THE BEST ROUTE TO A REFUND

WHEN lockdown brought life to a crashing halt, everything was cancelled. And for the 44% of us who had booked holidays, events or tickets, the battle for a refund began.

Research from investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown shows that months later, 61% of people have succeeded in bagging a refund, and 18% have booked for a later date. However, 13% of people have been stuck with vouchers and 9% are still arguing for their money back.

Here are your rights when it comes to getting your money back around cancellations.

Holidays

Things change fast, but at the moment the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office is advising against all but essential travel to a number of popular destinations.

Generally, if the flight or package is cancelled by your holiday company, you’re entitled to a refund. If it’s not cancelled, but the FCDO advises against travel, you should have packages refunded. Unfortunately, in these circumstances, flights and hotels booked separately will depend on the cancellation rules of the company itself.

If you’re due a refund, you might be given a credit note, and have to use that to apply for a refund, or you may be sent a voucher unless you get in touch and request a refund. You may be told you can have a refund, and face an inordinately long wait. There are plenty of horror stories of people in limbo months down the line.

If you’re due to travel and you can’t go because of local lockdown rules, the situation is even more frustrating and if the flight is still operating, you may not be entitled to a refund. It’s always worth talking to them about their cancellation rules to see if there’s any flexibility.

Events

If an event has been cancelled, get in touch with whoever you bought the tickets from, and arrange a refund. In many cases, the event will have been postponed, so you’ll be offered an alternative date. If you can’t make the alternative, you have the right to cancel and get your money back. In any case, you’re highly unlikely to get booking fees and postage charges refunded.

Weddings

If you planned a big wedding and need to postpone it, contact the venue and your suppliers and see what they will agree to. If any of them refuse and you need to cancel instead, they have the right to use any money you have already paid to cover the costs of expenses they’ve already run up.

If the amount they want to keep seems excessive, ask for a cost breakdown and push them to prove what they’re doing is fair. The Competition and Markets Authority has said in these circumstances you should be entitled to a full refund, so don’t be afraid to bring this up, and if they don’t stick with the rules you can report them. If the CMA gets a number of complaints about the same provider it may take action.

If you need to change plans and reduce numbers, negotiate with suppliers. They don’t have to be flexible, but it’s reasonable to expect this in areas such as catering. If they won’t cut costs, you’ll need to work out whether it’s cheaper to cancel – and lose some money – then book a smaller wedding elsewhere.

What to do if they refuse a refund

If you’re getting fobbed off, Sarah Coles from Hargreaves Lansdown offers these tips:

If you paid by credit card, you can contact your card company for a refund under the Consumer Credit Act, Section 75, which makes the card firm equally liable for delivering the service. If you paid by debit card, you can request a chargeback. This isn’t guaranteed to work but it is worth trying.

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If you think you’re being treated unfairly, make a complaint. Check if your supplier is a member

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of a trade body with a complaints procedure – like ABTA for holidays – or if they use an Alternative Dispute Resolution service. Otherwise you may be able to use the Financial Ombudsman Service.

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If you hit a brick wall reclaiming for a holiday, you may need to turn to your travel insurance. Unfortunately coronavirus isn’t covered by all policies – especially if you bought after the middle of March – but it’s worth checking.

If you have wedding insurance, check the terms and conditions. In some cases, it should pick up the tab if you’re out of pocket, but there can be lots of exclusions on these policies.

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The Financial Ombudsman is currently dealing with complaints about travel and wedding insurers who have refused to pay out. If you think a refusal to pay is wrong or the terms of the policy unfair, you can ask it to look at your particular circumstances.

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If all else fails, take legal action. Think carefully before starting this as it will cost you money you may never get back and will take time. It’s only worth it for large sums where you’re certain you are in the right.

Try sending the supplier a Letter Before Action, informing them you’re about to launch a legal claim. This may persuade them to pay out.

If you paid by card you could get a refund under the Consumer Credit Act