SGR Warranty Conditions

Purpose

Article 1

The Stichting Garantiefonds Reisgelden Foundation, hereinafter referred to as “SGR”, has made a commitment to its participants to make payments to or for consumers in accordance and in conjunction with the following objectives as per its statutes. The consumers accepts this warranty when making a booking through a participant.

Definitions

Article 2

The following terms have the meanings indicated below in these Warranty Conditions:

a. Tour operator: Someone who, in the performance of their commercial activities, offers the public or a group of persons pre-arranged package tours in their own name (cf. Book 7, Article 500(1) (a) of the Dutch Civil Code).

b.Travel agreement: The agreement in conjunction with which a tour operator undertakes to provide the other party with a pre-arranged package tour offered by the tour operator itself, comprising one overnight stay or a duration of more than 24 hours and at least two of the following services: transportation, accommodation or other tourist service that is unrelated to transportation and accommodation and forms a material component of the package tour (cf. Book 7, Article 500(1) (b) of the Dutch Civil Code).

c. Transportation provider: Someone who, in the performance of their commercial activities, offers the public or a group of persons organised transport for tourist purposes in their own name, e.g. by bus or ship.

d. Accommodation provider: Someone who, in the performance of their commercial activities, offers the public or a group of persons temporary accommodation for tourist purposes in their own name, such as a hotel or holiday home.

e. Participant: The tour operator, the travel agent, the transportation provider or the accommodation provider who has a valid participation agreement with SGR.

f. Financial incapacity: Incapacity to continue meeting financial obligations, whereby the obligor in question has halted its payments to the creditor or is under other silent administration [stille bewindvoering], has been granted a temporary suspension of payment or is in liquidation.

g. Travel agent: Someone who, in the performance of their commercial activities, acts as an intermediary for the formation of a travel agreement, an accommodation agreement or a transportation agreement.

h. Booking: Registration for a package tour or individual parts of a tour.

Payments

Article 3

1. SGR’s goal is to make payments to or for consumers who have entered into travel, transportation or accommodation agreements with a participant or through a participant’s agency when these consumers incur a financial loss because the participant in question is unable to perform due to financial incapacity.

2. The agreement entered into between the consumer and the participant is deemed to have been entered into in the country in which the participant is resident.

3. Flight tickets that are not a part of a package tour are not covered by these Warranty Conditions.

4. Consumers who have entered into a travel, transportation or accommodation agreement with a participant or through a participant’s agency, have paid the participant and are also in possession of a booking confirmation and the associated invoice and payment voucher are entitled to payment.

5. Payments will only be made if and to the extent that the consumer can demonstrate that their losses have not been reimbursed by third parties.

6. At maximum, payment will be made in the amount of the travel, transportation or accommodation costs paid. It the tour or accommodation was already partially utilised, the payment will be limited to a proportion of the amount already paid. If the travel agreement comprises transportation services and the destination has already been reached, return travel will be arranged.

7. If and to the extent that, with all due consideration to these terms and conditions, a right to payment exists, SGR’s duty to pay compensation is limited to an amount of EUR 12,500 per consumer per claim.

Any excess amount will be insured by SGR in the consumer’s favour with Europeesche Verzekeringen, Amsterdam. In the event of losses, SGR will settle the loss in the name of the consumer in question with Europeesche Verzekeringen, notwithstanding the consumer’s right to claim the payment directly from Europeesche Verzekeringen.

8. Payments will be made in the following cases:

a. A participant is in default of performance due to financial incapacity and the agreement in question was entered into directly by the consumer or through a travel agent.

b. A non-participant is in default of performance due to financial incapacity, whereby the performance was offered and agreed through an agent of a participant that is unable to reimburse the travel, transportation or accommodation costs due to its own financial incapacity.

c. Owing to financial incapacity, a participating travel agent is in default of providing valid travel documents, but only if the tour operator, the transportation provider or the accommodation provider has no obligation to render performance for the consumer.

d. Owing to financial incapacity, a participant does not comply with an order arising from a binding decision by the Travel Industry Disputes Committee or a final court ruling to pay compensation to the consumer, provided that the compensation relates to a payment stipulated in written correspondence.

9. It is at SGR’s discretion whether a participant is in default of performance owing to its financial incapacity.

10. Compensation payments are excluded in the following cases:

a. Travel agreements, transportation agreement or accommodation agreements entered into with an organisation that was not an SGR participant at the time that the agreement was entered into, unless the agreement was entered into through a travel agent that is an SGR participant.

b. Monetary amounts that were paid after it was reported on SGR’s website and in the media that the participant in question is in financial incapacity and therefore no further payments should be made.

c. Monetary amounts that were paid in advance in contradiction to the terms and conditions of the participant.

d. Insurance premiums, policy payments, change costs, telephone fees, credit card fees, collateral, costs of obtaining visas and similar costs that are not a component of travel expenses.

e. In the event of payments listed under section 8(d): legal costs and costs as a result of loss of interest.

f. Bookings that arose exclusively on the basis of lotteries, discount vouchers, air miles or similar bookings that were not paid in cash or by bank transfer.

g. Coupons, on the basis of which a travel, transportation or accommodation agreement was not formed with a participant.

Article 4

1. The consumer is required to assert their claim in respect of SGR within two months of becoming aware, or of when the consumer could reasonably have become aware, that the participant in question cannot fulfil its obligations to the consumer owing to financial incapacity.

2. The consumer only has a claim to payment by SGR if SGR has an obligation, in conjunction with its objectives and its Warranty Conditions, to make a payment to or for the consumer, duly taking Article 5 into account, and if the consumer has satisfied the obligations set out below.

Substitute travel

Article 5

1. Instead of reimbursing paid travel, transportation or accommodation costs, SGR reserves the right to carry out the travel, transportation or accommodation agreement itself; in such event, the terms and conditions agreed with the tour operator, transportation provider or accommodation provider remain valid.

2. Furthermore, SGR is authorised to offer the consumer the choice between reimbursement of the travel, transportation or accommodation costs already paid and the booking of substitute travel, substitute transportation or substitute accommodation, if necessary with additional payment or reimbursement if the price of the substitute product is higher or lower than the payment to which the consumer is entitled.

3. The consumer is not permitted to demand the performance by SGR of a service other than ensuring return travel or the pro rata payment of the costs of a tour, transportation or accommodation already partially utilised.

Obligations of the consumer and the travel agent

Article 6

1. If the travel, transportation or accommodation agreement was entered into through a travel agent, the consumer must contact the travel agent in order to make a claim for payment.

2. Consumers who booked directly with the participant that has become financially incapable can assert their claim for payment directly from SGR.

3. If the payment is not claimed in accordance with the following provisions on time, the claim to payment expires.

4. Every consumer is required to submit the following documents to the travel agent set out in section 1 or to SGR in order to assert their claim to payment:

booking confirmation and invoice
associated proof of payment (receipt)
travel documents in their possession such as transportation tickets (including flight tickets), coupons, etc.

5. If the consumer does not have one of the documents stipulated above, the consumer has no claim to payment.

6. As set out in the implementing provisions for claims through travel agents, a travel agent that invokes the Warranty Conditions in the name of a consumer must prove that it is not acting in its own name.

7. The consumer and the travel agent are required to obey SGR’s instructions in relation to asserting claims.

Order and power of attorney

Article 7

For all measures taken by the above travel agent necessary to collect the amount in the name of the consumer to which they are entitled from SGR in conjunction with warranty, the consumer’s order and power of attorney are deemed to have been granted to the above travel agent.

Assignment and subrogation

Article 8

1. If SGR makes a payment to or for the consumer, SGR joins in the consumer’s rights in respect of the participant in question.

2. If so demanded by SGR, the consumer is required to cooperate when transferring its rights in respect of the participant or tour operator, transportation provider or accommodation provider in question to SGR, regardless of whether this is an SGR participant. On first request by SGR, the consumer must sign the assignment deed(s) regarding the above rights that were issued in the amount of the claim to payment according to the template(s) specified by SGR.

3. The consumer has no claim to payment if they have not yet satisfied the above obligations; if payment has already been made, this has no legal basis.

Amendments

Article 9

1. The Management Board of SGR is authorised, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, to make amendments to these Warranty Conditions.

2. The version of the Warranty Conditions most recently adopted at the time of the booking are binding for the booking.

Final provision

Article 10

In all cases in which nothing has been stipulated by the law, the statutes or other regulations, the decision lies with the Management Board.

These Warranty Conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with Dutch law.

All disputes arising from these Warranty Conditions will be heard exclusively before the Court (Rechtbank) of Rotterdam.

Determined on this basis after receipt of approval by the Supervisory Board at its meeting on 19 December 2017.

Stichting Garantiefonds Reisgelden
P.O. Box 4040, 3006 AA Rotterdam
Netherlands 201712

Submitted to the register of the Court (Rechtbank) of Rotterdam and the Rotterdam Chamber of Commerce.

Disclaimer for translation errors:

The official language of SGR is Dutch. These Warranty Conditions have been translated with the utmost possible care. However, SGR accepts no liability for possible errors or omissions in this translation or for direct or indirect consequences of actions taken or not taken on the basis of this translation. No rights of any kind can be derived on the basis of this translation.

The Dutch text takes precedence in the event of discrepancies between the original Dutch text and this translation.