Here is a piece I have written for the Update pages of the next Holiday Villas magazine (to be published Oct 24). As many of you are concerned about the possible future collapse of more airlines, I thought it would be helpful to post it here now:

When you book your next villa or apartment holiday, make sure you choose your travel insurance carefully, tourism experts have advised, after the collapse of airline and charter company XL Leisure.

Many independent travellers who booked flights with  XL discovered, too late, that their insurance policy did not cover airline failure. In some cases they had to dig deep to pay for expensive return tickets with other airlines at the end of their holidays.

If you book accommodation through Holiday Villas or www.villaseek.com, and then fix up your flight separately, we advise you to get cover for possible airline collapse.

Only a  small number of companies offer this, although more are starting to do so. They include: the Post Office; Swiftcover; Karma Insurance, and International Passenger Protection Ltd (IPP). You may also be able to get an add-on policy through your existing insurer – it’s worth asking. Or, for about £4 internet insurer InsureFor offers a standalone policy for supplier failure to add on to an existing insurance you have with any other company.

If you pay for your flights by credit card you have some protection, though a refund will only kick in if your flight cost more than £100. Incidental costs will not be paid but the company should pick up the bill for getting you back to Britain.

Useful websites are: protectmyholiday.com; postoffice.co.uk; swiftcover.com; insurefor.com. Or you can find a list of travel insurance providers on the travel services page of villaseek.com.