We need bond overhaul
We need bond overhaulJust when you thought it was safe to dynamically package without an ATOL, the Civil Aviation Authority delivers its verdict on what is and isn’t a dynamically-packaged holiday.
As it stands, and I quote from the CAA press release issued on Tuesday: “Dynamic packages which include flights require ATOL protection. Travel components sold in combination and at a price which covers all of the components are a ‘package’, irrespective of how the sale is documented or the capacity in which the organiser claims to act.
If all this leaves you scratching your head, then rest assured you are not alone. ABTA claims the CAA has said nothing new – dynamically-packaged holidays involving flights require an ATOL. But, just to add to the sense of confusion it goes on to say that not all tailor-made holidays are packages.
So where does this leave travel providers? In an exposed place, so tread carefully. Be aware that if a client asks for separate flights and accommodation and you say ‘I’ll just put that together for you’ then you have just created a package and that requires an ATOL.
Until the government provides guidance, the safest option is to make sure you are covered by an ATOL in all that you do. The law, as it always is, is open to interpretation and requires a test case and that test case will be a travel provider who packaged a holiday without the consumer knowing they weren’t covered by an ATOL.
Something will go wrong on holiday, the client won’t be covered and the provider – the person that packaged the holiday – will be liable.
Given the cost of providing protection through bonding, it comes as no surprise that the likes of TUI UK are looking at other options.
Whatever the solution, the overall legal framework in which the trade operates is well out of date. Indeed, the only ones to gain in all of this at the moment are the lawyers.
It is time the government took a good look at how to regulate the industry for the benefit of both the consumer and those who work in it.
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