Travel and Holidays
Cancelled flights, collapsed operators, vouchers offered instead of refunds, and accommodation that bore no resemblance to the photographs.
Travel claims are unusually tangled because several regimes overlap and each gives you something different: UK261 for flights, the Package Travel Regulations for packages, ATOL for flight-inclusive packages, and chargeback and Section 75 underneath all of it.
The practical consequence is that travellers routinely accept less than they are owed, most often by taking a voucher where the entitlement was cash. Where you had a right to a refund, a credit note does not automatically discharge it.
Timing is the other trap. Chargeback for travel generally runs from the intended travel date rather than the booking date, which usually means you have longer than you think. People wait for the operator to respond, and that wait is what runs the clock down.
The problems that come up most
Drawn from the claims we actually run in this area, not from a generic list of consumer complaints.
Vouchers offered where the legal entitlement was a cash refund
Extraordinary circumstances claimed for disruption that was within the airline's control
Operators and airlines failing, leaving bookings unfulfilled
Accommodation materially different from what was advertised
Booking fees withheld from refunds for trips that never happened
What clients in this sector achieve
These are the outcomes engagements in this sector are scoped to produce. They are written into the proposal so success is defined before the work starts, not assessed afterwards.
- Cash refunds recovered where only vouchers had been offered
- Refund and compensation pursued as the separate entitlements they are
- ATOL and card claims run in parallel rather than in sequence
- Correct identification of who the contract was actually with
Where sector programmes usually start
Cancelled Flights and Holidays
Flights cancelled, holidays that did not happen, and providers that offered a voucher when you were entitled to cash.
Tickets and Cancelled Events
Events cancelled or rescheduled, tickets that never arrived, and resale platforms that will not refund.
Retailer or Provider Insolvency
The company you paid has gone into administration. Joining the creditors' queue is rarely your best option, and often not your only one.
Section 75 Claims
On credit card purchases between $100 and $30,000, your card provider is equally liable with the retailer. That is statute, not a scheme rule.
Engagements in this sector
$8,900 recovered after a tour operator collapsed with the holiday unflown
They had been told to register with the administrators and wait. Registering was right; waiting was not. By the time they called us the window on the deposit was almost…
- Recovered in full
- $8,900 Recovered in full
- From first call to filing
- 4 days From first call to filing
- What the clock actually ran from
- Travel date What the clock actually ran from