EU261 compensation - airline demanding I pay them back

[adamdelarge]

keep it all, two years of your time, I say they can go jump.

[Omega1]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

The airline would probably have a claim for restitution, for unjust enrichment. If you want to fight them best bet is to argue it was paid under mistake of law, and is not recoverable. Payments under mistake of fact are recoverable, mistake of law not.
As with many such situations though it is not clear 100% whether this would fall under a mistake of law rather than fact.
But if you raise the above, they may just go away.
Some bad advice above, including they could just send bailiffs in. They'd have to sue you (small claims) and succeed in a claim for restitution and obtain an unsatisfied judgment before they could do any enforcement. Would they bother? Maybe not if you raise the mistake of law.
If you do wish to return, deduct expenses, and possibly also a reasonable sum, say £50 for your time and inconvenience , and tell them this before sending back the balance.

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I always thought that mistake of law and mistake of fact were concepts of US criminal law not UK law. There is a notion of ‘mistake’ in relation to UK contract (civil) law but don’t think it would apply in OPs case. Of course, I could be wrong - I usually am!😂

[duchy]

Originally Posted by EssexSue

I would be a bit concerned as accidental over payment was hen asking for a refund is a well known scam device.
Once proven to be genuine I would pay it back but at absolutely zero cost to myself.

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I'd assume the OP knew the correct refund he was expecting if it was EU261 so rather loses out on the moral ground if he just accepted the refund.
Deducting bank transfer charges is acceptable but I'd probably see if I could pay it on a currency friendly credit card instead.
It's probably not worth the extra stress to argue when he already knows it is legitimate.
If it took two years to get the refund the OP has probably wasted enough of his valuable time on this already.

[Dougie]

I would pay it back ( making sure it was at no cost to me). I would also phone up and check it was a legit recall (No scammers) first.

[Leggibone]

Originally Posted by arisser

Even if I thought I could get away with it, keeping the money would just eat away at my conscience and cause me more stress than paying it back!

Had a look at my bank's T&Cs and it's going to cost me £20 to make the transfer! This seems like a ridiculous fee but then I've never had to transfer money from my bank to an overseas account before - I've always sent any money through PayPal.

Can't help feeling very grumpy about this! I know some of you have said it's 'free money' anyway but I don't see it this way. It's not as if I won the cash in a contest or something, it's compensation I'm legally entitled to and considering the delay resulted in me missing work and a day of lost earnings, losing more money because of this particular airline is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

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I’d simply point this out to them, and say since it’s their mistake the total you transfer back will be the number of pounds that you would have received from that €350 (Ie at the exchange rate you received) minus the £20 bank charge. But first contact them directly and confirm this is required.

[Damn Dirty Ape]

Personally I would contact them to make sure it was a genuine bank account, tell them I would be deducting fees and paying them back in GBP calculated at a rate guaranteed that I didn’t lose out. Finally I would be paying them in 2 years time. Honestly, they don’t deserve it with the way the airlines treat passengers over EU261.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by Omega1

I always thought that mistake of law and mistake of fact were concepts of US criminal law not UK law. There is a notion of ‘mistake’ in relation to UK contract (civil) law but don’t think it would apply in OPs case. Of course, I could be wrong - I usually am!😂

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Sorry. It isn’t in relation to contract, it’s a mistaken over payment,the claim by the airline for any recovery is not in contract but in restitution. Payments due to mistake of law and fact are well established in English law.
Now it is fair to say that since a judgement in 98 certain types of payments paid under mistake of law have been recoverable (court was influenced by a Law Commission report on the matter) but it's certainly what OP should be arguing if OP wants to hold onto the money.
OP could also try to throw in the defence of change of position (compensation seemed correct to him, he spent it all in good faith) to muddy the waters further if OP was so minded.

[Omega1]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

Sorry. It isn’t in relation to contract, it’s a mistaken over payment,the claim by the airline for any recovery is not in contract but in restitution. Payments due to mistake of law and fact are well established in English law.
Now it is fair to say that since a judgement in 98 certain types of payments paid under mistake of law have been recoverable (court was influenced by a Law Commission report on the matter) but it's certainly what OP should be arguing if OP wants to hold onto the money.
OP could also try to throw in the defence of change of position (compensation seemed correct to him, he spent it all in good faith) to muddy the waters further if OP was so minded.

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Thanks, I agree it’s about law of restitution but if OP had researched EU261 and knew what he/she was entitled to, then the overpayment means they have been ‘enriched’. I think it would be very difficult to legally defend retaining the overpayment, apart from deducting reasonable expenses.

[neilhd]

It should be repaid, sure, but if I got an email demanding money, I would be ignoring it alongside all the other emails that arrive requesting money!

For starters, email is not a guaranteed delivery mechanism. And even if it did arrive, it could easily have got routed into your spam folder.

Personally, I would put the money aside but would be waiting for them to actually write me a letter, and then I would be calling the number from their website to make the payment by credit card). I certainly wouldn't be paying a bank fee! That would be taken off the payment amount - you should not have to pay to sort out their mistake.