Package Travel

If a package holiday organizer fails to fulfil his contract with you satisfactorily, he is liable for any consequent damage or loss to you, and you can seek compensation from him. If the organiser does not offer you satisfactory compensation, you should take legal advice, either from a solicitor or from a Citizens Advice Bureau, about pursuing the matter in the Small Claims Court (up to a limit of £5000), which does not involve a solicitor. Alternatively, if the travel agent or tour organiser is a member of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), you can use the ABTA arbitration process. ABTA also operates a Code of Practice. You should contact them (on tel. 0171-637 2444) if you have a complaint about any of their members.

The criminal provisions of the 1992 Package Travel Regulations are enforced by local authority trading standards officers, to whose attention any suspected breaches should be brought. Examples are: misleading advertising, or misdescription of, or failure to provide, key information in a contract.

In the UK, anyone who sells or offers for sale (other than occasionally) package holidays must comply with the Package Travel Regulations 1992. These set out travel organisers’ responsibilities to their customers and the remedies available to them should there occur a breach of the Regulations. They define a package as something which: is a pre-arranged combination sold or offered for sale at an inclusive price covering a period of more than twenty-four hours; includes at least two of the following components: transport, accommodation or other significant tourist services (not ancillary to transport or accommodation).

Further information on the Regulations for travel organisers (useful for consumers too).

Please click the button to access our FactSheet and FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on Package Travel.

Your Rights In Civil Law 

When you book a holiday your contract may be with the travel agent, but it is more usual for it to be with the tour operator. For the purposes of the Regulations, whoever enters into a contractual agreement to provide a package holiday to a consumer is known as a travel organiser. The Regulations require the travel organiser to fulfil his contract with the consumer. Where a travel organiser fails to do so he will be liable to compensate the consumer for any consequential loss suffered, which could include loss of enjoyment as well as financial loss.

Descriptive matter: must be accurate

Travel organisers and retailers must not supply to consumers any descriptive matter relating to a package, its price or any other conditions applying to the contract which contains any misleading information.

Contract: what it must contain

The Regulations state that consumers must be made aware of all of the terms of a contract before it is concluded (as far as is practicable bearing in mind the interval between booking and departure) and that it must contain at least the following:

•       travel destinations and relevant periods of stay and dates;

•       means, characteristics and categories of transport to be used and dates, times and points of departure and return;

•       details of accommodation (where included);

•       meals;

•       whether a minimum number of persons is required for the package, and the deadline for informing the consumer in the event of cancellation;

•       itinerary;

•       visits, excursions or other services included in the total price;

•       name and address of the organizer, retailer and insurer;

•       price of the package and information about price revisions;

•       payment schedule and method of payment;

•       special requirements, such as a consumer’s dietary needs, included in the contract;

•       periods within which consumers must complain about the performance of the contract.

Transfer of bookings

Where a consumer is unable to proceed with a package they may transfer their booking to another person who satisfies all of the conditions applicable to the package. In such circumstances, the travel organiser must be given reasonable notice of the intention to transfer the booking. The person who has transferred the booking and the person to whom it has been transferred must assume joint responsibility for payment of the cost of the package.

Changes to the price of a package holiday

Changes to the price are only permitted where the contract provides for both upward and downward revisions and the contract states how the revised prices will be calculated. Such changes may be made only to allow for variations in transportation costs, taxes and fees for services such as airport taxes, and exchange rates. Where the price increase is less than 2% of the cost of the package, it must be absorbed by the travel organiser and if more than 2%, the organiser must absorb the first 2%. No price increase can be passed on less than 30 days prior to departure.

Significant alterations to essential terms

Where the essential terms of a contract are subject to significant alteration before departure the tour operator is obliged to inform the consumer as promptly as possible so that he may withdraw from the contract, or accept a rider to the contract specifying the alterations made and their impact on the price. The consumer must inform the organiser of his decision as soon as possible. Where he does so, or in the event of cancellation by the organiser, a consumer is entitled to accept a substitute package of equivalent or superior quality, if available, or another package of lower quality and the resulting difference in price or to request a refund.

In addition, unless the package is cancelled because the number of holidaymakers is less than the minimum number required, or it is cancelled due to circumstances beyond the control of the organiser, the consumer is entitled to compensation where appropriate.

Significant proportion of services not provided

Where, after departure, an organiser either fails to provide a significant proportion of the services contracted for, or becomes aware that he will be unable to do so, he must make alternative arrangements and possibly compensate the consumer; if the alternative arrangements are not accepted by the consumer for good reasons, the organiser should provide transport back to the place of departure and, where appropriate, compensate the consumer.

Your Rights in Criminal Law

Brochures

The Regulations also stipulate that, if a brochure is produced, it shall accurately indicate the price and adequate information about:

•      the destination and the means, characteristics and categories of transport used;

•       type, location, main features and degree of comfort of accommodation, and, where provided in a member State, its approval or tourist classification;

•       meals;

•       itinerary;

•       passport, visa and health formalities information;

•       either the monetary amount or the percentage of the price which is to be paid on account and the timetable for payment of the balance;

•       whether a minimum number of persons is required for the holiday and, if so, the deadline for informing the consumer in the event of cancellation;

•       the arrangements (if any) which apply in the event of delay either outward bound or homeward bound;

•       insolvency and repatriation arrangements.

Passport and visa information

Prior to the conclusion of a contract, consumers must be provided with:

•       general information about passport and visa requirements, including the length of time it will take to obtain visas and passports;

•       health formalities;

•       repatriation and refund arrangements

Information to be provided in good time

Certain information must be provided to consumers in good time before the start of the holiday, namely:

•       times and places of intermediate stops and transport connections and details of places to be occupied (e.g. cabin on a ship, train);

•      name, address and telephone number of the representative of the travel organiser in the resort; or, of an agency whose help a consumer might seek instead; or, details to facilitate direct contact with the travel organiser;

•       where a child under 16 is travelling, information enabling direct contact to be made with the child or person responsible at the resort;

•       except where insurance cover is required as a term of the contract, information about insurance which the consumer may wish to take out to cover cancellation and emergency repatriation in the event of illness or accident.

Security of the travel organiser in the event of insolvency

The Regulations also contain criminal provisions which require the travel organiser or retailer, or both, to be able at all times to provide sufficient evidence of security for the refunding and repatriation of consumers in the event of insolvency.

The means by which travel organiser shall ensure that this security in place must be one of the following:

•        by holding an Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL);

•        bonding with an approved body, such as ABTA;

•        an insurance policy;

•        by holding consumer pre-payments in a trust   account.

How to Seek Redress (see also ABTA booklet “Building Confidence in Travel”)

Civil provisions 

Consumers should, in the first instance, raise any concerns with the tour operator representative in their resort.

Should this fail to get results, they should get in touch with their travel organiser (usually a tour operator) on their return home.

If the problem remains unresolved, and the travel organiser is a member of a trade association (such as ABTA), consumers should consider seeking the assistance of the trade association in resolving the dispute. ABTA operates an independent arbitration service which consumers can use should it prove otherwise impossible to resolve a dispute with a travel organiser.

Alternatively, a case can be pursued through the civil legal process in the Small Claims Court. Citizens Advice Bureaux are able to advise on how to do this.

Criminal provisions

The criminal provisions of the Regulations are enforced by local authority trading standards officers to whom any suspected breach should be reported. Trading standards departments are located within some 200 local authorities across Great Britain.

Other Statutory Protection 

In addition to the Package Travel Regulations, there is consumer protection legislation which is concerned with the misdescription of goods and services.

The Trade Descriptions Act 1968 makes it a criminal offence for anyone in the course of a trade or business (including travel organisers) knowingly or recklessly to make a statement which he knows to be false, about a variety of matters relating to services, accommodation or facilities including their provision and the time and manner in which they will be provided.

Part III of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 makes it a criminal offence for anyone in the course of a business to give to consumers, by any means whatever, an indication which is misleading as to the price at which any goods, services, accommodation or facilities are available.

Both of these Acts are also enforced by trading standards departments.

Advertising Standards 

Non-broadcast advertising in the UK is controlled mainly by self regulation under which the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is responsible for ensuring compliance with the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion.

The Codes require all forms of advertising to be legal, decent, honest and truthful and prepared with a sense of responsibility to both consumers and society.

The ASA will consider all written complaints about alleged breaches of the Codes and will take steps to remedy the situation if appropriate. Consumers wishing to pursue a complaint with the ASA should write to:

Advertising Standards Authority
2 Torrington Place
London
WC1E 7HW

Unfair Contract Terms

Terms used in holiday booking contracts must be neither unfair nor misleading. Such terms must therefore comply with the Unfair Terms In Consumer Contracts Regulations 1994 which are enforced by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Any suspected breaches should be reported to the OFT which will investigate where appropriate.

Note: This guidance is not intended to be an exhaustive account of the laws applicable to the purchase of package holidays. Therefore, if consumers remain in any doubt about their rights under any of the laws referred to above, they should seek the advice of their local trading standards department, local Citizens Advice Bureau, or a solicitor.

Timeshare

Timeshare means buying the right to spend a set period in a holiday property each year for three years or longer. It may also give buyers the right to exchange for properties in other resorts.

The Timeshare Act 1992, as amended by the Timeshare Regulations 1997, which implements a European Directive, provides consumers with useful safeguards when buying a timeshare in the UK. These include:

•       a 14 day cooling off period during which the buyer can withdraw from the contract

•       the seller may not ask for or accept any money from the consumer during the cooling off period

•       a brochure in the consumer's preferred language setting out information about the timeshare

•       written notice of the right to cancel the contract and a cancellation form.

Please click the button to access our Timeshare Fact Sheet.

"The Timeshare Guide" which explains these provisions in more detail.

Consumers who believe they have been deprived of their rights should contact their local Trading Standards Department or Citizens Advice Bureau.

Be particularly careful if you sign a contract outside the UK as you are unlikely to be protected by UK law. If in doubt as to whether a timeshare contract is governed by UK law you should ask a solicitor or at a Citizens Advice Bureau, Consumer Advice Centre or a trading standards department.

The EU Timeshare Directive (94/47/EC) is intended to provide protection across the Community. All Member States have implemented the Directive.

Timeshare Bulletin Board

Please Click here for the latest news on Timeshare including the summary of the responses to the Department's consultation paper 'Timeshare Sales - Improving the Protection of Consumers'.

DTI Contact

The DTI cannot give any advice on individual cases. Consumers with Package Travel or Timeshare problems should read our Fact Sheets (see above) which give advice on what to do.