money.co.uk comment: failure of Flybe and what protections travellers have

Salman Haqqi, personal finance expert at money.co.uk, said: "As the world continues to battle the coronavirus outbreak, today it claims its first high-profile UK business casualty, with yet another blow to the hard-hit travel industry. After last year's collapse of Thomas Cook, today's failure of Flybe will cause travellers more pain, as well as being a very sad day for its 2,000 employees.

"If you are booked on a Flybe flight, you are being advised not to travel to the airport as the company has gone into administration, so you need to check what protections you have in place to recoup your cash. "ATOL protection will cover your flights, accommodation and car hire if they were part of a package deal, but it won't cover incidentals such as meals and taxis. Even if your airline or holiday provider is ATOL protected, it is always recommended that you have comprehensive travel insurance as well before heading off on your travels.

"Also, if you only paid for the flight through Flybe and they have gone bust while you're away, you won't necessarily be covered for any extra accommodation and car hire costs you need, whilst you try to organise a return flight from another airline. "Comprehensive travel insurance should cover most of these costs, but check the small-print first because not all policies will include end-supplier failure or airline failure, which covers you in the event that a travel company stops operating. "If you paid for any of your booking by credit card, you may also be covered under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, which protects amounts between £100 and £30,000 or see if your debit card provider offers the Chargeback scheme to allow you to claim back any losses."

Press@money.co.uk