Travellers could lose £30m in unspent credit notes if not used soon
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Travelers could lose £30m in unissued credit notes issued during the pandemic if left unused at the end of the month, regulator warns
- Customers with refund notes for canceled holidays lose ATOL protection
- If a travel company goes bankrupt after September 30, you could lose your money
- Customers must book another trip or ask the tour company for a cash refund
- The scheme was introduced in 2020 to protect against losses from canceled holidays during the pandemic
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Travelers with unspent credit notes risk losing refund money if they don’t redeem them before September 30, 2022, when they lose ATOL protection.
Consumers have £30 million in unspent credit notes that lose consumer protection at the end of the month, putting unclaimed credit at risk.
The Civil Aviation Authority has written a final reminder to customers about the risk, encouraging them to use their credit or request a cash refund.
The regulator has also written to some of the largest travel companies in the UK to remind them of their obligations to customers who have unissued credit notes.
Customers who have not used their travel credit refund notes by the end of September may lose their ATOL protection if their travel company goes bankrupt
During the pandemic, many people postponed their vacation plans and accepted a voucher from the tour company they booked with.
Customers who purchased flight-inclusive packages were refunded credit notes, including financial protection from Air Travel Organizers’ Licensing, but this ends next week.
It means that if a travel company stops trading after September 30, 2022, consumers with outstanding ATOL credit notes will not be covered and risk losing the money they originally paid.
In July 2020, the ATOL scheme announced that consumers who accepted credit notes for refunded ATOL-secured travel issued between March 10, 2020 and December 19, 2021 will remain protected under the scheme until the end of September this year.
Michael Budge, head of ATOL at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: ‘The deadline for the end of ATOL protection on refund credit notes is September 30, so we are once again urging people to either use their refund credit note to get another refund. ATOL protected voucher. travel or ask their travel organization for a refund.
“This will affect customers of some of our largest travel agents, so our message is simple: this is your last chance to ensure you remain financially protected under the ATOL scheme.
Even if your refund voucher is valid after the end of September, it will not benefit from ATOL protection.
“It’s better to be safe than sorry, and we urge people who still have one of these refund credit notes to take action now.”