'Sue us if you want compensation' Concordia survivors told

Fernando Tofanelli, an Italian Argentinian student who lives in Surbiton, Surrey, asked the company for money to buy food and medicine, but says he was told he would not receive any kind of stipend unless he took legal action.

In a letter to Costa Cruises, he accused the cruise operator of "washing its hands" of survivors of the disaster, leaving them "destitute and traumatised".

"Your representatives told us categorically, and a number of times that there would be no compensation, and that if we wanted to sue the company we would be most welcome to try. I found this response utterly disgusting," he wrote.

Like many passengers aboard the stricken cruiseliner, Mr Tofanelli, who was on holiday with his family, lost all of his documents and bank cards when the ship hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio and sank on Friday, leaving him with no access to funds.

Passengers were given food whilst they were put up in a hotel in Rome, but did not have any money to buy basic provisions when they eventually travelled home - often encountering severe delays because they were travelling without passports.

“I don't have any cards, I don't have any ID, I don't have the key to my car which is parked at Barcelona port, so I asked for some money to buy basics. Initially, everyone from Costa Cruises was happy to take notes and said they were here to help us, but that seemed to change throughout the day,” Mr Tofanelli said.

“By the evening, a tough-looking man and a handful of women were telling us, 'If you want any money or compensation, you have to make a legal claim. You need to go to court'.”

Mr Tofanelli, who is disabled, was unable to buy essential medicine, whilst another member of his party lost her shoes in the disaster and had to spend more than 24 hours barefoot.

“The only people who helped us were the Italian government and the Proteccion Civil. They came with some tracksuits and T-shirts and underwear but there were not enough to round. We had to fight for trainers,” he said.

He and his family were forced to borrow money from friends to keep them going until Mr Tofanelli’s return flight to the UK. They now plan to mount a class action lawsuit against Costa Cruises with other passengers involved in the disaster.

A spokesman for Costa Cruises said he had yet to hear what the company’s compensation policy will be.

The apparent switch in the company’s stance towards compensating passengers came as it abruptly shifted its position about who is responsible for the disaster.

It initially spent two days defending Captain Francesco Schettino, 52, Costa Cruises but suggested on Sunday night that the blame lay with him after all.

“Preliminary indications are that there may have been significant human error on the part of the ship’s Master…which resulted in these grave consequences,” Costa Cruises said.

The chairman and chief executive of Costa Cruises added on Monday that the company “will be close to the captain and will provide him with all the necessary assistance, but we need to acknowledge the facts and we cannot deny human error," he said.

Italian prosecutors claim that Captain Francesco Schettino came too close to Giglio’s rocky shore to send a greeting signal to someone on the Italian island.

Mr Schettino is in jail, accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. He denies all wrongdoing and was questioned by magistrates on Tuesday.