Coronavirus: Will my trip be refunded if I’m quarantined on arrival?

Simon Calder answers your questions on mandatory isolation and the prospects of a July holiday

The holiday can still go ahead in theory, but the traveller wants to cancel (EPA)

Q If countries impose a quarantine on arrival does that mean your travel insurance wouldn’t pay out? I’m thinking of circumstances when the trip can still technically go ahead, but the traveller understandably wants to cancel.

Pete W

A Many countries around the world are either imposing or proposing 14 days of mandatory quarantine for inbound travellers to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The conditions can be very strict, insisting on “institutional quarantine” at a government facility, as in New Zealand; or light touch as in Greece and Romania, where the passenger can nominate the location where they plan to self-isolate for the following two weeks.

Sometimes restrictions apply only to travellers from certain countries, or with a recent travel history to nations with a high incidence of Covid-19. The UK is often prominent on any such list.

Anyone who has booked a package holiday from the UK to any destination with mandatory quarantine can cancel on the grounds that the holiday as promised cannot be delivered. They are entitled to a full refund under the Package Travel Regulations, which state: “In the event of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the place of destination … the traveller may terminate the package travel contract before the start of the package without paying any termination fee.”

People who have flights and accommodation booked separately, though, do not have this gold-plated consumer protection and are in a trickier position. If this applies to you, and your flight has been cancelled, as many have, then you are entitled to a full cash refund of the air fare.

Even if the flight departure is going ahead, as some are, you can expect to be offered a voucher for future travel as a gesture of goodwill by the airline.

But if the accommodation provider at your destination is still open for business, the fact that you cannot reasonably access the room is not their problem; they can decline a request to refund a paid-for booking.

Most property owners will appreciate the circumstances and offer either your money back or a postponement. Were the provider simply to refuse, then you can ask your insurer for reimbursement – if your policy covers such circumstances.

Will my travel company cancel my July trip soon? (AFP/Getty)

Q Our family is meant to be going to France in mid-July, on a package holiday involving BA flights, a villa and a rental car. The balance of the trip is payable at the end of May.

I absolutely get that one still has to pay for one’s holiday until all hope is lost and it gets cancelled due to coronavirus. But I understand that the French are about to extend their lockdown to late July. Is that enough to force the travel company to can it? If so, what happens next?

Name supplied

A In normal times, France receives more tourists than any other country in Europe. But at present no one can go to France on holiday because of movement constraints imposed as part of the national lockdown.

The French parliament is about to vote on proposals to extend emergency measures – one of which will make life even more difficult for any prospective holidaymaker.

The plan is to impose mandatory quarantine when people arrive in France. From a date sometime this week, the authorities will assume that everyone who steps off a train, plane or ferry on to French territory has the virus. They will be required to spend 14 days in isolation. I understand this obligation will continue through to 24 July.

As soon as such a law is passed, you can reasonably deem your holiday to be cancelled. No travel firm can send anyone to France with such draconian measures in force. You should therefore be spared handing over the balance, which will reduce the scale of the refund you are owed.

Under the Package Travel Regulations, the travel firm is required to hand back your payments so far within two weeks. Everyone accepts that the 14-day stipulation is nigh-impossible to achieve, but you should be told when you can realistically expect it – in cash.

You may be inclined to help the company by accepting a postponement or voucher, but don’t be pressured if you prefer cash.

The Competition and Markets Authority says “a refund should still be an option that is just as clearly and easily available”. France is evidently prepared to sacrifice its tourist industry for some or all of the summer to combat Covid-19. I hope you can get there before too long.

Can admin fees legally be deducted from my refund?​ (Getty)

Q I booked a holiday via travel agent. Understandably the holiday has been cancelled because of Covid-19. I’ve received an email from the agent stating that a refund will be issued but with an administration fee of £45 per person deducted. Nowhere does it state on their website that there would be an admin fee. Am I legally obliged to pay it?

Monique G

A No. You should get all your money back – and your position has just been strengthened by the latest advice from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on refunds for travel cancellations caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The CMA says that when a business cannot provide the service offered (in your case, the holiday you booked and paid for), the business must normally provide a full refund.

There is a bit of wriggle room for the travel agent in a caveat that says: “The business may be able to deduct a contribution to the costs it has already incurred in relation to the specific contract in question, where it cannot recover them elsewhere.” It adds that these cases are likely to be relatively rare.

One exception would be the situation on my last adventure. The cost of the trip included £100 for a Yemeni visa. Since that was non-recoverable, the travel firm would legitimately have been able to retain the cost while refunding me the remainder. (Fortunately for both parties, the trip went ahead.)

An agent would not be able to impose an arbitrary charge of, say, £45 for the routine work involved in your booking. And the fact that your travel firm is seeking a per-person charge says to me that this is a brave but futile attempt to recover the margin that it has lost on your booking.

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