“Travel insurance also is not a particularly good option here unless you have abandonment cover which is very rare.”
Despite having lost your money to Monarch, Martin said there are still a few ways to claim back some cash.
Martin explained: “If you’re not covered by ATOL protection as your flight isn’t a package holiday, and your travel insurance won’t pay out as you don’t have the rare ‘travel abandonment’ cover; there are three further helpful protections to try.
“The first is Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1979. That says that if you pay for something – or even part-pay – on a credit card and it costs between £100 and £30,000, then the credit card company is jointly liable.
“In travel, it only works when you book direct, but that’s fine for those who paid Monarch on a credit card, as long as the cost is over £100.”
Martin advised those customers to contact their credit card company and ask to make a ‘Section 75’ claim for costs not received.
For other passengers, he added: “For all debit cards and credit cards you can use a less well-known protection called ‘chargeback’ (though with credit cards, if you paid over £100, Section 75 is better).
“With this, you ask your card provider to ask Monarch’s for your money back as you have not received the service.
“While it’s not a legal protection like Section 75, this is a core protection in Visa, Mastercard and American Express’ rules and it can swiftly help people get their money back.
“In fact, it was this route that we suggested in the Lowcostholidays issue, which got the most success.”
One Monarch customer who has been affected by the administration crisis is Gabriella Curry, who is currently stuck at Gatwick Airport £700 out of pocket.
She told This Morning: “I was supposed to be flying out this morning, we should have landed by now.
“We managed to find some computers inside Gatwick and we’ve found some alternative flights so hopefully we can fly out this afternoon with another airline.
“We booked on a credit card and travel insurance and ATOL protected so hopefully one way or another we should get some money back.”
Gabriella was supposed to be flying to Croatia for her 30th birthday.
She’s one of hundreds of thousands of Britons who are facing cancelled flights, with Monarch the largest UK airline ever to cease trading.
