Bad news for Thomas Cook customers who have not been able to travel because of the tour operator's bankruptcy: they should not expect a full reimbursement of their payments. The insurance Zurich Germany had insured the trips with the German Thomas Cook up to 110 million euros. "You can assume that this is not enough," said Zurich spokesman Bernd Engelien.
The compensation claims would be compared to the insured sum and quoted. As a calculation example: If the amount of damage is twice as high as the insured sum, the claims would be covered in half. Consumer advocates had already warned against this scenario last week.
So far, however, it is not clear how high the amount of damage and the reimbursement rate, said Engelien. Affected are customers who were not yet on the road to insolvency. Thomas Cook had canceled all trips until October 31, even if they were already paid or fully paid.
First, hotel bills for tourists, who were already on the way in the insolvency petition, as well as the return flights have to be paid, so Engelien. The amount of this sum was not clear. After all, bankruptcy insurance provided hoteliers with immediate advance payments for open invoices in the past week.
Of the 140,000 holidaymakers concerned, all but 17,000 were returned home by Monday evening, Engelien said. By the beginning of next week, the return action should be largely completed. Zurich assume that then only 3000 people, some long-term tourists, are abroad.
Who Thomas Cook customers need to contact
The German Thomas Cook, which includes Neckermann Reisen, Öger Tours and Bucher Reisen, among others, was caught in the wake of the bankruptcy of the British mother. Three German Thomas Cook companies filed for bankruptcy last week.
Thomas Cook wrote last week in a statement: "Affected customers can contact Kaera, a service provider appointed by the Zurich Insurance plc branch in Germany, for information on how to proceed." (Phone: 06172 99761123, Website: www.kaera-ag.de). There is a form linked to the assertion of claims.
For all customers who have booked a package holiday with Thomas Cook, there is usually a bankruptcy insurance. This is proven by the security certificate, which the consumer receives when booking a package holiday.
Read here everything worth knowing about the security certificate :