Your consumer rights following the collapse of Thomas Cook

Thousands of consumers have been affected following the collapse of Thomas Cook this month (September 2019), sparking the repatriation of over 150,000 British holidaymakers.

The company, founded 178 years ago, fell into administration after years of financial difficulties. Disgruntled passengers have since been abandoned abroad and all future holiday bookings have been immediately cancelled.

Knowing your rights in this crisis is important, so read on to find out what you may be owed. 

Customers already abroad  

• It's been confirmed that customers from Jersey currently abroad will be brought back to the UK. However, connections to Jersey are only covered if bought via Thomas Cook.
• These repatriation flights will be operating for the next two weeks (until 6 October 2019). After this date, passengers must arrange their own flights, according to the Thomas Cook website.
• It has been stated that from a small number of locations passengers will be expected to book their own flights. 

Future bookings  

• All future bookings made through Thomas Cook have been cancelled as of 23 September. If your holiday is ATOL protected then you will receive a full refund for your cancelled flights.
• All customers covered by ATOL will need to contact the Civil Aviation Authority regarding the refund.
• Package holidays are specifically ATOL protected, meaning your money is covered if a company goes bust. However, anyone who booked as ‘flight only’ should contact their travel insurer or credit card provider.
• When looking into your travel insurance, you will want to check what your cover says regarding Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance (SAFI) and End Supplier Failure. 

More information

• Trading Standards are advising consumers who have booked through Thomas Cook to visit the Civil Aviation Authority website for the latest information.
• If you have further questions, contact Trading Standards on 448160 or email tradingstandards@gov.je.