If you are confused about whether or not your company should have an ATOL agency agreement in place with the companies it is trading with, take a quick look at our article below. It should help you understand when an ATOL agency agreement is needed and what form it should take.

Acting as an agent means that your business ‘partner’ is taking bookings on your behalf and in your name so that you can enter into direct contracts for flight inclusive travel arrangements with them using your ATOL. An ATOL holder that sellsflight-only or packages through agents is required to have a written agency agreement with each of its agents. If the correct agency agreement is not in place you (as the ATOL holder) as well as your agent are in breach of the ATOL Regulations and you risk having your license revoked. Remember, though: you can never appoint an agent to sell a  Flight Plus on your behalf. If your business partner tries to do so, it will be in breach of the ATOL Regulations.

Here are a few useful points to note about ATOL agency agreements:

• Agency agreements must contain the Schedule of Terms published by the CAA in Official Record Series 3
• Agency agreements must include the name of the ATOL holder and its agent
• Agency agreements must be dated
• Agency agreements can be in electronic or hard copy
• You may request your agents to sign and return a hard copy of the agreement or e-mail their consent to you
• You may refer  your agents to your website which may have on it a box to tick to confirm consent to the agreement.
• You may issue agency agreements to your agents, which the agents will be regarded as having agreed to when they make bookings on your behalf

AGENTS BEWARE! – In the event of failure of an ATOL holder, an agent is required to provide a copy of its agency agreement to the CAA so that claims from customers that booked through the agent can be processed. If an agent does not have an agency agreement, the agent will be liable to refund the customer.

As well as having an agency agreement in place with your agents, you should make sure that they are complying with other obligations in the ATOL Regulations and Standard Terms relating to eg the issuing of ATOL certificates and receipts. Contact us for further information.