01 February 2010

Insured agents claim back Ã&#pound;400,000 following FlyGlobspan failure

Airline failure insurance has helped protect a number of independent travel agents from losing out due to the collapse of FlyGlobespan.

Seven members of Advantage Travel Centres, who protected their businesses from financial loss by taking Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance (SAFI), have claimed a total of over £400,000 to date following the collapse of the Scottish operator and airline before Christmas.

Many agents were acting as "principals" and dynamically packaging using

FlyGlobespan flights.

As such their obligation to their customers to "replace, refund or repatriate" would have cost a substantial sum without SAFI, according to the consortium.

Advantage financial services director David Sharp said: "Without the benefit of SAFI, several Advantage members, principally in Scotland, would have been left with a substantial financial loss to cover.

"In today’s economic climate that could have made the difference between survival and business failure.

"Those members who sensibly decided to take SAFI to protect their businesses and thereby their customers, have been saved serious hassle and financial liabilities.

"Once claims are submitted and ratified, payments are made quickly to ensure members aren’t damaged by potential cash flow problems.

"ABTA and ATOL claims can often take months to resolve and the swiftness with which these SAFI claims have been settled has ensured neither our members nor their customers have suffered unnecessarily."

Advantage Financial Services specialises in providing bonding and insurance services for the travel industry including SAFI, ABTA and IATA Bonds, ATOL CAA Bonds and Dynamic Packaging Supplier Failure Insurance.

by Phil Davies