EU court: insurers must refund the price of organized trips canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic

The precedent for the decision was that in 2020, some travelers in Austria and Belgium canceled their travel package contracts to the Canary Islands and Dominica due to the Covid pandemic. After the tour operators became insolvent, the insurers of these companies were asked to refund the amounts already paid, but the insurers refused, citing that they are only responsible for trips canceled due to the termination of the travel agency, not for trips canceled by customers.

The Austrian and Belgian courts acting in these legal disputes asked the EU court to interpret the EU directive on travel packages. The directive stipulates that tour operators must provide a guarantee that they will refund the full amount paid by travelers even if the services are not performed due to their insolvency.