A small number of holidaymakers may have been mistakenly issued with Atol certificates by failed operator Super Break and will need to redirect their claims to Abta.
The error has come to light nearly two weeks after the collapse of Malvern Group, which included Super Break and Laterooms.com. The company was placed into administration on August 1.
Abta has emailed holidaymakers and travel agents to warn of the error which affected holidaymakers with flight packages booked in Jersey and the Isle of Man, and flying from these islands, to Iceland.
Any bookings made in Crown Dependent Territories, either by an agent registered there or by a consumer, and with flights departing from those territories, are not covered by the Atol scheme.
More: Super Break failure: ‘Know your agency agreements’ says Abta
Agents hit out at Abta for allowing ‘misleading information’ in Super Break brochures
Agents ‘work through the night’ to re-book clients following Malvern Group collapse
This means that refund claims need to be made to Abta instead of through the CAA, which administers the Atol scheme.
Abta said a “fairly small number” of holidaymakers were affected and that those who had already submitted claims to the CAA would be automatically redirected to Abta.
Its letter said: “We understand that you may have been issued with an Atol Certificate in relation to your booking by Super Break. That certificate sets out the protection offered by the UK CAA Atol scheme to those booking flight packages in the UK or EEA.
“The CAA has told us that they will not be offering that protection to consumers outside of the UK or EEA. However, we are pleased to advise you that Abta will be able to consider your claim for the value of any monies paid by you to Super Break for the above booking and lost as a result of the failure.
“The issuing of an Atol Certificate appears to have been a mistake by Super Break. If you booked through a travel agent, we would stress that this was a mistake on the part of Super Break and not your travel agent, a number of whom have contacted Abta, alerting us to the situation. Please contact us if you have any questions, or ask your Abta travel agent for assistance.”
Joint administrators KPMG passed on details of affected bookings to Abta.
For more information visit Abta’s website
Claims may be registered here