Shropshire pensioner in landmark legal win over holiday firm

Bruce Crawcour, from Clive, near Shrewsbury, won a court battle against TUI, which owns Thomson Holidays, after he was charged the full 100 per cent cost of a trip to Majorca he had to cancel due to illness.

The 66-year-old took to the company's own website to find that the flights and hotel room he returned to Thomson vanished before the departure date – proving TUI had not made a significant loss and was unjustified in keeping all of his money.

Mr Crawcour represented himself at the Small Claims Court in Telford last Wednesday, where a judge ruled in his favour and ordered TUI to pay back the full amount of the holiday – some £2,200 – as well as paying all the court costs.

Mr Crawcour's court triumph could also see other wronged holidaymakers follow in his footsteps to sue travel firm at their local small claims court over the cancellation clauses in package holiday contracts.

The retired assistant chief executive of Shropshire County Council told the Shropshire Star: "In April last year we booked a holiday to Majorca but we had to cancel it at six days notice because my wife was admitted to hospital. As well as the standard holiday I had booked a taxi transfer for £150 and I asked them if they could at least cancel the taxi to reduce my loss but they just refused. I felt that was totally unreasonable to say you could not cancel a taxi at six days notice. It just seemed unnecessarily greedy.

"I was so angry that, for the next six days, I checked the Thomson website for the availability of the flight seats and the hotel room I had returned to them.

"After 24 hours both flight seats disappeared and, after four days, the availability of our room type at the hotel disappeared so it was quite clear they had sold them or handed them back."

Mr Crawcour complained to Thompson's customer services department, but was told their cancellation terms and conditions allowed them to withhold the full amount paid for the holiday.

Mr Crawcour argued the TUI cancellation clause was in breach of the Unfair Terms Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 and the guidance from the Office of Fair Trading on Unfair Contract Terms in Package Holiday Contracts published in 2004.

He said an arbitrary 100 per cent charge for cancellations two weeks before a holiday was "unfair" as it could never be a genuine pre-estimate now that most travel business was done on the internet. All the existing cancellation clause did was to give holiday companies the opportunity to cash in twice and "profit excessively from peoples' distress".

A spokesman for TUI said: "We note the court's decision in the case of Mr Crawcour. We have obtained leave to appeal the decision and as such it would be inappropriate to comment further."

Travellers should be cautious, says Shropshire Star Business Editor Thom Kennedy:

Bruce Crawcour's victory in the small claims courts could be seen as a landmark ruling handing power to the consumer.

It's always satisfying to see the little man celebrating a big triumph, and the £2,200 returned to the retired civil servant certainly smacks of a David vs Goliath-type scenario.

However, other travellers should watch with caution.

When you're anticipating an escape in the sun, the last thing you want to do is to plough through 10 pages of small print envisaging all the scenarios that could turn your sweet dreams sour.

But keep an eye on what happens in the terms and conditions column of your travel agreement.

Claire Moore, manager of Peake's Travel Elite in Mardol, Shrewsbury, said: "We need clarity, so it will be interesting to see what happens from here.

"It's great for this gentleman, but it will be interesting to see the responses from other leading tour operators.

"It will be the consumer that loses out if it becomes a battle between travel operators and the insurance industry.

"I would hate to see a situation where there's a grey area, and ultimately then the consumer ends up losing out – those people that don't have the time or patience to pursue a case through the courts."

She added: "It's not something I have ever come across before, but we have seen winds of change in the favour of consumers, as we saw with lobbying in parliament over surcharges for school holidays this week."

Travellers do, of course, need to take their own precautions to prevent holiday nightmares – not least by booking travel insurance, says Tony Conlon, of Henshalls Insurance Brokers in Newport and Shrewsbury.

"We would always recommend either a single trip or annual travel insurance policy, as it's not only about cancellation or curtailment," he added.

"When you go to the USA, for example, we would be recommending a £10 million indemnity policy.

"People shouldn't rely on this ruling. Yes, it's in his favour, but would it be the case in a subsequent claim?

"You have to look at the bigger picture, and what travel insurance gives to people – and that's peace of mind."

• Star comment: Victory on holiday is welcome