Bott & Co review: what it charges, how a claim works, and when to claim yourself

Checked 15 Sep 2026·10 min read

£0 is what a claim costs when you send it to the airline yourself and, if the airline refuses, to ADR. Bott and Co’s fees page states a flat 42% excluding VAT, while its terms print a different fee table. This Bott and Co review reads Bott’s own pages and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) register, checked on 14 October 2026, beside that free route.

Every statement about Bott comes from Bott’s own pages or the SRA register. Where Bott’s pages differ from each other, both texts are printed as they stand, and we draw no conclusion beyond them.

#Who is Bott & Co, and is it regulated?

Bott and Co Solicitors Ltd, SRA number 605593, is a law firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The SRA register lists it as a licensed body since 2 January 2014, “authorised for all legal services”, with “No decisions published” on its regulatory record when we read it on 14 October 2026.

Source: Solicitors Regulation Authority, Solicitors Register (SRA 605593); Bott and Co fees page footer and terms and conditions — bottonline.co.uk, checked 2026-10-14.

Bott’s footer gives a company registered in England and Wales, registered office St Anns House, Parsonage Green, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 1HG, and calls it “an alternative business structure regulated by the SRA”. Bott’s terms send unresolved complaints to the Legal Ombudsman after “eight weeks”.

Great Britain’s claims-management rules cover six kinds of claim, listed in article 89G(2) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001: personal injury, financial services or products, housing disrepair, specified benefits, criminal injury and employment. A flight delay or cancellation claim is not one of them. Our reading of the Order: handling a UK261 or EU261 claim is not, by itself, an FCA-regulated claims management activity in Great Britain, so the absence of FCA authorisation is not, by itself, a sign of wrongdoing.

Article 89N of the same Order also excludes claims work carried on in England and Wales by a legal practitioner, or by a firm acting through one, in the ordinary course of legal practice.

We could not read Companies House or the FCA Register, so this Bott and Co review reports no entry from either.

Look up SRA number 605593 on the SRA register yourself before you sign.

#What does Bott & Co charge?

42% of the compensation, excluding VAT, is the flat fee on Bott’s fees page, which prints £225 on a £520 claim. Bott’s terms print £270 for the same claim and then say VAT is added. Both tables are printed below. They differ, and neither text says which one governs.

Source: Bott and Co, Flight delay compensation fees; terms and conditions, “Our charges and disbursements”; FAQ — bottonline.co.uk, checked 2026-10-14.

The fees page says the service is “priced at a simple flat fee of 42% of the compensation amount” and that “Fees are exclusive of VAT”.

Bott’s two fee tables, as printed

Each terms figure is 1.2 times the fees-page figure, to within £1. The terms then state: “We add VAT to the total of our charges at the rate that applies when the work is done (currently 20%).” We compute no net payout.

On court costs the texts differ too. The fees page says “We will pay for all court fees, and any costs relating to your claim”. The FAQ says court is “at no extra cost to you”, and in another answer that issuing proceedings brings “an increase in administrative fees”. The terms add that if you become entitled to fixed costs under the Civil Procedure Rules, “you agree to pay us any fixed costs prescribed by those rules and recoverable by you”, and that Bott may keep interest on those costs.

Ask Bott in writing which table applies to your claim and whether VAT comes on top of it.

#How does a Bott & Co claim work?

30 days is the deadline Bott sets the airline. Its FAQ says the first step is a letter telling the airline that, if it does not respond within 30 days, Bott will take it to court, and the fees page says “We issue court proceedings within 30 days”. The contract itself is a conditional fee agreement.

Source: Bott and Co, terms and conditions, FAQ and fees page — bottonline.co.uk, checked 2026-10-14.

The terms describe that agreement as one “prescribed by sections 58 and 58A of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 and the Conditional Fee Arrangements Order 2013”. It covers “your claim for compensation pursuant to EU Regulation 261/2004 or any successor legislation”. You agree that compensation is paid directly to Bott, which keeps its charges, disbursements and VAT before sending you the balance.

Bott’s FAQ says it can handle a claim for a flight leaving or arriving in England or Wales, or on an English or Welsh airline, and it does not handle other delay costs such as parking, taxis or food. For Ryanair flights, Bott’s terms say you must first claim with Ryanair directly, under Article 15.2 of Ryanair’s terms.

The terms say “On average, we’re able to settle claims in around 72 days”, adding that a claim “can take longer than a year”. The FAQ says the money reaches Bott “anywhere from 7 to 42 days after the airline agrees to settle”, and that Bott then aims to transfer it “within 14 days”. Another FAQ answer asks you to allow “at least 14 working days” for a BACS payment. Both answers stand on the same page.

Check your flight against the three cases in Bott’s FAQ before you instruct Bott.

#Can you cancel, and what if the airline pays you directly?

14 calendar days from the day you receive Bott’s email confirming the contract is the cancellation window in its terms. The same terms have you ask Bott to start work inside that period. If you cancel because the airline paid you directly, Bott’s FAQ says its agreed fees plus a per-passenger administration fee are still due.

Source: Bott and Co, terms and conditions (“Ending our contract”, “Statutory cancellation rights”) and FAQ — bottonline.co.uk; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regs 30 and 36 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-14.

When the 14 days start, as each text words it

Bott’s terms record that you “expressly request and authorise us to begin working on your claim before the end of the statutory cancellation period”. Under regulation 36, cancelling after such a request means paying “in proportion to what has been supplied”.

Later exits cost more. After the cancellation period the terms say you “can end this contract at any time”, but then “you agree you will pay us our costs calculated on the assumption that you would have won your claim on the date when you end this contract”. Once proceedings have begun, the FAQ adds, you “may be liable for any court fees and fixed costs we have paid on your behalf”.

If you change your mind, cancel in writing inside the 14 calendar days and keep Bott’s confirmation email as your start date.

#Claiming yourself instead: what it costs and how long it takes

£220, £350 or £520 is the UK261 amount, set by distance in article 7, and a claim you make yourself keeps all of it unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. Bott’s own terms say that if you claim yourself, “you will receive all of the compensation awarded”. ADR costs nothing, and court fees start at £35.

Source: UK261 art. 7(1) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15; CAA, Alternative dispute resolution and How to make a complaint — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-22; gov.uk court fees and EX50, checked 2026-10-12; airlines' own terms, checked 2026-10-14.

Airlines set their own waiting periods before they deal with a third party: 28 days at easyJet, Jet2, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, and 14 days at Ryanair and TUI Airways. easyJet, TUI Airways, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic say they will not process a third-party claim if you have not claimed with them first. Virgin Atlantic’s carve-out for solicitors “does not include claims management companies”.

If the airline refuses, or does not answer within 8 weeks, the CAA says you can take the complaint to ADR, free of charge. Submit within 12 months of the airline’s final response, for an incident in the last six years (five if you live in Scotland). The decision usually arrives within three months and binds the airline if you accept it. The CAA warns that a claims agency’s fee “can often be a significant proportion of the compensation amount being sought”. See the airline ADR schemes, or airline refused compensation if the answer was no.

Court comes last. In England and Wales the small claims track is the normal track up to £10,000. The issue fee is £35 on a £220 claim, £50 on £350 and £70 on £520, and a hearing fee of £27, £59 or £85 follows only if the case reaches a hearing. If you win, the court can order the airline to repay court fees you paid. Our small claims guide covers the steps; the compensation calculator gives your amount.

Send your claim to the airline yourself first, and keep a copy of every reply.

#Is Bott & Co worth it?

On a full £220 claim the fees page prints £93, excluding VAT, and the terms print £112; on £520 the two tables print £225 and £270. Four checks decide whether that buys anything you cannot do yourself, and each of them is yours to run, not a verdict from us.

Source: Bott and Co, fees page and terms and conditions — bottonline.co.uk, checked 2026-10-14.

1. Fee against amount. Find your band in both tables and ask which applies and whether VAT is added. The direct route costs £0.
2. Effort. Bott writes to the airline and, its FAQ says, takes it to court if the airline does not respond within 30 days. A direct claim asks for booking and flight details on the airline’s own form.
3. Refusal stage. If the airline has already refused, ADR is free, and a small claim costs £35 to £70 to issue on the three UK261 amounts.
4. Control and scope. Bott’s FAQ says it can handle flights leaving or arriving in England or Wales, or on an English or Welsh airline, and later cancellation is priced as if you had won.

No source independent of Bott gives its success rate or payout times, so this Bott and Co review uses neither.

Get Bott’s answer on the table and the VAT in writing before you choose a route.

This Bott and Co review is general information, not legal or financial advice. Fees and terms are Bott’s own and can change; confirm them on Bott’s pages before you sign.

Compare: flight claim companies compared, AirHelp review, Skycop review, Flightright review.

#Sources

• Solicitors Regulation Authority, Solicitors Register, SRA number 605593 — sra.org.uk, checked 2026-10-14.
• Bott and Co, Flight delay compensation fees, FAQ and Terms and Conditions (Flight Claims) — bottonline.co.uk, checked 2026-10-14.
• Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, arts 89F-89N — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-14.
• Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, regs 30 and 36 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-14.
• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, art. 7 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
• Civil Aviation Authority, Alternative dispute resolution; How to make a complaint — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-22.
• HMCTS, Civil court fees (EX50) — gov.uk; Civil Procedure Rules, rr. 26.9 and 27.14 — justice.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-12.
• Airlines' own terms: easyJet 19.6, Ryanair UK 15.2, Jet2 26.5, TUI Airways 9.4, British Airways 18a, Virgin Atlantic 21.4, checked 2026-10-14.

#FAQ

Is Bott and Co regulated?

Bott and Co Solicitors Ltd is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA number 605593, as a licensed body since 2 January 2014. Flight compensation is not among the 6 kinds of claim in the claims-management order, which also excludes work by a legal practitioner in England and Wales in the ordinary course of legal practice.

Do I need Bott and Co to claim flight compensation?

No. Bott’s own terms say you are entitled to claim from the airline yourself, and if you do you "will receive all of the compensation awarded". ADR, open after 8 weeks without an answer, is free, and a small claim in England and Wales costs £35 to £70 to issue on the three UK261 amounts.