A holiday should be a time of relaxation, joy and adventure, but the statistics show that this is not always the case. Planned holidays are regularly ruined by a number of possible factors – and often, such factors are outside the control of the holidaymakers.

 

There are many common holiday issues which affect people every year, and most of these can be claimed for.  Many of these pertain to flights: delayed flights, over-booked flights and cancelled flights. You might even be refused boarding, and on a flight you might suffer lost, damaged or delayed luggage. Sometimes, holiday destinations are advertised falsely or misleadingly. You can claim compensation for all of these.

 

In 2009, 26% of flights did not operate on time. This staggering figure is mild in comparison with the 35% in 2008 and 34% in 2007. On average, in 2009, about 4% of flights were delayed by more than one hour. The figures differ from airline to airline. British Airways had a relatively good year with 3.6% but they are usually around the 6% mark. Ryanair saw only 2.9% of their flights delayed by over an hour, and Lufthansa 3.2%. Among the worst was Virgin Atlantic, at a high 8.2%.

 

Sometimes, travellers aren’t aware of their rights. Airlines are obliged to provide details of EU compensation opportunities to any who suffer a delay or cancellation, but they don’t always do so. As an example, if a flight is cancelled which leads to a delay of over two hours, passengers can be entitled to a compensation of £180 or more. This figure increases considerably with size of delay and length of flight. According to new EU law, if a flight is delayed, and not even cancelled, by three hours or more, passengers are entitled to up to €600 in compensation.

 

The Association of British Travel Agents represents about ninety percent of British package holiday providers, and it receives around 20,000 complaints each year. It is estimated that 3 percent of holidaymakers are unsatisfied with their holiday in some way. Over half of the time, the dissatisfaction is rooted in the accommodation, which might be different to what was advertised.

 

The current economic climate means tour operators and airlines are acting with increasing tightness. More concerned with seeing out the recession than maintaining customers every year, these companies are seeking to avoid paying out any money as long as they can get away with it. Thus, the need for making compensation claims about holiday issues is more necessary than ever. You could be entitled to a considerable sum of money if you have suffered holiday issues and wish to claim for it.

 

Every year, thousands of people around the world lose their luggage while flying. It is a major and continual source of huge frustration and disruption for many airline passengers. The statistics are really quite damning. It is estimated that as many as 25 million items of luggage disappear throughout the world’s airports each year. This equates to approximately 1 in 100 passengers losing something.

 

When you consider the effect lost luggage can have on passengers, it is even more worrying. Holidaymakers and business travellers alike can be hugely impacted by lost luggage. The loss of one luggage bag can mean the loss of hundreds or thousands of pounds worth of items. Holidaymakers might be forced to go on holiday without clothes or basic supplies, and business travellers might lose items which are fundamental to their business activity.

 

Of the 25 million estimated lost items each year, just over 50% disappear between transfers, about 15% are not loaded onto flights and about the same percentage go astray during early bag switching, due to either poor ticketing or failed security. A further 7% are lost during loading or offloading. The remaining 12% are accounted for by failure of customers to comply with baggage space or weight restrictions, and also mishandling at the arrival station and tagging errors.

 

It is crucial these days for flying passengers to have the right travel insurance to cover them in case of a lost luggage claim. Most people assume that they won’t be affected, and they might be right in thinking so as 99% of travellers do get their baggage at the other end. However, any person could be that 1 in every 100. The figure is not as low as it sounds, when you consider that a single flight can contain around 300 people – that is, 3 people per flight affected by lost luggage.

 

Of the European airlines, British Airways usually comes last each year for baggage handling success. About 28 pieces of checked baggage are delayed or lost per 1,000 BA passengers. The figure for Swiss Airlines is 10 per 1,000 and the figure for Lufthansa, famed for its German efficiency, is still 16 per 1,000. Air France tends to lose about the same, with the average figure being around 16. 

 

Where do the lost items go? A lot of the time, no-one is quite sure. Perhaps they might end up in the Unclaimed Baggage Centre in Alabama, a somewhat bizarre American tourist attraction. 800,000 people visit it each year and about 6,000 items are added daily. It is the most famous of many auction houses throughout the world that resell lost or unclaimed items of luggage. British Airways auctions off more than 500 lost laptops each year!

 

British Airway's reputation has again been hit over the issue of lost luggage.  It was said in The Independent that a survey carried out by an insurance company put the statistics at 1 in every 3.8 BA passengers having suffered from lost, delayed or damaged luggage in the last 5 years. 

 

Virgin Atlantic were put at second in the survey, with 1 in 8.3 passengers having luggage problems.

 

With lost luggage being such a widespread issue amongst the airlines, it's advisable to know your rights before you fly so that you can know what action to take if you end up being one of the unlucky passengers that fall victim to airline incompetence. 

In 2007 the Government made it illegal for landlords to hold onto tenancy deposits for more than 14 days without having submitted them to a protected insurance scheme. The UK has 3 tenancy schemes that landlords are required to hand over deposits to for the duration of a tenants stay.

 

The tenancy deposit schemes were created in order to protect both tenant and landlord in the event of a dispute, regarding the return of a tenancy deposit, at the end of a lease. These schemes act as a dispute resolution service in the instance of a dispute between the tenant and the landlord, that cannot be resolved between the parties involved.

 

As a tenant in a qualifying rented property in the UK, you should aim to ensure that your deposit has rightfully been submitted to one of the 3 insurance schemes. You can request confirmation of this in writing from the landlord with details of which scheme it is now held with. 

 

If the landlord will not give confirmation or has not submitted the deposit to one of the schemes, you are entitled to take legal action. To find out more about the tenancy insurance schemes and how they help you to get your deposit back at the end of your tenancy, have a look at our tenancy deposit dispute pack.

It has been widely reported that T-Mobile UK is the latest company to join the ranks of data loss offenders. Tens of thousands of personal records for T-Mobile customers were sold on to rival mobile phone salesmen from inside the organisation, leaving customers vulnerable and open to harassment from mobile contract salesmen. 

 

Amongst the data reported to have been sold on by T-Mobile workers are the names, numbers and contract expiry dates of tens of thousands of their customers, with the recipients of that information said to be salesmen who are increasingly turning to underhand and illegal tactics to capture customer data from their rivals. 

 

Data loss is proving to be an increasing problem, with personal information swapping hands like a commodity on the black market for what is though to be millions of pounds. Stricter regulations and security protocols have been called for by the Information Commissioner, who is responsible for upholding the Data Protection Act.

 

Given the increasing severity of such data loss cases and the flippant manner in which such loses seem to be admitted, the Government has been asked to raise fines and add jail time to the list of punishments available for a company that is guilty of breaching the Data Protection Act.

 

If you have been a victim of such data loss, or think that your data may have been sold on, Compensation Pack offers information about what your rights are and how you can claim compensation.

Claiming compensation has become a large part of our culture. We are less willing to sit back and be mistreated or misled by the people or businesses that we deal with on a daily basis.

 

Amongst the most common complaints that we have are in regards to our suitcases being lost or damaged by airlines, our utilities bills not quite matching what we have actually used and mobile phone service providers failing to stick to the contract that we had agreed with them.

 

Compensation Pack now offers advice to people with these grievances, in the form of downloadable packs that let you know what your rights are, what you can do if those rights are not upheld and how to go about sorting out the problem in the best way possible. The packs contain sample letters and important contact details for organisations that can help you get to the bottom of the matter. 

 

As a last resort the packs include information on how to go about making a claim in the Small Claims Court. While disputes are often resolved before things get this far, it is always a viable option when seeking compensation. The Small Claims Court allows you to seek compensation up to the amount of £5,000 without the need for costly legal assistance. 

 

The aim of Compensation Pack is to provide people with the opportunity to take control in situations where most people would just walk away. By knowing more about what can be done in situations where airlines have let you down, your land lord will not return your deposit or you have been a victim of data loss, you have the power to take matters into your own hands and claim compensation in a legally effective and successful way.