If your airline continues to reject your claim – or you disagree with the ombudsman’s decision – go to the small claims court
You can take your complaint to a local county court – known as the small claims court – in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or to a sheriff court in Scotland. To use the courts’ small claims system, your claim needs to be under £10,000 in England and Wales, or under £5,000 in Scotland or £3,000 in Northern Ireland. See our Small Claims Court guide for more on this.
Using this system costs between £25 and £455 in England and Wales depending on the amount you’re claiming and whether you do so online or by paper form. A further fee of between £25 and £325 is due if the case goes to court (although firms may settle beforehand). You can reclaim both sets of fees if you win, although if you lose you won’t get the money back and you may also have to pay expenses to the other party too.
As part of the process, you may need to submit a witness statement containing evidence to back up your claim. David told us his evidence centred around the fact that vouchers are not worth the same as a cash refund due to the limited time you have to use them and other restrictions placed on rebooking. You may also want to consider referencing news reports or similar complaints or cases you’ve seen.
You’ll then be asked to appear at the court hearing, which was online for David due to Covid-19. At the end of the hearing, which David said took around half an hour (he represented himself), the judge will give their verdict. David has also set-up his own free-to-use website – called ‘Refunds not vouchers’ – with further info on how he successfully took BA to court.