Legal tech start-up Flightright chooses HCOB

Simple online legal help for disputes with airlines: The Potsdam-based legal tech company took off with this market innovation more than ten years ago. The rise continues unabated, thanks to the cooperation with the payment transaction professionals at the Hamburg Commercial Bank.

It all began with a serious annoyance: Flightright founder Dr. Philipp Kadelbach urgently had to catch a flight at 2 pm. But he was informed at the counter that the aircraft would not be taking off for another five hours. Much too late for the for the very important preparation appointment for his own wedding. To cut a long story short, Kadelbach purchased a replacement flight for 300 euros and luckily made it in time to be blessed by the priest . Kadelbach found it a mammoth task getting the airline to pay out for the massive delay.

This frustrating event resulted in the birth of Flightright: Since the company was founded at the start of 2010, now employing some 160 staff, it has been committed to the rights of cheated and harassed passengers. According to Flightright, they have already paid out EUR 350 million in the last twelve years. According to the company, the success rate for the legal skirmishes battled out between in-house lawyers and airlines is at “99 percent rate in court”.

The long-established Potsdam-based start-up has revolutionized legal advice in Germany with its legal tech service. Flightright offers digital, straightforward and transparent legal advice with fast communication channels – all this without the consumer risking any costs. If the case is successful – and it is the vast majority of the time – the consumers receive compensation minus a fee from Flightright of generally between 20 and 30 percent. The passengers don't need to do anything else other than spend a few minutes filling in an online form with all the necessary personal data and details about the flight they are complaining about. Flightright then deals with all the remaining legal business.

The in-house programmed database holds more than 80 million data sets which are updated on a daily basis: strikes, weather events, new case law and flight data from the whole of Europe. The database recognizes in seconds whether a passenger has a valid claim to compensation. All the client sees is the input mask of the compensation calculator.

CEO Dr. Jan-Frederik Arnold: “Automation has allowed us to revolutionize the legal sector and encourage flight passengers to pursue claims for compensation with a significantly higher chance of success through us rather than going it alone against the big airlines or using a classic lawyer. Furthermore, clients only pay us if their claim is successful – a model which is not available under classic legal representation. As a legal tech, we are therefore a disruptive alternative to the classic legal business. ”

“The custodian fee limits are tailored to the liquidity requirements of the company. The experts at the Hamburg Commercial Bank also help with legal and compliance requirements.“

While the processes for airline passengers are very streamlined, the processes running in the background are very demanding and complex . When it comes to the highly efficient processing of transactions, Flightright relies on the competence of the Hamburg Commercial Bank. “The custodian fee limits are tailored to the liquidity requirements of the company. The experts at the Hamburg Commercial Bank also help with legal and compliance requirements,“ says Martin Wiedemann, Senior Vice President in the Cash Management Sales department at the Hamburg Commercial Bank. Flightright managing director Arnold adds: “We very much appreciate the partnership we have here on an equal level. Flexibility on this level and the tailored solutions from HCOB are something that I have only ever seen in the particularly advanced Fintech sector. ”The distances between Potsdam and Hamburg are also so short that an aircraft doesn't even need to take off (late).

Contact us, we are looking forward to the dialogue.