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