Update on Thomas Cook claims

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has now settled more than 95% of all the claims it has received to date. This equates to 320,000 claims settled at a value of over £310 million in ATOL payments. This is the largest amount ever paid out by the scheme since its creation in the 1970s.

In addition to the 320,000 claims already settled, there are approximately 10,000 claims remaining and these are being processed as a matter of urgency. In most cases, these claims have taken longer to process because the details entered online do not exactly match Thomas Cook's booking records, in some cases due to Thomas Cook's incomplete or inaccurate data, making it more difficult for the claims team to identify bookings as quickly as we would like. We have a dedicated team working through the remaining claims in order to support consumers and process ATOL payments as quickly as possible.

There are also thousands of forward bookings with Thomas Cook that we have not yet received claims for, and we encourage anyone who has not yet opened a claim to do so as soon as possible so that we can process all claims within the timescales available to us.

Commenting, Richard Moriarty, Chief Executive of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said:

“While more than 95% of people who have made a claim have now received their ATOL payments, we are sorry that some are yet to receive payment. We are continuing to work through this enormous operation as quickly as we can as we understand that customers who have seen their future holidays cancelled will want to receive payment as soon as possible.

“We acknowledge that it has taken longer than we had hoped to make payments to the remaining consumers. We have a dedicated team working to process the most complex cases that need additional support and all consumers with outstanding claims should hear from us by the end of this week to receive an update on their claim and any next steps required. If we request further information, we would encourage consumers to respond as quickly as possible as we cannot process any payments until this information has been received.”

Frequently asked questions:

I have been contacted by CEGA to request new information - is this legitimate?

Some claims have been moved to a dedicated team at CEGA Group. If you are one of the impacted consumers, CEGA will email you requesting certain pieces of information. This email will contain your old reference number, as well as your new CEGA reference number. Please respond to this email as soon as possible so the team can continue to progress your claim.

If you are ever unsure about the legitimacy of an email, feel free to contact our call centre for clarification on: 0300 303 2800.

Do you have any advice for those that have received requests for further information, or those that are opening new claims?

The main piece of advice is to check and double check the data you provide to us; particularly your booking reference and bank account details. Responding as soon as possible to any requests from the team will help to progress your claim, but providing accurate information is vitally important as we are unable to process claims where incomplete or incorrect information has been provided.

I was informed that my claim had been paid, but I have not received payment in my account

It can take up to 10 working days for claims to appear in accounts following notification of payment. If you have not received payment within 10 days, please email ATOLClaims.ThomasCook@caa.co.uk outlining your situation and include as much information as you can including any reference numbers you have received.