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Charter company goes bust: is my deposit gone?
Short answer
Once an operator is insolvent, your deposit becomes a claim in the process, and claims of that kind pay out slowly and rarely in full. How you paid usually matters more than what the booking confirmation says.
Charters are booked far ahead and paid for early: part on booking, the balance a few weeks before the start. In between, your money sits with a company you probably know only from a website, quite often in another country. When a weak season catches up with it, the first sign is silence: emails go unanswered and the phone rings out. The booking still exists on paper, but there is no longer anyone on the other side to enforce it against.
What you recover depends far more on the payment route than on the contract. Once insolvency proceedings open, your deposit becomes a claim to be registered with the appointed administrator, and what comes back at the end is a proportion of what is left. Where the operator is based in Croatia, Greece or Spain, the process runs under that country's law and timetable. If you paid by credit card, a chargeback may be open to you depending on your card issuer and the time limits, because the service booked was never delivered.
Most of the protection sits before the money leaves your account. Ask who holds the funds until the start of the charter and whether any insolvency protection comes with the booking; where a charter is sold as a package with flights or other travel services, protection of that kind is common, whereas a bareboat charter on its own generally carries none. Do not rush the balance payment if doubts appear, keep the contract, the payment records and every message, and remember that a boat policy answers damage to a boat and not money that never came back.
Worth remembering
Bank transfer
becomes a claim the moment it lands
Credit card
may still allow a chargeback
How you pay decides what is left once an operator fails.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
Will I get my deposit back from the insolvency?
Usually only in part, and late. You register the claim with the administrator and receive a share of whatever the process realises. Do not plan the season around it, and do not expect the full amount at any stage.
Is a credit card chargeback worth trying?
Often yes, if you move quickly. Depending on your card issuer and the time limits, a payment made for a service that was never delivered can be reversed. Ask your bank as soon as the failure is confirmed rather than waiting for news.
Does any insurance answer an operator going bust?
A boat policy does not; it deals with damage to a boat, not with payments that fall through. Whether a travel product responds depends entirely on what was insured, so the wording of that product is the place to look.
How do I spot a risky operator before booking?
Watch how the money is asked for. An operator wanting a large sum very early, ideally by transfer to a private account, sending no proper contract and dodging questions about security, is not worth the saving on the week.
Related
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