Category: CMA

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Success for the CMA’s COVID-19 Taskforce

Following on from the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) statement in May 2020, holiday accommodation provider, Vacation Rentals, has voluntarily changed its policy after originally failing to offer refunds to all customers whose trips were cancelled.

Vacation Rentals (who operates sites including Hoseasons and Cottages.com) is just one holiday accommodation provider which was reported to the CMA’s COVID-19 Taskforce. Vacation Rentals has now given the CMA a formal commitment that customers will have the option of a full refund if a booking has been cancelled because of restrictions associated with the coronavirus outbreak.

The CMA says some other providers have not yet agreed to follow the approach of Vacation Rental and the CMA continues to investigate.

Read the full update here.

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CMA leads Europe-wide action on car hire providers

On 25 March 2019, the UK Competition & Markets Authority published a press release announcing it had taken Europe-wide action against car rental providers to ensure they give consumers clear information about charges and other key information.

This work follows earlier work by the CMA in 2015.

The CMA’s action was based upon the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Interestingly, the CMA says if “a firm sells to UK customers, they do so under UK law and must answer to it” and it is “prepared to act if we find any that any company is misleading UK customers – be it based in the UK or abroad“.