Travel security certificate
The travel insurance certificate is Reiserecht a security note that in favor of the tour operator made advance payments or payments for vacation packages a hedge of travelers by banks or insurance companies can prove.
General
The obligation to deliver travel insurance certificates with every package tour has existed in German travel law since 1994. The reason for the introduction were several, in some cases spectacular, bankruptcies of travel companies, which led to holidaymakers being stranded at the holiday destination or down payments made being lost. Since then, tour operators have only been allowed to demand advance payments or down payments from the traveler before the start of the journey under certain conditions. As a result, however, the traveler assumes a risk of advance payment , which is the risk that the package tour can no longer be carried out in whole or in part due to the insolvency of the tour operator and the traveler no longer receives his deposit back. If the tour operator becomes insolvent during the trip, the traveler is subject to the risk that the booked travel services, in particular the return flight, will no longer be performed.
Legal issues
In Germany, this risk has been covered by the travel insurance certificate since November 1994. On the basis of Article 17 (1) of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 of 25 November 2015 on “Package Travel and Related Travel Services”, all EU member states had to ensure that tour operators established in their territory provide security for the reimbursement of all travelers or on their behalf Make payments made if the services in question are not provided as a result of the tour operator's insolvency. Secure the claim of the passenger to a refund of prepaid travel price . These prerequisites are regulated in § 651t BGB , where the travel security certificate is called "customer money security contract". According to this, the tour operator may only request or accept payments from the traveler on the travel price before the end of the package tour if there is an effective customer money insurance contract (or in the cases of Section 651s BGB, the tour operator provides security) or the name and contact details of the security provider (bank or insurance company) ; Section 651r (3) BGB).
Pursuant to Section 651r (3) of the German Civil Code (BGB), the security provider may be a credit institute or an insurance company that secures the advance payment in the form of a bank guarantee ( deposit guarantee ) or insurance bond ( deposit insurance ) or by means of corresponding guarantees .
If you think the tour operator to fulfill its obligation to issue a travel insurance certificate, it can according to § 147b GewO with a fine be prosecuted. A multiple violation can lead to prohibition proceedings under commercial law according to § 35 GewO.
In Germany, the EU directive was not transposed into national law in good time, so that the insolvency of the tour operator MP Travel line meant that the federal government was liable for damages to the injured travelers.
In contrast to the requirements of the EU Directive of June 13, 1990 ( Directive 90/314 / EEC ), the Federal Minister of Justice at the time, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP), set an absolute liability limit of 110 million euros for the protection provider in Germany . Regardless of the company size of the tour operator and regardless of the number of trips sold, this means that in the event of the insolvency of a large tour operator (see e.g. insolvency of the German Thomas Cook GmbH in September 2019), customer funds are fully secured, but only can be reimbursed proportionally. The more travelers are entitled to reimbursement from major tour operators, the higher their risk of not receiving the full reimbursement amount.
purpose
The travel security certificate serves to protect travelers against the risk of bankruptcy with the tour operator. It secures the advance performance risk that travelers enter into advance payments on the travel price. If the tour operator goes bankrupt before the start of or during the package tour and is therefore no longer able to provide individual or all of the contractual travel services, a liability case occurs and the credit institutions or insurance companies must assume the damage up to the amount of the contingent liability assumed on the basis of their surety / guarantee . The cost of this protection ( guarantee commission for banks, insurance premiums for insurance companies) is initially borne by the tour operator, who, however, includes them in the travel price.
International
In Austria , the EU Package Travel Directive was implemented by the Travel Agency Security Ordinance (RSV). According to § 3 Para. 1 RSV, the organizer must ensure that the traveler is reimbursed for the payments already made (down payments and remaining payments), insofar as the travel services were not provided in whole or in part due to the organizer's insolvency, and the necessary expenses for the return trip, which arose as a result of the organizer's insolvency. In accordance with Section 3 (3) RSV, the organizer may choose between coverage through an insurance contract or an irrevocable and abstract bank guarantee . Both must extend their coverage to all bookings that are made during the term of the contract or the extended liability period and for which the booked trip ends no later than twelve months after the extended liability period has expired.
In Switzerland , package tours are only insured if the tour operator is affiliated to the "Swiss Travel Industry Guarantee Fund", which has existed since 1993. It was established on the basis of the Federal Law on Package Travel , which came into force in July 1994 . According to Art. 18 of this law, the organizer or the agent must ensure the reimbursement of amounts paid and the return trip of the traveler in the event of insolvency or bankruptcy. This means that customer funds are fully secured in the event of the provider's bankruptcy before departure.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Otto Palandt / Hartwig Sprau, BGB Commentary , 73rd edition, 2014, § 651k Rn. 1a
- ↑ BT-Drs. 14/8084 Bundestag printed matter 14/8084 of January 25, 2002, written questions , p. 3 f. (PDF; 525 kB)
- ↑ https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article656514/EuGH-Bund-muss-Konkurs-Opfer-entschaedigen.html Bund must compensate, accessed on October 22, 2019
