Only three out of 70 travel agencies contacted anonymously by Which? were able to provide accurate information on financial protection for holidays, according to a report by the consumer association.
Only 34% of the agencies gave “clear and accurate” advice when the undercover researcher contacted them.
Another 34% offered a general message about financial protection, but the advice was so vague that customers were unlikely to get a full understanding, said the association. In other cases, the information was inaccurate (18%) and potentially misleading (10%).
Which? also asked 1,280 adults about well-known travel organisations to find out if they understood if their holiday would be protected. More than two thirds (67%) wrongly assumed that if a travel company went into administration – and was a member of one of the associations – their money would be safe.
And when they were asked what they understood about specific organisations, such as Abta, Atol and Aito, travellers were said to have an “unwarranted trust” in the level of protection they were offered.
For Abta, 58% believed the presence of its logo meant that their money was safe if any holiday company involved in the booking went bust. Some 54% of those who had heard of Atol believed an Atol logo meant the same.
David Speakman, Travel Counsellors chairman, said he was not surprised by the results of the Which? survey having come across many examples of agents using the Abta badge to tout 100% protection.
“I’ve said this since I spoke at the Abta Travel Convention since 2006 that there is a lack of clarity. We have asked Abta to update its code of conduct so agents do not mislead their customers but the association does not appear to want to clear up this confusion,” he said.
Travel Counsellors, which has around 800 home-based agents in the UK, operates its own trust account to protect customers’ money which is says makes sure no holidaymakers can lose out as the money is kept in trust until they return home.