A year after the collapse of travel firm XL, 10,000 customers are still waiting for refunds.

Many find themselves stuck in a deadlock between the Civil Aviation Authority and credit card operators, both of which are supposed to protect consumers whose holidays fall through, while some customers have not yet received refunds because of difficulties in proving how much they paid for their holiday.

The XL Leisure Group collapsed last September, when it was the third largest travel group in the UK. The company was covered by the Civil Aviation Authority’s Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (ATOL) scheme, through which customers were advised to seek compensation.

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A county court judge has told a lender that it cannot demand payment of an £8,000 debt, possibly paving the way for thousands of borrowers to default on repayments.

Judge Jacqueline Smart at South Shields county court has ruled that the MBNA credit card company cannot demand that a customer repay her debt. The company tried to force Lynne Thorius to repay the £8,000 she owed on her card.

However, Judge Smart decided that there had been an unfair relationship between MBNA and Ms Thorius because of the way in which the firm sold her payment protection insurance.

The credit card was sold to Ms Thorius in the official Sunderland Football Club shop in 2002, along with payment protection insurance, which is designed to cover debt repayments in case of illness or redundancy.

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