Originally Posted by Jyrsa

A happy update on this. After a few emails and snail mail replies from United I concluded that that bird wasn't going to fly so I complained to the CAA. They told me they interpret the case so that I should be compensated but UA claimed EU261 didn't apply and that they can't enforce their rulings.

I ended up using Bott & Co to sue in the UK small claims court and I just received confirmation that UA have agreed to settle and that our compensation less their fees is on the way to my account. The fees ended up being roughly 1/3 of the compensation amount (plus any accrued interest but that's likely to be low anyway). They charge 27% + 50€/person to pursue these claims now.

So scratch one for the delay being counted at the final destination (HNL in our case) if the delayed leg left from EU.