Yesterday, Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom made an oral statement concerning Thomas Cook to the House of Commons.
Noting that Thomas Cook had self-insured in respect of all but the most serious personal injury claims, she announced that, after the imminent general election, the government intended to set up a statutory compensation scheme for those left without redress.
The key features of the scheme described are:
- It will be “a capped fund, sufficient to ensure there is support for those customers facing the most serious hardship as a result of injuries or illness for which UK-based Thomas Cook companies would have been liable”.
- Measures will be developed to ensure the scheme only responds to genuine claims.
- The scheme will not consider “routine claims covering short-term problems”.
The full text of the statement is available here.