Country Boarders are Closed to the UK, Am I entitled to a refund?

cwaite

I have a once in a lifetime holiday booked to the Maldives in September and the company I booked the ATOL Protected Package Holiday with are demanding I pay the balance within 4 weeks.

At the present time the Maldives are opening their boarders to certain countries from 1st July 2020, however the UK isn't one of those countries, so if come September the FCO are allowing travel but the Maldives are still not accepting visitors from the UK am I entitled to a full refund for the holiday? Does anyone know the answer?
I am trying to find out as I have been saving for many years for this holiday and really don't want to throw any more of my hard earned money down the drain.

Life__Goes__On

Yes, you are entitled to a full refund as it's a package holiday
https://www.abta.com/tips-and-advice/is-my-holiday-protected/new-package-travel-regulations
"The new regulations give customers the right to cancel where the incident significantly affects the performance of your holiday"
No one could claim not being allowed to enter isn't a significant change.

cwaite

Thank you for this my holiday is covered under ATOL do you know if ATOL are the same?

Life__Goes__On

cwaite said:

Thank you for this my holiday is covered under ATOL do you know if ATOL are the same?

The ATOL cert is for if the company stops trading, is they do you are covered with that cert.

cwaite

So as I have ATOL protection rather than ABTA protection does this mean I would not be entitled to a refund, if they do not open their boarders to the UK.

Life__Goes__On

ATOL  protects you from if the package included a flight, ABTA protects you if your package doesn't include flights.
But both are if a a company fails.

What protects you  is the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements 2018
If what whatever reason they can not fulfill the package holiday (single contract), then you are entitled a full refund from your travel agent.

cwaite

That's great news, Thank you for explaining this!