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Coronadvice 5 - Does a travel company have to refund the cancellation fee after cancelling the trip?
How long will the restrictions on Czech inbound and outbound travel last? Months? Years? Do we have 40 years of limited freedom? At this time, we can only speculate. What are the implications for the planned tours?
In Coronadvice 2, we explained how the current situation in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in the world cannot be interpreted as requiring the cancellation of all future tours, as well as the customer's right of withdrawal without the obligation to pay cancellation fees. In Coronadvice 3, we further explained that an agreement to move the tour to another future date may be an ideal solution to conflicting situations.
Nobody wants it, but what if in May, June, or even later, other tours cannot be realized due to objective reasons? In such a case, the travel company will be required to cancel and refund the customers. But what about the customers who were already worried in March, and preferred to withdraw from the contract and the travel agency collected a cancellation fee from them, should the travel agency refund this sum of money back to customers?
The provisions of the Civil Code on travel package contracts do not specifically address this situation. However, the answer can be found in the legislation on unjust enrichment. Unjustified enrichment is also known as the unlawful use of foreign value, which was referred to in the Old Civil Code as property gains obtained from dishonest sources. An unfair source, or unlawful use, also means gaining the benefit of speculation or activity which, while not criminal, is contrary to good morals. We believe that telling a customer that they are afraid of prematurely, withdrawing a cancellation, and then keeping it, even if the trip is cancelled, is not moral. Therefore, when cancelling the trip in the future, the travel agencies should refund the money charged as the cancellation fee from the customers.
At the same time, however, we believe that the coronavirus situation is different from the usual situations where the customer withdraws from the tour for whatever reason, and the package tour eventually does not take place. In such situations, the travel agency does not have to deal with earlier cancellations.
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Jasper Brinkman
Jasper Brinkman
"Following a devastating hotel fire in Prague, the law firm Holubová advokáti, led by attorney Klara Dvorakova, successfully represented our extended family as a group of victims. The firm navigated complex international insurance and compensation laws to defend our rights.
I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts the firm had to make to bring our case to a successful compensation under extremely difficult circumstances."
Stewarts
Stewarts
"A visit to her daughter in London turned Eva's life upside down when she says she stepped into a crossing on a green light but was hit by a car. Despite her remarkable bravery, she faced a long treatment due to fractures in her pelvis, and the associated limitations and pain are likely to persist for the rest of her life. Regular headaches and impaired concentration compound her challenges.
Eva contacted us through an organization temporarily helping her manage her difficult living situation. At that time, she was destitute, relying only on subsistence payments. We were able to assist her because we specialize in personal injury and have contacts with proven colleagues abroad.
We worked with Stewarts, a UK law firm, on this case. Attorneys Klára Dvořáková and Rebecca Huxford helped Eva with the documentation in her case, explaining her options and the differences between the Czech and British systems of healthcare and social benefits reimbursement. Within a few months, thanks to the professional cooperation between the two offices, an offer of compensation from the insurance company of approximately CZK seven million was achieved. The client accepted this settlement because she did not want to deal with courts in the United Kingdom.
Subsequently, we assisted the client with related tax issues and contacted Auditone, a tax consultancy firm, which arranged for the filing of a tax return. Compensation for lost income is taxable, unlike most personal injury compensation.
'No one has done as much for me as you,' Eva said.
The fact that we were able to help Eva gives our work meaning and brings us great joy. We are very happy that, thanks to our many years of active involvement in the international professional organization PEOPIL, we can cooperate on such cases."