What to do when your airline goes bust R Hibberd, Sanderstead, Surrey, writes A week after booking six flights to Budapest with Malev Airlines last January, we learnt that the airline had gone bust. My wife had booked the flights through an online flight broker, Opodo, and paid using her Lloyds Visa debit card. We now realise that saving money in this way meant we didn't have the financial protection that paying by credit card would have given us. Neither did we take out travel insurance. My wife contacted Opodo, which said it would log our claim with Malev and seek a refund of our money, which would take up to 12 weeks. This period has now elapsed and we understand there is little hope of getting our money back through Opodo. We have tried to get a refund from Lloyds but it says it is unable to help as we booked with a travel agent. It suggests we contact the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and see if we can claim under Opodo's Atol licence. Is this correct? Gill Charlton, consumer expert, replies You have no claim under Opodo's Atol licence as you purchased flight-only arrangements, which are not covered by its holiday bond, according to the CAA. Even if you had paid for the flights using a credit card, you would not have been financially protected under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This is because you paid an agent for the tickets rather than purchasing them direct from the airline. This is the downside of booking flights through agents and not taking out scheduled-airline failure insurance (SAFI). However, in this case you could not have insured against the risk of Malev's failure because the underwriters, International Passenger Protection (IPP London), withdrew cover a couple of months before the airline went bust. When this happens, most agents stop selling seats, says Brian McLean of IPP London. Opodo continued to sell seats on Malev right up until its demise. Opodo's defence is that airlines that are considered too risky to be covered by SAFI are not necessarily in danger of going bust and continue to trade. "We sold the tickets in good faith," says an Opodo spokesman, "and had no warning that the situation would deteriorate." Unfortunately, there is nowhere else to turn to recover the £531 you have lost. Before booking scheduled flights through an agent, it is worth checking out IPP London's website: protectmyholiday.com. Agents should sell SAFI, but you can also buy the cover direct from IPP London for £5. If SAFI cover has been withdrawn, the application form will say that the airline is not currently offered. In such cases, always book direct with the airline using a credit card, or make sure you are covered by the agent's Atol bond if buying flights as part of a packaged holiday.