Taxpayer on the hook for €444,412 in claims over collapse of Platinum Travel
Gordon Deegan
The tax-payer is on the hook for claims totalling €444,412 from customers of the collapsed Platinum Travel Ltd.
The Dublin based travel agency went out of business on December 19th last and the annual report from the Irish Aviation Authority’s Travellers’ Protection Fund, Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators Bond shows that the Platinum Travel Ltd bond covered only €47,143 of claims made in 2024.
The total amount of claims from the Clontarf registered Platinum Travel Ltd’s customers of flights and package tours totalled €478,112 offset by €13,443 in Claims - Refund Credit Notes resulting in the €444,412 in outstanding claims being met by a Department of Transport fund.
A note states that there were insufficient funds within the bond to meet all liabilities without recourse to the Department of Transport fund.
The annual report explains that the Traveller Protection Fund’s cash levels were insufficient to compensate all claimants for the 2020 to 2024 collapses, and an application was made to the Department of Transport to top up the fund.
Between 2020 and 2023 €2.75 million was transferred into the Traveller Protection Fund by the Department of Transport and a further €450,000 was requested from the Department on 19th December 2024 following the collapse of Platinum Travel Ltd.
The €450,000 contribution by the Department of Transport in 2024 was triple the €150,000 contribution made in 2023.
A note states that a claim to recover the amounts met by the Department of Transport Funds has been lodged with the company’s liquidator.
The Department of Transport funds were received on January 30th of this year and the Irish Aviation Authority “concludes that the receipt of these additional funds allows the Fund to operate as a going concern”.
The most recent accounts for Platinum Travel show that it was loss-making in 2023 where it recorded a loss of €14,271.
At the end of 2023, the company had accumulated losses of €68,799. Its shareholder funds totalled €76,201.
The company’s cash funds at the end of December 2023 amounted to only €2,990.
The Irish Aviation Authority’s Travellers’ Protection Fund, Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators Bond report states the requirement for a bond may also be satisfied by a cash sum deposited with the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and at December 31st last monies deposited in cash for such a purpose amounted to €24.76 million compared to €41.62 million at the end of December 2023.
