Monarch’s collapse: your rights

Sadly, this morning’s headlines that Monarch has collapsed wasn’t shock news. The company had been in trouble for years, with several bailouts brinking it back from the brink of collapse on more than one occasion. Once, it cleaned up on routes to Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt, but had been badly hit by the slump in tourist numbers to those destinations in the face of terrorist attacks. Its Greek business was hit by the economic crisis and in response, it turned to the saturated markets of Spain to try to balance the budget.

It’s the largest UK airline ever to fail.  That’s no consolation for the estimated 110,000 people stranded or left with their holiday plans in tatters.  This collapse affects at least a  further 300,000 people who are due to fly, perhaps more.

What to do if you’re on holiday with Monarch right now

Sit tight.  For those booked with Monarch Holidays, the CAA are negotiating with hotels so that you can stay.  If you are asked to pay a bill, keep receipts.  The CAA are saying they will reimburse you, though the end date for this is uncertain as yet.  If you are due to fly home, the CAA are putting on flights to get you home.

A webpage has been set up by the CAA to provide information to travellers.  Find it here:

https://monarch.caa.co.uk/

On this website there are details of flight rebookings.  Click on the airport you are travelling back from and it will open up the flight number and timing of your new flight.  At present, just today’s flights are up, so if you’re due to travel in the next few days, you’ll have to check back later.

If you’re in the UK but have a future Monarch flight or package holiday booked

The CAA’s advice is repeated here:

Flights booked directly with Monarch Airlines from 15 December 2016 onward

Customers with these bookings are not ATOL protected and are not entitled to make a claim to the CAA. You are advised to contact your card issuer, insurer or PayPal for advice on how to claim a refund.

I add: if you have booked using a credit card and the cost of your flight is £100 or more, you are covered.  (If you book a return flight, the cost of the total must be over £100, i.e. each leg can be under £100 so long as when combined they’re over.)  The credit card company will reimburse you.  If you have booked with a debit card, you might be able to get your money back via something called Chargeback; contact your issuing bank for details.  If you have specific cover for airline failure in your travel insurance policy, this is also a route for recovering your money.  Note that this isn’t a standard clause on many insurance policies.

Back to the CAA:

Flights booked on or before 14 December 2016 directly with First Aviation Ltd trading as Monarch Airlines

If your flight was booked with Monarch Airlines on or before 14 December 2016 and you received an ATOL Certificate stating that your flight is protected with First Aviation, you are ATOL protected. We are making arrangements for refunds to be made as soon as possible to these UK customers.

We will be providing more information on how you should claim shortly. You will be able to submit a claim when we make the Monarch claim form available. Please do not submit a claim until advised to do so.

Bookings made directly with Monarch Airlines from 15 December 2016 onward are not protected by ATOL.

I add: ATOL protection refers to the Air Travel Organiser’s Licence.  Basically it ensures you don’t lose your money or get stranded abroad if the company responsible for getting you home goes bust.  You receive an ATOL certificate with your holiday paperwork.  What happens is that companies lodge money with the CAA in case the CAA has to step in and get their passengers home.  Monarch’s ATOL licence ran out on September 30th and as they couldn’t afford to renew it, they were forced to call in the liquidators.

If the ATOL-bonded company goes bust, you apply directly to ATOL for your refund.  The CAA website explains what to do, as reproduced here:

Holidays booked directly with Monarch Holidays

Customers booked directly with Monarch Holidays are ATOL protected and will have received an ATOL Certificate when they made their booking. We are making arrangements for refunds to be made on these bookings as soon as possible, and we aim to complete this by the end of 2017 at the latest. We will be providing more information on how you should claim shortly. You will be able to submit a claim when we make the Monarch claim form available. Please do not submit a claim until you are advised to do so.

Monarch flights and Monarch Holidays booked through another travel company or travel agent

If you booked a flight or holiday with another travel company or travel agent you should contact them directly about your arrangements.