Holy payout Batman – but Jitty fights on

(24 February 2005)

DUPED former travel agent Jitty Trehan has hailed a partial victory in his fight with ABTA following the controversial collapse of his business.

Trehan received more than £11,000 this week – £5,000 more than he expected – from the £25,000 bond of his Chester-based agency Spear Business Travel.

Trehan sold the agency to suspected conmen in a deal brokered by a former ABTA employee. The suspected conmen ran up debts of around £19,000 on Trehan’s original bond. Trehan was only expecting to recoup the remaining £6,000.

The extra £5,000 has been paid by ABTA’s Travel Agents Fund. Strict ABTA rules on the processing of claims meant this money could not be claimed from the bond.

There are a number of reasons why claims can be refused, usually as a result of paperwork being incomplete.

While Trehan is pleased with the extra £5,000, which leaves him with a total of £11,264, he has vowed to continue his fight, which has already seen him dress up as comic strip superhero Batman and chain himself up outside ABTA’s Newman Street offices (Travel Weekly January 28).

“This just means I have to fight for £5,000 less,” he said. “I will not give up and will continue to keep hassling them.”

Trehan is also angry about having to pay £546 to process the claims. “Why have I been charged an administration fee? It’s ABTA’s job to process claims.”

ABTA chief executive Ian Reynolds hit back. “He is not entitled to any more money,” he said.

“We have dealt with it the best way we can. It’s a just call on the bond. It’s his liability. It was up to him to do his due diligence.”