Refund of deposit retrospectively

bagand96

The example shown in Which quoted above isn't exactly the same though as the current situation.

If a cancelled holiday is re-sold, then yes, the company can't really prove it has suffered a loss.  However stating that a tour operator has had no costs if a holiday doesn't go ahead because of Covid-19 isn't the same.  It's likely tour operators are on the hook for millions of pounds of costs this summer, they will have contracts with hotels etc.  Again no one knows until it gets to court whether they would try and prove their costs and defend their contract.  I suspect they might though, as one case could open the flood gates.

We're in unique times and there's no examples or test cases that quite fit the current scenario.  I'm not saying nobody should challenge it, but be aware of all the possible outcomes, especially before incurring your own costs of going down the court route.

Life__Goes__On

It's not cancelled,  the contract still exists, if it didn't the the OP  would have to have the money returned.
Jet2 will have marked the contract as settled

EDIT
I could be wrong,  but if I wrong, then the only cost is time, if others are wrong the cost could be financial

Thrugelmir

Time is far more costly to a business than people assume. 

Life__Goes__On

bagand96 said:

The example shown in Which quoted above isn't exactly the same though as the current situation.

If a cancelled holiday is re-sold, then yes, the company can't really prove it has suffered a loss.  However stating that a tour operator has had no costs if a holiday doesn't go ahead because of Covid-19 isn't the same.  It's likely tour operators are on the hook for millions of pounds of costs this summer, they will have contracts with hotels etc.  Again no one knows until it gets to court whether they would try and prove their costs and defend their contract.  I suspect they might though, as one case could open the flood gates.

We're in unique times and there's no examples or test cases that quite fit the current scenario.  I'm not saying nobody should challenge it, but be aware of all the possible outcomes, especially before incurring your own costs of going down the court route.

I agree the tour operators will be on the hook for millions.
But that loss is different

It's about the loss to the company from that booking alone.
Would  Jet2  have lost money because it had to sell the holiday cheaper to someone else?
The answer if holiday is cancelled is no,  as there ends up being no holiday to sell.

paye

Life__Goes__On said:

rpb424 said:

I posted something similar in the Jet2 refund thread recently, but thought I'd put something here as well to maybe reach a wider audience. I can't find much specific info about the scenario.

We've recently cancelled our holiday in August and fully accept that we won't get our £240 deposit refunded as things stand, as the holiday is still officially 'going ahead' until such time as Jet2 decide on any extension to their current blanket cancellation date (16 June I think). Should it become the case that our holiday would have got cancelled anyway as part of further extensions, then would we have a case for a refund of the deposit, either from Jet2 or else from the credit card provider or via our travel insurance?

Please no responses along the lines of 'Why didn't you wait for them to cancel it themselves?'. We decided that even if it could happen then we didn't want to be 'hostage' to the circumstances under which it might have to happen e.g. social distancing, travel disruption, not everything open at the destination etc. We preferred to cancel now and try and go next year rather risk a 'shell' of a holiday this year. 

If we could have gone (regardless of circumstances) then I have no problem regarding the loss of deposit (it was our choice to cancel), but if Jet2 would have ended up cancelling it anyway then it seems somewhat unfair that they would get to keep the deposit for something that could not now happen through no fault of our own.

You have a chance of getting some of it back but might be a battle
Normally you pay a penalty for a breach of contract that can mean a loss of deposit.
But the breach must involve a financial loss.
If the holiday you booked doesn't go ahead there is no loss to them, in fact they would make a profit from a holiday that never was, then I believe would be unfair,so most of the money would need to be refunded apart from admin fees.

Which! also agrees https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/can-i-claim-back-a-non-refundable-deposit
For example, if you booked a holiday which then sells out and the company finds another customer to take your place it’s likely the only amount it can legitimately withhold from your deposit will be administrative costs.
 
As above example there is no place to fill as there would be no holiday

Many people don't understand the area of law where deposits are concerned and say they are always lost, this in fact is not the case.

I'm in a similar situation with Virgin Holidays, I can't get hold of anyone from Virgin Holidays to try and safe guard my deposit by moving  my  holiday to next year (I am due to travel in August). I have tried countless of times contacting them to no avail, I've  also sent them a letter stating that unless someone contacts me I will not be paying the balance. 

Would I be able to make a Section 75 claim on the basis that I have not received the service I have paid for?  The booking terms lets you  move the deposit to another holiday subject to paying any amendment fees, but seeing you can't get in touch with anyone from the company, technically they are in  breach of  contract for not administrating it? 

Life__Goes__On

paye said:

Life__Goes__On said:

rpb424 said:

I posted something similar in the Jet2 refund thread recently, but thought I'd put something here as well to maybe reach a wider audience. I can't find much specific info about the scenario.

We've recently cancelled our holiday in August and fully accept that we won't get our £240 deposit refunded as things stand, as the holiday is still officially 'going ahead' until such time as Jet2 decide on any extension to their current blanket cancellation date (16 June I think). Should it become the case that our holiday would have got cancelled anyway as part of further extensions, then would we have a case for a refund of the deposit, either from Jet2 or else from the credit card provider or via our travel insurance?

Please no responses along the lines of 'Why didn't you wait for them to cancel it themselves?'. We decided that even if it could happen then we didn't want to be 'hostage' to the circumstances under which it might have to happen e.g. social distancing, travel disruption, not everything open at the destination etc. We preferred to cancel now and try and go next year rather risk a 'shell' of a holiday this year. 

If we could have gone (regardless of circumstances) then I have no problem regarding the loss of deposit (it was our choice to cancel), but if Jet2 would have ended up cancelling it anyway then it seems somewhat unfair that they would get to keep the deposit for something that could not now happen through no fault of our own.

You have a chance of getting some of it back but might be a battle
Normally you pay a penalty for a breach of contract that can mean a loss of deposit.
But the breach must involve a financial loss.
If the holiday you booked doesn't go ahead there is no loss to them, in fact they would make a profit from a holiday that never was, then I believe would be unfair,so most of the money would need to be refunded apart from admin fees.

Which! also agrees https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/can-i-claim-back-a-non-refundable-deposit
For example, if you booked a holiday which then sells out and the company finds another customer to take your place it’s likely the only amount it can legitimately withhold from your deposit will be administrative costs.
 
As above example there is no place to fill as there would be no holiday

Many people don't understand the area of law where deposits are concerned and say they are always lost, this in fact is not the case.

I'm in a similar situation with Virgin Holidays, I can't get hold of anyone from Virgin Holidays to try and safe guard my deposit by moving  my  holiday to next year (I am due to travel in August). I have tried countless of times contacting them to no avail, I've  also sent them a letter stating that unless someone contacts me I will not be paying the balance. 

Would I be able to make a Section 75 claim on the basis that I have not received the service I have paid for?  The booking terms lets you  move the deposit to another holiday subject to paying any amendment fees, but seeing you can't get in touch with anyone from the company, technically they are in  breach of  contract for not administrating it? 

TBH I'm not sure,  but if your T&Cs state you can move a holiday, and you have tried for and the clock is running down, then it's possible you have a case, arguing that you are unable to change dates. I would be interested to know the outcome if you did try it.