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

Alan_Bowen

Scotthard, the details on how to claim are below, I would claim the full amount lost, including the additional costs. Whether you get it or not is a different matter but I suspect most will simply go to their bank and get the loss back through their credit card. If that happens you may get it all back, if 137000 people in the UK claim and there are thousands more in elsewhere in Europe allegedly, then it will be very little indeed

ENGLISH VERSION
!!!!!!!!!!!! Please be aware that the following translation is NOT legally binding. We will update this page in the coming days to keep you informed, and we will also publish a translation for legal equivalence !!!!!!!!!!

PROVISIONAL STATEMENT of the Directorate General for Tourism of Balearic islands Government regarding the insolvency of Lowcosttravelgroup

In view of the insolvency of Lowcosttravelgroup that came into force on July 15 of 2016, the Directorate General for Tourism wishes to inform those affected that of all the companies belonging to that group, only the spanish brand Lowcostholidays Spain S.L. has provided limited warranty at the tourism administration of this region. This guarantee comprises a total amount of € 1.200.000.-, which may be used to meet compliance with the obligations to consumers or end users, provided they are derived from the provision of services relating to package travel (flight + hotel).

First of all we suggest, prior to the filing of the claim against the Administration of Balearic Islands, to try to contact your travel agency to provide you with all the information about your current situation and the customers rights you are entitled to.


RECOMMENDATIONS

If the journey can not be performed due to a breach of a previously contracted and paid services with Lowcostholidays Spain SL, and if that payment has been made with credit card, it is recommendable to get in touch with your bank to back the payment of those services you will not be able to enjoy.

If you have subscribed a travel insurance, it is also advisable to contact the insurance company to verify which services and amounts are covered by the policy.

To follow the procedure to claim the breach, whatever the manner in which the claim is submitted, either through the official complaint form, either by personal letter addressed to our services, you always have to provide the following data.
DOCUMENTS TO BE PRESENTED:

• Claimant's personal data: name, ID number / CIF / passport or residence card, address, telephone number and, if applicable, fax number or email address.
• Data claimed company: all you can communicate on name or company name, ID number, address, telephone number and, if applicable, fax number or email address
• Description of package or service complaint and reason: all circumstances that can prove on how the package has been contracted, indicating the means of payment, if it was paid cash or by card.
• Claims: solution to be obtained.
• Accompanying documentation: documents certifying and serving as evidence of the expenses incurred in purchasing the package, plus all the evidence of the facts described in the complaint and those that are available, such as contracts, invoices, budgets, receipts, vouchers, descriptive brochures or advertising, or other means of reproduction in relation to the claim. Accompanying the scanned originals of the supporting documents.


WHERE TO DIRECT YOUR CLAIM

Electronically: Mail to info.lchspain@caib.es

KDH_2

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

If that happens you may get it all back, if 137000 people in the UK claim and there are thousands more in elsewhere in Europe allegedly, then it will be very little indeed......................

Yep.. looks that way!................Low Cost holidaymakers likely to get just £7.50 refund..............

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36834408

DealFinder2016

I know its a long shot, but does anyone know if we get any extra protection from EU Package Travel Directive (2015/2302/EU)?

st0ne5ish

Just had a long conversation with my credit card company (Tesco Bank), they are not using Section 75 to recover the original money instead raising a dispute under Mastercards chargeback scheme under the fact we paid for a service we haven't received.

They were confident that the original cost of my accommodation and transfers would be repaid. She said as soon as the dispute is raised they give a temporary refund of the original cost and that will show as a "product adjustment" on the statement.

Once they have raised the dispute Mastercard give the company (Lowcost) 45 days to challenge the dispute. If the company don't challenge it then the refund is permanent and can't be taken back off the account. If they do challenge it they have to prove why they think the service was provided which obviously they can't.

She said this is completely separate from Section 75 and only covers the cost of the original transaction not any consequential losses such as an increase in accommodation or transfer costs. Those would have to be claimed under section 75 but they might not apply as Lowcost was acting as an agent in our case as we only purchased the hotel and transfer not a flight.

So hopefully we can get the original amount back, fingers crossed!!

leylandsunaddict

st0ne5ish wrote: »

Just had a long conversation with my credit card company (Tesco Bank), they are not using Section 75 to recover the original money instead raising a dispute under Mastercards chargeback scheme under the fact we paid for a service we haven't received.

They were confident that the original cost of my accommodation and transfers would be repaid. She said as soon as the dispute is raised they give a temporary refund of the original cost and that will show as a "product adjustment" on the statement.

Once they have raised the dispute Mastercard give the company (Lowcost) 45 days to challenge the dispute. If the company don't challenge it then the refund is permanent and can't be taken back off the account. If they do challenge it they have to prove why they think the service was provided which obviously they can't.

She said this is completely separate from Section 75 and only covers the cost of the original transaction not any consequential losses such as an increase in accommodation or transfer costs. Those would have to be claimed under section 75 but they might not apply as Lowcost was acting as an agent in our case as we only purchased the hotel and transfer not a flight.

So hopefully we can get the original amount back, fingers crossed!!

LC can't dispute it because they don't exsit. I'm very curious how a bank can reclaim money from the account of a company that has gone into adminstration? They can't reclaim it if there isn't money in LC bank, and there are going to be thousands of people after chargebacks.

It will be very interesting to see how many people actually get paid out on chargebacks, and how they're funded.

martingilhooly

I paid £2600 for family holiday in 1 months time. Credit card company seems best (and only) hope I am told. How the hell can this be allowed to happen? Some poor souls won't even be aware, as no communication at all. Reliant on you seeing the news!!

Westin

ScottHart wrote: »

I know its a long shot, but does anyone know if we get any extra protection from EU Package Travel Directive (2015/2302/EU)?

No. No benefits at all.

leylandsunaddict

ScottHart wrote: »

I'm guessing this is a really silly question, but can anyone tell me what I amount can claim back from the Spanish authorities?


So
Original hotel price was £1575 - this was cancelled
Rebooked same hotel for £1940
Original flights £1300 - these are still valid
Original resort transfers were £35 - these were cancelled
Rebooked resort transfers for £30


Do I claim for the cost of the original cancelled bookings (£1610), or the amount it has cost me to rebook (£1970), or something completely different?

You would claim for the amount you paid when you booked, but you're not going to get it back. The adminstrators have said today that the bond placed was low, so compensation is likely to be around 1% - 2%, but it's done on a pooled basis, so in the region of £7.50 per person.

st0ne5ish

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

LC can't dispute it because they don't exsit. I'm very curious how a bank can reclaim money from the account of a company that has gone into adminstration? They can't reclaim it if there isn't money in LC bank, and there are going to be thousands of people after chargebacks.

It will be very interesting to see how many people actually get paid out on chargebacks, and how they're funded.

My understanding is the charge is sent back to LCH's acquiring bank and at that point the card holder receives a temporary refund. The acquiring bank can accept the chargeback or dispute it and refer it back to the issuing bank (Barclays, Tesco Bank, Lloyds, etc...). If they refer it back to the issuing bank and the issuing bank dispute it further then it goes to Arbitration and the scheme (Visa, MasterCard, or Amex) will be the ultimate arbitrator, and their decision on who pays is final.

skea56

I believe our CC (Cap 1) is also pursuing this as a charge back. My husband asked for Section 75 but was told because of the sheer number of claims this would be a faster and easier way to get the money back. If it turns out then that the charge back does not work, can you then ask for section 75?

Sk56