British tourists have been left in limbo and been forced to shell out twice for accommodation after the collapse of an Ealing owned travel company.
Barwell Travel ceased trading this week and was not a ABTA member meaning travelers money was not protected. The Chessington based firm claimed financial failure insurance purchased at the time of booking would cover customers holidays - but the insurance company say this is not so.
The Civil Aviation Authority says it is unclear whether holidaymakers are protected.
A Towergate Chapman Stevens insurance spokesman said:
"We don't know if those due to travel before October 1 will be able to claim refunds as, right now, the company has not been made insolvent".
Barwell Travel was licensed to sell 600 packages a year and it is believed the majority of its bookings were for accommodation-only at La Manga Club. It was reliant on lowcost airlines for seats, so none of its forward booked passengers come under the CAA’s Atol consumer protection scheme because they had bought accommodation-only.
People are now being redirected to administrators Bridge Business Recovery on 020 7025 6130.
James Carr of Bridge Business Recovery confirmed there was no rescue plan for Barwell, which will be declared insolvent on October 1, but he said the firm was unable to advise customers in the meantime.
"It's terrible, people were calling us from abroad yesterday saying that they forced to pay again for their accommodation, but we can't do anything to help them.
We are not dealing with the failure either, so we are telling customers to claim on their credit cards or their insurance, but we don't know if they can claim until the company is insolvent."
Barwell Travel was saved from collapse two years ago but was bought by LeisureFare.
Yesterday, Jeremy Scott, managing director of Leisurefare told Travelweekly:
"No one is going to be left out of pocket. We bought Barwell Travel, it did not work, so we closed it".
