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If you're heading off on holiday this summer you should be protected against disasters such as injury, illness or sub-standard accommodation as long as you buy a package deal from a UK based tour operator and pay by credit card. UK holiday rights are the best in Europe, not least because the credit card company is jointly responsible for holiday mishaps.

Regulations introduced in 1992 mean the tour operator who organises the package is responsible for all the component parts of the holiday irrespective of fault. So people who are injured, for example because of an unsafe balcony, can claim from the tour operator, whereas previously they would have had to have sued the hotel abroad.

Your holiday must live up to its description, so the beach must be within walking distance if the brochure says so. And your hotel must be clean, safe and of a reasonable standard even if your holiday was relatively cheap. So if you find yourself in a grotty hotel with filthy bathrooms and rotten food you are entitled to compensation.

If the tour operator tells you on arrival or just before you depart that your hotel is overbooked you have three options. You can cancel and get a refund, take an equivalent or superior alternative or take a cheaper holiday and a refund of the difference in cost. But in many cases you will be entitled to compensation as well.

In some cases you can claim more than just a refund of all or part of the price. You can also claim for loss of enjoyment, inconvenience and disappointment. This means you could end up with more than you paid for the holiday. And expect to receive more compensation if the holiday marked a special occasion such as a honeymoon or anniversary.

It makes sense to pay for your holiday by credit card since Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes the credit card company jointly responsible if things go wrong. Staggeringly, the rule applies if you only pay the deposit by card, as long as the holiday price is between ?100 and ?30,000.

Section 75 doesn't allow you to get two lots of compensation, but it does increase your chance of getting the problem sorted out. It can also be a form of insurance as it allows you to claim against the credit card company if the tour operator goes out of business.

There are some loopholes to watch out for, though. Your right to claim against a card company applies only to Visa, Mastercard and other credit cards. It doesn't extend to charge cards such as American Express and Diners Club.

You also have to make sure the payment is made direct to the supplier and not to an agent - so make sure you insist that payment goes directly to the tour operator rather than the travel agent. If you book through an Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) agent you can ask the agent to use a special form to ensure this happens.

But don't count on getting Section 75 protection when you buy goods and services on your card abroad. The law on this is far from clear, so much so that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Lloyds TSB are preparing to go to court for a ruling on whether credit card companies should be liable for overseas transactions.

Consumer groups and the OFT believe credit card companies should pay up if, like for Rowan Atkinson in the Barclaycard adverts, things go wrong with your overseas purchases. But many banks are concerned about potential losses they could incur if, say, someone hires a car abroad by credit card and then sustains serious injuries in a car accident.

Another problem is the growing number of trips abroad for cheap plastic surgery, often jokingly referred to as bucket and scalpel holidays. If the surgery goes wrong, banks in the UK could potentially end up having to pay out huge sums to victims who would not only need to recoup their costs but also pay to have the damage repaired.

Currently, lenders such as HSBC, HBOS, MBNA and Sainsbury's Bank agree to meet claims on overseas transactions as a gesture of goodwill. Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland, on the other hand, will look at cases individually. Barclaycard will meet claims but only up to the amount spent on the card.