Holiday woes: LowCostHolidays & Turkey In this feature collapse refunds advice Bruce Treloar offers trading standards advice for holidaymakers caught up in the failed coup in Turkey and the collapse of LowCostHolidays Holidaymakers grounded C In European legislation, there is no requirement to advise consumers who book with foreign operators that they may not receive the same level of protection as offered by UK-based schemes TSI has been contacted about the fallout from the collapse of LowCostHolidays in July and the attempted coup in Turkey. Consumers who have not yet left for their holiday and those who are already abroad need to be aware of the problems they face trying to obtain refunds or even repatriation. Administrators for LowCostTravel Groups UK arm says the company has collapsed with an estimated 50m of outstanding bookings, and that consumers will receive less than 10 each in compensation. When it ceased trading in July, it appears LowCostHolidays had 140,000 customers, 77,000 of whom are British. However, it is unlikely UK holidaymakers will obtain any compensation because the company moved its registered ofce to Palma in 2013, and was complying with the Spanish insolvency protection scheme, not the UK ATOL as required in the UK Package Travel Regulations. Consumers in the UK will be aware from publicity issued by CTSI and the Civil Aviation Authority that, when booking holidays, they should not always base their selection on price. They should also consider the advantages of insolvency protection and the regulated protection offered by package travel protection. So, what other advice can CTSI offer? First, if people affected either by LowCostHolidays going bust or the attempted coup in Turkey paid for their trip by credit card and if the holiday cost more than 100 then, under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the credit card provider will be jointly liable for the booking. So consumers can pursue their credit card company under Section 75. If they bought their holiday with a debit card, consumers should pursue their bank. According to its administrators, there will not be enough in LowCostHolidays bond to comply with the Spanish regulations, so consumers will need to obtain their own ights home and hope they can claim back the money from their card provider. This also applies to those caught up in the Turkish coup attempt, if there are problems with a tour operator that is ignoring government advice. It is unlikely that any travel insurance will cover the risk associated either with the situation in Turkey, or the collapse of a holiday operator, but it is worth consumers reviewing their terms and conditions. The UK European Consumer Centre can offer advice, but it will be unable to act for LowCostHolidays customers, as the company complied with the Spanish requirements for insolvency protection. As Turkey is not a EU member state, it does not have a European consumer centre, which could have helped to resolve issues. So consumers who contact trading standards for advice should be referred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Ofce (FCO). The concerns of holidaymakers in Turkey should be recognised by the UK government, which will give advice to consumers and tour operators. Whatever the reasons for LowCostHolidays changing its registered ofce, however, it remains a very large loophole in European legislation that there is no requirement to advise consumers who book with foreign operators that they may not receive the same level of protection as offered by ATOL, ABTA and other UK-based schemes. The Package Travel Regulations were originally a European directive and the UK interpreted the rules to ensure its consumers could be condent when purchasing their holidays. New rules will soon require other member states to introduce insolvency protection. Despite Brexit, we will be able to check this to ensure UK holidaymakers are protected and are aware of the level of protection before they book their holidays. As for the attempted coup in Turkey, UK holiday operators are being guided by the FCO. It will advise whether British citizens should cancel holidays before departure, and what those already in Turkey when the problems occurred should do. Credits Bruce Treloar is a CTSI lead ofcer for the travel and holiday industry. Images: Poprotskiy Alexey / Shutterstock To share this page, in the toolbar click on You might also like Lowcostholidays.com