ccarddeposit paid on holiday, firm gone bankrupt

ariapro22

hi
I paid a deposit on a holiday and the firm has gone into liquidation. The firm was a member of the travel trust association and the holiday booking has been transferred to another firm albeit without some "freebies" which were included originally such as free hotel and parking at airport. when I asked the credit card company about a refund of the deposit i was told that I would have to get a cancellation certificate from abta to prove the company had gone bust before they would pay out. The holiday booking has been honoured by another company in the TTA and the deposit has been paid from the TTA to them. Am I still entitled to a refund of the deposit from the Ccard company (amex) under section 75? this would help to offset the added expense incurred booking a hotel and car parking at least. or am I being unreasonable as the money hasn't technically been lost.

jonesMUFCforever

I would say no.
They have offered an alternative.


You could ask the new company for a refund.

chattychappy

If the "freebies" were part of the original deal (rather than genuine extra-contractual freebies), then you are entitled to them. If the new company are not willing to supply them then you can it's a breach of contract for which the CC is jointly liable with the now defunct trader.

Perhaps try to engage the new firm by email so there is a written record. Ask them whether they will or will not supply these. If not, why not? If they give an answer to the effect that it's a liability they are not prepared to take on (rather than deny it was ever part of the package) then I'd go back to the CC with this plus any other evidence you have. Give them a choice to "make good" by either making the bookings on your behalf or compensating you - give them a figure based on what you reckon it will cost you to book yourself.

You can't really demand a refund if the holiday is going ahead pretty much as planned.

thenudeone

The CC is jointly liable for all parts of the contract.

As long as the extras were part of the contract, you can claim. Don't be put off by demands for certificates etc. - although you should provide whatever evidence you reasonably can.

ariapro22

thanks for the advice.
the "freebies" were listed on the original invoice as £0.0 each and the details of the companies they used were against each line. i would consider that as part of the contract. The new company aren't prepared to honour anything but the hotel , hire car and flights. my only "gripe" is that I have to finance a hotel and parking for 2 weeks where that was initially included and that the code used to book the flights precludes us using airmiles to upgrade as we were originally planning to do. If I could get the deposit back from the credit card company this would compensate for the extra expence incurred booking the airport hotel and car parking.
the new company say the extras were an agreement with the old company and will not cover them, only the paid portion.

jonesMUFCforever

Does a contract need to have a value to be legal?


I don't know the answer - but if the freebies have £0.00 then this might be problematic in claiming anything back.

bigadaj

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Does a contract need to have a value to be legal?


I don't know the answer - but if the freebies have £0.00 then this might be problematic in claiming anything back.

Could certainly be a problem, there needs to be a consideration normally to form a contract. As to whether these extras could form part of the whole value of the contract is another consideration.

I certainly know that no professional services works are covered by professional indemnity insurance unless a fee has been paid, so there's no cover for a favour or an initial freebie. This doesn't mean the supplier isn't liable, just that their insurance won't cover them.

Mr_Lawnmower

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Does a contract need to have a value to be legal?

In general, no consideration means no contract and usually no enforceability at all. There are some exceptions, notably deeds (which do not require consideration) and promises without consideration that give up a legal right (which case, in some cases, be upheld via promissory estoppel).


The underlying issue here is the true construction of the contract. Was it a single contract for all the items listed on the invoice, including those items listed at zero cost, or was it a contract for the chargeable element plus some extra-contractual freebies. If it's the latter, as seems likely, the original poster has a problem.

I'm also unclear which company has failed - the tour operator, the travel agent, or was the booking made direct with the operator? Who agreed to provide the freebies - the tour operator or the travel agent?


It's possible (I haven't checked) that there's relevant case law on free extras on holidays. It is certainly possible for details of two separate contracts to appear on one document, such as a mobile phone contract including a chargeable handset, which is two separate contracts, one for outright purchase of the handset and the second for the airtime service.