Airline giant Ryanair has had its wings clipped as it tried and failed to stop a customer using a third party to make a flight delay claim.
The carrier had contested the claim in Pringle & Anor Ryanair DAC on the basis that delayed passengers were prevented by the terms and conditions from submitting any claim via a third party – in this case the claims management company Flightright. Its booking form had stated that passengers ‘must submit claims directly to us and allow us 14 days or such times as prescribed by applicable law to respond directly’.
Ryanair said that since the claimants had not made contact directly with it before bringing proceedings, the claim was considered as non-compliant.
Sitting at Caernarfon County Court, Her Honour Judge Owen said the claimants were ‘perfectly entitled’ to use Flightright to submit the initial claim to Ryanair, adding: ‘It is not for the airline to dictate when they choose to use a third party or intermediary’.
The judge held that passengers are entitled to have someone else access Ryanair’s online portal on their behalf and thereby make a claim in their name. That other person could be a friend or family member, or a claims handling company or solicitor engaged for that purpose.
This was made clear, she added, in the Supreme Court, ruling in Bott v Ryanair where judges had stated that a passenger is free to process a claim in any way they choose, with or without the assistance of third parties.
The complexity of the claim was ‘completely irrelevant’ to the point being made and the use of the third party cost Ryanair nothing, with any money diverted to the third party coming out of the claimant’s payment.
Owen added: ‘The fact that an airline may prefer it for passengers not to engage a claims handling company at that early stage to use the online portal is irrelevant.’
Although only a county court judgment, the outcome will be of wider interest to the high volume claims sector, which may in future come up against attempts to sideline third parties from low-value consumer claims. This is especially the case where claims may be automated, with defendants potentially arguing that they can handle claims themselves without any recourse to a CMC or law firm. In motor finance claims, a similar dynamic has featured in the Financial Conduct Authority’s push for claimants to use its compensation scheme directly rather than engage a lawyer – although there is no suggestion that the regulator would seek to actively remove third parties from the process altogether.
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