|
British tourists are still in limbo after the collapse of an Ealing owned travel company. Some have been forced to shell out twice for accommodation as Barwell Travel ceased trading last week and went into voluntary liquidation this week - as they were not a ABTA member, 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 is still insisting this is not the case. The Civil Aviation Authority says it is unclear whether holidaymakers are protected. Tony Gilpin, managing director Towergate Chapman Stevens insurance said: "We are still getting phone calls from customers and we’re trying to help them, but we’re caught in limbo." 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 low-cost 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. A spokesman for La Manga Clubs said no Barwell guests were currently staying at their resort but some are booked for later in the month. Its CEO Julio Delgado added that they were surprised at the reasons given for Barwell's demise 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. He said: "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. Last week, 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".
|
