(Corona) vouchers and package holidays: what if your travel operator goes bankrupt?
Everyone regrets more and more in recent months that the Coronavirus has thrown a lot of spanner in the works of your favorite hotel.
The desire to travel is now more tangible than ever these days. However, many saw their well-deserved trip fall into the water, but without the accompanying sun, sea and sandy beaches.
We previously informed you about what you can do in the event of possible problems with a package holiday (combination of flight and accommodation, for example), when certain things were not as promised to you, as a consumer, by the organizer/tour operator. We refer to this. like to our previous facts: What if your hard-earned vacation falls into the water.
But what if it doesn't even come to that?
Many of you may have booked a package holiday last year that could not, and still cannot, continue due to the coronavirus outbreak.
With uncertainty persisting, and the news is peppered with doomsdays surrounding the financial condition of several tour operators, you may also be concerned about the possible consequences of a failure of one of them.
The corona voucher
At the start of the outbreak, the economy minister ensured that consumers received a voucher (the so-called corona voucher) for canceled package holidays in lieu of the price they had already paid for the canceled trip.
Normally, the organiser/tour operator is obliged to refund a canceled package holiday. With the above 'corona' voucher, the minister wanted to suspend the financial impact on the travel sector as a result of integral refunds, but at the same time sufficiently protect the traveler as a consumer.
As extra protection, these corona vouchers had to meet a number of conditions:
- The voucher must represent the full value of the amount already paid by the traveler.
- The voucher is valid for at least one year.
- No costs will be charged to the traveler for the delivery of the voucher.
- The traveler spends the voucher of his choice.
- The voucher is a title to the tour operator who issued it.
- The voucher explicitly states that it was delivered as a result of the corona crisis.
In addition, a corona voucher that has not been spent within the period of one year after it was issued to the traveler will be refunded at his request by the tour operator, who has a period of six months to effectively refund the amount of the voucher. to pay.
What is very important in the light of recent developments in the travel sector as a result of the coronavirus is that the corona vouchers (ie those that meet the above conditions) fall under the insolvency protection that every tour operator in Belgium is obliged to take out with a travel insurer (law of 21 November 2017 on the sale of package holidays, linked travel arrangements and travel services);
This means that if a tour operator goes bankrupt, the tour operator's insurer will reimburse the traveler for the price already paid for the booked package holiday (and only package trips) or the value of the corona voucher. This must explicitly concern package holidays already booked or - by decision of the Minister of Economy - the corona vouchers issued under the circumstances outlined above.
In other words, if you have a corona voucher, you are strongly protected.
Suppose you have received a corona voucher from a tour operator that is declared bankrupt, you will receive your money back from the insurer. It is therefore safe to keep this voucher.
In addition, you can also use the voucher to book a new package tour (with a non-bankrupt organiser) which, if this one should also not take place due to circumstances, will fall under the application of the law of 21 November 2017, whereby the organizer is legally obliged to already amount paid by the traveler to be refunded.
After a year following the issuance of the corona voucher, you can also request its refund without further ado. You see, the corona voucher offers a lot of possibilities, and you are protected.
The corona vouchers fall under the insolvency protection that every travel organizer in Belgium is obliged to take out with a travel insurer.
Suppose you have received a corona voucher from a tour operator that is declared bankrupt, you will receive your money back from the insurer. It is therefore safe to keep this voucher.
Read on below to find out what you should do best.
Due to the corona measures, it is not inconceivable (and even likely) that a number of travel organizations will soon be faced with more serious financial difficulties. Doomsday reports are already popping up in the newspapers here and there.
However, the insolvency protection under the aforementioned law only applies to package holidays that have already been booked, but can no longer be performed due to insolvency (with the additional exception of the corona voucher).
In other words, if you have a voucher that is not a corona voucher, keep in mind that the insurer of the organizer who issued the voucher will not refund the voucher in the event of the organizer's bankruptcy, since it is not a booked package holiday. and the voucher will therefore expire completely.
We therefore strongly advise you to use this voucher quickly to book a new package holiday if you currently still have a (regular) voucher.
Provided some relaxation, you may still be able to leave for the sun. In the event that the organizer would be declared bankrupt before that, you can be sure that the price already paid for the package holiday will be reimbursed by the insurer. You would not have this certainty if you would keep the regular voucher until the situation would clear up a bit, but the tour operator would not last that long.
So be quick now, and enjoy double later!
So be quick now, and enjoy double later!
We hope that we will soon be able to travel normally again.
Until then, but certainly also afterwards, we are happy to help you with legal questions about package holidays (or other subjects).
You can always contact us for this!