ABTA Proposal Clarified
Further to the information we gave you last week about ABTA’s proposed extensions to Members’ responsibilities for consumer’s money paid for travel arrangements, ABTA have clarified their intentions a little. They have said:-‘The proposal is that any ABTA Member supplier, whether acting as principal or agent, who sells to a customer through a travel agent should be responsible for that customer’s money in the event that the travel agent fails before payment has been passed on to the supplier.’ They go on to say;‘The proposal addresses a new phenomenon seen in the market where travel agents have failed holding significant amounts of customer money, and the supplier whose product they were selling consequently refuses to fulfill the customer’s booking.’We are grateful for this clarification but are still unsure about the exact meaning of the phrase ‘accept responsibility for such monies’ in the first of ABTA’s proposals: is it intended to mean that Members’ bonding requirements will be extended; or that a non-packaging Member acting as a retail booking agent could be liable for the acts and omissions of the supplier of the arrangements? If the proposal is intended only to deal with pipeline money, we agree with ABTA when they go on to say that the proposal broadly mirrors the existing law and so will also apply to non-members; but we do think that the proposed ABTA change may have a slightly further reach than the common law would in respect of an agent selling through another agent. We would welcome further clarification from ABTA and also your own thoughts and feedback. Drop me an email!Sarah