Broker vs agent?

MrPez

Hi, 
We were booked to go sailing to the Caribbean. We chartered a boat through Latesail - a UK registered company. Latesail then give you a contract with a charter company who actually supply the boat and they were registered in the Caribbean. 
Unfortunately the charter company has gone bust so rebooking is no longer and option. Latesail are saying that they are just a broker and our contract was with the charter company (we did have a contract with the charter company) but the invoice we paid was from latesail.
It seems to me that our right of refund is with latesail but I wondered if there is a difference between an agent and a broker? 

mattyprice4004

Hmmm, an interesting one. So you definitely paid Latesail directly and not the charter company? 

MrPez

Yes, we have an invoice from latesail which we paid. But the contract with all the terms and conditions is from the charter company. 

Alan_Bowen

Looking at latesail's own terms, they claim to simply act as an agent for the operator but it is a criminal offence to fail to provide financial protection for any package holiday sold in the UK, and a yacht charter being both transport and accommodation is clearly a package. If the supplier, the company that appears to have ceased to trade does not provide financial protection, then the obligation rests with the agent, you might remind them of the Package Travel Regulations 2018 clause 27:

Specific obligations of the retailer where the organiser is established outside the European Economic Area

27.  Where—

(a)an organiser is established outside the European Economic Area, and

(b)a retailer established in the United Kingdom sells or offers for sale packages combined by that organiser,

the retailer is subject to the obligations for organisers set out in Parts 4 and 5, unless the retailer provides evidence that the organiser complies with those Parts. 
Chatham is in Kent who have a very effective Trading Standards department based in Maidstone, so if Latesail appear unwilling to refund, an email to Maidstone is in order!

MrPez

Thanks for this advice - not an area I know a lot about.
Will go back to Latesail. Its a shame to have to do it, I'm sure a lot of these companies are having a pretty miserable time right now, but if the company has gone bust there isn't really a lot else that can be done.

eskbanker

Alan_Bowen said:

a yacht charter being both transport and accommodation is clearly a package

Not sure I'd agree with that interpretation, in the context of

a “package” means a combination of at least two different types of travel services for the purpose of the same trip or holiday

[...]

“travel service” means—

(a) the carriage of passengers;

(b) the provision of accommodation which is not intrinsically part of the carriage of passengers and is not for residential purposes [...]

MrPez

Ah. So if that is the case, will that mean we have no rights to refund?
Also, it was paid by credit card and so my next plan was to try and claim under section 75 but reading up about it I'm wondering if Latesail will count as a 3rd party meaning section 75 won't help?
We do have travel insurance but I was reluctant to do down that route because there were 4 travellers. Each has travel insurance but the holiday (so far) was paid in full by one person and so I can envisage difficulties proving payment. In addition I can see each of us having to pay an excess before claiming.
I can see this becoming even more of a headache...

Alan_Bowen

Cruises have always been considered to be packages, as far back as the original Directive in 1990, so there is no issue there. Even Trading Standards have agreed for the last 30 years!

Alan_Bowen

Me again, the quote from eskbanker was to ensure that ferry companies that provide overnight accommodation in cabins were not caught by the Regulations, neither are overnight sleeper trains but cruises certainly are! 

MrPez

Oh - a glimmer of hope then!

eskbanker

Alan_Bowen said:

Cruises have always been considered to be packages, as far back as the original Directive in 1990, so there is no issue there. Even Trading Standards have agreed for the last 30 years!

Still unconvinced!  To me, cruises are different, as they involve provision of all sorts of tourist services to fall within (the rest of) the package definition, but a 'self-drive' yacht charter seems more akin to a vehicle rental.