How much do you keep if your flight compensation claim goes to court?

By Richard Jasinski·Updated 4 November 2026

When an airline refuses and the claim goes to court, most claims companies charge more. This page works out what you keep of a €600 claim at the court fee each of 15 claims companies publishes, from 20% at FlyClaims to 50% at four of them.

How much do you keep if your flight compensation claim goes to court?

In court the gap between companies widens: with VAT included, FlyClaims (€480) leaves the most of €600; four companies take 50%. Before VAT, ClaimFlights (€450) leaves the most, but VAT is added on top. These are the 15 claims companies that publish their court fee as a figure.

How the amounts are worked out. Each company's lowest and highest fee when a claim goes to court, as published on its own website (read 20 October 2026), taken from €600 of compensation per passenger. Companies are grouped by how they treat VAT, because a fee plus VAT costs more than the same figure including VAT; inside each group they are ordered by what you keep. Where a company gives a range, both ends are shown. Court fees are shown as the total the company takes in court, worked out from its standard fee and any court surcharge it publishes (Flightright does not say whether VAT is added to its 14% surcharge; RefundMore gives a maximum, so you keep at least the amount shown). Companies that publish no court figure, or do not go to court, are not shown. No company paid to be on this page.

Fee includes VAT

  • FlyClaims: court fee 20%, the same as out of court, including VAT. You keep €480 of €600 in court.
  • FairPlane: court fee 24% to 35%, court enforcement included, including VAT. You keep €390 to €456 of €600 in court.
  • Compensation2Go: court fee 34.5% in all, lawyer and court costs included, including VAT. You keep €393 of €600 in court.
  • RefundMore: court fee at most 45% in all, including VAT. You keep €330 of €600 in court.
  • Air Indemnité: court fee 50%, described as 35% plus 15% for court handling, including VAT. You keep €300 of €600 in court.
  • Flight-Delayed: court fee 50%, described as 35% plus 15%, VAT included unless stated otherwise. You keep €300 of €600 in court.
  • Indemniflight: court fee 50%, including VAT. You keep €300 of €600 in court.
  • Skycop: court fee 50% on its standard price list, including VAT. You keep €300 of €600 in court.

VAT is added on top of the fee

  • ClaimFlights: court fee 25%, the same as out of court, plus VAT. You keep €450 of €600 in court, before the VAT added on top of the €150 fee.
  • AviFly: court fee 30%, in place of its 15%, plus VAT. You keep €420 of €600 in court, before the VAT added on top of the €180 fee.
  • Flightright: court fee its 20% to 30% plus a 14% surcharge, VAT added to the base fee; not stated for the surcharge. You keep €336 to €396 of €600 in court, before the VAT added on top of the fee. VAT is added to its 20% to 30%; whether it is added to the 14% surcharge is not stated.
  • MYFLYRIGHT: court fee its 25% plus a 10% surcharge, plus VAT. You keep €390 of €600 in court, before the VAT added on top of the €210 fee.
  • Reclamador: court fee its 25% plus a 15% supplement, plus VAT. You keep €360 of €600 in court, before the VAT added on top of the €240 fee.
  • AirClaim: court fee 41.32%, its 29% plus a further 12.32%, plus VAT. You keep €352.08 of €600 in court, before the VAT added on top of the €247.92 fee.

VAT not stated

  • AirCashBack: court fee 45% gross, a further 20% on its 25%, VAT not made clear. You keep €330 of €600 in court; it does not make clear whether VAT comes on top.
Sources (each company's fee page): Air Indemnité, AirCashBack, AirClaim, AviFly, ClaimFlights, Compensation2Go, FairPlane, Flight-Delayed, Flightright, FlyClaims, Indemniflight, MYFLYRIGHT, Reclamador, RefundMore, Skycop.

When a claim goes to court: the questions people ask

Do I pay court costs if the case is lost?

Flightright, ClaimFlights and Indemniflight say they bear the court costs; no win, no fee still applies at each, by its own terms.

Which companies keep the same fee in court?

FlyClaims (20% including VAT), ClaimFlights (25% plus VAT) and Compensation2Go (34.5% in all); FairPlane's highest rate, 35%, includes court enforcement.

How much do I keep of €600 if I claim myself?

All €600: claiming from the airline yourself is free. In the UK or EU you can go on to the national enforcement body or an approved dispute scheme if it refuses.

Why are companies grouped by VAT?

A fee plus VAT costs more than the same figure including VAT: 25% plus VAT at a 19% rate is 29.75%, as ClaimFlights says for German residents.

Does the fee change if the case goes to court?

At several companies, yes; this page shows the court fee each one publishes.

Is this per booking or per passenger?

Compensation under EU261 is per passenger, so the amounts here are for one passenger.

How current are these fees?

Each was read on 20 October 2026 from the company's own website. Fees change, so check the rate shown before you sign.

Did any company pay to be on this page?

No. The page carries every claims company in the table that publishes its court fee as a figure.

Built to answer the question in the main heading. What is shown: what each claims company published on its own website, read on 20 October 2026, from the Uncompromised Travel flight compensation table. Left out: companies whose websites would not open, a company whose activities were taken over by another, a company whose address opens another company's site, services that pass the claim to other companies and one company whose fee page is being re-read. Amounts are worked out on this page from each company's published fee; they are not quotes. How this site earns · How we work.

Richard Jasinski · Uncompromised Travel · written from Valencia · first published 4 November 2026 · updated 4 November 2026