Comedian Peter Kay has been forced to cancel his nationwide stand-up tour – if you've bought tickets, here's how to get a refund.

The 44-year-old released a statement yesterday saying he was cancelling his first tour in eight years – which included more than 80 dates in the UK and Ireland – and his 'Dance for Life' charity events, due to "unforeseen family circumstances".

He apologised for the cancellations and said ticket holders should be able to get a refund from the website they'd bought from, adding: "This decision has not been taken lightly and I'm sure you'll understand my family must always come first".

I've bought tickets – how do I get my money back?

How you get your money back depends on where you bought your ticket from – but the first thing to do is contact the ticket seller.

Different sellers are adopting different policies. Ticketmaster, See Tickets and Get Me In, for instance, will automatically refund customers via the card they paid within the next 10 days, including booking fees. The Ticket Factory says it will also refund tickets and booking fees to the original payment card, aiming to do so within seven days.

If you bought your ticket from a secondary ticketing site, it's less clear if you'll get an automatic refund. Check the website's terms and conditions to see if it has a refund policy and contact it ASAP to apply for one.

The seller is refusing to refund me – what should I do?

If you've contacted the company you bought the tickets from and it is refusing to give you a refund, there are a few options you can try:

  1. Complain to the ticket seller and demand a refund anyway. There's no reason it should have turned you down – especially as Peter Kay has himself said you should get a refund – so push it. It's worth noting some sites do have T&Cs which make it clear that tickets sold via them must be valid. For example, Viagogo says: "Buyers are guaranteed to receive valid tickets in time for the event. If a problem arises, Viagogo will step in to provide comparable replacement tickets or a refund."
  2. Unsatisfactory or delayed response? Try social media. If you're not satisfied with the company's response or don't hear back quickly, it's worth contacting the firm via social media.
  3. Escalate to Trading Standards. If you don't get anywhere with the company, contact Trading Standards via Citizens Advice and ask it to investigate.
  4. Also try to claim from your card company. This isn't a proven route, but is worth a shot – you may be able to claim from your credit or debit card company. 

    - If each individual ticket cost more than £100. You can try using Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, which protects credit card purchases costing between £100 and £30,000. For this to work there must be a direct link between the customer and the supplier, so there are no guarantees this will work for some secondary ticketing sites, but you can try.

    - You can also try your bank's chargeback scheme. If you paid on a Visa or Mastercard debit, credit or prepaid card, or an Amex credit or charge card, you may be able to claim under the chargeback scheme, where your bank gets your cash back from the retailer's bank if something goes wrong.

    With this scheme, unlike Section 75, you can try to claim regardless of how much the ticket cost and whether there's a direct link between customer and supplier. It's worth noting this is not a legal requirement, it's a customer service promise, though worth trying. See our Chargeback guide for full help.

If you've been affected and are struggling to get a refund, let us know by emailing news@moneysavingexpert.com.

What if I've booked accommodation and travel for the gig?

First, check if your bookings are refundable, in which case contact the provider to get your money back.

If not, you could contact the company you booked with to see if it can offer any help, such as a refund, gift voucher or alternative dates, but there are no guarantees.

You could also check if you have a travel insurance policy that would cover it, though there's no 'one-size-fits-all' answer as each travel insurance policy is different, so check with your insurer. See Consequential loss help for more.