Thomas Cook customers who may have lost money when the holiday company went bust almost three years ago are being urged to get in touch with liquidators to make a claim.

Thousands of customers and creditors are thought to have never submitted applications to get back money they lost when the tour operator suddenly went into administration in September 2019, leaving thousands of staff without a job and an estimated 150,000 holidaymakers stranded abroad.

Thomas Cook has since relaunched, operating as an online-only agent since September 2020, after Chinese company Fosun which was a major shareholder in the original firm snapped up the brand for £11 million.

But the Officer Receiver acting as Liquidator and overseeing the winding up of the original 178-year-old travel firm has revealed that several companies in the Thomas Cook group could have sufficient funds available to make payments to those who lost money in the liquidation, including hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers who were left with worthless bookings.

David Chapman explained: "While we have received many claims already, we believe that there are potentially thousands more customers and creditors who are owed money by Thomas Cook but have not submitted their claims.

"That is why we are urging customers and suppliers to use the online portal to quickly, easily and securely lodge their claims for monies owed to them."

Claims in the liquidation, says Mr Chapman, could occur for a variety of reasons.

These might include gift vouchers bought or provided by Thomas Cook with unredeemed balances on them, disrupted flights including EU261 claims, package holidays or other elements of trips that may have been affected by cancellations, personal injury claims, sports tickets bought from Thomas Cook and goods or services provided to Thomas Cook.

Creditors, says The Insolvency Service, should be aware that they may not necessarily receive the entire amount of money they may have lost when the travel firm collapsed - but once they have registered individuals will be able to regularly log into the site to check the progress and status of their claim.

For more details about how to submit a claim, and the anticipated payment levels that may be available please click here.