With tour operators going under on what can seem like a weekly basis,you could be forgiven for wondering what protection, if any, is offered to the customers of those operators in the event of a bankruptcy.

Thankfully, there are a number of things that you can do to ensure that your holiday will go to plan, regardless of the current or future financial status of your travel provider.

Perhaps the most obvious precaution that you can take is to book your holiday through a reputable travel company. There are several organisations that a travel operator can be affiliated with that offer their customers an added degree of protection.

The main scheme in operation in Britain is the Air Travel Organisers Licensing board, usually shortened to ATOL. This scheme is run by the Civil Aviation Authority(CAA), a government organisation.

In order for a tour operator to claim membership of ATOL, they have to have lodged a certain amount of money in the form of bonds with the CAA, which will be used to refund the customers of that operator if they go belly up.

It then falls to the Civil Aviation Authority to sort out replacement flights for customers that have been left in the lurch by the bankruptcy. If the amount of money that the operator has left with the CAA is insufficient, then it falls to another government organisation, the Air Travel Trust, to pay the rest.

Even if you have only paid a refundable deposit, you should receive an ATOL receipt, with the name of the company you have booked through and their ATOL reference number.

If you booked through an agency, using a third party tour operator registered with ATOL, and that agency goes out of business, then the third party is obliged by law to pay for the flights themselves. It will be this company that is mentioned on the ATOL receipt.

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