Holiday From Hell - Your Rights

The Regulations

If you have booked a holiday through a tour operator with travel and accommodation booked together as a package, you will be protected by the Package Holiday Regulations. Under these regulations, you are able to claim compensation from the tour operator in the event that something went wrong, was not as described or was not stated, which led to additional expense, disappointment, or mental distress of any kind. This means any problem with the flight, the hotel or the excursions, even if it could not have been the fault of the tour operator directly. It also includes situations whereby the reality was not what was depicted or described in the brochure or on the web.

Your complaint

In the first instance, your complaint should be taken to the tour operator, not the travel agent (unless your complaint is related to something you were told which turned out not to be the case). You will probably have to follow the complaints procedure required by the tour operator and certainly put it in writing. Any statement should be backed up where possible by supporting evidence such as photos, statements from other holidays-makers and receipts for additional expenses. The crucial thing is that you do it quickly – this means immediately after (if not during) the holiday.

Damages / Compensation

If your complaint is genuine, you have the right to claim compensation from the tour operator, although it must be seen to be reasonable and fair. If you are offered a sum of money which you feel does not reflect the distress suffered, you may reject it and press for more. If your complaint is not ultimately dealt with to a reasonable level of satisfaction, you can then contact the trade body – ABTA, who will look into it further via their dispute resolution service.

If the airline goes bust

This is a slightly different matter and one which you will need to turn to the CAA’s consumer protection scheme,ATOL for remedy. ATOL will ensure you are protected if your flight was booked as part of a package through a tour operator. This is also the case if the tour operator itself collapses. You will also be protected if you bought your ticket from a travel agent, but only if you DON’T receive the ticket within 24 hours. You should also ensure you are presented with an ATOL receipt which states that you are protected – best to check this with the travel agent before you buy.

Making a claim for those who are protected

If the airline collapses before your flight departure date, but you have already paid for the ticket, you should make a claim via the CAA (ATOL) website. If the airline collapses while you are at your destination, and cannot get home, the CAA will inform you as to whether they will put you on an alternative carrier, or whether you should purchase an alternative ticket and claim a refund once home.

Alternative remedies

If you are an independent traveller and have booked travel and accommodation separately or directly via the airline’s or hotels websites, you will not benefit from any of the above protection and should look instead to your travel insurance which may provide financial cover. If you have paid on credit card, irrespective of whether or not this is a package, you will also have the added protection of the Consumer Credit Act which imposes equal liability on the credit Card Company, in the event that something goes wrong and you need to make a claim.

For all travellers who experience flight delays are automatically entitled to monetary compensation for overbooking (where they are ‘bumped off), and compensation ‘in kind’ for delays due to late arrivals and technical faults – these are refreshments, free telephone calls etc. For further details on this go to the CAA website (www.caa.co.uk)

Dodgy Builders & Tradesmen - Your Rights

If it hasn’t happened to us, it’s happened to someone we know. Dodgy tradesmen and cowboy builders took ages to do the work, did it wrong or simply didn’t do it at all. Everyone has a story, which is why it’s crucial to know your rights and remedies so you can be prepared at the outset.

Firstly, don’t be taken in by what appears to be goodwill on the builder’s part. You may be confident of a positive outcome, but this is a business arrangement and you must ensure you have a watertight contract that you are happy with. This would include specific clauses in relation to how much the job will cost and how long it will take. If you do not, then the assumption will the job should cost a ‘reasonable amount’ and take ‘reasonable time’ – which is subject to interpretation and may drag things out if you find yourself in dispute.

Your statutory rights

With contracts for Work and Materials where the main focus is labour and skill, you are always protected by three statutory terms, even if you have nothing in writing, or the contract you signed does not specifically mention them. They are:

1. Reasonable care and skill

As you are buying the services of a trained professional, there is the assumption that the builder or tradesman will act with ‘reasonable care and skill’. If he does not, you can claim a breach of your statutory rights and be entitled to terminate the contract and either pay nothing further or seek to get your money back through the courts. Where substandard work has been carried out, you may well have incurred greater potential costs to have the work put right, so it is not enough simply to ask for your money back. In such circumstances, it may be more appropriate to pursue a claim for damages. Remember that where the cost of the work is over £100 and you are able to pay by credit card, you would be well advised to do so. This would make the credit card company equally liable where you were not able to recover your costs from the builder.

2. Reasonable time taken

As mentioned earlier, if you have no contractual clauses specifically in relation to timeframe for the work, the assumption is that the work will be carried out within reasonable time. Once reasonable time has elapsed you would not be entitled to terminate the contract, but you would be able to give reasonable notice, providing a deadline at some point in the future and thereby making time ‘of the essence’. If the builder then fails to meet that deadline, you would be entitled to terminate the contract. If you did agree timeframe as part of your contract with the builder, and this timeframe is exceeded, then you can automatically move to terminate the contract if the deadline is broken.

For this reason, you would always be advised to specify a date for performance and make clear in the contract that ‘time is of the essence’.

3. Reasonable cost

Just like timeframe, if you have no contractual clauses specifically in relation to fees payable, the assumption is that you will be charged a reasonable price. However, problems tend to arise where a service is commissioned, exact price cannot be given and the buyer is then presented with an extortionate bill. Where this happens, and where you have little choice but to pay (for example an emergency plumber), but you must make clear your objections at the time of paying, so that you can take action at a later date. You can do this by writing “paid under protest” somewhere on their documentation or (preferably) on the back of a cheque, and by following this up with an immediate letter to the organisation in question to dispute the price you were charged including evidence of alternative ‘going rates’.

It may be that unforeseen additional work will be required and costs will go up. It shouldn’t be by too much and you could argue that the builder could reasonably have anticipated this when providing the estimate. In any case you should limit your liability by requesting that the tradesman or builder informs you if it is going to cost over a certain amount.

It is always advisable to pay the money in stages, leaving a significant amount until the end, when you are fully satisfied that the work has been completed to satisfaction. You may be required to pay money in advance for the ordering of specific goods, but never be afraid to ask for paperwork so you can check it for yourself.

The work is half done – where do we go from here?

With the purchase of a faulty good from a shop, you can simply return the item and get your money back – putting you back into the same position you were in before you bought it. You can’t say the same for building work, particularly if they have walked off the job with it only half done. The question is, is the contract severable? It very much depends on what you are having done and what payment plan you have agreed. Upon presentation of the finished item, can you simply say that you are not going to pay for it and you are not going to give them the opportunity to make it good? This may be a little unreasonable, but if you plan to cite a breach in contract due to an absence of reasonable care and skill, you must make it clear that you are rejecting the finished item. If you have accepted it, you may have to pay all or a portion of the price agreed in the contract.

What about work is taking place in phases? Let’s say you are having a conservatory built which involves the payment of four instalments. If after the second instalment it is clear that the work is substandard you can sever the contract at that point and ask them not to return. You can then pursue damages for monies paid and additional sums if any consequential losses have been incurred (the cost of putting right the poor workmanship). If however the builder offers to redo the work, then the reasonable response would be agree, as long as it can be done ‘in reasonable time’. But what if you have lost complete faith in the builders and do not want them back at all? This is also a reasonable response, although you would have to have good grounds to claim a loss of faith. For this reason, it is always advisable to take photos and keep a diary when having any long term building work done, so you have evidence should it ever become a dispute. Many trade bodies representing firms such as builders will offer a dispute resolution service – which is always cheaper and quicker than litigation! Therefore always choose a builder or tradesman who is accredited by a trade body, association or guild which can offer this service.

Junk Mail, Cold Callers & Telemarketing - Your Rights

For those of us who work from home, the day can often be a non-stop round of interruptions – sales calls, salespeople and the daily wedge of junk mail to sift through. Even if you go out to work, your evenings are frequently punctuated by the same. The invasion of our privacy at home is becoming an important issue, which is why procedures are in place both to protect you and to allow you to opt out. 

Unsolicited visits

All householders can expect, at some point, to be greeted by a cold-caller trying to sell them stuff – whether this be cleaning products, encyclopaedias or home improvements. It can be difficult enough to tell them you’re not interested, and it can be more difficult still to ask them to leave once they are inside the house and giving you the hard sell. For this reason, the Consumer Protection (Doorstep Selling) Regulations provides protection for anyone who may have entered into an agreement as a result of undue pressure, by allowing you a cooling off period of 7 days during which time you have the right to cancel. Although, there is another advantage in that it also enables you to go away and compare alternatives. 

Junk mail and cold calls

If you have bought something or entered into an agreement as a direct result of having received a telemarketing call, a flyer, a brochure, or a catalogue, and there has been no face to face contact with any representative form the company, you have certain rights under the Distance Selling Regulations. One of the most important implications of these regs is the a ‘cooling off period’ of 7 days during which you have the right to cancel without charge. Read more about your rights under the Distance Selling Regs here.

I’ve been sent stuff I never ordered!

The Distance Selling Regulations are very clear on this. If you’ve been sent or given unsolicited goods, you are entitled to treat them as an unconditional gift and do with them as you choose. You are not required to keep them for any amount of time and you are certainly not required to pay for them. Any attempt to demand payment (by threatening means or otherwise) is unlawful.

Opting out

Marketing departments of UK firms must comply with the principles of the Data Protection Act in terms of how they deal with personal data. Nobody likes to receive excessive amounts of junk mail or get badgered by unwanted phone calls, and it is your right not to have to deal with this at all. In addition to your right to opt out under the Act, The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) runs the Mailing Preference Service and the Telephone Preference Service (see: http://www.dma.org.uk/content/Prf-introduction.asp). If you apply to have your details (and the details of anybody else living in your household) put on the list, most reputable firms will pay reference to this list before sending out marketing material.