Martin Lewis urges flight passengers to come forward for free £1,040

Martin Lewis has urged flight passengers to come forward and claim £1040 worth of compensation. The BBC Sounds and ITV star spoke out in the latest Money Saving Expert newsletter as he shared his MSE readership's biggest successes of the year.

Tip nine was titled 'I got the max possible £1,040 FLIGHT CANCELLATION COMPENSATION.' It explained: "While most flights go to plan, a minority don't, with travellers suffering the impact of delays and cancellations.

"Yet many are unaware of their legal right to claim between £110 and £520 in compensation each if the airline is at fault. That's ON TOP of any refund, alternative flight or food reimbursement. Our flight delay and flight cancellation guides have full help, including template letters.

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"It worked for MSE Forumite steve111s , who posted in April: "We were due to fly from Miami to London but got a text on the way to the airport cancelling the flight. We put a claim in but got denied twice on the grounds of 'aircraft damage'.

"After a bit of hunting around, we found a legal test case which contradicted the airline's position. After seeing that, it had no choice and paid out in full, totalling £1,040. Thanks." When an EU/UK-regulated flight is cancelled, however long before it was due to take off, you have a legal right to choose between. EITHER a refund for the flight that was cancelled OR an alternative flight to your destination (airlines call this re-routing).

The airline is responsible, even if you booked via an online travel agency. If you booked a package, the tour operator is responsible. To qualify your flight needs to check all the following boxes: the flight was cancelled less than 14 days before departure, the rescheduled flight (whether you got on it or not) departed earlier or arrived at your destination later than scheduled, the flight was scheduled to fly in the past six years (five in Scotland) or the reason for the cancellation was the airline's fault.