How to get compensation for holidays from hell

By L Whitmore, 23rd June 2010

A holiday is supposed to be a break from the hassles and inconveniences of modern living. Unfortunately, for some people, what was supposed to be a welcome break can turn out to be more stressful than their everyday lives.

Just this week a Shropshire woman has brought a lawsuit, along with 83 other people, against First Choice Holidays for what she described as a "holiday from hell".

Michelle Curtis, 42, fell ill during a two-week break in Egypt, along with a large number of other holidaymakers. She places the blame squarely on the holiday firm and its employees, claiming that food was not stored or cooked properly and the swimming pool was not adequately cleaned and maintained.

Bacterial infections such as salmonella were identified as the cause of many of the guests' illnesses, with holiday reps claiming that there wasn't anything they could do.

Fortunately, most people don't find themselves in quite such ruinous circumstances. But problems can and do happen, and even when they don't quite amount to a "holiday from hell", smaller concerns such as noisy building work or unpleasant views can still serve to spoil the atmosphere of what was intended to be a relaxing getaway.

Even in the worst cases, though, a lawsuit is a rare outcome, because holidaymakers have plenty of legal recourse without having to take the holiday firm to court. For a consumer who is aware of their rights, it's usually a possibility to claim back at least some of the money paid out for an unsatisfactory holiday experience.

A contract is created between the holidaymaker and the tour operator when booking a holiday, which means the operator has a legal obligation to provide the holiday as it was presented.

With a package holiday, the tour operator is held responsible for practically every aspect of the experience, ranging from the state of the hotel to the quality of the in-flight entertainment. If your trip turns bad, you have every opportunity to claim back some or all of the cash you spent.

The first step to take if anything goes wrong is to make a complaint to the representatives of the tour operator while you are still on holiday, if this is possible. Be sure to arm yourself with any evidence that may be required - whether these take the form of photographs, witness statements or any other proof - and state clearly why you feel that the holiday is not living up to the expected standard.

Not only does registering your complaint early make it more likely that some part of your holiday can be salvaged, but, if your claim should continue beyond the duration of your trip, it is unlikely to succeed if you are seen to have made minimal efforts to get your problem resolved at the time. It's difficult to make a case that your enjoyment was compromised if you did not bother to speak up about the problems when they happened. Bear in mind, though, that receiving some form of compensation during your holiday means your case cannot be reopened once you return home.

If no compensation or resolution is offered during the course of your trip, you should set out your complaints in writing and send them directly to the tour operator upon your return. The letter should state that the tour operator has breached the Package Travel regulations and that you are making a demand for compensation on this basis. It goes without saying that you should include any evidence you have to bolster your claim - the more solid your case is, the greater the chance of success.

Your letter will also need to establish the amount of compensation you wish to receive. Where the breach of the holiday contract involves a more straightforward loss of value - for example, an activity or service which was advertised but turned out to be unavailable - this can be easy to calculate, by finding out how much these activities would usually cost and working out the difference in value between the holiday that you paid for and the holiday you actually got.

And if the problems you faced on holiday resulted in you being left out of pocket by paying for something that should have been provided by the tour operator - such as transportation to or from the hotel - this also makes compensation easy to calculate as you can get a refund on the amount you were forced to spend due to the tour operator's negligence.

The difficulty in figuring out a compensation amount comes when the damage done to your holiday was through loss of enjoyment. This arises when there is no particular financial sum at stake, but the circumstances surrounding your holiday meant that it was not as fun or relaxing an experience as you had hoped. This can often factor in to the previously mentioned grounds for compensation, as the effect of such problems on your holiday can go beyond simple monetary value, but it can be hard to put a reasonable price on your enjoyment.

The best way to approach this is to determine how much of your holiday was ruined or disrupted by whatever issues you may have faced. After subtracting your airfare - which usually works out as around 50% - 60% of the total cost - you can divide the remaining amount by the number of days the holiday lasted, and this should give you an estimate of how much was paid for each day away.

Having worked out the daily cost, you can multiply this by the number of days which were taken up attempting to resolve the problem or were ruined by its presence. This will give you a rough idea of how much compensation you can reasonably request from the company. If you need further help in estimating the amount of compensation you may be entitled to, your local Citizen's Advice Bureau or Consumer Direct will be able to help.

After receiving your complaint letter, the tour operator should respond within 28 days. If this response is not satisfactory - for example, if they attempt to fob you off with excuses or they offer a paltry sum - you can reply to them stating that you are not accepting their response and that if no adequate resolution is presented, you will take your case to arbitration or the small claims court. They must again reply within 28 days - if the offer made is still unsatisfactory, or they do not answer, then you may take your complaint further.

Despite the fact that many tour operators will try to get out of returning money to their customers, especially in the current economic climate, most of them are members of the ABTA, the Travel Association, who attempt to ensure that holiday firms adhere to strict guidelines for consumer satisfaction. You can escalate your complaint to them through their website and they will attempt to resolve the dispute. If they cannot fix the problem, then your case may be put up for independent arbitration or taken to court.

During arbitration, your claim will be evaluated by an independent adjudicator, who will attempt to reach an acceptable and fair outcome. The decision reached during arbitration is legally binding, so bear in mind that if you are not happy with the arbitrator's decision you will be unable to pursue court action.

Other options open to you instead of arbitration include taking your case to small claims court and even getting your money back from your credit card company through a Section 75 claim.

It is rare that you will receive a full refund unless your holiday was a total fiasco from start to finish, but hopefully with this advice you will be able to receive some recompense for the misery of a ruined holiday.

For further information please see our FREE guides on holiday compensation and Section 75 claims.