How to Sue Ryanair! – Updated

UPDATED February 25
Richard Meggitt
Litigation Solicitor

Ryanair rejects a large number of claims each year. Some Claimants will make an application to the Civil Aviation Authority through CAA’s website others instruct claims management companies. However what happens if you want to pursue them direct?

The new Money Claim Online (MCOL)  is now available for claims against Ryanair. It is available to almost all Claimants based in England and Wales who are owed a fixed amount of money e.g.

How much compensation could you claim?

Flight length	Arrival delay	Compensation due (1)
Up to 1,500km	3+ hours	£220
1,500km to 3,500km	3+ hours	£350
3,500km+	3 to 4 hours	£260
	4+ hours	£520

If the amount for Ryanair is not fixed, for example you have suffered injury whilst on their flight, then you will need a solicitor. Please call 0114 2678780 and ask for Chris for further information. You have to pay a Court fee to use the Money Claim Online service. If you are a Claimant in England and Wales, it is desirable to commence your action locally rather than the Republic of Ireland for ease of access to the local courts. 

This brief article provides guidance for claims with a fixed value of less than £10,000 involving Ryanair, for Claimants who live in England and Wales. It is not a definitive guide and cannot replace receiving legal advice.

Please note that litigation is a last resort and you should have already had your claim rejected or not responded to in a reasonable amount of time. Before issuing a claim form I would recommend sending an email or letter of claim indicating that unless you have a reply within 14 days you will issue a claim in the county court.

How to make a claim

If you live in England and Wales and you have a monetary claim against Ryanair, you are at liberty to access justice by using the online Money Claim portal to claim money you’re owed. This is known as making an online Money claim. It used to be known as taking someone to the ‘small claims court’. The process is different in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Register to use the Online Portal

To issue a claim in MCOL you must register with the Government Gateway. You can do this through the following Government link money claims service 

Press continue on the home page.

Select less than £25,000

Select No – is this a claim against more than one person

Select Yes – does the organisation have a postal address in England (we are using Ryanair’s Stanstead address).

Now select just myself – for who are you making a claim form. If there is more than one passenger they will need to do separate claims

Select Yes – you have a postal address in England or Wales. 

Select No – is this a tenancy deposit claim 

Select No – Claim against Government

Select – I’m claiming against a company 

Select Yes – I’m over 18 

Select No –you do not need help paying the court fee. 

You now need to create an account and register

When you select ‘Register’, you will be taken to a screen titled ‘Sign in using Government Gateway’. Choose ‘Create sign in details’ to register for the first time. You will be asked to provide your name and email address, 

You will be emailed instructions to complete.

Once registered navigate to the MCOL registration page to select your account as an individual

Enrolment

You are then taken to the enrolment form. The details entered on this page are used to populate the claimant’s details on any claims you issue:  as you intend to issue a claim for money owed to you by Ryanair input your personal details.

Confirm that the details are correct and select ‘Enrol’. You will then get confirmation of your details.

MCOL customer number

Review the details and note that you have been given an MCOL customer number.  When you are ready, select ‘Continue’ and you will be taken to your MCOL homepage.

MCOL homepage

Your homepage provides options to begin a new claim.

Claim issue with MCOL

There are 8 steps to issuing a claim. The ‘Summary’ page is the final step before submitting the claim to the court.

Any claim issued though MCOL will display your details to Ryanair. 

Step 1 – Guidance

The first step provides information on using  MCOL and links to further guidance to read before issuing a claim. You will be required to confirm you have read the guidance before you are allowed to issue your claim – you must familiarise yourself with all the available guidance material. You will also be given a list of court fees to see how much it will initially cost to issue the claim.

It will either be £35 or £50

Up to £300: £35

£300.01 to £500: £50

Step 2 – Claimant details

As an individual you are the claimant. This screen will already be completed with the details you provided when enrolling with MCOL. 

Step 4 – Defendant details

A defendant is the person or organisation that the claim will be issued against in this case it is:

Ryanair Designated Activity Company

Provide a valid address for Ryanair

Use the following address 
Ryanair
Enterprise House,
2nd Floor,
Bassingbourn Road,
London Stansted Airport,
Stansted,
England,
CM24 1QW

Step 5 – Claim particulars

This is your opportunity to explain what money is owed to you and why. You will need to provide a statement, called the particulars of claim (POC), explaining what you are claiming for. You will also need to state the amount you are claiming.

e.g. 

I am claiming flight delay compensation as my flight (input flight number) from (input departure airport) to (input arrival airport) was delayed by more than 3 hours and I am entitled to £350. 

The reason for the delay was not weather related. 

You do not need to send detailed particulars direct to the defendant, but keep your particulars brief, you only have 20 or so lines 

Interest

Do not seek interest, given the extremely limited amount involved. 

Step 6  Summary and statement of truth

This is your last chance to review the information entered and make sure it is correct. Read through the summary carefully. You will be asked to confirm that you have read the guidance before you can issue the claim. When you have read the guidance and you are sure the details you have provided are correct, tick the box and type your name in the ‘Signature’ box then click ‘Next’. If you click ‘Save’ the signature will be removed and you will not be able to proceed to the next step before re-entering it.

Step 7 and 8 – Payment details and confirmation

You can provide an email address for the receipt to be issued by email – the court will not be able to produce a duplicate receipt if this step is not taken.  You must pay the court fee using a credit or debit card. The fee depends on the amount you are claiming. For more information see court fees for money claims. The fee you pay will be automatically added to the amount you are claiming from the defendant. 

Issue of the claim

The claim will be issued within 2 working days from the date you submit the claim and you will be posted a notice confirming the issue date. 

Ryanair response time

The court will send a claim pack to Ryanair once the claim is issued and allows 5 days from the date of issue for the service of the claim. 

Therefore the ‘date of service’ is the fifth day after issue. If you have served separate particulars of claim then this may affect the deemed date of service.

Ryanair has 14 calendar days from the ‘date of service’ to file a response. If the last day for filing the response falls on a day that the court is not open (a weekend or public holiday), the court will allow the next full working day until 4pm for a response. The defendant can extend the time to respond to 28 days by filing an acknowledgment of service (AOS). You will be forwarded a copy and the ‘claim overview’ section online will also be updated.

Types of response

Ryanair can file a response online. 

Acknowledgment of service (AOS)

AOS indicates that Ryanair intends to file a defence, part admission or contests jurisdiction (the level of court). The AOS also extends the time to respond to the claim from 14 to 28 calendar days from the date of service.

Full defence

Ryanair wishes to dispute the full amount of the claim. You will be provided with the defence and asked to file a directions questionnaire.

Part admission

Ryanair wishes to dispute part of the claim. The defendant should state how much of the claim they admit and make an offer of payment for this amount. You will be provided with the details and asked whether you wish to proceed for the full amount of your claim or alternatively enter judgment but only for the amount admitted.

Full admission

Ryanair wishes to make an offer of repayment. This form should be sent directly to you rather than the court (see the section on entering judgment for information on how to proceed with your claim). Full admissions cannot be submitted online.

No response

Ryanair does not respond within the permitted timeframe (see the section on entering judgment for information on how to proceed with your claim).

Payment

The defendant may send you payment directly following receipt of your claim (see the section on settling a claim).

It is for you to advise the court how you wish to proceed once the defendant has filed a response or their time to file a response has expired. 

Proceeding with a defended case

If you want to proceed with your claim upon receipt of a paid, full, or part defence, you must notify the court by following the directions enclosed with the copy of the defendant’s response. If you have been sent a questionnaire to complete this must be returned by the date specified. Failure to do so may result in your claim being struck out.

Once all parties have filed their questionnaire the case may be referred to a mediator if the parties agree, alternatively it will be transferred to the local County Court Hearing Centre to continue. If mediation is unsuccessful, your claim will also be transferred. If you are making a claim against an individual, the claim will be transferred to their local court. If you are making a claim against a company, the claim will be transferred to your local court, or to your solicitor’s local court.

Search for your local county court.

Proceeding on an admitted case

If Ryanair admits the entire claim and you wish to accept this response and make an order for repayment, you can continue to request judgment online. If you do not agree with the repayment method the defendant has offered (or if they have not made an offer) you can ask the court to ‘determine’ the judgment (decide the instalments the defendant should pay). You cannot do this online.

See the section on manual judgments for information on how to apply. You will also need to apply manually if the defendant admits only part of the claim and you do not accept the offer.

Request a judgment with MCOL

If Ryanair has not responded to your claim within the allowed time, or they have sent you an admission form and you are willing to accept their offer of payment, you can request judgment with MCOL.

The defendant can still reply to your claim until the court has processed your request. If the defendant’s reply is late but arrives before or even on the same day as your request, it will have priority. It’s your responsibility as a claimant to make sure you enter the right type of judgment. If you do not do so this may lead to the judgment being set aside.

After judgment has been entered

Once judgment has been entered the defendant will be sent a copy of the order. The order will tell the defendant how much to pay, when to pay it and where to send the payments. The payments should be sent to you and not to the court. The judgment will also be entered on a public register by Registry Trust Limited so that it will appear on the defendant’s credit report and could affect their ability to get credit.

If payment is received

If your claim has been paid in full, you select ‘update claim status’ button from the homepage. It may take up to 2 working days to be recorded onto the court system.

It’s your responsibility to inform the court that a case has been paid. You should also inform the defendant that you have taken the appropriate action to update the claim. If you cannot update your claim online email confirmation to [email protected] quoting the case number and date payment was received.

Wait until funds have cleared before you mark the case as paid. If you advise the court that a case has been paid but then the payment does not clear, you will be required to make an application to a district judge, or a court appointed legal adviser, and to pay a fee in order to reinstate the case. You must provide the court with the date that you received the money.