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International Passenger Protection Ltd (IPP) welcomes the revised ATOL reforms plans to increase consumer awareness of what is protected, however it feels that more could be done to advise the millions of passengers whose bookings will fall outside the legislation.
The new ATOL reforms include a draft of the planned ATOL Certificate which will be issued with all protected holidays however there is no requirement for non-ATOL protected sales to explain that the state protection is not in place.
The document highlights that the protection will only apply to an estimated 50% of holidaymakers which leaves millions of travellers outside the state protection such as those bookings directly with airlines and other end suppliers, plus the huge non-air travel and UK destination markets.
"The last ATOL annual report in March this year stated that 18.5 million people were protected for the preceding 12 months, the Flight Plus reforms are expected to add around 6M travellers equating to 24.5M protected travellers" explained Paul McLean, Director at IPP.
"There are around 56M trips from the UK each year, so even after the reforms most travel plans will remain unprotected unless there is a massive shift in booking habits. The internet has made independent travel second nature to most of us and cheap flights, choice of hotel and itinerary are very appealing to millions of travellers" McLean continued.
Thankfully most quality travel insurance policies now include protection for those booking outside the ATOL so the message is simple – double check your travel insurance and make sure you have insolvency protection.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
