Thomas Cook customers struggle to recoup funds as regulator’s website hit by ‘unprecedented demand’
Thomas Cook customers looking for a refund are being thwarted by excessive demand this morning, as the aviation regulator struggles to cope with the amount of people trying to claim their money back.
The Civil Aviation Authority this morning launched its refund process for those affected by the travel company’s collapse last month.
Read more: Thomas Cook customers face two-month wait for holiday refunds
Some people are unable to process their claims, despite being entitled to cash through the Atol protection scheme.
The CAA said this morning: “Due to the unprecedented demand to our website, some users are having difficulty submitting their claims.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience. If you have received an error message, your claim has not been successfully submitted. Please try back again later today.”
Customers who think they are entitled to a refund for a Thomas Cook booking can find out more here.
Some refunds could take until next week
Thomas Cook collapsed in September, leaving 150,000 Brits stranded abroad and the majority of its 9,000 UK workers out of a job.
The CAA was subsequently forced to embark on the biggest ever peacetime repatriation of British citizens, which is due to wind up today.
Watchdogs and MPs alike have launched investigations into how it left so many people high and dry.
This morning, frustrated users trying to get their money back reported claims going through after several attempts.
Others said they had not heard anything about separate automatic refunds that are due.
One user, Gemma Thompson, said she had eventually submitted a claim after 12 attempts.
Read more: Thomas Cook paid more than £20m to advisers in days before collapse
The regulator told Twitter users it is currently processing 24,000 of the 100,000 automatic refunds for customers who paid for holidays including Thomas Cook flights.
It hopes to get through all qualifying claims and refunds by this time next week.