How much of a €400 flight compensation claim does a claims company keep?

By Richard Jasinski·Updated 4 November 2026

€400 is the EU261 amount for a flight of 1,500 to 3,500 km, or over 1,500 km within the EU. This page works out what you keep of it at each of the 19 claims companies that publish a percentage fee, grouped by whether VAT is in the fee.

How much of a €400 flight compensation claim does a claims company keep?

Of the percentage fees on a €400 claim with VAT included, you keep the most with FlyClaims: €320. Before VAT, AviFly leaves €340, but VAT is then added to its fee. These are the 19 claims companies that publish a percentage fee; each line gives what you keep out of court and what changes in court.

How the amounts are worked out. Each company's lowest and highest standard success fee, as published on its own website (read 20 October 2026), taken from €400 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. €400 is the EU261 amount for flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km. No company paid to be on this page.

Fee includes VAT

  • FlyClaims: fee 20%, including VAT. You keep €320 of €400 out of court. In court: no extra fee for legal action: 'Your fee stays the same.'
  • FairPlane: fee 24% to 35%, including VAT. You keep €260 to €304 of €400 out of court. In court: no extra court fee: the maximum 35% includes court enforcement.
  • RefundMore: fee 30%, including VAT. You keep €280 of €400 out of court. In court: an extra court case fee of up to 15% in one place on its site and up to 30%, a maximum of 45% in all, in another.
  • Air Indemnité: fee 35%, including VAT. You keep €260 of €400 out of court. In court: 50% including VAT if it goes to court, described as 35% plus 15% for court handling.
  • AirHelp: fee 35%, including VAT. You keep €260 of €400 out of court. In court: an additional legal action fee applies if it escalates through legal channels; no figure is published.
  • Flight-Delayed: fee 35%, VAT included unless stated otherwise. You keep €260 of €400 out of court. In court: 50% if the case has to go to court, described as 35% plus 15%.
  • Indemniflight: fee 35%, including VAT. You keep €260 of €400 out of court. In court: 50% including VAT if court proceedings are needed; it bears lawyers' fees and court costs.
  • SkyRefund: fee 35%, including VAT. You keep €260 of €400 out of court.
  • Skycop: fee 44%, including VAT. You keep €224 of €400 out of court. In court: 50% including VAT with legal proceedings on its standard price list (€200 on a €400 claim).

VAT is added on top of the fee

  • AviFly: fee 15%, plus VAT. You keep €340 of €400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €60 fee. In court: 30% plus VAT if a lawsuit is needed, in place of the 15%, not on top of it.
  • Flightright: fee 20% to 30%, plus VAT. You keep €280 to €320 of €400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the fee. In court: a surcharge of 14%, only if successful, when contract lawyers are needed; it pays court costs if the case is lost.
  • ClaimFlights: fee 25%, plus VAT. You keep €300 of €400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €100 fee. In court: no extra fee: the flat 25% stays the same if it goes to court; it bears court and lawyer costs.
  • MYFLYRIGHT: fee 25%, plus VAT. You keep €300 of €400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €100 fee. In court: a surcharge of 10% plus VAT if external lawyers are needed and the case succeeds.
  • Reclamador: fee 25%, plus VAT. You keep €300 of €400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €100 fee. In court: a supplement of 15% plus VAT if it has to sue, to cover lawyers and administration.
  • AirClaim: fee 29%, plus VAT. You keep €284 of €400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €116 fee. In court: an extra 12.32% plus VAT if legal proceedings are needed, on top of the 29% plus VAT, payable only if compensation is obtained.
  • Compensation2Go: fee 29%, plus VAT. You keep €284 of €400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €116 fee. In court: no extra court fee: lawyer and court costs are within the 34.5%.

Part of the range includes VAT

  • Refund Pilot: fee 25% to 29%, the higher rate includes VAT. You keep €284 to €300 of €400 out of court. In court: no court fee: the customer is paid whatever happens with the airline.

VAT not stated

  • AirCashBack: fee 25%, VAT not made clear. You keep €300 of €400 out of court; it does not make clear whether VAT comes on top. In court: a further 20% gross if the case goes to court: 45% gross in all.
  • AirAdvisor: fee 30%, VAT not stated. You keep €280 of €400 out of court; it does not make clear whether VAT comes on top.

A fixed fee, not a percentage

FlightCompensations: A fixed €39 per passenger, only when compensation is recovered, invoiced after the airline pays; VAT is not mentioned. On €400 that leaves you €361, as the fee is invoiced separately.

Sources (each company's fee page): Air Indemnité, AirAdvisor, AirCashBack, AirClaim, AirHelp, AviFly, ClaimFlights, Compensation2Go, FairPlane, Flight-Delayed, Flightright, FlyClaims, Indemniflight, MYFLYRIGHT, Reclamador, Refund Pilot, RefundMore, Skycop, SkyRefund, FlightCompensations.

A €400 claim, company by company: the questions people ask

What is the fee on €400 at 35%?

€140, leaving €260, as at AirHelp, whose 35% includes VAT.

Which flights are worth €400?

Under EU261, flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km and flights over 1,500 km within the EU.

How much do I keep of €400 if I claim myself?

All €400: 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; each line gives the court terms the company publishes, where it publishes them.

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 a percentage fee.

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