I have inquired about a holiday with www.responsibletravel.com and want to book a Walk Andalucia break. Since it doesn't seem to be affiliated with ABTA, I have been trying to find out about insurance cover. No one seemed to know how we would be covered in event of a holiday going bust.

Because of the Travelscope holiday problems when it ceased trading, I would like to make sure we could recover at least some of our payments if the same thing were to happen to these companies - if I pay by credit card for instance? Barbara Moore, via e-mail

Times travel expert Julia Brookes responds: The short answer is that your payment would be 100 per cent recoverable in the unlikely event that the company should cease to trade. Although Responsibletravel.com does not act as an agent for operators and accommodation owners listed on its website, all the companies it features have some kind of cover in place.

Walk Andalucia takes a £100 deposit from travellers when they book, and the remainder of the balance six weeks before departure. That is put into a trust account, where the money would not be accessible to the company until your holiday was complete.

For extra comfort, if you pay by credit card, purchases of more than £100 are covered by the credit card company should a travel company go bust.

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