ABTA pulls plug on travel agency

Thursday, 08 Aug, 2003 0

ABTA has used its tough new anti-fraud powers to terminate the membership of London-based Fullness Travel, which also traded as Albion Travel.

It is the first time that ABTA has used its new Article 55 anti-fraud rule, which which was passed in April. The new rule allows ABTA to investigate the financial activities of its members.

An ABTA spokesman told TravelMole that concern and complaints about Fullness Travel – which only became a member of the association in January – had led it to demand to look at the company’s accounts, which was refused. Officials from ABTA then attended the Fullness Travel premises, but were refused entry and so terminated its membership on the spot. The spokesman said concerns had centred around split contracts – where flights and accommodation had been sold separately.

The termination of the company’s membership is being treated as a financial failure and its clients will receive a full refund under ABTA’s financial protection scheme. Trading Standards are also now looking into the firm’s affairs, ABTA said.

An ABTA spokesman told TravelMole: “This just goes to show how important the change in the articles of association have proved to be. If we had not introduced [Article 55] they would have continued to trade, there would have been a longer period of malpractice and a bigger financial cost to members.”

ABTA, which claims that fraud cost its members £4million in the past financial year, is currently looking at other suspected fraud cases – including the collapse of Newton-Abbott based agency Devon Travel earlier this year.

No-one from Fullness Travel was available for comment.

Meanwhile Peter Jani, manager of separate agency Albion Travel Centre, which is also based in North London and is not an ABTA member told TravelMole that it has been receiving dozens of worried calls following ABTA’s action against its namesake. Mr Jani said: “Some people have been upset and we have had some aggressive calls because people think we are the same company.”