Three million ruined holidays a year - and most of us still don't know our rights, writes Dean Dunham KC

That's the headline from Citizens Advice this week, and the number should stop you in your tracks. It says its consumer service is now fielding around 14 holiday complaints every single day. A third are about substandard service, the "sea view" that faces a car park, the pool that's drained all week, food that turns your stomach. A large share involves all-inclusive trips abroad that turn out to be anything but.

Take Zorana, a semi-retired NHS doctor who spent £6,300 on a week in Lanzarote with her daughter. Flooding knocked out the hotel's power, water and internet, and when she went looking for her operator's rep, she was told he didn't work weekends. She came home early, then spent months fighting for a refund, and ended up feeling like a victim twice over: once for the ruined trip, and again for the battle to be heard. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon story. I hear similar stories almost every week on the LBC Consumer Hour.

Here's the uncomfortable truth that both this report and my experience on the LBC Consumer Hour expose. The misery isn't really the rain or the flood. Things go wrong on holidays, that's life. The scandal is how hard companies make it to put things right, even though this goes against every consumer law and regulation we have.

A quarter of people hit with a problem reported real stress and anxiety. A third got it resolved eventually, but only after significant time and effort. That isn't bad luck, it's a business model that quietly bets on you giving up and its traders blatantly flouting what are supposed to be amongst the best consumer protection laws in the world and getting away with it.

Enforcement of those laws is the big issue, as the likes of the Competition and Markets Authority have thus far failed to deal with the issue. However, that does not mean you have no rights and in this respect, knowledge of your rights is power and taking the following steps will protect most holidaymakers:

First, pay by credit card wherever you can. Spend over £100 and Section 75 gives you a powerful route to your money back if the trip collapses.

Second, book a genuine package holiday, flights and accommodation bought together as one deal carry far stronger legal protection than the DIY version you've stitched together yourself, as with a package holiday you are afforded the protection provided under the Package Travel Regulations.

Lastly, be wary of too-good-to-be-true deals on social media; fake listings are a growing trap and are another issue I’m hearing most weeks on the LBC Consumer Hour.

If it does go wrong, two words: evidence and speed. Complain to your operator there and then, not when you get home. Leave it too late, and your compensation can shrink or vanish entirely. Photograph everything. Keep every receipt for extra costs. Note dates, times and who you spoke to.

Finally, you may be owed more than you think, for loss of value, out-of-pocket expenses, services that never materialised, even sheer loss of enjoyment. If the operator stonewalls, escalate to ABTA where they are a member (it also has an independent arbitration scheme you can use), or call me on the LBC Consumer Hour between 9-10pm on a Sunday.

A holiday is a contract, not a favour. Make them honour it.

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Dean Dunham KC presents LBC's Consumer Hour every Sunday from 9pm-10pm.

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