ABTA arbritation vs Small Claims Court

Kaffree

Hello all

I’d like some advice please, if any one has prior experience with resolving disputes with tour operators.

In a nutshell - went on a cruise, suffered a catastrophic flood in our cabin. Everything soaked, so all electrics etc ruined. The TO then took our clothes away to launder them, but simply chucked everything into a big tumble drier and ruined/shrunk/bled all the clothes (dry clean only dresses and for some reason shoes were also tumble dried).
We were asked to total all our losses which were considerably more than £300.
TO offered us £300 comp, which since has been doubled to £600 since Which travel magazine got involved and wrote a story about it. That offer was to cover our travel insurance excess and a gesture of goodwill. The same offer (£300) was made to all the other cabins who were affected, but we were the only cabin with damaged possessions, the others just had wet floors for a few hours. We were subsequently moved to a different cabin due to the extensive damage. The TO won’t increase There offer as its ‘unfair’ to others (who incurred no damage).
Our travel insurance will only cover replacing half the damaged goods and includes no ‘loss of enjoyment’ over the’ ruined rest of the holiday (as we literally had the clothes on our backs and nothing else).

A slight side note - during this process, Which? Magazine got in touch and asked to write a story, and BBC RIP off Britain have filmed us for an episode to be filmed next year, so I assume we have a half decent story. As part of the bbc filming, an expert has recommended certain areas of law we should mention notably the Athens convention article 8 which says if your luggage is damaged the shipping company has to pay up to a certain amount.

The TO have refused all engagement regarding complaining since our return and we have been given the choice, by ABTA, to either use their arbitration scheme or take the company to small claims court.

I’ve done some research as to both and am unsure which route to take. I’d like to hear from people who have experienced either route and to hear if they had good or bad experiences, do they think they made the right choice with the option they chose and would they do anything differently if it happened again (don’t worry, I won’t be travelling with this TO again!)

Thank you for your help!

Caz3121

which cruise line was it and who was it booked through?

steve1500

Similarly, what evidence do you have, hopefully lots of photo's or video.


How do you know they tumble dryed dry clean only

If they are saying small claims assume must be a UK company

tacpot12

Sorry, I can't help with your question but if abta arbitration publish their reports I would suggest you read a few to see if they can be fair to consumers.

Good luck with your case. I'm not an expert but I don't see why you should have to claim off your travel insurance at all. The TO is liable for the damage so they should replace what you have lost. Does their offer of £600 cover what you lost? If it does, I would take their offer.

Alan_Bowen

Some quick thoughts on your options:

ABTA arbitration is quicker and on paper only, no hearings and generally much faster, county court cases can take months to reach a hearing and there may be additional fees to pay before you reach the courtroom

ABTA arbitration costs the supplier a few hundred pounds up front to defend, going to defend a court case incurs no upfront fees for the company concerned

ABTA arbitration is less legal and more 'what is right in the circumstances

Courts tend to award higher levels of compensation than ABTA arbitration

Neither ABTA nor the small claim courts publish decisions, ABTA monitors all arbitrations and publishes an annual review showing the percentage of successful claims and the average payout

How close is your local county court and how confident are you of presenting your case? Both services will allow you to present photographs of the flood and the damage to your clothes, you might also want to claim loss of enjoyment both for the trauma of the flood and the fact that with your clothes ruined you had very little to wear, how much this affected the cruise may depend on how formal it was.

Kaffree

It was with TUI and booked through them. Lots of photos and videos of the damage and resulting ruined clothes.

The £600 sadly doesn’t come close to covering our costs

tacpot12

Is there any chance that TUI might claim you took too much expensive stuff with you on the cruise?

stoneman

Also a court will allow TUI to nominate where they want the case held as the defendant, and that could be a long way from where you live.

I've been involved in cases where as soon as both parties have sat down in chambers the District Judge has adjured because one or other party hasn't followed the directions properly.

So you could travel a hundred miles or more, lose a days pay (a court will not reimburse wages, thge most you can claim is £97) get in, be out in 10 minutes and have to do it all over again, and maybe more.

CardinalWolsey

Most likely, small claims won't be applicable. If the Athens convention applies, then claims can only be brought in the Admiralty Division of the High Court. You need to check under what nation's law the contract is based (e.g. is applicable law where the ship is registered), or does Athens have precedence? Your tour operator is likely only acting as agent, and your claim would need to be brought against the cruise operator. Check for subtle differences between legal entity names, and marketing umbrellas. For example, TUI Cruises is a joint venture between TUI and Royal Caribbean Cruises - so different from TUI UK. You need specialised maritime law advice I'm afraid.