What Does Atol Protected Mean?
Contents
What does Atol and ABTA protected mean?
What is the difference between ABTA and ATOL? – ATOL (Air Travel Organiser’s Licensing) sits alongside ABTA but is specifically designed to cover people who fly. Whereas ABTA covers rail, road, or sea travel holidays. Many ABTA tour operators also provide bonds to the Civil Aviation Authority under the ATOL scheme.
What does Atol actually cover?
What is ATOL and how does it protect you? – ATOL (Air Travel Organiser’s Licence) is a scheme that protects travellers and their money if the travel operator they booked with ceases trading, before, or whilst they’re on holiday. This means you will be able to claim your money back or continue your holiday and be repatriated.
- The majority of ATOL protected trips are package holidays – when you book multiple travel elements, such as flights and a hotel, for a single price through a tour operator, or travel agent (either online or in person).
- Any package holiday sold in the UK must be ATOL protected.
- The scheme was introduced in 1973, following a series of high-profile business failures, and ATOL now protects millions of travellers each year.
ATOL holders pay £2.50 per traveller into a trust fund, which is used to repatriate, refund, or reimburse travellers if their travel operator ceases trading.
How important is Atol?
What is an ATOL certificate? – An ATOL certificate provides proof that your holiday is protected. It should include a reference number and explain what you need to do if your holiday company goes bust before or during your trip. You should get your ATOL certificate as soon as you book your holiday. If you can’t find it, contact your holiday company.
Is Atol Protection free?
Free to consumers, ATOL protection means: You’ll be able to finish your holiday and get home as planned if your package holiday provider goes bust while you’re away.
How do I get my money back from Atol?
Making a claim – The refund process is quite straightforward; ATOL Protected consumers should complete an ATOL Claim Form and provide the documents they have been issued with as evidence that they had a contract with a failed ATOL holder, along with the evidence of payments made.
Further information on the evidence we require will be published with the claim form. And can be found in completing a claim form. In some cases where payment has been made by credit card, the card company will be liable to make a refund under the Consumer Credit Act or an agreement between the UK card industry and the ATT.
If this is the case we will publish a letter on the specific advice of the ATOL holder failure page. Consumers can also claim for replacement services that formed part of the original package, for things like accommodation costs incurred if they were abroad when the ATOL holder failed.
How do I know if my travel agent is Atol protected?
Search ATOL holders Look for the ATOL logo in your travel company’s brochures, adverts and websites to make sure your holiday is protected. Your travel company should also be able to tell you if ATOL protection applies. Use our search facility below to check the ATOL details of your travel company.
Why is Atol created?
It had two principal aims. One was to prevent fraudulent operators engaged in the growing charter market from taking money for non-existent flights, and for this purpose the Regulations included ‘fitness’ as one of the criteria for granting licences.
What happens if you trade without Atol?
Agency agreement – An ATOL holder that sells flight-only or packages through agents is required to have a written agency agreement with each of its agents. If the correct agency agreement is not in place the ATOL holder and the agent are in breach of the ATOL Regulations. Here are a few useful points to note:
Agency agreements must contain the Schedule of Terms published by the CAA in Official Record Series 3 Agency agreements must include the name of the ATOL holder and its agent Agency agreements must be dated Agency agreements can be in electronic or hard copy To obtain acceptance of agency agreements, some ATOL holders may request their agents to sign and return the agreement or e-mail their consent to the ATOL holder or refer to their website and tick a box to confirm consent to the agreement. Other ATOL holders may choose to issue agency agreements to their agents, which the agents will be regarded as having agreed to when the agents make bookings on behalf of the ATOL holder In the event of failure of an ATOL holder, an agent is required to provide a copy of its agency agreement to the CAA so that claims from consumers that booked through the agent can be processed. If an agent does not have an agency agreement, the agent will be liable to refund the consumer.
How do I get my money back from Atol?
Making a claim – The refund process is quite straightforward; ATOL Protected consumers should complete an ATOL Claim Form and provide the documents they have been issued with as evidence that they had a contract with a failed ATOL holder, along with the evidence of payments made.
Further information on the evidence we require will be published with the claim form. And can be found in completing a claim form. In some cases where payment has been made by credit card, the card company will be liable to make a refund under the Consumer Credit Act or an agreement between the UK card industry and the ATT.
If this is the case we will publish a letter on the specific advice of the ATOL holder failure page. Consumers can also claim for replacement services that formed part of the original package, for things like accommodation costs incurred if they were abroad when the ATOL holder failed.
How long does it take to get your refund from Atol protection?
The basics of ATOL
We aim to acknowledge claims within 5 working days of receipt. If your claim is fully completed and we do not require any additional information or evidence, we aim to process your claim in a timely manner. Under normal circumstances, we estimate this to be 28 working days from receipt of your completed claim.
Can I get my money back if I cancel my holiday?
What other options do I have? – The terms and conditions attached to most package holidays enforce a 90-100 percent charge for last-minute cancellations. You will also lose your money if you decide not to take a flight – though some airlines do allow you to rebook, subject to a charge.
Some hotels – especially if booked through a reservation site such as booking.com – will sometimes allow you to cancel or rebook within 48 hours of departure. If you are seriously worried and have booked with an operator or an accommodation provider, your best bet is to talk to the company concerned.
It is possible that you may be allowed to postpone, or to change your destination. But don’t hold out too much hope – this is peak season and most operators will not want to lose revenue unless it is a real emergency.
How important is Atol?
What is an ATOL certificate? – An ATOL certificate provides proof that your holiday is protected. It should include a reference number and explain what you need to do if your holiday company goes bust before or during your trip. You should get your ATOL certificate as soon as you book your holiday. If you can’t find it, contact your holiday company.
