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ATOL PROTECTION

Hi Can you please clarify what ATOL Protection actually means now. It appears that Airlines, suppliers and Hotels can choose not to refund for cancelled trips and Tour Operators are unable to offer a complete refund to the Clients. If the Government changes the PTR to suit the situation the confidence of the public will be in tatters and we, as an industry, will face a huge backlash when this all goes away. Should some of the £320bn the Government have promised go towards shoring up the refunds that the public have been promised- because they hold a piece of yellow paper - rather than changing the Goal posts around them?

If these rumoured changes to the PTR are made then ATOL Protection will not be fit for purpose.

 

3 Collaborators
Sue Alexander
Sue AlexanderManaging Director
Sue Alexander
Abra DunsbyFormer TTG Features Editor
Sue Alexander
Simon BrodieDirector

3 responses
Sue AlexanderSue Alexander19 Mar 2020 14:38

Hi Martin thank you very much for your very informative reply. We have had a few circumstances over the last few days where the Clients have not been offered a 100% refund even though they are ATOL Protected. We are currently struggling with Tour Operators unable to refund some of the 'package' as the Airline or Hotel will not refund to them, under these circumstances the Clients are questioning the ATOL Protection and our worth. I am sure that most people would be reasonable considering the huge volume and therefore accept a delayed Refund which would be more acceptable to the few Clients that are unable to postpone their trip than have a future booking credit note.

An announcement needs to be made soon as to where the financial protection comes in as I am sure every Agent in the land is finding vast inconsistencies in what operators can and cant offer under the ATOL protection scheme and there is going to be a huge backlash if the public are unable to receive money back. regards Sue

 


Abra DunsbyAbra Dunsby19 Mar 2020 08:21
Hi Sue,

We've had the following response from Martin Alcock, director of Trave Trade Consultancy:

"The ATOL scheme exists to protect consumers. In the event that a package organiser is unable to provide the package due to suppliers being unable to provide the flight or hotel, the package organiser is responsible for replacing those elements or refunding the package price in full within 14 days. Only when the package organiser themselves collapse, does the ATOL scheme step in to refund customers and organise repatriations if necessary.

The 14-day refund obligation never envisaged the current unprecedented situation. In my view, if all package organisers are forced to pay cash refunds at this time, when in many cases, they have not received refunds from suppliers, there will be a huge number of failures and very few left standing. Ultimately I believe this would be a far worse position for consumers, not to mention package organisers and travel agents.

What we understand is being considered (and it is important to state that at the time of writing on 18 March 2020, no changes to the Package Travel Regulations or the ATOL Regulations have yet been agreed or announced) is a temporary amendment to the law, disapplying the 14 day refund obligation for a limited time period. Instead, package organisers will be able to issue some form of voucher for a future booking or a delayed refund.
Similar schemes are in the process of being launched in many other European countries.

We understand the law change would ensure that the voucher/ delayed refund would remain protected by the ATOL scheme, and therefore the customer would remain financially protected throughout the temporary arrangement period."

Hope this helps!

Abra DunsbyAbra Dunsby18 Mar 2020 15:42
Hi Sue, I'll clarify with one of our experts and will have an answer for you shortly
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