At this time of year, many of us are looking forward to enjoying a break and have booked a package holiday.

Hopefully, we will all have a lovely time, but if something goes wrong, it is good to know your rights.

The Citizens Advice website has lots of information about what to do if your holiday disappoints and what compensation you might be eligible for.

First, tell the company or travel agent you booked with as soon as possible. This way you are more likely to be able to get your problems sorted out quickly.

If you don’t not say anything until you get home, you might get less compensation, or none at all.

If the holiday you went on turned out to be lower in value than the one you originally booked, you can make a claim for ‘loss of value’.

For example, if you paid for a deluxe room, but only got a standard one. If the problem was not sorted out at the time, you can claim back the difference in value.

You can also claim compensation for any unexpected extra money you have to spend while away, for example if the hotel was a bus ride away from the beach, rather than across the road as advertised.

This is called claiming for ‘out-of-pocket’ expenses. If this does happen, make sure you keep receipts for things like bus journeys.

If a major part of your trip doesn’t happen, for example a planned two-day excursion was cancelled and no alternative organised, you can make a claim for ‘loss of enjoyment’.

You can also make this claim if services that were promised were not provided and this spoils your holiday experience, for example the pool being closed for the whole trip.

It is worth noting that there is no strict guidance on how much you can claim for loss of enjoyment.

Any claim you make must be reasonable and you may have to haggle to reach a settlement.

You can’t get compensation if you simply didn’t enjoy the holiday, or if it was spoiled by something outside the control of the holiday company, such as the weather.

Check the information you received when you made the booking to see what you are supposed to get.

If you don’t get the service you have been promised, you may be entitled to compensation for breach of contract.

You might also be able to claim from your travel insurance, so check if your policy covers your problem.

If you are still not sure what to do, check out our website as a first port-of-call https://citizensadvicestalbans.org.uk/.

If you can’t find what you are looking for there, or if you think you need tailored support, we can be reached on 01727 811118 from 10am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 1pm on Friday.