How the trust account works

When you book through Sandlight Travels, the money you pay does not sit in our company bank account. It is paid into an independent client-money trust account — a ring-fenced account that is legally separate from the business. Funds in the trust account can only be released to the supplier (the hotel, airline or tour operator) once specific conditions have been met, and they are only fully released after you have completed your trip.

This means that even in the unlikely event that Sandlight Travels or one of our suppliers were to stop trading, the money you have paid remains protected and recoverable. You are not relying on our solvency — you are relying on a separate, independently held account.

When your money moves

• paymentsAt booking: your payment is deposited into the trust account. Nothing is paid to the supplier yet.
• flight_takeoffBefore you travel: only the amount the supplier requires to confirm your booking is released. The balance remains protected in the trust account.
• check_circleAfter you return home: any remaining funds are released once your trip has been delivered as booked.

What this protects you against

Holding client money in trust is one of the strongest financial-protection mechanisms in the UK travel industry. It guards against:

• Sandlight Travels ceasing to trade for any reason
• A supplier failing before you receive the service you paid for
• Funds being misapplied or used to pay other operating costs

In addition to trust-account protection, package holidays we sell are protected under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, and flights sold as part of a package are covered by the relevant ATOL or scheduled-airline failure protection where applicable. We will tell you which protections apply to your booking at the time of purchase.

Card payment protection

On top of the trust-account protection above, paying by credit card gives you an additional layer of cover under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 for purchases between £100 and £30,000. Debit-card payments are typically covered by your bank's chargeback scheme.