Advice needed on travel booked abroad

yas1320

Hey
I'm after some advice. I booked a pilgrimage to Saudia Arabia a few months ago to travel at the end of March. I've paid for the entire trip through a travel agent who is ATOL protected. The Saudi Government today have temporary suspended pilgrims and tourists coming into the country. I have not got any insurance. The travel agent has said that if the suspension is still in place when we are supposed to be travelling then I may probably get a full refund for the flights but not for the hotels. Have I been given the correct advice by the Travel agent?

Aylesbury_Duck

It's possible the flights will be cancelled by the airline, so you'd be lucky with those and get a refund if they are cancelled.  The hotels?  I don't see why you would get a refund from them.

Always, always take out insurance on the day you book the trip.  As you are discovering, it's a false economy not to do so.

yas1320

I've just thought, I've got travel insurance with my bank account. Would I be covered through that ?

Alan_Bowen

You may be but the cover may be restricted to Europe if the cover is free, if you are paying a monthly fee it might be worldwide. However, if you have an ATOL protected package and the entire purpose of the visit is impossible, then I think the organiser may be liable to offer a full refund, not just the flight element

yas1320

Yes, I pay a monthly fee and I'm pretty sure it does cover the whole world. It is ATOL protected package. - that's what I'm trying to find out. Some places are saying ATOL only cover you for when a company goes bust.

Westin

I think what needs to be established is if you have a package or protected set of travel components (flight+hotel+transfers etc) or separate arrangements. In theory if booking the flights and hotel together, or within a short period (24h I think) then you have better protection, not only financially but also if as in this case one element can not be fulfilled then a full refund on all elements is paid.  If you have an ATOL certificate look at the information towards the bottom for the details of if it is a single contract package, or something else.

ATOL is for financial protection but the information on the certificate will tell if you have a package or not and if you are covered under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.

yas1320

Westin said:

I think what needs to be established is if you have a package or protected set of travel components (flight+hotel+transfers etc) or separate arrangements. In theory if booking the flights and hotel together, or within a short period (24h I think) then you have better protection, not only financially but also if as in this case one element can not be fulfilled then a full refund on all elements is paid.  If you have an ATOL certificate look at the information towards the bottom for the details of if it is a single contract package, or something else.

ATOL is for financial protection but the information on the certificate will tell if you have a package or not and if you are covered under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.

I've just checked the certificate and it's a single contract.  It also says the flights and hotels and transfers are all protected, but on the certificate, it says "if (travel agent's name) stops trading, the passengers named above will either:

1 take and complete their trip; or

2 receive a refund.

Your protection depends on the terms of the ATOL scheme and the specifics of the ATOL

holder failure (available at www.atol.org.uk)."
So according to the certificate, does it only protect us from the travel agent going bust?

NoodleDoodleMan

Give your travel insurance company a call - they'll advise on the issues pertinent to your travel and accommodation etc.

Alan_Bowen

If it is a single package the travel agent will have to refund the full value of the pilgrimage if the trip cannot go ahead due to government action. Alas a lot of agents are discovering to their cost that being a package organiser is risky for them and they should, but may not, have arranged business interruption cover for their own business

Westin

From the information given, this being a single contract arrangement, under the previously mentioned legislation, you should receive a full refund of the total cost of all items booked under the package should the Saudi Government stop pilgrims travelling to the Kingdom.  You are in a fortunate position. I suspect many others who have booked similar trips will not be protected in this way and not so fortunate.

I would give it a few days to settle then contact the agent again next week. Possibly reminding them that you will be expecting a full refund under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations if your trip is cancelled.

charlie_1974

Hi everyone, sorry this is a bit long and I’m not sure I’m even posting this in the right place.

I have annual travel insurance which I bought last August and will be using to cover my family trip to Florida in June/July 2020. I contacted my travel insurance company to ask what they would cover because I am about to buy theme park tickets which cost about £600. The small print on the policy said the amount covered was £250 but it didn’t specify if that was in person or in total. I sent them the following message, “I have a Silver Annual policy, worldwide 2. I just wanted to check if cancellations will be covered by this policy, if there are travel restrictions put in place because of the Corona Virus.”

The response I got, via email was “Regarding the coronavirus, you would be covered medically whilst abroad. If your holiday was cancelled as a result of the coronavirus, this would not be covered under the policy unless you purchased the natural catastrophe cover prior to the coronavirus being announced UNLESS the FCO are advising against all but essential travel as this is a general exclusion on our policy.  If you have booked through a tour operator, it would be their responsibility to refund your holiday or find you an alternative.”

I took from this that I WOULD be covered if the FCO advised against all but essential travel and then asked them to confirm the amount they covered for excursions.

They replied, “Please be advised you are not covered for any cancellation expenses if the FCO advise against all or all but essential travel.”

Can this be right? What is the point of people paying for travel insurance if they aren’t going to be able to claim their money back for holidays or excursions they can’t go on?

Thanks for any help with this, 

Wendy