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⏳ UK deadlines

The UK claim deadline, and where it comes from

For most of the life of Regulation 261/2004 the deadline for a UK claim was an inference. You reasoned from the nature of the right to the statute that would govern an action to enforce it, and different people reasoned to different places. Since December 2023 the UK text answers it directly, in a paragraph that did not exist before and has no equivalent in the EU version.

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Article 3(9), in full

The Aviation (Consumers) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 inserted three paragraphs at the end of Article 3 of the retained regulation. The third of them reads: for limitation purposes a claim under this Regulation will be determined in accordance with section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980.

Section 9 of that Act is headed “time limit for actions for sums recoverable by statute”, and provides that an action to recover any sum recoverable by virtue of any enactment shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. On the face of the two provisions read together, a UK261 compensation claim is a six-year claim.

The other two new paragraphs are why that works. Article 3(7) provides that an obligation to pay compensation or offer assistance under Articles 7 to 9 is not a liability for damage occasioned by delay for the purposes of Article 19 of the Montreal Convention, and Article 3(8) provides that an action to enforce it is not an action for damages for the purposes of Article 29. Article 29 is where the Convention's two-year period lives. Together the three paragraphs put a UK261 claim firmly on the statutory side of the line.

The part that needs care: which part of the UK

legislation.gov.uk marks section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980 with the extent “E+W”. Limitation is not uniform across the United Kingdom, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own statutory regimes for it. This page does not tell you what the answer is in each of them, because getting that wrong in a summary is worse than not offering one.

What can be said from an official source is what the CAA publishes about its own escalation route: ADR covers issues from the last six years, or five years for consumers who live in Scotland. That is a scheme rule rather than a statement about court limitation, but the difference it records is a real one. If you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland and the timing matters, take advice on the period that applies to your forum rather than reading across from section 9.

Three clocks, not one

The single number is the least useful part of this, because a claim runs through stages and each has its own timing:

  • • The airline. No statutory deadline to submit, but nothing is paid automatically and the clock on everything else starts from what the airline does.
  • • Eight weeks. The point at which the CAA says you can escalate without a final response.
  • • Twelve months. The window to get a complaint to the ADR provider, running from the final response, or from your last written contact if none came.
  • • Six years. Section 9, for an action in court, from when the cause of action accrued.

The trap is the twelve-month window rather than the six-year one. A claim submitted promptly, refused, and then left in a drawer while you decide what to do can lose the free escalation route long before it comes anywhere near being time-barred. The CAA sets out the court route on its own page and points at the GOV.UK small claims service.

Which regime applies before you count anything

All of the above is the UK answer, and it only applies if the flight is a UK261 flight. Depart an EU airport on a non-UK carrier and you are on the EU regime, where the deadline comes from the national law of the state concerned rather than from a paragraph you can look up. The UK261 guide sets out the scope test, and the main time limits page covers the EU position.

UK261 sets its own figures in sterling, so UK sterling amounts are set separately from the euro bands and the two regimes are not interchangeable. Clairo's checker currently shows euro estimates only — check current UK CAA guidance for the sterling figures that apply.

Evidence ages faster than the deadline

A claim can be well inside its period and still be unarguable. Boarding passes get deleted, airline disruption emails get archived, the hotel receipt goes in the bin, and the departure board photograph you did not take cannot be recreated. Whatever the deadline turns out to be, gather the documents in the week after the flight, not the month before the period expires.

The disruption guides list what to keep for each case: delays, cancellations, missed connections and denied boarding. Running it yourself is a realistic option, and the escalation stage is free.

How long do I have to claim flight compensation in the UK?

Article 3(9) of the UK version of Regulation 261/2004 provides that for limitation purposes a claim under the regulation is determined in accordance with section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980. Section 9 sets six years from the date the cause of action accrued for an action to recover a sum recoverable by virtue of an enactment. The stated extent of that section is England and Wales, so a passenger bringing a claim elsewhere in the UK should check the position that applies to their own forum, and take advice where the timing is tight.

When did that become the rule?

Article 3(9) was inserted by the Aviation (Consumers) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, which came into force on 14 December 2023. The same instrument added Article 3(7) and 3(8), which provide that a 261 obligation is not a liability for damage occasioned by delay under Article 19 of the Montreal Convention, and that enforcing it is not an action for damages under Article 29. Those two paragraphs are what make the limitation answer clean, because they close off the argument that the Convention's shorter period applies.

Is the deadline for going to an ADR scheme the same?

No. The CAA states that a complaint has to reach the relevant ADR provider within twelve months of the airline's final response, or within twelve months of your last written communication where no response came. It also states that ADR covers issues or incidents from the last six years, or five years for consumers living in Scotland. These windows run alongside the limitation period rather than replacing it.

When can I escalate at all?

The CAA's position is that you complain to the airline first and give it a chance to resolve the issue. You can take the complaint to the airline's ADR provider once you have its final response, or once eight weeks have passed since your written complaint without one. Neither approved scheme will accept a complaint that has not been put to the airline first.

Does complaining to the airline pause the clock?

Do not plan on it. Whether a limitation period is suspended or restarted is a question for the law that sets it, not for the airline's complaints process, and waiting for a reply is not in itself a reason a court has to disregard the passage of time. The practical protection is to escalate rather than let an unanswered claim sit.

Primary sources

Read Article 3 and section 9 together — the whole answer on this page is those two provisions and the CAA's scheme rules.

Screen the flight while you still have the paperwork

Clairo's checker quotes euro estimates and applies an intra-Community-style cap that treats UK airports as inside that area. The UK text of Article 7(1) does not use that wording, so on a long UK–EU route the estimate and the legislation can point at different bands. Treat the checker as a screening step, read the article for yourself, and check the sterling figure the CAA publishes for your route.

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UK airline guides:

British AirwaysRyanairEasyJetJet2Wizz Air

Clairo publishes general information and an automated eligibility estimate. It is not legal advice, it does not decide claims, and it cannot tell you what caused your disruption. For a disputed or high-value claim, consider independent legal advice.