Festival refunds are not guaranteed so know your rights, warns the Financial Ombudsman Service
4 June 2026
As festival season gets going, many consumers may not understand their rights to getting their money back if things go wrong.
Planning a holiday? Look before you book…
Each year people contact us when they’ve had trouble on holiday – and haven’t had the help from their travel insurer that they expected. And most of the time, these disputes centre on what’s covered by their policy and what’s not.
Our latest selection of ombudsman news case studies (PDF 344KB) highlights a range of issues involving travel insurance – from winter sports accidents to cancellation claims. We share our experience to help holidaymakers prevent problems arising, and to help insurers resolve complaints fairly.
We also answer a question we’ve received from a business about what the revised Payment Services Directive means for handling complaints. And we give our regular snapshot of the things people have complained to us the most about – this time for the third quarter of 2017/2018.
Latest news
Financial Ombudsman resolved more than 220,000 cases in the last year
21 May 2026
New complaints coming to the Financial Ombudsman Service have returned to more historical levels, following a previous year of significant increased demand.
Financial Ombudsman Service urges holidaymakers to check their travel insurance cover
19 May 2026
We are reminding holidaymakers to double-check their travel insurance ahead of the spring bank holiday getaway.