CMV’s parent company South Quay Travel & Leisure collapsed on 20 July this year.

Some agents complained that clients who were issued with a Refund Credit Note were refunded the net amount by Abta and told to ask the agent for commission.

However, for bookings where balances have been paid and which were due to travel after CMV went into administration, Abta is refunding the full amount.

One agent asked: “What is the difference? On both types of booking the full balance was paid to CMV, so why do we have to refund our commission on one and not the other?”

An Abta spokesman explained: “There are two types of claim. The first is the regular claim for a future departure that does not take place as a result of the failure. These claims are paid gross to the customer as always.
 
“The second type relates to bookings cancelled before the failure and not because of the insolvency. In these cases, travel organisers refund the net amount to the travel agent, who then grosses it up and then refunds the customer. 

“This is the basis on which Abta deals with claims of this type.”

Abta said it had made this clear at the time of CMV’s failure. 

“This has become a more significant issue than normal simply due to the sheer scale of refunds caused by pandemic,” the spokesperson said.