Package Holidays and Travel Trade Act, 1995
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Extent and financial limits of liability. |
20.—(1) The organiser shall be liable to the consumer for the proper performance of the obligations under the contract, irrespective of whether such obligations are to be performed by the organiser, the retailer, or other suppliers of services but this shall not affect any remedy or right of action which the organiser may have against the retailer or those other suppliers of services. | |
(2) The organiser shall be liable to the consumer for any damage caused by the failure to perform the contract or the improper performance of the contract unless the failure or the improper performance is due neither to any fault of the organiser or the retailer nor to that of another supplier of services, because— | ||
(a) the failures which occur in the performance of the contract are attributable to the consumer, | ||
(b) such failures are attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for, and are unforeseeable or unavoidable, or | ||
(c) such failures are due to— | ||
(i) force majeure, that is to say, unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the organiser, the retailer or other supplier of services, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or | ||
(ii) an event which the organiser, the retailer or the supplier of services, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall. | ||
(3) In the case of damage arising from the non-performance or improper performance of the services involved in the package, other than— | ||
(a) death or personal injury, or | ||
(b) damage caused to the consumer by the wilful misconduct or gross negligence of the organiser, | ||
the contract may, save as provided in subsection (5), include a term limiting, in accordance with subsection (4), the amount of compensation payable to the consumer. | ||
(4) Where compensation limits are a term of the contract under subsection (3), the organiser may not limit liability to less than— | ||
(a) in the case of an adult, an amount equal to double the inclusive price of the package to the adult concerned, | ||
(b) in the case of a minor, an amount equal to the inclusive price of the package to the minor concerned. | ||
(5) In the case of damage arising from the non-performance or improper performance of the services involved in the package, the contract may provide for compensation to be limited in accordance with any international conventions in force governing such services in the place where they are performed or are due to be performed. | ||
(6) Without prejudice to subsections (3), (4) and (5), liability under subsections (1) and (2) cannot be excluded by any contractual term. | ||
(7) In the circumstances described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (2), it shall be an implied term of the contract that the organiser, or the retailer acting on the instructions of the organiser, as the case may be, will give prompt assistance to a consumer in difficulty. | ||
(8) The provisions of this section are without prejudice to the provisions of the Hotel Proprietors Act, 1963 . |