Særlig forbrugerbeskyttelse ved udvidelse af Rejsegarantifonden: I et obligationsretligt perspektiv

Abstrakt

The Danes’ travelling habits has for a long while been changing along with the technological development. Many consumers compose their trip on their own, which often means that the trip is composed through different suppliers. The Danish Travelers Warranty Fund only covers if the consumer has bought a composed trip, and e.g. not a separate purchase of a flight ticket. This was noticeable when the Danish airline Sterling was bankrupt in 2008. The bankruptcy had great consequences for the consumers who had bought tickets directly from Sterling, as this meant that they only could get their money back if there were any surplus after the asset statement. Due to these two factors, the government finds it necessary with the extension of Law of a Travelers Warranty Fund. The amendment will come into force January 1, 2010 which means that the consumers also will be insured even if they only buy the flight ticket. The extension of the warranty is a positive interference in relation to consumer protection, but the interference has both advantages and disadvantages. The consumer has to be aware of who it is counter here, as the coverage only applies if the supplier has an office in Denmark. In the report, there will be a legal analysis that deals with the consumer term and goes in depth with Law of a Travelers Warranty Fund. The market of flight tickets sale is not a transparent market, which means that it is strongly dominated by asymmetric information. If the consumers can not figure out a goods true quality, they are inclined to undercut the market price, which in the end will lead to a market collapse as sellers with the best quality will be outperformed. Warranties help oppose this effect. The term warranty has been discussed in the economic literature and has both been described as a positive and a negative thing in relation to the society. The economical analysis will examine how warranties affect the market in general; however the focus will especially be on the effect of the Danish Travelers Warranty Fund. The integrated part of the paper examines the current circumstances in the travelling sector and suggestions of advantages and disadvantages of the amendment will be made. Law of a Travelers Warranty Fund has its roots in an EU minimum directive. In the integrated part there will also be a comparison of the Danish system against the systems in six other European countries. Lastly, there will be a conclusive chapter, which will summarize the sub-conclusions in the previous chapters. This chapter will be the final conclusion and answer to the research question of this thesis.