With a wave of holiday cancellations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic leading to concerns over consumer refunds, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has stepped in to ensure that Virgin Holidays reimburses customers.
Holidays cancelled before September 1, 2020 will be repaid by October 30, while holidays cancelled between September 1 and October 31 will be repaid by November 20.
Virgin Holidays will also ensure that people who are entitled to a holiday on or after November 1 will be paid within 14 days.
CTSI has announced that it supports the CMA’s action and welcomes Virgin Holidays’ commitment to refund customers. The travel company has received 53,000 refund requests since March 1, totalling £203m.
Bruce Treloar, CTSI Lead Officer for Holiday and Travel Law, said: “I welcome the decision of the CMA to enforce repayments to consumers whose Virgin holidays were cancelled due to the pandemic.
“Virgin will also report back regularly on the status of refunds to the CMA, and it appears that the company is committed to complying with this decision. This outcome is excellent news for Virgin Holidays customers both now and into the future, and is the latest in a series of secured refund commitments from companies including TUI UK, Sykes Cottages, and Vacation Rentals.”
