British Airways will not pay: choosing CEDR, the CAA or court
Reviewed on 10 August 2026. If British Airways rejects a claim or does not respond within eight weeks, an eligible passenger can generally take the complaint to CEDR, BA's CAA-approved alternative dispute provider. The CAA supervises compliance but normally does not replace CEDR for an individual BA remedy. Court remains separate and has jurisdiction-specific time limits.
Free eligibility check
Check your case in the form
Enter your route, date and type of disruption. We will check whether your case qualifies for a claim under EU 261/2004 or UK261.
What happened to your flight?
Claim up to €600 for a delayed or cancelled flight.
Choose the situation that applies to your flight:
Escalate the disputed issue, not a mass of repeated correspondence. Build a clean record showing route, operating carrier, event, timing, amount and BA's position.
Choose the route
| Route | Best use | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| BA internal review | Correct missing evidence or an obvious error | Airline decides its own position |
| CEDR | Independent decision on eligible unresolved BA complaint | Scheme scope and deadlines apply |
| CAA | Enforcement intelligence and advice where appropriate | Does not usually award individual damages |
| Court | Binding judgment and enforcement | Fees, procedure, jurisdiction and limitation |
Do not submit identical files everywhere at once. Each route has an order and purpose.
Finish the BA complaint stage
Use the original case number. Identify exactly what BA rejected: coverage, operator, arrival time, cancellation notice, extraordinary event, passenger eligibility, amount or expenses. Attach only evidence addressing that issue.
Ask for a final response where BA maintains refusal. Save the full email, not a screenshot missing headers. If BA remains silent, retain the initial submission confirmation and calculate eight weeks.
Repeated duplicate forms can reset internal queues or fragment evidence without improving the claim. Update the existing case where possible.
CEDR eligibility and evidence
The CAA lists British Airways with CEDR. It says ADR can be approached after the airline gives an unsatisfactory final answer or does not respond within eight weeks. The passenger must have complained to BA first.
Read CEDR's current aviation rules before filing. Confirm subject matter, travel date, filing period, fees if any and whether the airline entity is within the scheme. BA CityFlyer, Euroflyer, a franchise or codeshare partner may require entity-specific checking.
Provide a chronological bundle:
- claim summary and requested outcome;
- original ticket and operating carrier;
- disruption and final arrival evidence;
- BA claim and response;
- legal calculation;
- receipts or authority where relevant.
Number pages and expenses. An adjudicator should be able to locate every factual assertion without searching a long email chain.
What CEDR can examine
An ADR case can address whether compensation, refund, rerouting or expenses were wrongly refused within its scheme. It can assess BA's extraordinary-circumstances evidence and the passenger's documents.
Package-holiday land services may fall outside an airline-only complaint and require the organiser's process. A claim against American Airlines on a BA codeshare is not automatically a claim against British Airways. Check respondent before filing.
If BA paid fixed compensation but not hotel expenses, frame the unresolved remedy precisely. Do not ask CEDR to award the already-paid sum again.
The CAA's role
The Civil Aviation Authority approves ADR providers and enforces passenger consumer law. Its PACT team says it is mainly likely to consider complaints where the airline or airport is not a member of an approved ADR body.
The CAA can offer guidance and use complaint data for enforcement. It does not generally act as the passenger's court or compel a private payment through ordinary correspondence. For BA, CEDR is usually the more direct independent individual route.
Report systemic problems accurately, but do not delay a personal limitation period while waiting for regulatory action.
Court periods and jurisdiction
CAA guidance notes six years to issue a court claim in England and Wales and five years in Scotland. Northern Ireland and foreign EC261 jurisdictions require separate checks. The proper court depends on itinerary, defendant, contract and jurisdiction rules.
Use the BA compensation time-limit guide to separate court limitation, CEDR eligibility and the future EU request period before choosing the next step.
Internal review and ADR should not be assumed to stop the court clock. If limitation is close, obtain legal advice before relying on informal negotiations.
Small-claims procedure can reduce complexity for an individual monetary dispute, but service, evidence, interest and enforcement still matter. A judgment against the wrong BA entity creates avoidable difficulty.
Common BA refusal files
For arrival time, provide scheduled final arrival, door-opening evidence and through-booking record. For cancellation notice, supply the first communication and ask BA for its transmission log. For denied boarding, show timely check-in, gate presence and valid documents.
For extraordinary circumstances, request the specific event, causal chain and reasonable measures. In a staff-illness case, Lipton v BA CityFlyer is a direct UK Supreme Court authority. For technical fault, distinguish routine defects from a manufacturer-announced hidden defect.
For expense disputes, use an itemised schedule and show why BA did not provide care. The BA claim-rejection guide provides the issue matrix.
Settlement and payment checks
Read any settlement terms before acceptance. Confirm whether the amount covers one passenger or all, compensation or expenses, and whether a voucher substitutes for money. Do not sign away unrelated baggage or package rights inadvertently.
When BA pays, reconcile each passenger and remedy. Keep proof until funds clear and any expense decision is complete. If a CEDR decision is binding under the chosen option, follow the provider's acceptance and enforcement rules.
Where BA agrees to pay by a stated date but misses it, send the agreement and bank evidence through the enforcement channel specified by CEDR. That is a performance issue, not a reason to reopen the original merits from the beginning.
The EU reform adopted in July 2026 will later introduce a 30-day airline response and nine-month request process. It is not applicable on 10 August 2026 and does not alter present CEDR eligibility or UK court periods automatically.
FAQ
Can I use CEDR as soon as BA refuses?
Generally yes after an unsatisfactory final response, subject to the provider's current scope and filing rules. Otherwise the eight-week route can apply.
Should I complain to the CAA instead of CEDR?
For an individual BA remedy, CEDR is usually the approved ADR route. The CAA has supervisory and enforcement functions rather than acting as a payment tribunal.
Does CEDR cover a BA codeshare partner?
Not automatically. Identify the operating airline and check whether that entity participates in the scheme.
Does ADR stop the court deadline?
Do not assume it does. Calculate limitation independently and obtain forum-specific advice if the stop-date approaches.
Can BA offer a voucher during settlement?
It can offer one, but compare it with the monetary right and read any waiver. Acceptance should be informed and clearly scoped.