ATOL was set up to protect and help the holidaymakers in times of need isn't this their business so how can they be so imcompetant

...because the CAA is Government controlled ?

Hi,
I agree that they're taking a ridiculous amount of time to settle claims. I'm still waiting and I put my claim in immediately in Sept. We have had a recent letter telling us that CEGA (CAA) will be sending out yet another form to sign and then the money will be released shortly after. I booked with Travel Republic not TCD so I'm not sure if the same applies to you. I've heard that many of TR customers received this same letter last week. Question is how long is it going to be before we receive the letter to sign Things seem to move along and then something else causes delays.

We booked through TR and we've recently had the CEGA letter for a 2nd time, this time they wanted all the details sending yet again just to make sure we had placed the booking with XL before went into administration before they process our claim.
This is getting beyond a joke now.

We have now received all our paperwork back stating we have to claim the full amount from our credit card company. As we paid our deposit with a credit card and the balance by building soc. cheque, we have to claim the whole amount from the credit card company (how unfair is that). It is the Law apparently. under section 75 of the consumer act. If this is so, why were we given duff information in the first place if ATOL/CAA's business is protecting people from such events as the XL collapse, what are they doing in business. They are passing the buck, it's just surprising that they didn't know they could pass the buck immediately, at least they wouldn't have looked totally incompetant. We have waited 6 months to be exactly where we were six months ago, no tell a lie we are deeper in debt as we have paid for numerous calls which go unanswered and a nice bulk of money being paid to the credit card company in interest, still that should keep our incompetant banking structure going a little while longer before that collapses.

Seriously, you should be very careful how you pay for your holiday, because if the tour operator goes under, especially with the recession we are going through, how you pay allows ATOL/CAA to pick and choose who they want to refund, as we have learnt through bitter experience.

1. You pay through loaded charges to be ATOL protected.
2. If you decide to pay by your credit card company you have some more loaded charges.
3. Your money is taken right up to the evening before the collapse.
4. When you claim you pay more loaded to the credit card company because ATOL don't actually know what they are doing they only know how to collect the yearly subscription
from the tour opertor.
Questions to be asked. Should we not have to choice to be ATOL protected because it appears to us that it is not worth the paper it's written on. We should ask for a discount because if we are protected by the credit card company why pay twice.

Should Trading Standards perhaps look into whether ATOL are actually competant to carry out the business they say they can. They may have got the stranded holiday makers home, but they were a small percentage of the paying public who were hit. Big deal if they had been monitoring the companies they were protecting us against, they would have know XL were in trouble because now we hear their accountants had warned XL they were in serious finacial trouble but they still carried on trading and taking our money. If ATOL had been protecting their and our interest, they could have stopped a lot of holiday makers losing money, and eventually not having to pay back monies lost or having to think how to pass the buck.
We are now claiming from our credit card company, although they are very unsure of this section 75 of the consumer act, so it is still very much in the air as to the next step to be taken should our company decide not to refund. If this is the case who do we go to next, is it back to ATOL because they are suppose to be protecting us the next installment should be very interesting. Has anyone out there been refunded from their credit card company because we cannot be alone in this situation. I think I now need a drink but can I afford it

We're in the same boat and getting very frustrated that we can't find any information out! Our initial deposit of £111 was paid on credit card but the rest of the holiday (over £3,000) was paid by debit card.

I've sent off a letter to ATOL saying i expect the full amount paid minus the initial deposit so i'll let you know if it works!

I think the whole situation of having to prove we paid the money is ridiculous. We had our flight tickets and everything as we were due to fly the week after they went into administration.

If anyone has any tips on how to get money back they would be greatly appreciated

Hi louisew. If you read on our updated postings, the final update . All I can say that once you manage to get your paperwork back from CAA/ATOL it will have a letter telling you to go to your credit card company to claim the whole amount. We found trying to speak to the card companies near on impossible because if you are not opening a new cc account none of the operators know about sectionc c75 of the comsumer credit act. We found we were educating the line manager. Just be persistant and if your lucky enough to speak to a line manager you may get lucky. Our card company had to do it manually because there was no paperwork in place for this sort of claim. As a last resort you must ask them for a final letter of response stating why they are not paying you as it is the law, and you can then go to the ombudsman. If they are found to be a fault for the reason they state in the letter it will be an automatic fine (I think around £500) if they are to be found at fault. So with all this paperwork coming at the card companies now that CAA/ATOL have started to return the claims paperwork, they really cannot afford to be repaying all the monies (because its the law) plus the fine. If I haven't been to clear just ask and I'll try to be a bit more specific. Hope this helps.

That makes sense thank you. The problem we have is that i paid all my share of the holiday on debit card and my partner paid the deposit on his credit card and then the rest on his debit card so the credit card company will only refund his part therefore we have to make 2 claims!!!

Don't suppose you know if they can do this do you? The holiday was booked in his name but i made some payments!!!!

hi louisen your claim does sound more complex than ours was.the credit card company that your partner used ,should still be liable for the c.c.payment,and the debit card payment under section 75. the money you paid out with your debit card needs to be checked out with the card company regarding a refund. before you can go to your card companys,you need a letter from c.a.a /atol stating the reasons why they will not refund you.the big problem is getting someone from caa/atol who is willing to talk to you on a personal leval,regarding your claim.it is the some problem with the card companys, there just not anybody who is prepared or knowledgeable to help or advice you on claiming a refund under section 75.if you still cant get any joy.this is the ombudsmans telephone number,they may be able to help you 08450801800.i really hope you and your partner get this sorted out,you dont need this STRESS regards john

We booked 14 QL flights to Florida through Travel City Direct in July last year. We submitted the ATOL claim form in September. As requested by ATOL we have submitted Credit and Debit card statements as proof of purchase to them. The Credit card company has since however given us a refund after we contacted them direct, without the help of ATOL. I have been trying to contact ATOL on 02074536350 for months now without success. All I get is the automated message about Freedom Direct ceasing to trade, the high volume of calls and the promise my call will be answered as soon as possible, then after 20 minutes getting another message saying "there's no one to take your call goodbye" and being cut-off. The service from ATOL is appalling surely there must to someone we can escalate this to someone much has responsibility for this body?. ( a fat cat who's no doubt receiving a high salary and a big bonus). Iv'e already tried contacting the ombudsman and ABTA who say that they cannot help. I have only received automated replies to my e-mails to ATOL. Did someone mention 'watchdog'?, there must be many many people in a similar position to me.

hi kad1950 did you read my other postings ,if so you will see we had the some problems.trying to get a response from the C.A.A ,there are some postings about the collapse of the X.Lgroup on the B.B.C watchdog website, if you click into their archives for april 2009,you will see there are plenty of people with the some problem.like i have said the way that the C.A.A /A.T.O.L carry out their buisness is a joke.No other orginization would be allowed to get away with it.regards john

KAD1950 I had a lot of trouble getting my money back from ATOL and eventually did get it all back but only by constantly phoning them. I have the4 name and number of the person I spoke to. If you get through and you might have to keep trying, be persistent. If you are ATOL protected they have to give you your money back. Although I know they have been taking some travel agents to court and yours might be one of them. I also contacted the Financial Ombudsman who was very helpful and said if ATOL did not refund then the credit cards will have to under Section 75 and that they would pursue it for me. You have all my sympathy as I know how stressful it all is and you should have had all your money back by now and had a holiday. You will certainly need one.

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