Refunds will be granted to customers of failed travel firm

Customers of a failed travel firm will all be refunded, it was claimed today.

King's Lynn based East Anglian Travel ceased trading on Monday, leaving hundreds owed money they have paid for coach holidays over Christmas and New Year.  Trips booked by its customers included a mystery tour and a four-day festive break to Luxembourg.  But a spokeman for the firm's insurers said any bookings made before November 30 would be refunded.  "Under the package travel regulations any tour operator has to provide customer protection for any money they collect from their clients," he said.  "They had an insurance policy that was valid until November, so any monies paid up to that date will be refunded.  "Norwich-based insolvency practitioner McTear Williams & Wood said East Anglian Holidays had ceased trading because it had been unable to renew its financial failure insurance policy designed to reimburse customers money that they had prepaid for their holidays.  

One industry source said its director, Patricia Sparks had been "remarkably responsible" in ceasing to offer customers holidays as soon as she knew their money would no longer be insured.  They added other businesses had continued trading without insurance and been unable to reimburse monies paid after they went bust.

There was no answer at East Anglian Holidays' offices off King Street in Lynn.  The company's phones had been diverted to voicemail.  Companies House lists a correspondence address for sole director Miss Parks on Castle Rising Road, South Wootton.  Today a woman who answered the door at the large detached house said Miss Spark's company was registered at the property but she did not live there and did not know how to contact her.

East Anglian Holidays' website has also been taken down but terms and conditions on a cached page state: "EA Holidays is a company committed to customer satisfaction and consumer financial protection." 

McTear Williams & Wood said customers have been given instructions as to how to recover the money they have paid for the holidays.

East Anglian Holidays is expected to enter creditors' voluntary liquidation in January.

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18 December 2019