Package Travel Regulations refunds revision branded ‘waste of time’

Industry lawyers have warned a revision of the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs) requiring suppliers to reimburse package organisers when they contribute to a cancellation will make no difference to smaller businesses.

Regulation 29 of the revised PTRs will require suppliers, such as airlines and hotels, to refund organisers within 14 days of a cancellation or of the date a travel service was due, with organisers retaining the right to claim damages from a supplier.

However, Alex Padfield, director at Hextalls Law, described Regulation 29 as “a bit of a waste of time in most cases”. Speaking at the Abta Travel Law Seminar last week, Padfield said: “Unless you’re powerful and rich, is Regulation 29 giving you very much? If you’re a small or medium‑sized company (SME) and you need money back from a supplier, you can say ‘Give me my money back’ and they can say ‘I don’t care’.”

More: Package travel reform ‘significantly expands’ reach of regulations [April 26]

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He argued: “If you have a good contract, you have a basis for action. If you don’t, maybe you can use Regulation 29, but the issue of enforceability remains and you have the cost of litigation.”

Themis Advisory director Joanna Kolatsis agreed, telling the seminar: “It’s great we have [the revised regulation], but it will be hard to use it. I would expect suppliers to push back.

“Is a US hotel chain or a Middle East carrier going to comply with the PTRs? You will have challenges, depending on the size of your business. If you’re an SME, you won’t have the bargaining power.”

Willa Huang, head of core consumer rights at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), which drafted the PTRs, told the seminar: “We believe the regulations recognise the broader rights and interactions between package organisers and suppliers and we’ve attempted to clarify [these].”

Huang said: “We’re sympathetic. We hope the revisions to Regulation 29 will help.” She noted: “We’re also taking steps to beef up the consumer enforcement landscape.”

However, Sunvil chair Noel Josephides said: “At the moment, we find it extremely difficult to obtain refunds from airlines, especially overseas airlines. We’re forced to go to the small claims court [and] have to wait years sometimes for refunds.”

The revised regulations are due to come into force from next April.