Q&A Your legal questions answered.

Send your questions to askdean@people.co.uk

Don’t waste time making a claim that has no hope. If you can satisfy the following basic criteria, it’s worth pursuing your claim:

Your flight either departed from Europe, including the UK, or was with a European airline within the last six years.

Your flight arrived at the final destination at least three hours late or was cancelled within 14 days of the date of departure.

The delay or cancellation was not caused by adverse weather, an air traffic control strike or some other reason that was outside of the airline’s control.

Being able to answer yes to the above questions does not guarantee you will be successful because airlines do have a key defence – namely, if they can prove the reason for the delay or cancellation meets the “extraordinary circumstances” test, meaning it was outside of their control.

If there were no reasonable measures the airline could have

QWHEN I made a chargeback claim to my debit card provider 104 days after the purchase, I had a problem. They asked me three questions. After I replied, they rejected the claim saying my response fell outside of 120 days from the date of purchase. Can they do this? Paul Hastings

CHARGEBACK claims must be made within 120 days of the date of purchase but this means you must ‘lodge’ your claim within this period, which you did. It’s irrelevant that you responded to the card provider’s additional questions after this date.

I BOUGHT my son a laptop from PC World but when I got it home he said it was the wrong model. I took it back and explained I’d made a mistake. They agreed to exchange it but they did not sell the model he

AQtaken to avoid the delay or cancellation, such as putting on an alternative aircraft, it will not have to pay you compensation. GATHER RELEVANT INFORMATION AND EVIDENCE

To pursue a claim, you need your booking reference number – although if you don’t have this, it will not stop you from claiming.

You should also include basic details about dates, the destination and delay times and receipts for expenditure you had. wanted. I asked for a refund but they refused. Sheila Watson

WHEN goods are bought in store, consumers have no right to a refund unless the goods are faulty. This means you are not entitled to a refund. I HAD a car accident and was found to be slightly over the

AQCONTACT THE AIRLINE DIRECT

There is no need to use a claims management company or law firm to make a claim.

The best thing to do is simply go to the airline’s website and lodge a claim directly.

ESCALATE TO ADR/PACT

If the airline rejects your claim, take it to an authorised scheme – aviationadr.org.uk or cedr.com. If the airline does not subscribe to either scheme, complain to the CAA. Find more advice at theconsumerlawyer.blog.

drink drive limit. When I claimed on my car insurance the insurer refused to pay out, claiming that my policy was void due to my alcohol level. I was never told they can do this? Robert Gosport

INSURERS will normally use any excuse to wriggle out of a claim. This is a common example of when insurers are generally entitled to void your policy.

I’M thinking about buying some ready-made curtains online. It’s hard to see if they will suit my living room so if I change my mind, can I return them and how long will I have to do this? Candy Reeves

UNDER the Consumer Contracts Regulations, if you change your mind about online goods that are not bespoke or perishable, you can ask for a refund within 14 days of delivery.

AQA