hotels & villas booking terms - complaints procedure

You must inform the accommodation provider in the first instance of any claim or complaint you may have in accordance with clause 17 above. You can find contact details for your Monarch Holidays representative or local agent and the Monarch Holidays Duty Office on our website. Please remember that Monarch Holidays undertakes to exercise reasonable skill and care in selecting your accommodation provider as set out above and, providing it has done so, is not responsible for the acts and omissions of the accommodation provider or any of its employees, agents, suppliers or sub-contractors or any other person(s) in any way connected with the accommodation.

If you have a complaint which concerns Monarch Holidays' duty to exercise reasonable skill and care as set out above and which cannot be resolved during your stay, you must then write to Monarch Holidays at Wren Court, 17 London Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 1DE with full details within 28 days of your return from your holiday, giving your booking reference and daytime and evening telephone numbers. As it is difficult and sometimes impossible to properly investigate a complaint if it not notified to Monarch Holidays reasonably quickly, any compensation you may have been able to claim could be reduced or even lost altogether if you do not follow the complaints procedure set out in this clause.

Disputes arising out of, or in connection with your contract with Monarch Holidays which cannot be amicably settled may be referred to arbitration if you so wish under a special scheme arranged by ABTA and administered independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The scheme provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on you in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be obtained from the ABTA website (www.abta.com) . This scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit of £25,000 per booking. In addition, it does not generally apply to claims which are solely in respect of physical injury or illness or their consequences. The Scheme can, however, deal with compensation claims which include an element of minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,000 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element. The application for arbitration and statement of claim must be received by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators within 9 months of the date of return from the holiday. Outside this time limit arbitration under the Scheme may still be available if we agree, although the ABTA Code does not require such agreement.

Special Note: You and Monarch Holidays both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter of any description (and whether involving personal injury or not) which arises out of or in connection with your contract or accommodation must be dealt with under the ABTA Arbitration Scheme or brought in the Courts of England and Wales only (unless you are a resident of Scotland or Northern Ireland in which case any proceedings must be brought in either the Courts of your own country or those of England and Wales). We both also agree that English law (and no other) will apply to your contract (unless proceedings are brought in Scotland or Northern Ireland, in which case Scottish or Northern Irish law, as applicable, will apply instead).