Civil Aviation Authority: air passenger complaints and ATOL

Have ready

• copies of your letters or emails to the airline or airport, and of the letters they sent to you
• your flight details: flight number, date, time, route, airline reference and the number of passengers on the booking
• for expenses claims, copies of your receipts
• for a baggage claim: proof of address, and a copy of your Property Irregularity Report if you have one. For a delayed bag, a list of the essential items you bought with dated, itemised receipts; for a lost bag, a list of the lost items with receipts; for a damaged bag, a list of the damaged items with photos of the damage and receipts

They can

• tell you whether your complaint is one the CAA can help with, through its online form, which you do not have to fill in all in one go
• advise whether it thinks you have a valid complaint and, if so, take it up with the business concerned
• if you are abroad and your travel company has stopped trading as an ATOL holder: ATOL says information will be provided on its website, or you can call the number on your ATOL Certificate

They cannot

• help if you have not first tried to resolve things with the airline
• impose a solution on an airline: the CAA says it does not have the legal powers, and you cannot appeal against its decision
• handle complaints where there is less than a year to take legal action
• be likely to take up your complaint if the airline or airport belongs to an approved ADR body: the CAA says PACT is only likely to consider a complaint if it does not
• pay an ATOL claim if your travel company has not stopped trading, or if you are dissatisfied with the quality of your holiday