Competent advice inFlight rights

2. LEGAL ASSISTANCE

After the deadline you should contact us. We will prepare the lawsuit against the airline for you in order to put pressure on the airline and help you to obtain your rights. In many cases, the airlines already pay when the complaint is served on them through the court, but rarely do they let it come to a court hearing.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

In order to be able to assert your claims for you, we need the following documents from you:

• Your travel documents
• the letter you sent to the airline and any reply from the airline

Copies of all documents can be sent by post, fax or e-mail.

We are happy to offer you the opportunity to check your claim for compensation against your airline free of charge.

If you would like us to assert a claim for compensation against an airline on your behalf as well, we look forward to hearing from you without obligation by means of the form below, by telephone or by email to info@diekmann-rechtsanwaelte.de.

There are no costs for the initial consultation!

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If you have any questions regarding the contact form, we will be happy to help you!

The amount of your possible compensation claim is set out in Art. 7 of EU Directive 261/2004. Depending on the distance between the departure and arrival airports, the entitlement per person is:
 

• 250 EUR for a flight distance of up to 1500 km
• 400EUR for all flights within the EU with a flight distance of over 1500 km
• 400EUR for a flight distance of over 1500 km - 3500 km
• 600EUR for a flight distance of over 3500 km

You can easily determine the distance between your departure and your destination airport using the distance-online-calculator provided under www.luftlinie.org.

As every passenger has a right to claim compensation, a four-person family can quickly reach compensation of 2,400 EUR for a flight distance of more than 3500 km.If the airline offered you an alternative flight, the amount of your entitlement to compensation may be reduced by 50%. The deciding factor is how much the arrival time of the alternative flight deviates from that of the original flight. A reduction of 50% is only possible with a deviation of up to two hours under no. 1, up to three hours under no. 2/3 and up to four hours under no.4.Alongside the entitlement to compensation, depending on the individual case you may also be entitled to compensation for rebooking, accommodation or cancellation costs.

FLIGHT DELAYS, FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS

In accordance with EC Directive 261/2004, passengers are entitled to compensation in the case of delays of three hours or more or a flight cancellation (cancellation of a flight without replacement). To determine the duration of the delay the initial departure time and the time at which the aircraft has opened its doors after landing is decisive (see ECJ, judgment of 09.04.2014, Case-No. C-452/13).

This only applies insofar as you have begun your flight from an airport within the European Union and the delay is not due to acts of force majeure. Force majeure includes, for example, the effects of the weather and strikes by pilots or on-ground or safety staff.

DENIED BOARDING

You may also be entitled to compensation if you have booked a flight and turned up at check-in on time but the airline refuses to transport you and does not give a good reason for this. Should these conditions be met, the airline is obligated to pay you compensation immediately.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ACCORDING TO GERMAN LAW ONLY AFTER 3 YEARS!

Your claim for compensation may become time-barred, so that you will not be able to enforce it successfully. However, according to German law, the limitation period is three years, whereby the period only begins at the end of the year in which the flight was delayed or cancelled.

All claims arising from delayed or cancelled flights from the year 2017 will therefore only become statute-barred on 31.12.2020, so that you would still have the opportunity to claim compensation for them even now.

FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION

During a free initial consultation, we will examine the prospects of success of your case and explain the individual steps necessary to obtain compensation.


NO COSTS IN CASE OF SUCCESS / NO PROFIT-SHARING

In the event of success, you will not incur any costs in asserting the compensation. In contrast to commercial providers, who sometimes demand up to 30% of the compensation from you as profit sharing or commission, we only charge you the statutory fees for the lawsuit.

In case of success you will not only receive the full compensation plus interest, but the airline will also have to reimburse you for your expenses, so that you will not have to bear any costs of your own in the end!


ASSUMPTION OF COSTS BY LEGAL EXPENSES INSURANCE

Most legal expenses insurers will cover the costs of taking legal action to enforce compensation claims. Often you do not even have to pay a deductible. For this reason, you should let us know if and where you are covered by legal expenses insurance. We will obtain a cover note for you from the insurance company and, if possible, settle the costs with this.