Information, Form and Content
| Author | Matthew Chapman/Sarah Prager/Jack Harding/Dominique Smith/Thomas Yarrow/Henk Soede |
| Pages | 95-137 |
Chapter 4
Information, Form and Content
4.1 The Package Travel Regulations 2018 specify in some detail the information which must be transmitted to the traveller, and make provision for certain matters relating to the form and content of package travel contracts. The duties of the organiser or retailer, as the case may be, are contained predominantly in part 2 of the Regulations. This chapter is concerned with the information that is prescribed, and the required form and content of contracts governed by the Regulations. Both criminal and civil liabilities are imposed as the mechanism for enforcing these regulatory requirements within a varied framework of:
ƒ statutory duties;
ƒ implied contractual terms;
ƒ implied warranties and conditions.
4.2 Those duties which impose criminal sanctions – now predominantly contained in regulations 5 and 7 – are considered separately in Chapter 12.
THE FORMER REGIME UNDER THE PACKAGE TRAVEL REGULATIONS 1992
4.3 While there are some similarities between the information and content requirements of the Package Travel Regulations 2018 and 1992, a number of the more prominent duties in the Package Travel Regulations 1992 (such as the negative obligation not to provide misleading descriptive matter (the old regulation 4) and the requirements relating to the content and format of brochures (the old regulation 5) have been removed entirely. For a detailed consideration of those provisions, which will continue to have ongoing relevance in the ‘run-off’ cases concerning package contracts entered into before 1 July 2018, reference should be made to the sixth edition of this work.
96 Saggerson on Travel Law and Litigation
THE SCHEME OF THE PACKAGE TRAVEL REGULATIONS 2018
Information and content
4.4 The substantive obligations relating to the provision of information are contained in regulations 5, 6, 7 and 8. By virtue of regulation 4, those obligations are, in the first instance, imposed on the retailer and organiser (where the package is sold through a retailer) or on the organiser alone if there is no retailer involved in the sale. However, the organiser and retailer, if both are involved, are free to agree
Alteration and cancellation
4.5 The rights and responsibilities of the contractual parties in the event of alterations or cancellations ‘before the start of the package’ are now contained in regulations 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the Package Travel Regulations 2018. In many respects, these mirror the obligations under regulations 10 to 13 of the Package Travel Regulations 1992, and much of the case law and commentary on those provisions will continue to be relevant, particularly while we await the development of a new body of case law under the Package Travel Regulations 2018. There are, however, some important differences, many of which have been brought into sharp focus by the Covid-19 pandemic and its extraordinary impact on global travel throughout 2020 and 2021.
THE PROVISION OF INFORMATION
Regulation 5
4.6 Regulation 5 sets out the core obligation to provide prescribed information to the traveller before the conclusion of the package contract. Since failure to comply is a criminal offence for which the organiser or retailer is liable on summary conviction or indictment to a fine, it is considered in Chapter 12.
Regulation 6
4.7 Regulation 6, in conjunction with regulation 15,
(1) Where the relevant person provides to the traveller the information specified in paragraphs 1 to 10, 12 to 14 and 16 of Schedule 1, that information—
(a) forms an integral part of the package travel contract; and
(b) must not be altered unless the traveller expressly agrees otherwise with the relevant person, as the case may be.
(2) The relevant person must communicate to the traveller any change to the information provided under regulation 5, in a clear, comprehensible and prominent manner before the conclusion of the package travel contract.
(3) Where, before the conclusion of the package travel contract, the relevant person does not provide the information which is required to be provided under paragraph (1) in respect of additional fees, charges or other costs referred to in paragraph 12 of Schedule 1 the traveller is not required to bear those fees, charges or other costs.
(4) It is an implied condition (or, as regards Scotland, an implied term) of the package travel contract that the relevant person complies with the provisions of this regulation.
(5) In Scotland, any breach of the condition implied by paragraph (4) is deemed to be a material breach justifying rescission of the contract.
Information to be binding
4.8 Regulation 6 is directed at ensuring that certain aspects of the information in Schedule 1 which, by virtue of regulation 5, the organiser or retailer is required
4 As to which, see Chapter 5.
98 Saggerson on Travel Law and Litigation
to provide before the conclusion of the package contract, carries the legal consequence of being contractually binding vis-à-vis the traveller. The information which must be provided in Schedule 1 is comprehensive:
1. The main characteristics of the travel services specified in paragraphs 2 to 10.
2. The travel destination, the itinerary and periods of stay, with dates and, where accommodation is included, the number of nights included.
3. The means, characteristics and categories of transport, the points, dates and time of departure and return, the duration and places of intermediate stops and transport connections.
4. Where the exact time of departure and return is not yet determined, the organiser and, where applicable, the retailer, must inform the traveller of the approximate time of departure and return.
5. The location, main features and, where applicable, tourist category of the accommodation under the rules of the country of destination.
6. The meals which are included in the package.
7. The visits, excursions or other services included in the total price agreed for the package.
8. Where it is not apparent from the context, whether any of the travel services are to be provided to the traveller as part of a group and, if so, where possible, the approximate size of the group.
9. Where the traveller’s benefit from other tourist services depends on effective oral communication, the language in which those services are to be carried out.
10. Whether the trip or holiday is generally suitable for persons with reduced mobility and, upon the traveller’s request, the precise information on the suitability of the trip or holiday taking into account the traveller’s needs.
11. The trading name and geographical address of the organiser and, where applicable, of the retailer, as well as their telephone number and, where applicable, e-mail address.
12. The total price of the package inclusive of taxes and, where applicable, of all additional fees, charges and other costs or, where those costs cannot reasonably be calculated in advance of the conclusion of the contract, an indication of the type of additional costs which the traveller may still have to bear.
13. The arrangements for payment, including any amount or percentage of the price which is to be paid as a down payment and the timetable for payment of the balance, or financial guarantees to be paid or provided by the traveller.
14. The minimum number of persons required for the package to take place and the time-limit, referred to in regulation 13(2)(a), before the start of the package for the possible termination of the contract if that number is not reached.
15. General information on passport and visa requirements, including approximate periods for obtaining visas and information on health formalities, of the country of destination.
16. Information that the traveller may terminate the contract at any time before the start of the package in return for payment of an appropriate termination fee, or, where applicable, the standardised termination fees requested by the organiser, in accordance with regulation 12(1) to (6).
4.9 The Package Travel Regulations 2018 state only that the information will have a ‘binding character’ and will form ‘an integral part of the … contract’. This is not of course the language of English common law. However, the intended meaning can be discerned by comparing regulation 6 of the Package Travel Regulations 1992, which provided that the particulars of ‘brochures’ would be ‘binding’. In doing so, it also declared that the particulars could constitute ‘implied warranties’. It is reasonable to assume that the same legal effect is intended by regulation 6 of the Package Travel Regulations 2018. Breach of warranty sounds in damages. Breach of any term of the contract based on prescribed information in Schedule 1 would not allow the traveller to treat themselves as discharged from further performance of the contract. Subject to other provisions in the Regulations,
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