§ 32. Compensation for loss due to defects in the package holiday
Machine-translated from Norwegian. The Norwegian text is the one that applies. Read the original in Norwegian.Norsk English العربية Polski Українська
In brief
- The traveller (reisende) is entitled to appropriate compensation (erstatning) for loss resulting from defects (mangel) in the package holiday (pakkereise).
- The organiser (arrangør) is exempt if the defect is due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, or to an outside third party, which could not be foreseen or avoided.
- The compensation must be paid without unnecessary delay.
- The rules in § 33 and § 34 link the compensation to transport legislation (transportrettslig lovgivning).
The text of the law (unofficial translation)
§ 32. Compensation
What does this mean?
The traveller can claim compensation for loss caused by a defect in the package holiday. The compensation must be appropriate, and it must be paid out without unnecessary delay. The claim is a separate claim alongside the price reduction (prisavslag) in § 31, and the two cover different things: the price reduction follows from the defect itself, while the compensation concerns the loss the traveller has suffered.
The organiser escapes liability for compensation (erstatningsansvar) in two situations. The first is that the organiser can document (prove) that the defect is due to "unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances". The second is that the defect was caused by a third party with no connection to the provision of the travel services, and that it could neither be foreseen nor avoided. The burden of proof (bevisbyrde) (who has to prove something) lies with the organiser in the first case. Both exceptions mean that the traveller may be left without compensation even though the defect is real.
Example: A traveller incurs extra expenses because an agreed service was not provided. If the organiser cannot document either of the two exceptions, the traveller is entitled to compensation for the expenses. If, on the other hand, the organiser can prove that the cause was "unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances", the claim lapses.
Several neighbouring sections are connected to the compensation claim. § 33 transfers the limits on compensation in transport law to the organiser, and § 34 states that price reduction and compensation do not remove rights under transport legislation. If transport home (hjemtransport) is impossible due to extraordinary circumstances, the organiser must cover necessary accommodation for a maximum of three nights under § 35. The organiser also has a duty to help travellers in difficulty under § 36. Alternative services and cancellation of the contract (heving) are set out in § 28 and § 29, while transport home is regulated in § 30.
- § 31Price reduction for periods with defects
- § 28Alternative travel services when parts of the package holiday fall away
- § 29Cancellation of the package holiday contract for material defects
- § 30Transport home when the package holiday includes passenger transport
- § 33Limitations of compensation