Holiday Extras has joined forces with International Passenger Protection Limited (IPP) to offer End Supplier Financial Failure Cover to agents on their retail travel insurance products.
p>Holiday Extras has joined forces with International Passenger Protection Limited (IPP) to offer End Supplier Financial Failure Cover to agents on their retail travel insurance products.Agents select whether or not their product will include the cover, with early indications showing that most agents will include the extension.
?We have listened to our agents, and have found a product that enables them to easily offer the best protection to their customers. This new addition to our product range demonstrates our continuing commitment to providing the best product for our retail partners,? said Andrea Clayton, Head of Insurance at Holiday Extras.
"We are seeing a rapid growth in travel insurance policies including this cover as consumers realise the shortfall in cover provided by the government's ATOL scheme," said Michael Ward, sales and marketing manager at IPP.
Consumer protection in the UK is mainly limited to package holidays. Normally consisting of a flight plus another component booked with the same company, protection does not necessarily extend to independently assembled holidays which have - due to the internet - found increased popularity.
Flight-only bookings and flights purchased directly from airlines also have no formal protection, while all other elements of a non-packaged holiday are similarly unprotected.
A recent report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that despite a drop in travel failures during the second quarter of 2009, the worst could be yet to come as a result of decreased overseas travel by UK holidaymakers.
