Section 75 Claim Miss sold Holiday

Vicar36

Looking for a bit of advice, came back from holiday recently. Hotel was due to open April but ended up 2 months delayed and opened two weeks before we arrived.

It was supposed to be a 5* holiday but fell well short with numerous issues.

The holiday company have so far ignored my complaint so I have submitted a Section 75 claim. Initial discussion with CC company has been quite dismissive of my claim in that one persons expectations of food differs from another (that is only one example of my complaint there is a huge list).

Has anyone any experience.

I should add this was a £10k holiday for a week so cost me a small fortune

Vicar36

Sorry should add I havent asked for the total amount to be refunded I have asked for a 25% refund

[Deleted User]

I would pursue it with the holiday company for now.

A partial refund is gong to be a hard route to take with the credit card company.

Willing2Learn

I would also complain to the holiday company too. I would tweak the letter template in the "Which?" article linked below:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/letter/letter-to-claim-for-unsatisfactory-hotel-accommodation

eddddy

Vicar36 wrote: »

The holiday company have so far ignored my complaint so I have submitted a Section 75 claim. Initial discussion with CC company has been quite dismissive of my claim in that one persons expectations of food differs from another (that is only one example of my complaint there is a huge list).

Bear in mind that s75 specifically makes the card company jointly liable for Breach of Contract and Misrepresentation - it doesn't provide any other warranty.

So you should make it clear in your s75 claim how the contract was breached, and/or what misrepresentation occurred...

... as in the Which? letter template:

Willing2Learn wrote: »

I would tweak the letter template in the "Which?" article linked below:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/letter/letter-to-claim-for-unsatisfactory-hotel-accommodation

Terry_Towelling

If the CC company has started to um and ahh about the details of your claim it seems they have probably agreed that the payment criteria for a S75 claim have been met - so that's a good start.

If the travel company has misrepresented anything or breached the contract you had with them, you may indeed have a claim. That said, I believe Contract law requires you to mitigate your losses when claiming breach of contract, so you need to be able to quantify the exact extent of your 'losses' brought about by the breach/misrepresentation and you may need evidence - a 25% figure with no hard evidential foundation may not work.

I imagine for £10K (for just two of you?) you might well have very high expectations of the package provided but be prepared for interpretational/subjective issues and hearsay to cloud the case.

Vicar36

thank you all - this is helpful, The holiday company have rejected my complaint entirely despite offering compensations to others staying at the same time. So it is frustrating.....

chattychappy

Vicar36 wrote: »

Initial discussion with CC company has been quite dismissive of my claim in that one persons expectations of food differs from another (that is only one example of my complaint there is a huge list).

"Initial discussion"?? You do need to do it in writing and insist they set out reasons for refusal. They may well insist on an expert's report. Comply as far as you feel their requests are reasonable, but bear in mind that whatever process the CC imposes on you, this is their internal process, not one set out by S75.

Then issue a small claim in the county court - using Moneyclaim online. Suggest you DON'T do what most do and try to squeeze the "particulars of claim" into the limited space available. Use the option to send particulars to follow and do this with numbered paragraphs.

NOTE, this just starts the litigation ball rolling. They (the CC+holiday company) must reply with a defence. But the most likely outcome is a negotiated settlement - the difference is that a clock will be ticking as eventually if you don't settle, there will be a hearing.

One more thing - don't underclaim. If your holiday was wrecked, by all means claim the full amount. You can always negotiate downwards.

jonesMUFCforever

I agree with most of chatty's post but there are points I would like to make.
Starting a small claims before they have had the opportunity of assessing your claim is jumping the gun, and following on from that attempting to claim the whole cost may make the person deciding the outcome of your case think you as unreasonable and throw the case out.

Terry_Towelling

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Starting a small claims before they have had the opportunity of assessing your claim is jumping the gun, and following on from that attempting to claim the whole cost may make the person deciding the outcome of your case think you as unreasonable and throw the case out.

Agreed. And let's just reiterate (from posts #5 & #6) S75 only allows a different avenue for seeking redress when your supplier has breached or misrepresented the contract it holds with you. It doesn't alter the fact that you are alleging a breach/misrepresentation of contract and the Law of Contract requires you to mitigate your losses (i.e. quantify and minimise them) and you will almost certainly have to provide evidence to support your case.

All S75 does is allow you to rope the lender into the case.

Leaping straight into court action has historically been known to work when the other party is too 'unwieldy' to respond quickly enough and fails to represent themselves in time.

chattychappy

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

following on from that attempting to claim the whole cost may make the person deciding the outcome of your case think you as unreasonable and throw the case out.

I disagree with the bit about throwing the case out. Judges are very measured in their approach - they are quite able to give judgment in a smaller amount if they thought that that was appropriate. An application to strike out a case is most unusual in a small claim (and not allowed under the civil procedure rules after allocation).

But most cases settle anyway. The OP sounds very reasonable and fair and has pitched in for only 25% of the amount. In my experience, kicking off with a reduced amount doesn't make it more likely you will come away with a rapid settlement. Just you are starting with a lower point from which you could be knocked down. From the initial story, I would have been asking for more - though it does depend on the detail of what went wrong, the evidence and any efforts the OP made at the time. In fact I would have said something along the lines of "I believe the holiday was fundamentally ruined, so I'm entitled to a full refund. Without prejudice to that and in order to achieve a swift settlement, I would be willing to accept a 50% refund on the basis I receive this within 14 days."

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

It doesn't alter the fact that you are alleging a breach/misrepresentation of contract and the Law of Contract requires you to mitigate your losses (i.e. quantify and minimise them)

It would be for defence to show that the OP could have mitigated his losses and didn't. Not easy to see how the OP could have mitigated his losses in the legal sense - leave the hotel and move to another one, perhaps.

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

Leaping straight into court action has historically been known to work when the other party is too 'unwieldy' to respond quickly enough and fails to represent themselves in time.

Yep - often the judge sees an honest chap who's been ripped off and comes well prepared with all the facts and is up against some guy who doesn't have a clue what happened and only heard about the case earlier that morning.

The purpose of issuing a claim is to set out in a formal way the basis of a claim. It sets a background clock ticking against which the parties can then negotiate a deal. Nobody wants to go to court. Once the claim is issued, both parties are equal and follow procedures set out by the court. This is different to the situation where you are knocking on the door of the CC and they are telling you what hurdles you must jump if you want them to consider your claim.