I'm of the same understanding as you that you are NOT covered for the consequential loss of other things that you have paid for but can't use (like hotel if the airline fails). And I assume they pay your actuall loss (less excess) of the failed item rather than replacement costs (so if you bought a ticket for £75 early and the airline went bust near to departure the insurance wouldn't cover a £200 new ticket with a different airline). As I've read policies, failure is meant in the financial sense, if an agent or bedbank failed to make a reservation properly leaving you with a flight but nowhere to stay you wouldn't be covered. Now you've raised this it's set me thinking, might do a bit of digging!

CC cover has a minimum amount threshold which I think is £100, so if a single traveller lost a £99 flight they wouldn't pay, whereas the SF insurance would pay (less the excess which is likely to be about £40 anyway!). But I'm not sure how either would treat government taxes collected by the airline that goes bust.

Statutory card cover in the UK is limited to Credit cards but Visa voluntarily provide similar cover for their Debit cards, not sure about Mastercard debit and their prepaid cards which are now springing out all over the place. Any card cover would also inculde protection from fra*d.

My "insurance" is not to pay for accomodation in advance!

Thanks for your insight into the matter Steve. I think I'll do a little research on this as at the moment I'm not convinced I need it. I've booked my Easter hotel through TR and have paid a deposit, the balance not being due until January. if the hotel went out of business, I think my cc would refund the cost as it comes to over £100.

We've booked our Corfu hotel for August directly with the owners. We paid the deposit when we booked but won't need to pay the balance until we get there. It's the fist time that I've come across an hotel (other than a UK one) that doesn't take payment until you check-in. I also think that we can cancel right up until a few days before.

Shirley,I called into Hays today to enquire about Supplier failure cover and they advise you to take it as if any of the suppliers went bust the Credit card company would only pay out to Hays not to the other suppliers.
There is also a limit as to what the credit card company pay.
I am not expert enough to book directly myself so always get Hays to book my holidays if they are not with Thomson and Thomas Cook.Its only £10 so worth it for peace of mind.
I also pay with Debit card as I hate paying the 2% commission fee.
I dont know if I have explained this clearly but if you Google it some companies give a good explanation.
Some also include it free.

Thanks Jay Trip. Just been googling and found this bit of info

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/travel-insurance/supplier-failure-holiday-protection/

So this type of insurance doesn't cover you for all elements of a 'put together package' whether it's a dynamic holiday put together by an agent or a holiday you've put together independently. I am still of the understanding that if your hotel allows you to cancel up until a few days before and you've paid for your flights by credit or visa debit card, (providing they're more than £100) you shouldn't find yourself out of pocket if you don't have the extra supplier failure cover. Wheras if you buy supplier failure insurance you will lose any excess on the policy. I'm obviously missing something or otherwise why would the insurance companies be selling this sort of insurance

I too am confused but I am happy to pay the £10 for peace of mind when on a Dynamic package.
If I book a Thomson or Thomas Cook holiday with them they dont mention this insurance.

Hays may have opened up a new argument. When they arrange a Dynamic Package their terms presumably say they act as your agent, which implies that they are just handling over your money to the supplier. They seem to be saying that card issuers don't recognise this relationship and will only cover repayment if Hays go bust. In that case it SFC would make sense. But it's also another reason not to use agents for un-packaged holidays, or even elements of it such as booking hotel only through a bed bank. As I've always said, the safest way (other than a protected package) would be to book direct with airline and hotel (or hotel company for chains) - preferably with a pay on arrival deal with hotel.

They seem to be saying that card issuers don't recognise this relationship and will only cover repayment if Hays go bust. In that case it SFC would make sense.

Of course £10 isn't much to fork out for peace of mind as you say Jay trip but are you getting what you think you are getting? from what Steve suggests, you'd only get your money back if Hayes went bust. Would you, for example be covered if the airline or hotel went bust?

Regarless of the £10, I'd want to know exactly what I was covered for

i think you've read it wrong Shirley.

It seems they'll only get the money back from the card issuer if Hays go bust, which is why insurance would be needed because the more likely event is that the airline or hotel will go bust. Even more complicated, what if an agent like Hays books seats on a flight run as a charter by yet another middle man? The right insurance is needed, I'm just not sure it's around!

oops, my mistake. I see where you're coming from. However, if the airline went bust wouldn't the CAA pay out? this is what happened in my experience when XL went bust. I booked flights on behalf of my mum and dad through TR, using my CC to pay. Having contacted my cc company I was told that we had to wait for a response from the CAA first before they could chase up any rebate due. It did take months and help from 'Steve TR' but we eventually got the money back from the CAA.

So at the moment, I'm thinking Supplier failure insurance is a good idea if you have to pay up front for an hotel and also if you book a dynamic package through an agent in case the agent goes bust.

Does anyone else have any thoughts or experiences with regards to Supplier failure Insurance?

you may find this interesting reading

http://www.directline.com/travel/end-supplier-failure.htm

That's interesting Shirley, I wonder if there are any other companies that give the same cover.

Just found another one Judith

http://www.holidayextras.co.uk/holiday-insurance/end-supplier-failure-cover.html

Interestingly this states that if an airline goes bust whilst you're on holiday they will cover you for an equivalent return flight regardless of the cost. Now this could be worth its weight in gold as without the insurance, I reckon that although your card company would eventually reimburse you for the lost flight, you might have a fight on your hands getting the difference in the price of the original and new flight.

if the airline went bust wouldn't the CAA pay out?

- only if you have ATOL cover but flight only bookings don't normally have that. Under new rules that are supposed to come in next year flight only through an agent might get ATOL cover but booked direct with airline won't - there is still some arguing going on over this so it might change.

I like the wording in the Directline page "You are now protected against the pre-booked collapse of......." - I'm hoping they mean "You are now protected against the collapse of pre-booked........." - I'd be very suspicious of pre-booked collapses of anything!

Note they use the same underwriter as Holidayextras and say there is no excess. They also say "anything not protected elsewhere can be claimed from us" which implies if the airline goes bust and you can't go then lost payments to the hotel etc. will be covered. But given the wording error above I'd double check that.

"You are now protected against the pre-booked collapse of......."

yes, I had to read that a couple of times. Somebody obviously hasn't got a decent grip on english grammar

Ok so if your flight isn't ATOL protected and covered by the CAA in the event of the airline collapse your card (providing the cost was over £100) will protect you. I've booked easyjet flights direct with the airline, paying by credit card and I'm happy that I would get a refund through my card company should the worse happen.

As for the bit about

They also say "anything not protected elsewhere can be claimed from us" which implies if the airline goes bust and you can't go then lost payments to the hotel etc. will be covered. But given the wording error above I'd double check that.

I tend to agree with you. I can't see them covering all that or they'd be raking in the business.

I booked a tailor made holiday last November to travel this October. The travel agent put together a package of flights, hotel and cruise. I read the T&C's carefully and it said it was bonded.

I discovered when I paid the balance that they had booked the hotel with HotelConnect who had since gone into administration. They then rebooked with another bed bank, which cost the travel agent more, but we didn't have to pay the difference.

So it appears that a dynamic package can be bonded.

I think Supplier Failure insurance may be useful if you are booking each element yourself. However if each element cost over £100 and you pay by credit card, you should be able to claim the loss back using Section 75 and with no excess to pay.

luci

Regarding Direct line travel,I was insured with them until June this year when my policy was due for renewal.
They stated they no longer include Egypt and Tunisia on their European policy so not wanting the expense of a Worldwide policy I changed insurers.
I was actually covered with them on one of my dynamic packages but still paid the £10.
It was only because First Choice said the web price was no longer available but could sell me the same hotel from Thomson for £200 more each that I booked with Hays.
I have booked many many holidays with Hays over the years,mainly from the main tour operators as they are always competitive on price.
My next holiday will be with Thomas Cook so will book with them,but as there are rumours about them being in trouble maybe I should purchase SFC.