Holidays from Hell
At this time of year (summer, if it’s not evident from the weather) our thoughts turn naturally to getting away from it all. It is time for rest, relaxation and repose, far from these shores. In short, it’s about time we all had a good holiday. However, imagine that same dream vacation turning sour: flights delayed or cancelled; accommodation still under construction; catering facilities infested and swimming pools stagnant. Yes, it’s the holiday from hell! If the post-Christmas period is when advisers have to deal with most debt cases, undoubtedly, post-Summer is the season for travel and holiday complaints.
Citizens Advice Bureaux are the traditional first port of call for the disgruntled holiday maker and, true to form, the online CAB service Advice Guide has a whole section on these issues. The adviceguide has a nice mix of practical advice and legal pointers, with a comprehensive breadth of topics and a concise paragraph or two on each. The advice is straightforward and gives a lot of preventative advice too (i.e. the sort of thing which can be done beforehand, like making sure you’ve got your tickets and insurance, that sort of thing).
As I say, the information given goes beyond the just practical and suggests various legal remedies which may be available to the traveller with a problem. Although sparse, it is a useful signpost for further enquiry with useful links in some sections to other relevant organisations, and would be a good starting point for any further enquiries or online research.
One of the things that can mean a less than relaxing start to a holiday is a flight which is delayed or cancelled. Worse than that though, what if the airline goes out of business? ATOL or Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing is a statutory consumer protection scheme administered by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority). Most companies in the UK who sell air travel or air holidays have to have an ATOL by law. This means that the company has to lodge bonds with the CAA and the consumer is protected from losing money or being stranded abroad if an operator suddenly goes bust half-way through your holidays. If the bond is not sufficient to cover everyone, then the government steps in, courtesy of its Air Travel Trust. Neat, huh? The ATOL website also provide details of recently failed firms and details of what to do if you’ve booked with one. The resourceful adviser can also download a claim form directly from the website.
Often mentioned in the same breath, but having a distinct and quite separate remit is ABTA. ABTA is, in fact, the Association of British Travel Agencies, but tour operators and travel agencies who are members have to adhere to a code of conduct (a copy of which you can download from this site). Consumers can complain direct to ABTA about a failure to do so and cases can be referred to an independent arbitration scheme ("a low cost alternative to court action"). Similarly to ATOL, ABTA have a financial protection scheme to look to in the event of company failure - so again there’s someone to pick up the pieces if the travel agents go bust while you’re in Andalucia. You can read all the details online.
Of course, if things go really badly, the holidaymaker may only be pacified by the prospect of huge sums of cash on their return from the holiday from hell. This may require the intervention of a solicitor and online heavyweights Golds Solicitors do not shy away from this issue with a very useful little article on legal remedies which may be available. In its summary it covers not only the more obvious breach of contract type actions, but also more recent legislation from (appropriately enough) Europe. In doing so, Golds underline the important point that the traveller will be better protected by the law on a package holiday than if the same holiday was booked direct by the consumer. Well, there had to some reason for paying all that extra money, didn’t there?
In researching this article, I came across a number of miscellaneous websites, which may be of use to advisers or indeed anyone planning a holiday. First, having recently sat though a timeshare style presentation (3.5 hours worth!) I have become aware that some people have had problems with timeshare properties in the past. In which case, the Timeshare Consumers Association website may be of some use. It provides help and advice on timeshares and timeshare problems. It also assists timeshare owners in exchanging information and supports timeshare owners clubs. The Organization for Timeshare in Europe site gives general advice about timeshare to prospective buyers, briefly explains current legislation in the United Kingdom and Europe. The Organization offers a free conciliation service to those in dispute with its members.
The Passport Service’s website gives the current turnaround times for processing applications under the "standard service". The Department of Health has some helpful advice for travellers about all sorts of nasty diseases you can pick up overseas. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also has advice for travellers, including a black list of countries you shouldn’t visit because we may be invading soon. FCO advice on this can be important for insurance purposes.
Finally, I would like to stress that we have been discussing how to avoid holidays from hell, and not holidays in Hell, Norway which, I’m sure, are perfectly lovely.
This article was written by Iain Nisbet of Govan Law Centre.
It first appeared in SCOLAG Legal Journal in July 2003.
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