Thousands plunged into holiday hell
Thousands of families have been left without a summer holiday this year after the collapse of a number of travel firms.
While some travellers will get their money back, many families who booked their own flights and accommodation would have suffered the double whammy of losing their cash, too.
Now they are being lured by a number of insurance policies designed to cover their next trip should one of the firms they book through go bust. No fewer than 50 airlines and travel companies have failed since the start of 2009.
Edie Barton-Harvey, 24, has suffered the blow of losing her holiday - twice. Edie, a communications consultant from London, booked to go to Turkey next month with three friends. they booked their flight and villa separately through Travelsupermarket.com. originally, they were to travel with Goldtrail, before it went out of business, then Kiss, which failed last week. they've now had to pay £80 more for their flights with easyJet. Edie (pictured) says: 'I normally buy travel insurance just before I go, but most standard policies don't cover this type of thing. although we will get a refund from the CAA for the flights, it'll be too late to help with the holiday, so I'll be on a tight budget now. 'In future, I'll get a policy that covers the risk of the airline or holiday company going bust, as I often book independent holidays.'
Holidays not booked through registered travel companies, which
account for half of all holidays planned by Britons, are not usually
covered by the Civil Aviation Authority Atol bond scheme.
And most insurers will not pick up the tab. There are some firms that
will give you cover though.
AA, Axa, Direct Line, Direct Travel, Greenbee, Marks & Spencer
Money, the Post Office and Saga offer some protection if your travel
firm goes bust.
Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance pays out if your airline goes
bust and you aren't covered by an Atol bond.
Mark Greening, of comparison site Gocompare.com, says: 'Policies with
financial failure holiday protection cover not only scheduled flights,
but also accommodation, ferries, trains and even campsites.'
But insurance won't pay any additional costs you incur replacing your
lost holiday. The only way you can get a direct replacement is if a
travel firm steps in and offers an alternative.
Swiftcover.com offers scheduled airline failure as an optional extra
for £7 on an annual European family policy costing £61.66. But, as
always, you have to watch out for the catch.
For example, Direct Line covers you for scheduled airline failure and
if hotels, villas, car hire firms and ferry companies go bust. It also
covers the cost of a return flight if an airline collapses while you are
away. But it must be the 'end supplier' - the place where you were
going to stay or the airline you were going to use - that goes under.
So you would not be covered if a tour operator that sold you the
flight went bust, but you should be covered by its Atol bond.
The AA and the Post Office have the same catch. Annual European
travel insurance for a family of four costs £82.49 through the AA and
£95.18 with the Post Office Premium Policy.
Over-50s specialist Saga includes airline failure and independent
traveller cover as standard. This pays any irrecoverable unused
accommodation and travel costs and charges if your airline fails.
Annual European insurance for a family costs from £146. Axa has an
add-on which repays independent travellers' flights, accommodation and
other travel expenses if they can't go away because an airline collapses
or a flight is cancelled.
It costs £12.62 extra as part of a two-week European holiday
insurance policy for a family of four, making it £48.67 in total.
It costs £12.31 to add it to an annual European family policy, costing £61.65 in total. Marks & Spencer Money includes independent traveller cover in its annual policy and Greenbee (John Lewis) provides it as an add-on.
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