Holiday Which? highlights DIY holiday concerns

Consumer body Holiday Which? has highlighted the “confusing mess” surrounding passenger protection for people arranging DIY holidays.

The latest issue of the magazine puts the issue of financial protection under the spotlight in the wake of ABTA’s court victory against the Civil Aviation Authority over whether travel agents selling component holidays should carry ATOLs.

Holiday Which? said the overall result was a “confusing mess that will keep lawyers busy and make the business of buying a holiday more of a headache for consumers”.

The organisation’s principal researcher Mike Pedley said: “If a holiday operator goes bust, holidaymakers cannot assume that they will be able to get their money back.

“DIY holidays, whether booked online or through an agent, are not automatically protected. If you’re booking your summer holiday you must ask if it’s ATOL bonded or covered by an alernative protection scheme to ensure you’ll be looked after if anything should go wrong.”

Holiday Which? said there was a worry that some operators may sell holiday components separately rather than as a package to avoid providing financial protection to customers.

“They can sidestep liability for poor standards and consumer safety in one neat move,” the consumer watchdog warned.

“If this were to happen, it’s not just your financial protection that suffers: if there’s a problem with the standard of accommodation or you’re injured – or worse  – in a hotel that’s part of a package, the general rule under the Package Travel Regulations is that the tour operator is responsible. But book the holiday independently and you may end up having to take legal action against a hotel owner based in a different country.”

ABTA said it welcomed the Holiday Which? report highlighting the lack of statutory protection for DIY holidays.

Chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “All holidays, and pre-arranged travel should be financially protected.

“Laws have not kept up with the changes in consumer demand and developments in the travel industry. We are calling for the European Package Travel Directive to be re-written on the grounds that it is out-of-date and protects only a continually diminishing proportion of those who travel.”

ABTA and the CAA lobbied the government on the issue last year, suggesting a simple, low cost scheme, funded by a levy, which would have provided a financial safety net for all travel arrangements. But this was rejected, potentially exposing millions of customers to the risk of losing their money if their travel provider fails financially, ABTA said. 

The Government stance is one of ‘caveat emptor’– or ‘buyer beware’, with regards to financial protection on holidays and travel, ABTA added

This is in “stark contrast” to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee’s report last week on the sale of travel insurance which called for heightened consumer protection, said the association.

ABTA claims its members are the only travel companies to sign up to a strict Code of Conduct; they are obliged to tell customers what financial protection is on offer for the products they are selling, and they can offer a low cost insurance cover for any travel arrangements not financially protected under current law.

by Phil Davies