New UK holiday cover rules come into force

New regulations that help to protect UK holidaymakers from the collapse of a travel operator have gone into force.

Travel Insurance News - 30/04/2012

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Referred to as the Atol (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) plan, experts say changes to the scheme will protect as many as 6 million more travellers annually. Previous rules had already provided package holiday travellers with flights home if their travel provider fails, but the new rules extended the programme to those booking ‘flight-plus’ holiday bookings.

The news comes more than 15 years after Atol's most recent overhaul, which took place in the mid-1990s.

Officials said that changes to the scheme, which is controlled by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), come after numerous holidaymakers learned their package holidays were not covered after booking them online after falsely assuming that coverage was part of the one-price offering.

Beginning in October, those booking Atol-covered trips under the new rules will be sent a certificate to show that their holiday is covered.

However, despite the inclusion of those booking ‘flight-plus’ holidays, experts warn that those booking independently – booking an airline ticket and then directly booking accommodation – are not provided with cover.

Despite the change, Bob Atkinson of Travelsupermarket said that there was “still work to be done” on the issue, noting that the current rules still leave many travellers uncovered.

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