The Travel Compensation Fund (TCF) will continue to operate as normal until a new Trust Deed is drawn up, its board has declared.
The TCF said it has "no option" but to carry on as usual after considering the decision of consumer affairs ministers to wind up the body by 2015.
In an update issued today, the TCF said it has been told that a new Trust Deed is being prepared to replace the existing one.
"Until that time, the TCF Board has decided that it has no option but to continue to operate under the current Trust Deed," it said. "This means that current arrangements affecting TCF participants will continue for the time being."
For those companies which have recently joined the TCF and for those which joined prior to the Travel Industry Transition Plan, "the current contribution and fee arrangements will remain in place".
"However, when change occurs, the Board has decided it will review past arrangements and fees paid by agents, to see whether some financial recognition by way of rebates would be in order."
The TCF added that it will "keep participants informed of developments on a monthly basis".
The update confirmed that it will be replaced "by an industry acceditation scheme and other initiatives" while consumer protection will be "dealt with under general consumer protection laws, and industry mechanism such as credit cards chargebacks."
The timetable of reform will see the cessation of TCF prudential supervision, the repeal of travel agent legislation in 2014, the end of TCF compensation where travel agents collapse "and the winding up of the TCF by 2015".
