Debates between Baroness Vere of Norbiton and Lord Pickles during the 2019-2024 Parliament

Holidays: Cancellations

Debate between Baroness Vere of Norbiton and Lord Pickles
Wednesday 30th September 2020

(4 years, 1 month ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Pickles Portrait Lord Pickles (Con)
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My Lords, has my noble friend observed that two holiday companies, loveholidays and On the Beach, have resigned from ABTA to avoid paying full refunds on cancellations due to Covid-19? Will she look carefully at the regulations and in particular at the alleged loophole that suggests that if the Foreign Office advises against travel and yet the company itself keeps a flight and the accommodation open, a full refund is not payable?

Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)
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We keep under review the issue of Foreign Office advice and the implications for cancellation and subsequent refund. Travel is no longer the almost risk-free experience that it used to be, and I encourage all consumers when they book travel to look very carefully at whether the travel business is a member of ABTA or ATOL, and what would happen in each circumstance were their journey to be curtailed.