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CAA issues warning as ATOL holders risk losing licence
Travel companies are being urged to submit their ATOL applications asap as up to 250 companies have yet to apply to renew their licences.
The Civil Aviation Authority, which has a new renewal system in place this year, warned that companies that haven’t renewed their licences by September 30 will be barred from selling holidays that require ATOL protection.
So far, 950 of the potential 1,200 companies have applied to renew their ATOLs, meaning one in five are possibly leaving their applications until the last minute.
The CAA also warned companies that submitting applications with incomplete or inaccurate information will delay the renewal process.
"As a responsible regulator, the CAA has a duty to ensure that it has complete and accurate information before processing a renewal," it said on a notice on its website. "Without this accurate information, there may well be a delay in the renewal process."
The CAA warned that companies who aren’t granted a new ATOL before the current one expires will have to stop taking new licensable bookings, stop accepting payments for existing licensable bookings, and stop advertising licensable business.
They will also have to instruct agents that they shouldn’t accept any new bookings or payments and they must remove all references to ATOL from their websites and other promotional material.
"In addition, there would be a breach of the ATOL Regulations if businesses continued to hold bookings for customers that have entered into licensable transactions," it said. "This means businesses would have to notify all customers due to travel after 30 September 2018 that they cannot provide their travel arrangements and provide a full refund of all monies paid."
Any company seeking assistance in renewing can contact the CAA’s ATOL team: atolonline@caa.co.uk.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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