Last September XL Leisure went bust. It was regarded as one of the worst crises ever to hit the travel industry. 85,000 passengers were left stranded abroad and 250,000 of their customers who'd paid for holidays were stuck with useless bookings worth tens of millions of pounds.
The travel industry has a unique protection scheme called ATOL, run by the airline regulators the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Book your holiday from a company with the ATOL logo, and you're promised total financial protection for your trip.
Many of the people who'd booked with XL believed they'd be able to get their money back within weeks but, it has now been several months and thousands of people still haven't received a penny.
Most companies within the XL Group were ATOL registered but Watchdog has heard from hundreds of people who've not had their refunds.
Husband and wife Ros and Mick Lunt told Watchdog about the trip to Greece they'd booked with XL. When it was cancelled, they still had a holiday but it was slightly closer to home in Tenby.
ATOL guarantee
They enjoyed their break away but are disappointed with the communication from the CAA and they can't understand why - when they had that crucial ATOL guarantee - they still haven't had their money back.
Another couple, Kirsty Leggott and Christian O'Connor borrowed over a thousand pounds from their parents to pay for their holiday. After the collapse of XL they thought they'd get their money back and despite completing all the claim forms requested by the CAA, they're still waiting.
The CAA sent a letter to people who paid by credit card advising them to try and claim via their card providers under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.
But the credit card companies don't always want to play ball either. So some of these people feel that they keep getting sent backwards and forwards between them and the CAA - with neither paying up.
When Watchdog contacted the CAA they said: "All customers with a valid ATOL claim will get their refund and the CAA is working to ensure that this happens.
"We apologise to all claimants awaiting refunds for the delay they're experiencing, but it's taken time to resolve the legal complexities of the failure given the many different ways that XL traded.
"Previous experience indicates that, with a failure of this size and complexity, it's likely to take about a year from the date of the failure for all valid claims to be submitted and processed. The rate of progress is heavily dependent on the speed with which all concerned supply us with the information we need.
"The repatriation of over 85,000 passengers due to fly home on XL last year demonstrated the value of the ATOL scheme and customers can be assured that they can continue to count on ATOL to protect them."
XL holidaymakers' refunds
The travel industry has a unique protection scheme called ATOL, run by the airline regulators the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Book your holiday from a company with the ATOL logo, and you're promised total financial protection for your trip.
Many of the people who'd booked with XL believed they'd be able to get their money back within weeks but, it has now been several months and thousands of people still haven't received a penny.
Most companies within the XL Group were ATOL registered but Watchdog has heard from hundreds of people who've not had their refunds.
Husband and wife Ros and Mick Lunt told Watchdog about the trip to Greece they'd booked with XL. When it was cancelled, they still had a holiday but it was slightly closer to home in Tenby.
ATOL guarantee
They enjoyed their break away but are disappointed with the communication from the CAA and they can't understand why - when they had that crucial ATOL guarantee - they still haven't had their money back.
Another couple, Kirsty Leggott and Christian O'Connor borrowed over a thousand pounds from their parents to pay for their holiday. After the collapse of XL they thought they'd get their money back and despite completing all the claim forms requested by the CAA, they're still waiting.
The CAA sent a letter to people who paid by credit card advising them to try and claim via their card providers under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.
But the credit card companies don't always want to play ball either. So some of these people feel that they keep getting sent backwards and forwards between them and the CAA - with neither paying up.
When Watchdog contacted the CAA they said: "All customers with a valid ATOL claim will get their refund and the CAA is working to ensure that this happens.
"We apologise to all claimants awaiting refunds for the delay they're experiencing, but it's taken time to resolve the legal complexities of the failure given the many different ways that XL traded.
"Previous experience indicates that, with a failure of this size and complexity, it's likely to take about a year from the date of the failure for all valid claims to be submitted and processed. The rate of progress is heavily dependent on the speed with which all concerned supply us with the information we need.
"The repatriation of over 85,000 passengers due to fly home on XL last year demonstrated the value of the ATOL scheme and customers can be assured that they can continue to count on ATOL to protect them."
XL holidaymakers' refunds