A scheme to protect customers’ deposits after thousands of holidaymakers suffered losses from the collapse of Thomas Cook could be introduced in Germany.
The German government is reported to be discussing an industry fund that pays out if travel firms fall into bankruptcy, ensuring those who are unable to travel can get a refund.
The draft law has been drawn up by the ministry for justice and consumer protection.
Full details have yet to emerge but the planned measures come as UK travel companies struggle to deal with a deluge of refund requests for trips cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The UK government reacted to the Thomas Cook failure by repatriating 150,000 holidaymakers from 18 countries around the world after refusing state loans to help the company survive.
The collapse of the holiday giant cost a record amount of almost £350 million in Atol payments, equating to around 340,000 claims.
The total £481 million cost of the collapse of Thomas Cook left the back-up Air Travel Trust Fund almost exhausted and with “very little resources” to support another travel company failure, a National Audit Office report found.
German justice minister Christine Lambrecht said: “The Thomas Cook example has shown that the existing system of customer money protection carries the risk that travellers will not be compensated as required by the EU package travel directive.”
Lambrecht said that holidaymakers would be fully protected under the new proposals.
She said: “In the future, the money of consumers will be secured through a fund that is financed by contributions from tour operators.”
The government in Germany also wants the draft law to clarify who will pay for the transport of stranded travellers in case of an insolvency.
In the event of bankruptcy, a guarantee provided by the tour operator should be drawn down first before other sources of funding are considered.
At the time of the Thomas Cook failure last September, insurance only covered a maximum of €100 million in reimbursement for all tour operators, but the damage was much higher.
The German federal government stepped in to cover the damage totalling nearly €350 million.