They pay for different things. EU261 pays a fixed €250, €400 or €600 from the airline once you land three or more hours late, whatever the trip cost. Travel insurance pays a proven loss, up to a limit you agreed, under a contract. Claim from the airline first, then read your policy’s wording on money recovered elsewhere.
The two things, side by side
| EU261 / UK261 | A travel insurance policy | |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays | The operating airline | Your insurer |
| What triggers it | A 3-hour arrival delay, a cancellation on under 14 days’ notice, or denied boarding | Whatever the policy defines, on its own thresholds |
| What you must prove | The flight, the times, and that you were on it | The loss, with receipts, plus the policy conditions |
| What you get | €250, €400 or €600; £220, £350 or £520 | The proven loss, to the limit, less the excess |
| What it costs | Nothing | The premium, and the excess when you claim |
| If refused | The national enforcement body, then a court | The insurer’s complaints process, then your national financial ombudsman |
What the Regulation gives you that no policy does
Three rights, none of which needs a receipt. The fixed sum under Article 7, which does not vary with the fare and does not ask what the delay cost you. The choice under Article 8 between a refund within seven days and re-routing at the earliest opportunity. And care under Article 9 — meals, calls, a hotel where a night becomes necessary and the transport to it — which is owed even when the airline is excused compensation, as the Court held in McDonagh v Ryanair (C-12/11, 31 January 2013).
There is no excess to bear and no premium already paid, and the claim leaves no claims history behind it.
What a policy gives you that EU261 does not
The gaps in the Regulation are real, and they are exactly where insurance earns its money.
- A delay under three hours. Article 7 pays nothing at two hours fifty-five, and no argument changes that.
- Consequential losses. A forfeited hotel night, a missed cruise or connection on a separate ticket, a non-refundable event: the Regulation does not price them.
- Everything that is not a flight. Medical costs, cancellation because you fell ill, curtailment, lost belongings outside the airline’s liability.
- Extraordinary circumstances. Weather, airspace closures and the rest excuse the fixed sum. A policy that covers delay does not care whose fault it was.
Article 12(1) does keep the door open: the Regulation applies “without prejudice to a passenger’s rights to further compensation”, with the amount granted under it deductible from that further compensation. In Rusu v Blue Air (C-354/18, 29 July 2019) the Court held the Article 7 sum is not intended to compensate damage such as loss of salary, and that such damage may be claimed as further compensation before a national court. That is a claim you must evidence and pursue yourself — which is often why a policy is easier.
Two clauses in your policy decide the order of your claims. Find the one that requires you to claim from the carrier first, and the one that lets the insurer take over what you later recover (subrogation). We cannot tell you what your policy says, and neither clause is anything an aviation regulator enforces — read them before you claim, because you cannot be paid twice for one loss.
The order to claim in
- Claim the fixed sum from the airline under Article 7. It does not need receipts and it does not touch your policy.
- Claim care under Article 9 for meals, hotel and transport, with the receipts, from the airline.
- Read the policy for what remains — the losses the Regulation does not price and any delay benefit for a shorter wait.
- Tell the insurer what the airline has already paid, and for what. Silence here is what turns a claim into a dispute.
- If the airline refuses, escalate free before you fall back on the policy.
Start with the band in the amounts table, send the expense reimbursement letter for the receipts, and if the airline says the cause was outside its control, test the answer against extraordinary circumstances before you accept it. A refusal you do not accept goes to the route in escalate to the regulator; what care was owed in the first place is set out in the thresholds page.
Can I claim from both the airline and my insurer?
For different things, yes — routinely. The Article 7 fixed sum is not a reimbursement of a loss, so it does not usually overlap with an indemnity policy at all. Where it does overlap, for instance a hotel night claimed twice, the policy’s own wording decides, and double recovery for one loss is not available.
Does insurance pay if the airline refuses my compensation?
Not as such. Policies indemnify losses they define; they do not underwrite the airline’s Article 7 liability. Some cover legal expenses for pursuing a claim, which is a different and more useful thing to look for.
Do I have to claim from the airline first?
The Regulation does not say so. Your policy may, and where it does the condition binds you as a matter of contract, so check it. Claiming from the airline first costs nothing and takes an evening, which makes it the right order even where the policy is silent.