No!
PRIVATE CLAIMS
COMPANIES
– and how they inform the consumers*
Is there a
cooling off
period?**
** In case of distance selling
There is a growing market for private claims companies, one of the reasons might be
the lack of knowledge among consumers about their air passengers rights and how to
complain.
Yes!
One consequence of using these companies is that consumers miss at least
20 % of the compensation they are entitled to. Moreover, there are some private claims
companies that do not comply with consumer law themselves, some lack information
regarding the cooling off period or clear price information.

* Results from the answers to a questionnaire, examining 36 claims companies, sent to the ECC-Net. Annex 1 in the report ECC-Net Air Passenger Rights Report 2015.
Are there any
costs for the
consumer?
Who pays
for the court
procedure?
Is public rules
of procedure
visible?
Yes, a percentage in case of success
The private company pays the court fees
Rules of procedure on their website
No information available on the website
No information was available
No information available
Yes, a fixed amount
The consumer pays the court fees
Is there any
exclusivity
agreement?
Exclusivity agreement
No exclusivity agreement
Is the expected
time for case
handling
mentioned?
How and
when will the
consumers
get paid?
No information about how long time it takes for
the company to handle the case.
No information was available on the website
Incomplete information about how long time it
takes for the company to handle the case.
When the money is received from the airline
Within a specific timeframe
Other solutions
Co-funded by
the European Union
AIR PASSENGER
RIGHTS (APR) CASES
APR: Type and number of request
14000
12000
– statistics from ECC-net***
Compla
ints APR
10000
8000
6000
Info requests APR
4000
FACT: So far in 2015,
most air travel complaints
come from consumers in
Austria, Italy, Poland, France,
United Kingdom and Belgium.
They represent 59 % of all
complaints.
2000
0
2010
2011
FACT: About
870 million passengers travelled
by air in 2014 in
the EU.
2012
Info requests APR
2013
APR: Outcome
of50%complaints 2014
TOPLIST: Country of air carrier90%with most complaints
80%
2010
2014
70%
Ireland
60%
Ireland
Others
50%
Others
UK
Netherlands
Germanyy
Spain
p
25%
100%
100%
90%
90%
90%
90%
80%
80%
80%
80%
70%
70%
70%
70%
60%
60%
60%
Germanyy
50%
50%
50%
50%
Others
40%
40%
40%
40%
40%
30%
30%
30%
30%
30%
20%
20%
Ireland
20%
20%
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
0%
0%
1
0%
0%
0%
Germanyy
20%
France
Spain
p
UK
France
UK
Spain
p
35%
30%
100%
60%
40%
COMPLAINTS: Type of transport services
100%
January – June 2015
45%
Air transport
Car rental
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
1
1
Railway
1
Road
1
Sea/inland waterway
Other transport services
Amicable settlement obtained
2


100%

Complaints APR
FACT: The ECC-Net
had in total 12 337 contacts
regarding air passenger rights in
2014. Out of the contacts in 2014,
less than 13% had a question or
a complaint about luggage issues.
The ECC’s that had the largest
number of consumer complaints 2014
was Italy, Belgium, Poland, Spain,
France and the UK.
*** Statistics from DG Justice and Consumers.E.5. Data: ECC Database.
2014
No solution found
Case transferred
2