy of communicating with, and paying EU261 compensation directly to, consumers and dismissing an application by claims chasing firm Bott & Co Solicitors Ltd. to indemnify them for any fees that they cannot recover from customers who have been paid compensation directly by Ryanair.

Lord Justice Lewison, who along with Lord Justice Simon and Lord Justice Lindblom, presided over the Court of Appeal hearing, stated that Ryanair’s claims procedure “enables a passenger to claim compensation with a minimum of effort” and endorsed the London High Court’s finding last year that “Ryanair has established a straightforward and easy to use process for its passengers to make their flight delay compensation claims, either online or by correspondence, without the assistance of a third party”.

Ryanair urged customers with valid EU261 compensation claims to submit their claims directly to Ryanair and avoid “claims chaser” firms such as Bott & Co, Fairplane, Hayward Baker, Sky Legal and Flightright, who can deduct over 40% of a €250 claim in fees. Customers with valid claims who claim directly from Ryanair will receive 100% of their EU261 compensation entitlement without the deduction of these excessive “claims chaser” fees.

Last year, Ryanair established a dedicated Claims team to process all valid claims within an industry-leading period of 10 working days.

Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said:

“We welcome this confirmation by the Court of Appeal concerning last year’s London High Court ruling, which upheld Ryanair’s policy of communicating with, and paying EU261 compensation directly to, our customers. This will help prevent “claims chaser” firms like Bott & Co, Fairplane, Hayward Baker, Sky Legal and Flightright, deliberately and needlessly dragging consumers through the courts so they can grab more than 40% of customers’ compensation, for providing no useful service whatsoever.

Where customers have a valid claim for compensation, they can make their claim directly on the Ryanair.com website and avoid these excessive “claims chasers” deductions. Last year, we established a dedicated Claims team to process these valid claims within 10 working days and to make it as straightforward as possible for our customers.”