How the claims process works at Refundmore

Why does it have to be so complicated? That's what some people think when they want to receive their entitled compensation after experiencing a cancelled flight or a flight delay. Fortunately, there is help available.

The compensation claim can be a time-consuming affair and sometimes end in a legal battle in court. Refundmore is your experienced partner who understands all the legal technicalities that can make the decisive difference.

Read on as Refundmore takes you behind the scenes and explains how a case can proceed.

Claim compensation with Refundmore

You’ve just experienced a flight delay or even a cancellation. That’s frustrating. The good news is that you may be entitled to compensation. You can read about the rules and when you are entitled to compensation for either a flight delay or a cancelled flight, but sometimes it can be difficult to assess on your own as other factors can come into play. Are you unsure if you are entitled to compensation? Use our compensation calculator to see how much you can get paid. This is also where you can create your case – and it only takes 3 minutes.

When you create a case with us, you fill out our so-called claim check. Your claim check will be different depending on whether you have experienced a flight cancellation or delay.

Don’t worry about forgetting to add some information; if we need more info, we will make sure to contact you.

As soon as you have created your case with Refundmore, a transfer statement is prepared, which you sign digitally. Once this is done, your case is handed over to Refundmore and our parent company Flightright, and we can now pursue your case.

Refundmore has several legal experts who particularly know EU Regulation 261/2004 inside out, and we have legal collection permission, which makes it possible and legal for us to both pursue your case and collect the money from the airline.

First step

Once your case is handed over to us, we begin working on it immediately.

The first step is to send a demand letter to the airline. This is necessary and unavoidable, as the airline must have the opportunity to respond to the case.

When the demand letter is sent, three scenarios can occur:

• The airline responds and agrees with Refundmore and the passenger, then pays the compensation.
• The airline enters into a dialogue with Refundmore, which can end positively or negatively. If the airline disagrees, the case may go to court.
• The airline does not respond to the demand letter, and it is now possible to take the case to court.

At Refundmore, we have found that large national airlines are often good at responding, while low-cost airlines are less likely to respond to the initial demand letter.

With some of the major airlines, we have a good dialogue, where Refundmore, for example, sends a list compiling several passenger cases. The airline then has the opportunity to review the list and pay compensation to the passengers where the airline agrees. For cases where the airline disagrees with the demand, we then assess whether to take them to court.

If a case goes to court

When we work on compensation claims for air passengers, we distinguish between two types of cases:

• Direct enforcement: cases outside of court
• Court enforcement: cases in court

A significant number of cases are brought to court. In fact, approximately 50% of all cases over time end up in court.

Our litigation department is ready to fight for all these cases, and we have skilled colleagues with experience in debt collection in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Our parent company, Flightright, handles cases that go to court in countries outside of the Nordic region.

Compensation cases that go to court usually take place in the country where the passenger resides, so we have the most cases in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. These are also the courts that Refundmore prefers to work with.

However, it is also possible to bring a case to court in the airline's home country if there would be an advantage to doing so.

If the airline still refuses to pay compensation, the battle for evidence begins in court. This is especially true in cases involving a cancellation or delay where the airline claims there were "extraordinary circumstances."

Examples of extraordinary circumstances include:

• Unusual weather conditions (if they pose a safety risk)
• Terrorism/military coup and political unrest (circumstances that pose a threat to public safety)
• Air Traffic Control bans
• Acute illness or medical emergency of a passenger
• External strikes, such as among air traffic controllers or airport staff
• Security measures at the airport
• Certain technical faults on the aircraft

If the airline can prove in court that extraordinary circumstances caused the cancellation or delay in the specific case, they will be exempt from paying compensation. But they must prove it first!

How long does a case take when I create It with Refundmore?

It can be difficult to give a precise estimate of how long a case will take from the time it is created, but as a rule of thumb, you should expect 1-2 years for civil cases in Denmark and Sweden. It usually takes a bit longer in Norway, as all civil cases under 200,000 NOK must first go through the Conciliation Board. Cases in Finland can be even harder to estimate in terms of time, as they can take shorter or longer periods. The processing time of the courts in the different countries depends on many factors, including the capacity and resources of the individual court.

Remember, you can always follow the progress of your case by logging into your case.

We can always learn more

Sometimes we choose to take a case to court even if we are not sure of winning. We do this to test hypotheses and gain valuable insights.

This creates a great learning opportunity for us, which can be used in other cases in the long term.

And when we win, the smile is extra big!

When the case is won

Even if the case is won, it is still not certain that the airline will remember to pay the compensation. If they do not pay within the deadline set by the court, we send a reminder.

If payment still does not occur, it is possible to take the case to the enforcement court. This may sometimes be necessary.

When the payment is received, we check the amount to ensure it is correct.

Sometimes, we reach out to you to ask if you have received payment during the case. This is important for us to know, as we would not be able to go to court if payment has already been made.

This applies to both types of cases: direct enforcement and court enforcement.

A reversed burden of proof

In a typical court case, the party that initiates the case and seeks something (e.g., payment) bears the burden of proof. However, this is not the case when it comes to flight compensation claims and demands against airlines under EU Regulation 261/2004. In these cases, the burden of proof is reversed.

The burden of proof is reversed in this type of case because it is the airlines that hold the power and knowledge. Only the airlines know the true reason for a cancellation or delay, and only the airlines can prevent or minimise a delay. As a passenger, you have no way of knowing whether the stated reason for the cancellation or delay is true – you may not even be given any information from the airline at all.

When you create a case, we gather relevant data and try to exclude whether the cancellation or delay was due to known factors that constitute extraordinary circumstances, such as weather conditions or travel restrictions. We also check other flights during the same period and compare data from those flights.

Ultimately, it is the airline that bears the burden of proof, and it is their responsibility to demonstrate the reason for the cancellation or delay through technical reports, such as mechanic reports and weather reports, to show that there were extraordinary circumstances.

As a passenger, you still have a burden of proof, such as providing a valid flight ticket and/or booking.

No cure, no pay

When you create a case with Refundmore, you only pay for our help if we win the case. This is an advantage for you as a passenger. It is our mission to bring justice to all affected air passengers, and therefore we only charge a fee for successful cases.

Refundmore's Wall of Justice

Justice takes up a significant space on our wall. Our Wall of Justice showcases cases where we have learned something new, done something new, expanded consumer protection, or achieved something extraordinary. For example, cases that we have won in the courts of appeal or supreme courts in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland are proudly displayed on our Wall of Justice. We are truly proud of these accomplishments.