B.A Holiday Deposit - Lost Job

MrRipley · 18 March 2017 at 6:00PM

Hi Folks,

A few months ago I booked an exotic holiday for the end of the year, unfortunately my work contract was terminated on the spot a few days ago out of the blue (just under 2 years employment, dismissal was in no way my fault for those wondering).

Due to this there's no way I'll be able to pay the remaining balance of quite a few thousand for the holiday, as I'll need to use my final pay and savings to live off of until I get a new job.

I believe B.A say the initial £££ deposit cannot be refunded from what I can find on the website.
The deposit was paid for via debit card.

Due to these unforeseen circumstances should BA refund me? Is there a route I can go down to hopefully recover this?

Or is there a way via my bank I can get refunded?

Thanks

k3lvc · 18 March 2017 at 6:04PM

What does your contract say ?

Assuming scheduled flights are included with BA then fairly unlikely they'll be of the flexible/refundable type therefore unless covered in total by the deposit I'd be expecting to have to pay for those in full.

For the hotel etc it's anyone's guess

You need to talk to them and also check your insurance policy (you are insured right ?)

SevenOfNine · 18 March 2017 at 6:09PM

Via bank no, why would you think so, BA haven't done anything to warrant your bank recovering your deposit.

BA unlikely, given what you've already discovered on their website (assume T&C's is what you've looked at).

Travel insurance, possibly. Depends on those T&C's as well, do please say you have some!

Sorry you've lost your job, it looks like you're likely to lose this deposit as well. Not too much £££ I hope.

alanq · 18 March 2017 at 6:12PM

Is it a package holiday? If so can you find anyone else to go in your place?

If so according to Which?
"If you're unable to go on your holiday because of personal circumstances you have the right to transfer your holiday to someone else. Holiday companies can charge a reasonable administration fee to transfer the booking to someone else."
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/i-have-to-cancel-my-package-holiday-what-are-my-rights

katejo · 18 March 2017 at 7:03PM

Sorry to hear about the job but didn't you take out insurance when you booked it? The cancellation part of the policy should cover sudden loss of job (as long as you didn't know that you might lose it when you booked)?

MrRipley · 18 March 2017 at 7:19PM

Thanks for the replies.

The job loss was completely out of the blue, no idea it would happen.

I have worldwide travel insurance with Barclays through my account, will need to check whether it covers this.
But at the same time I don't want my bank to freak out and reduce credit limits etc.

Think my best bet might be to call BA, not to cancel the holiday but hopefully be able to change the date for next year, which will give me enough time to get new employment and pay this off.

jimjames · 18 March 2017 at 7:57PM

MrRipley wrote: »

I have worldwide travel insurance with Barclays through my account, will need to check whether it covers this.
But at the same time I don't want my bank to freak out and reduce credit limits etc..

Travel insurance is generally nothing to do with the bank and will have no impact on your account. They usually hire a third party to supply the product and just badge it as their own.

Ben8282 · 18 March 2017 at 8:11PM

How much was this deposit? 10%?
If the holiday is not until the end of the year the balance won't be due yet for several months.
Perhaps you will have a new job by then?

Keep_pedalling · 18 March 2017 at 8:13PM

The travel policy does cover redundancy, but I would have thought the fact your monthly salary will no longer be going into your account is just as likely to rink alarm bells with the bank as putting in an insurance claim.

How much was the deposit? We booked a BA holiday last year and I seem to remember the deposit was fairly low, and certainly way under the flight costs, so I doubt there are any hotel costs that can be got back.

System · 19 March 2017 at 9:54AM

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

The travel policy does cover redundancy, but I would have thought the fact your monthly salary will no longer be going into your account is just as likely to rink alarm bells with the bank as putting in an insurance claim.

The bank will not assume the OP is unemployed when it stops getting a salary credits. They could have arranged it to be paid elsewhere.

Essentially, the OP would have to tell them.

PeacefulWaters · 19 March 2017 at 2:08PM

Heng_Leng wrote: »

The bank will not assume the OP is unemployed when it stops getting a salary credits. They could have arranged it to be paid elsewhere.

Essentially, the OP would have to tell them.

If an account goes unfunded there is a big risk of overdraft limits being removed.

I would recommend moving funds in and out of the account regularly to keep funding levels the same, in the same way people do to meet funding requirement for higher interest rates etc.

B.A Holiday Deposit - Lost Job

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