PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Travel Agents: Repayments (17 September 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure travel agents provide full refunds within 14 days to customers who have booked package holidays which have been cancelled as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

Asked by:
Apsana Begum (Independent)

Organisers of package holidays are required to comply with the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018. Consumers are entitled to a refund if they cancel a package holiday due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity which would significantly affect the performance of the package or transport to the destination, or if the organiser terminates the contract because of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

Given the evolving situation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has updated its guidance for businesses to help them understand their legal obligations. This can found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-to-investigate-concerns-about-cancellation-policies-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-consumer-contracts-cancellation-and-refunds. If the CMA finds evidence that companies are failing to comply with the law, the CMA will take appropriate enforcement action. For example, recent action from the CMA has led to an undertaking from TUI to refund affected customers by the end of September.

Answered by:
Paul Scully (Conservative)
22 September 2020