Travel companies have been accused of sitting on £1 billion in refunds due to customers for cancelled holidays during the Covid crisis.
Consumer group Which? today estimated that more than £8 billion worth of package holidays have faced cancellation since the start of the outbreak
Just over £1 billion is still thought to be outstanding in refunds to customers.
Refunds for one in five (21%) holidays where a cash refund was requested remained outstanding at the beginning of October.
The conclusion comes from a survey of more than 7,500 people who have had a package holiday cancelled as a result of the pandemic.
An estimated total of £1 billion is being withheld in partial or full refunds from customers who requested their money back, with the poll suggesting the average cancelled holiday cost £1,784.
Around 9.4 million people are believed to have had a package holiday cancelled by operators since the pandemic hit the UK, according to Which?
The average amount of time spent contacting package holiday companies about cancelled trips was around 15.5 hours.
Customers said they waited longer than a month to get their money back for 43% of the cancelled holidays reported to the consumer body.
Some firms reported delays in receiving refunds back from airlines, many of which continue to break the law on refunds.
This has meant operators have often only been able to process partial refunds for customers.
But while some companies have managed to get on top of the backlog caused by these delays, several other major providers have continued to leave passengers out of pocket, Which? claimed.
still receiving huge numbers of complaints from customers waiting for refunds.
More than a third (37%) people who have had a package cancelled since the start of the pandemic said the experience has had a negative impact on their confidence in the travel industry.
Which? has called on the government to outline how it will support the sector through the rest of the pandemic, and urged ministers to introduce a travel guarantee fund to support package holiday providers that are struggling to fulfil their legal obligations to refund customers.
A review of passenger protections should also be carried out following the coronavirus outbreak.
The Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation into package travel companies’ handling of cancellations and refunds in the summer.
Tui then agreed to refund all customers by September 30.
The regulator recently confirmed that Virgin Holidays has committed to processing refunds for all holidays cancelled up to the end of October by November 20.
Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: “Since Which? first highlighted the issue of holiday companies delaying or denying refunds for holidays cancelled due to coronavirus, some operators have continued to flout the law and the sums of money being illegally withheld from holidaymakers are staggering.
“It’s simply unacceptable that some of the UK’s largest operators are still getting away with breaking the law, but without meaningful intervention from the government and the regulators in this space, many people will struggle to get their money back.
“The CMA must take firm action against any operators that are continuing to drag their feet on refunding holidaymakers, and the government must urgently set out how it will support travel companies in fulfilling their legal obligations to passengers.”