Just watching BBC breakfast news and there was an article on making payments with credit cards. Now, we all know (or should do by now) that if you pay for an item costing between £100 & £30,000, you have cover under the Consumer Credit Act should your goods fail to arrive, are faulty or your holiday company goes bust. What I didn't realise until this morning is that if your holiday/ flight is cancelled and you are stuck abroad, you are also entitled to "reasonable costs" for hotel stays until the next available flight home can be arranged. (can't find a link as the BBC "throw a 6 to start" website is not playing ball).
I also heard that although debit cards don't qualify under the Consumer Credit Act that Visa and Mastercard (thus all card issuers using their brand) signed up to a voluntary code of chargeback. Therefore, as above, it is possible to put in a claim for your money to be returned, not sure the likelihood in the case of a bust company though? This chargeback also applies to the prepaid cards out there too!!
Mark