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In the course of the coronavirus pandemic, many consumers were forced to cancel their trips. Be it due to entry bans, travel warnings or the fear of being stuck at their holiday destination. Others were unable to travel due to the insolvency of the tour operator. In this context, the ECJ has now strengthened the rights of travellers. In certain cases, they can now claim money back following insolvency.

Consumers are protected by rights under the German Civil Code and the Air Passenger Rights Regulation, among others. They aim to recover money in the event of cancellation, delay and various other cases. The protection applies, for example, in the event of "unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances" - i.e. if the traveller wishes to cancel the trip due to these circumstances.

The court has now ruled that this is still possible even if the tour operator has already gone bankrupt. The background to this are two cases from Belgium and Austria. The people affected cancelled their trip and a short time later the tour operator filed for insolvency. In the Austrian case, the consumers took the insurer to court, but the insurer argued that it was not obliged to reimburse them because the trip was not cancelled due to the insolvency, but on its own initiative.

The ECJ did not agree. EU law stipulates that travellers are reimbursed all payments made in the event of cancellation due to "unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances". Should the insurance company not have to pay in the present cases, this would not be practicable. The prerequisite is, of course, that they have not already received a payment in the form of a refund. According to the ECJ, there is no reason to treat travellers whose holiday is cancelled due to the organiser's insolvency differently from travellers who have cancelled their trip due to "unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances". The judges at the ECJ therefore ruled that protection against the insolvency of a tour operator can also apply if the consumer cancels their holiday due to "unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances and the tour operator becomes insolvent precisely after this cancellation”.

Source: Pixabay/airport-1822133_1280