Posted at 6:00 p.m.
For technical reasons, the text of this response published last week has been cut in half. Here is the full text. Our apologies.
I would like to know if FICAV has started to reimburse customers for travel packages canceled due to COVID-19. Where is it?
Monique Lavallee
Endless ! The word is weak to describe the expectations of travelers who have submitted a claim to the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents (FICAV).
After 22 months, many customers whose trips were canceled due to the pandemic still haven’t seen the color of their money. But it must be said that the FICAV, which depends on Quebec, was itself delayed by Ottawa, which took a long time to react.
A quick reminder: while the American and European authorities quickly ordered carriers to reimburse customers at the start of the pandemic, the Canadian Transportation Agency (OTC) instead flew to the defense of carriers who were content to offer travel credits. This pseudo-solution has also served as an excuse for certain insurers to also refuse to compensate customers who have found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.
Travelers were held hostage for more than a year before Ottawa changed its tune and forced carriers to reimburse them, in exchange for a multi-billion dollar bailout.
All the while, FICAV was waiting for Ottawa to get hooked up. It wasn’t until last October that he sent out forms to claimants asking them to update their files to sort out what they had been reimbursed by a third party from what they were still claiming. .
Unfortunately, 59% of the 36,000 claimants to whom the FICAV sent an e-mail did not respond, which blocks the processing of their file. In addition, 17% canceled their request. And 24% submitted their form.
To date, FICAV has paid $4.9 million to 2,089 claimants. Hallelujah!
But this soap opera which is not yet finished demonstrates that the rules of the game must be reviewed. Jacob Charbonneau, President of Late Flight.
First, we must improve the Travelers Charter, which came into force a few months before the pandemic. This baptism of fire proved that the Charter is far too complicated and protects carriers more than their passengers.
But then, why not create a pan-Canadian compensation fund based on the FICAV model? Such a fund would allow aggrieved travelers to be compensated from the contributions they themselves have made over the years, rather than taxpayers’ money.