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MY HOLIDAY to the Dominican Republic was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and cost almost £4000 in total. I have tried asking the travel provider for a refund directly but they refused. I even approached my credit card provider to ask for a refund but they advised me that a claim cannot processed as my travel provider is “looking into” the situation. I feel like I’m going around in circles. Can you help?

There are many consumers in the same situation as you, with travel plans cancelled and refunds that are yet to appear.

If you have approached your credit card company and requested a refund under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act and are having difficulty getting this, you should follow the appropriate steps to prove that you have taken all necessary measures to resolve this yourself.

If you have approached the travel provider and are still awaiting a satisfactory response, you still have options available to you.

If the travel provider has offered vouchers in place of a full refund, you can decline this.

You should write to them outlining the fact that you do not accept the vouchers and expect a full refund.

In this letter, you should also advise that you wish to make a complaint about the way your refund request has been handled.

Many travel providers will have the option to raise a complaint on their website.

If you do not receive acknowledgement within 14 days or a satisfactory, detailed response from the travel provider in 28 days, you can then escalate this through Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR).

If you booked through a travel agent, this will normally be through the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

Their website (www.abta. com) has a section where you can raise a complaint.

This website also has a search facility to check if the travel provider is an ABTA member.

If they are not, you should find out if the travel provider is part of another ADR scheme.

The timescales on complaints are lengthened slightly just now due to the public health crisis.

However, if you do not receive resolution within 50 days once escalating this through a complaint to ABTA, you can approach your credit card provider again and request a refund under Section 75 legislation.

You can check travel insurance policies you have and make claims through them for the refund.

Your travel agent should be able to provide you with the necessary evidence (cancellation notices etc) to claim through insurance.

If going through all of the necessary steps does not help, and even after escalation through ADR you are still in a position of deadlock, you can pursue your case through court as a final resort.

However, you should always seek legal advice before doing so.

If you have been made redundant and are struggling financially, you can look into the benefits that you may be entitled to by using our online benefits calculator, which is available at advicescot.entitledto.co. uk/home/start.

This may help in the short-term if you have no income. I hope that you get this resolved as quickly as possible.