Consumer Protection

The Travel Trust Association is a travel trade association. TTA Members consist of travel agents, tour operators and travel organisers. The Travel Trust Association exists in order to protect you, the customer, with 100% financial protection and has been doing so for over 20 years. This means that every penny you pay to a TTA Member is protected by the mechanisms described below.

There are two parts to the insolvency protection arrangements offered by the Travel Trust Association.

Firstly, all payments made to a TTA Member for travel services (whether for transport, accomodation, entertainment or other activities) are paid by that TTA Member into a specially designated Trust Account. In other words, when you pay ABC Travel Ltd, it will place all payments in the ABC Travel Ltd Trust Account.

Credit Card Payments are automatically deposited into the Trust Account via electronic processing.

A Trust Account is a bank account designated to hold customer money. Your money remains in the Trust Account, and is supervised by an appointed trustee who is either a banker, chartered or certified accountant or a solicitor. Both the TTA Member and the trustee are required to authorise payments from the trust account.

Once your payment is held in the Trust Account, it will only be released in limited circumstances. For instance, before the completion of your holiday, the money will only be released to pay for the services which you have booked, such as to pay the airline or the accomodation provider. Alternatively, the money can also be released on completion of your holiday or if you cancel your holiday.

These arrangements mean that, if the TTA Member fails, your suppliers will either already have been paid or the money will be available in the trust account to pay the suppliers of your holiday (so that the holiday can go ahead). Alternatively, if this is not possible then money in the trust account can be used to refund you.

Secondly, there is further protection against the risk of suppliers not being paid because of the fraud or dishonesty of a TTA Member or the trustee, up to a maximum of £11,000 per booking. So if you paid £2,000, which is not available in the Trust Account to pay suppliers due to the fraud or dishonesty of the TTA Member or the trustee, TTA guarantees the loss of £2,000.

When you make a booking, you will be supplied with a guarantee certificate which records who is protected by the guarantee. You can see the terms of our guarantee at www.Traveltrust.co.uk/guarantee

If you have a query about the way we protect your customers, see if your question has already been answered below. If not, we would be happy to answer it for you via our contact us page.

For recruitment queries, just call us on 0800 680 0707 / 01483 545783 (option 1 then option 2) or email us on joinus@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk to find out more.

• Who are the Travel Trust Association?

  The Travel Trust Association is a travel trade association. TTA Members consist of travel agents, tour operators and travel organisers.

  The Travel Trust Association exists in order to protect you, the customer, with 100% financial protection and has been doing so for over 20 years. This means that every penny that you pay to TTA Members is protected by the mechanisms put in place by the Travel Trust Association.

• What does it mean if a company is a member of the Travel Trust Association?

  It means that you can book your holiday secure in the knowledge that Travel Trust Association has arrangements in place which will protect you in the unlikely event of a TTA Member becoming insolvent.

  Firstly, all payments made to a TTA Member for travel services (whether for transport, accommodation, entertainment or other activities) are paid by that TTA Member into a specially designated Trust Account. In other words, when you pay ABC Travel Ltd, it will place all payments in the ABC Travel Ltd Trust Account. Credit Card Payments are automatically deposited into the Trust Account via electronic processing.

  A Trust Account is a bank account designated to hold customer money. Your money remains in the Trust Account, and is supervised by an appointed trustee who is either a banker, chartered or certified accountant or a solicitor. Both the TTA Member and the trustee are required to authorise payments from the trust account.

  Once your payment is held in the Trust Account, it will only be released in limited circumstances. For instance, before the completion of your holiday, the money will only be released to pay for the services which you have booked, such as to pay the airline or the accommodation provider. Alternatively, the money can also be released on completion of your holiday or if you cancel your holiday.

  These arrangements mean that, if the TTA Member fails, your suppliers will either already have been paid or the money will be available in the trust account to pay the suppliers of your holiday (so that the holiday can go ahead). Alternatively, if this is not possible then money in the trust account can be used to refund you.

  Secondly, there is further protection against the risk of suppliers not being paid because of the fraud or dishonesty of a TTA Member or the trustee, up to a maximum of £11,000 per booking. So if you paid £2,000, which is not available in the Trust Account to pay suppliers due to the fraud or dishonesty of the TTA Member or the trustee, TTA guarantees to make up the loss of £2,000.

  When you make a booking, you will be supplied with a guarantee certificate which records who is protected by the guarantee. You can see the terms of our guarantee at www.Traveltrust.co.uk/guarantee

• Do Travel Trust Association members abide by a code of conduct?

  All members of the Travel Trust Association have to abide by the member Code of Conduct. This is to ensure that the customers receive the best possible service.

• How does the Travel Trust Association provide 100% financial protection for me?

  Every TTA Member deposits payments received for travel services into a Trust Account. The monies held in this Trust Account will only be released in limited circumstances. For instance, before the completion of your holiday, the money will only be released to pay for the services which you have booked, such as to pay the airline or the accommodation provider. Alternatively, the money can also be released on completion of your holiday or if you cancel your holiday.

  A Trust Account is a bank account designated to hold customer money. Your money remains in the Trust Account, and is supervised by an appointed trustee who is either a banker, chartered or certified accountant or a solicitor. Both the TTA Member and the trustee are required to authorise payments from the trust account and this can only be done in certain limited circumstances.

• In addition to being held in trust, you also have a financial guarantee from the Travel Trust Association.

  There is protection against the risk of suppliers not being paid because of the fraud or dishonesty of a TTA Member or the trustee, up to a maximum of £11,000. So if you paid £2,000, which is not available in the Trust Account to pay suppliers due to the fraud or dishonesty of the TTA Member or the trustee, TTA guarantees to make up the loss of the £2,000.

  When you make a booking, you will be supplied with a guarantee certificate which describes how this protection works – you can see the terms of our guarantee on our website www.traveltrust.co.uk/guarantee.

• What happens if something goes wrong?

  A travel company enters into an Event of Default once they have failed and cease to be a member of the Travel Trust Association. It is a standard term used by the Travel Trust Association when a company has failed and is no longer a member of the Travel Trust Association.

  If you have booked with a Travel Trust Association member who has entered into an Event of Default, the Travel Trust Association will step in to try to ensure you receive either your holiday, or financial protection through the mechanisms put in place by the Travel Trust Association.

  We expect clients to travel as planned as we typically liaise with suppliers and tour operators to ensure that your holiday/trip goes ahead unaffected.

  If for any reason this is not possible, we can administer a claim for a refund of money held in the trust account. Upon an Event of Default, it is important that customers contact the Travel Trust Association before booking a replacement holiday as it is likely that you will continue with your booking as intended. If you wish to cancel your booking please note that you will be subject to the cancellation charges levied by the Tour Operator. Travel Trust Association requires all customers to provide copies of correspondence with agency e.g. booking confirmation, invoices etc. as well as proof of payment. If you paid by:

  • Credit/debit card- If payment has been made by credit or debit card please forward your original card statement(s). This is the statement received on a monthly basis from your card provider and not only customer card holder receipts. Please contact your card provider for duplicate statements if necessary. Please ensure that the name of the account holder and payment to the Travel Trust Association member is clear.
  • Bank transfer: If payment has been made by bank transfer please forward your original bank statement showing that this transfer has cleared your account. Please ensure that the name of the account holder and payment to the Travel Trust Association is clear.
  • Cheque: If you have made payment by cheque please request a copy of this cheque(s) from your bank and forward upon receipt to the Association together with your bank statement(s) showing that this cheque(s) has cleared your account. Please ensure that the name of the account holder is clear.
  • Cash:If payment has been made by cash, please forward all receipts together with your bank statement(s) showing this withdrawal. Please ensure that the name of the account holder and the withdrawal balance is clear.

  Please send this paperwork to:
  Travel Trust Association
  St Andrews House
  Woking
  Surrey
  GU21 6EB

• What is the complaints procedure?

  In the event of a breakdown of communication or a serious disagreement between a TTA Member and their customer, the Travel Trust Association can act as an independent intermediary.

  All complaints are dealt with in writing. Should you feel the need to make a complaint about a TTA Member, please detail the matter in writing and post it to:

  Travel Trust Association
  St Andrews House
  West Street
  Woking
  Surrey
  GU21 6EB

  Please enclose copies of any previous correspondence that you may have had with the company and any paperwork that is at all relevant e.g. receipts, invoices, etc.

  Upon receipt Travel Trust Association will act as an independent intermediary in your grievance with a TTA Member and shall liaise between both parties. Should the response that you receive from the TTA Member not be satisfactory, we can then offer you an arbitration service. The arbitration service is administered and managed independently from Travel Trust Association and the Travel Trust Association member.

• What does Event of Default mean?

  A travel company enters into an Event of Default once they have failed and ceased to be a member of the Travel Trust Association. It is a standard term used by the Travel Trust Association when a company has failed and is no longer a member of the Travel Trust Association for any reason.

• I have a complaint about a Travel Trust Association member. What can I do?

  In the event of a breakdown of communication or a serious disagreement between a TTA Member and their customer, the Travel Trust Association can act as an independent intermediary.

  All complaints are dealt with in writing. Should you feel the need to make a complaint about a TTA Member, please detail the matter in writing and post it to:

  Travel Trust Association
  St Andrews House
  West Street
  Woking
  Surrey
  GU21 6EB

  Please enclose copies of any previous correspondence that you may have had with the company and any paperwork that is at all relevant e.g. receipts and bookings.

  Upon receipt we will administer your complaint for you and ensure that you receive a response. Should the response that you receive not be satisfactory, we can then offer you an arbitration service.

If your question isn't listed above, we'll happily answer it for you! Get in touch with our team by calling Head Office on 01483 545 780.