Lowcostholidays collapses – your rights as 140,000 hit by travel chaos

KDH_2

Duane_Dibley wrote: »

I think it depends on the type of Nationwide account you have. If you have an account that gives only European cover you wont have ESF. If you have one that gives Worldwide cover (eg £10/month charge) you have. I think it is page 45 on the Worldwide policy document. Policy docs for European cover say you can buy an add on for ESF I think I read somewhere. It's all a bit hazy now with all the stress - I need a holiday!

Agreed - if you are using the FLEXPLUS a/c (£10 a month) account holiday insurance you have "End supplier failure cover" (ESF) included. If you are using the FLEXACCOUNT holiday insurance you don't get the ESF unless you have opted into it and paid an extra premium before travelling (and also paid it before Friday 15/7/16?)

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/product-support/current-account/flexaccount#xtab:docs-and-downloads
http://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/product-support/current-account/flex-plus#xtab:docs-and-downloads

Edwardevans606

Well i finally got through to my hotel and we have ended up with a room for about £200 more....I'm "happy" with that....so all in all if it comes to it we lose about £900. I really dont believe we will get a refund through s75 but it has to be pursued. Everyone is saying on forums and twitter that they have been promised a refund from their bank and so are booking alternative accommodation, flights etc. But people need to tread carefully, unless that money is in your account then i would assume it is gone. Either people are hearing what they want to hear or the banks are misinforming them.......

glentoran99

Sections 75 will cover you, its the chargebacks may not be successful

Ynohtna

I booked hotel flights transfer with lowcost flights are confirmed my hotel is saying the booking is fine but not paid transfer cancelled . I travel 10th of September so in limbo do I book my hotel again or wait. I paid on debit so contacted my bank nationwide to start chargeback claim but was told I need a letter off the administrator to determine the likelihood of getting any money back so don't hold out much hope

Alice_Walker

Edwardevans606 wrote: »

Well i finally got through to my hotel and we have ended up with a room for about £200 more....I'm "happy" with that....so all in all if it comes to it we lose about £900. I really dont believe we will get a refund through s75 but it has to be pursued. Everyone is saying on forums and twitter that they have been promised a refund from their bank and so are booking alternative accommodation, flights etc. But people need to tread carefully, unless that money is in your account then i would assume it is gone. Either people are hearing what they want to hear or the banks are misinforming them.......

Why do you think the banks are misinforming them? FOS guidance is clear, s. 75 covers you for reasonable costs as well as your original costs.

Ynohtna

Does s75 cover debit cards?

Alan_Bowen

Section 75 does not cover debit, only credit cards. However there isa chargeback scheme for debit cards, it works well with Visa, some say less well with Mastercard. I believe some banks put a time limit of 120 days from the transaction to make claims, so if you booked since March you should be OK but the claim can only be for the exact amount paid, not the consequential losses that some banks pay out under Section75

Alan_Bowen

Henners74, although Low Cost has its own IATA licence to issue tickets, it seems many if not all airlines had stopped doing business with them and they were therefore making bookings through other agents who like everyone else have not been paid. At this stage my advice would be to reclaim the money lost at Low Cost and start again, an airline won't issue a ticket on behalf of an agent who didn't make the booking in the first place nor the second agent who has no money to pay for it

Edwardevans606

Why do you think the banks are misinforming them? FOS guidance is clear, s. 75 covers you for reasonable costs as well as your original costs.

S.75 may not cover people because of the way Lowcostholidays works. In fact, Travel Agents in general may not be covered by s.75. There is even guidance on MSE about it which ironically contradicts their own advice stating anyone paying on credit card should be covered. Hopefully, the banks wont try and wriggle out of this and will pay up.

Ynohtna

Nationwide say they need a letter from the administrator before they will start a chargeback claim. Martin was on this morning today and he said you can do a s75 on debit card payments but the banks do not have a legal requirement to do it