ABTA welcomes the recommendations made today by Walter Merricks CBE for an overhaul of the ATOL claims handling procedure. Following consultation with its Members, ABTA made its own detailed recommendations in August 2010, which called for a simplified, more efficient service which would allow for the vast majority of claims to be settled without significant delays. ABTA has also called for improved planning to deal efficiently with large scale failures.

ABTA believes strongly that the ATOL scheme needs to return to fundamentals and ensure that when a customer has purchased an ATOL protected product and payment has been made to the ATOL holder, they should be refunded promptly and without unnecessary bureaucracy.

ABTA will be working closely with the CAA to ensure that future paperwork requirements are clear, easy to follow and do not obstruct the basic purpose of the ATOL scheme; to provide customer protection.

Mark Tanzer ABTA Chief Executive said: “These recommendations are a welcome step in providing an efficient, user friendly ATOL scheme which is truly fit for purpose. Over the last few years, customer confidence in the scheme has been undermined by the long time taken to process claims following several significant failures .This is not good for consumers, our Members or the industry as a whole. We will be working with the CAA and our Members to help ensure that in future customers are refunded without excessive bureaucracy or delays.”