Due Diligence is where a company must exercise care to ensure that problems with a product or that their duties under law are properly assessed, so as to not mislead or put at a disadvantage, the receivers of that servce.   The due diligence defence is also incorporated into The Consumer protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 at Regulation 17 (we have published an extensive article on those regulations by reference to the issue of holiday sales and complaints).  With the May 2007 edition of our Travel-Zine, Get’Away – our article – Package Travel Regulations Tip - highlighted the ’Due Diligence’ Defence that can be employed by a Tour Operator under Regulation 24 of The package Travel Regulations. Read More

This issue of Travel Insurance is very important to the Consumer, particularly where they suffer holiday problems.  Many holiday complaints involve reports of holiday illness/sickness, holiday accidents, changes to holidays, flight changes and poor customer service, and there are times when the presence of a Travel Insurance Policy is vital to the holidaymakers well-being!  HolidayTravelWatch has responded to The Treasury review of the sale of Travel Insurance, and whether the sale of this important financial product, should be brought into Regulatory control by the FSA.  Read More

Have you been told that ‘normal booking conditions apply’?  Has your holiday been changed before departure from what you thought you would receive? In the first of a series, we discuss a travel Consumers rights where a ‘Significant Change’ has been made to their holiday. We highlight the rights contained under Regulation 12 of The Package Travel Regulations and discuss what could consitute a ‘Significant Change’.  In the last few years many holidaymakers have experienced ’significant changes to their holiday contracts; this is something that is causing serious concern at the EU Commission!  We would also recommend that you read our article on your Regulation 13 pre-departure rights as this provides further obligations on travel providers! Read More

The HolidayTravelWatch PTR Tip, within the latest edition of ‘Get’Away’, highlights the rights enjoyed by a travel consumer under Regulation 15 of The Package Travel Regulations (this is the Regulation that provides for liability against a travel provider in a holiday contract), and the defence that can be employed by a Travel Organiser. Read More

As our article in 2009 proved, many British holidaymakers experienced a ’holiday from hell’, or a less than satisfactory holiday experience!  Many holidaymakers suffered a holiday with serious or catastrophic consequences!  Our latest articles for the 2010 holiday season (20 holidaymakers comments and a list of 40 current complaints), demonstrate that this year is unlikely to be any different for British holidaymakers!  So if you have a holiday complaint – what can you do about it? Do you put it down to ‘just another experience’? You may have a holiday food poisoning claim, the facilities in the hotel or cruise ship were not up to standard, or your suffered at the hands of an airline! Did you suffer from a holiday accident? Read More

This is the second lead article from our Travel-Zine in which we comment upon the threat to the Package Travel Regulations following the recent decision by the Court of Appeal in R v CAA.   This issue is very important to the Consumer, particularly where they suffer detriment in their holiday contracts.  Many holiday complaints involve reports of holiday illness/sickness, holiday accidents, changes to holidays, flight changes and poor customer service.  Read More

This major article first appeared within our own Travel-Zine – Get’Away – Your Route to Travel Rights. It attempts to calculate the cost of returning holiday illness to the holidaymaker, the NHS and British Industry. It was discovered that the cost to the Nation could be as high as £222m. The annual personal cost to holidaymakers on their return is calculated at £12.5m and the annual cost to the NHS is estimated at £25m. Read More