NEWS — HOT STORIES 4
Peacock Travel seeks £50k compensation after flooding shuts agency for three days
Doran’s Travel World before it changed hands seven months ago. Thames Water has accepted responsibility for the
incident and Lloyd is expecting to be compensated for loss of business. “The entire basement of the shop has been decimated and all of our archive files and brochures are ruined,” Lloyd explained. “It’s going to take three weeks for the basement to be dehumidified. “We are covered through insurance. A loss adjuster
from Thames Water is working with us on it and has been to see the damage caused.” A spokeswoman for Thames Water said: “We’re
Hollie-Rae Merrick
A travel agent is battling to recoup £50,000 in lost business after flooding forced his agency to close for three days. Peacock Travel and Tours in Twickenham was
forced to close its doors on October 6 after building contractors for Thames Water struck a pipe. Keith Lloyd, general manager UK, described the
closure as “a complete nightmare”, adding: “We’ve lost around £50,000 in business through the closure and that’s a lot of money.” The pipe burst directly in front of the King Street agency, which was previously Edwin
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really sorry to people and businesses affected by the burst pipe. Our workers damaged it by accident and we’ll be doing everything we can, as fast as we can, to put things right.”
“We’ve lost around £50,000 in business through the closure”
Peacock – part of the Nigerian-owned Peacock
Group – bought Edwin Doran’s Travel World in March for an undisclosed fee, giving the group its first presence on the UK high street. Lloyd said customers had been very supportive during the closure, with many emailing to offer help or assistance.
Abta: Fight unjustified customer complaints Lee Hayhurst
The firm which suspects it has been targeted by
Travel firms have been urged to fight unjustified customer complaints – or risk encouraging more. The warning from Abta came after a firm, which asked to remain anonymous, said it believed it faced a second complaint from an individual who has been quoted in the press saying travel firms ‘have a pot of money’ for complainants. Steve Higgins hit the headlines last
year after he successfully claimed compensation from a firm that had cold-called him 90 times about misselling of payment protection insurance. Higgins, from Nottingham, said he had also
won compensation from On The Beach and Thomas Cook. He was quoted in the Nottingham Post as saying: “The good thing about travel companies is they have a pot of money set aside for people like me.”
6 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 16 October 2014
Higgins paid out on a first complaint, even though it considered it unjustifiable, to avoid a court judgment. It said it had since received a second complaint. An Abta spokesman said: “We would strongly recommend if you have someone complaining, and you feel it is unjustified, do not pay compensation – stand your ground. “Judges tend to be fair. If someone is complaining without due course they will throw the case out and could order them to pay costs.” Stephen Mason, senior partner at
Travlaw, said: “Some companies pay out on claims they don’t think are justified just to get rid of the nuisance. But that has created a
perception that holiday companies are a soft touch.” Mason said firms persistently targeted by frivolous complainants could take out a civil restraint order.
MORE HOT STORIES
The burst pipe outside Peacock Travel
“If it is
unjustified do not pay
compensation – stand your ground”
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