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Hi I was wondering if someone could answer questions for me.

 

About 2/3 months ago we booked a week away in a country cottage and paid a low deal £25 deposit. We aren't due to go until end of August but now need to cancel because finances have taken a hit!

 

On this website they say cancellations greater than 70 days from holiday start date mean we have to pay the full deposit, which is about £300, unless you have suffered one of their conditions like redundancy, death etc.

 

If I cancel the holiday I do not mind losing the £25 deposit. What I don't want to do is pay £300 when I have given them 6 months notice of cancellation!

 

What can they do to get this £300 off me?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

BobbyH

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Hi there, this sounds odd. Can you post the exact wording of their cancellation policy please, so we can have a think?

 

Hi Honeybee

 

4. Low Initial Deposit Offers

Occasionally, offers are made giving you the chance to book properties at either a lower than usual, or a nil, initial deposit. Details of any additional terms specific to the offer will be notified to you prior to or on making your booking and should be read in conjunction with these Booking Conditions. If you book a property at either a lower than usual, or a nil initial deposit, you also agree to pay the difference between the amount paid and the usual deposit, plus any booking fee and any insurance premiums due, either at the time the balance of your booking is due, or at the time of cancellation if you cancel your booking. If you cancel you must also pay all other applicable cancellation charges. Please refer to Section 7 for details regarding cancellations. Any insurance premiums must still be paid at the time of booking. We reserve the right to extend any Low Initial Deposit offer.

 

(ii) Full Cancellations

If you have to, or wish to, cancel your booking, the party leader must telephone us on the number shown on your booking confirmation as soon as possible. The day we receive your telephone notification of cancellation is the date on which your booking with the Owner is cancelled.

Depending on your reason for cancellation, you may receive a refund authorised by the Owner of all monies you have paid to us for your booking (excluding all booking fees and, where applicable, the premium for any personal travel insurance you have arranged with us, any amendment charges, and credit card charges you have already incurred. We will also retain a cancellation administration fee of £50 per week or per part week per booking.)

Please note: The refund provisions referred to above only apply if the cancellation applies to all members of your party. All prices are for the entire property and not on a per person basis.

Under your contract with the Owner, in order to qualify for a refund your reason for cancelling must be one of the following, must apply to a member of your party, and with the exception of pregnancy must have occurred after your booking and must prevent you from taking your trip. Please note that you will not receive a refund for pregnancy where the party member is expected to give birth within 14 weeks of the arrival date home .

Illness/Pregnancy (subject to medical evidence of unfitness to travel); Death; Redundancy (provided employment has been on a continuous basis with the same employer for at least 2 years); Jury or Witness service (in a Court of Law); Illness or Death of a close relative (a close relative is defined as one of the following - Spouse, Son or Daughter (in law), Parent (in law), Grandparent, Sister or Brother, Fiancé(e)); your home is rendered uninhabitable due to fire, storm, flood, subsidence or malicious damage; your presence is requested by the Police, following a burglary at your home or place of business, during the period of your holiday or within the preceding 7 days; your unexpected posting by HM Forces or cancellation of leave by HM Police (unless the cost of the lost holiday is recoverable from any other source); or compulsory quarantine. You may also receive a full refund if you are unable to reach your holiday destination due to snow or flood conditions or as a result of being involved in an accident en route (NB: This only applies if you have made every effort to attempt to complete your journey. You will need to produce evidence from the Police, RAC or AA). Although a refund is available in these circumstances you may prefer to delay your arrival. In these cases a 25% refund is available for each 24 hour delay, up to a maximum of 72 hours = 75% (For short breaks, a fixed refund of 50% applies for all arrivals delayed for more than 24 hours). You will be asked to complete a Booking Cancellation form which may require signing by a Medical Practitioner or employer and in which we may request further information from a third party.

The following reasons for cancellation do not qualify for a refund as set out above: suicide or attempted suicide, intentional self-injury, the effect of intoxicating liquor or drugs, or any other reason which is not specifically referred to.

Where the reason for cancellation does not fall within one of the qualifications for a refund as set out above, eg: dis-inclination to travel, leave cancelled by employer (other than HM Forces or the Police) etc, a cancellation charge will be payable, levied by the Owner, based on the number of days before the arrival date at the property that we receive notification of your cancellation, as shown in the following table. This means that if you have paid the balance of your total holiday cost and then have to, or wish to, cancel, you may receive a refund of part of such cost. However, if you have not paid your total holiday cost including any booking fee and, where purchased, the premiums for any insurances, by the time of your cancellation, you may be required to make a further payment by way of cancellation charge. For the purpose of the table below, Accommodation Cost means the total cost of the accommodation booking, including any extra items. Any insurance premiums, booking fees, credit card charges and administration fees for making any changes will still be payable in full by you.

Please note that, where already paid, such insurance premiums, booking fees, credit card charges and administration fees are not refundable in the event of your cancellation.

CANCELLATION CHARGES

 

 

Number of days before start date of your arrangements that notification of cancellation is received by us

Cancellation Charge (plus all booking fees, insurance premiums, credit card charges or administration fees payable by you)

More than 70 days

Full Deposit (including any Balance of Deposit due)

29 - 70 days

50% of Accommodation Cost or Full Deposit (including any Balance of Deposit due), whichever is the greater.

15 - 28 days

75% of Accommodation Cost

14 days or less

90% of Accommodation Cost

On arrival date or later

Full Accommodation Cost

 

 

Thanks

Bobbyh

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Hi

I'm glad I have found this post. We are in the same situation except that we booked our holiday more recently and were due to go mid june...this still leaves them over 3 months to fill the slot.

 

My husband called to explain the situation and that we could not afford it due to a change in our financial circumstances. They would not allow him to cancel unless he paid the difference in deposits of £490. He explained we could not afford this but as far as they are concerned if we do not pay this now to cancel, we will have to pay the full amount when due or cancel then and still have to pay!!!

 

What can we do? I paid the £25 by credit card - are they within their rights to just take the money or can thay take us to court? I haven't been in a situation like this before?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

mapmum x

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Hi

 

As I see it your reason for canceling will need to meet the terms for a refund. The problem is that by booking the hoilday you accept the T&Cs. Having read through the T&Cs you have posted, it appears you have booked through an agent for the person who actually owns the cottage. Some owners are quite reasonable about these things especially if you provide enough notice to enable them to re-let the cottage.

 

My advice would be to write to the company you have booked with explaining your circumstances. You may have to go into a little more detail than 'finances have been hit' because that could apply to everyone! Another thought is, have you got holiday insurance cover at all?

 

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I have already cancelled the holiday but I don't intend on paying any more cash I was just wondering what the consequences of not paying are?

 

I will write to them with the details but what can they do, after all they have 6 months to re-let the cottage!!

 

BobbyH

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I don't have direct experience of this, but a couple of our friends have been caught by contract terms with holiday cottages. The conditions aren't easy to read, are they? but it does mention that the owner may make some sort of refund.

 

I would have a chat with your local Trading Standards, if they're good, otherwise possibly Trading Standards where the holiday agency are based. If they think the contract terms are unfair, they can take action, but otherwise they should be able to advise you on the legal position.

 

I agree that it doesn't seem very fair on you because they will probably re-let the cottage, but technically you have accepted the booking conditions.

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2083

The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999

 

Unfair Terms

5. - (1) A contractual term which has not been individually negotiated shall be regarded as unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer.

 

(2) A term shall always be regarded as not having been individually negotiated where it has been drafted in advance and the consumer has therefore not been able to influence the substance of the term.

 

(3) Notwithstanding that a specific term or certain aspects of it in a contract has been individually negotiated, these Regulations shall apply to the rest of a contract if an overall assessment of it indicates that it is a pre-formulated standard contract.

 

(4) It shall be for any seller or supplier who claims that a term was individually negotiated to show that it was.

 

Schedule 2

 

© making an agreement binding on the consumer whereas provision of services by the seller or supplier is subject to a condition whose realisation depends on his own will alone;

 

(e) requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation;

 

(i) irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which he had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract;

 

OFT

 

consumers unfairly losing prepayments if

the contract is cancelled

 

consumers being subject to unfair

penalties

 

 

When a contract is cancelled consumers

should not generally end up paying for

 

something they have not received. This is

especially true where the contract is ended by

the supplier. Where the consumer causes the

cancellation, prepayments should not be

retained beyond what is needed to cover

losses and costs which the business suffers as

a direct result, and cannot reasonably reduce

 

by, for instance, selling to someone else.

 

 

There is another bit about not having to give extended notice, I will find that later.

  • Haha 1
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Hi Connif

Very helpful post!

Does this mean that if the cottage company have time to re-let and have not incurred costs or losses of £500, then it is unreasonable for them to charge us this amount for something we have not received, despite having ticked the box and accepted the confusing T&C at time of booking?

mapmum x

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I see Conniff isn't here at the moment. I don't know what effect unfair contract terms has if you don't pay what they're asking, could still be worth a call to Trading Standards.

 

We complained about a service company, nothing to do with holidays. Trading Standards helped us to get back some money we were owed, but also sent the contract we'd signed to the OFT. The OFT said they thought the terms of the contract were unfair and told the company to change it. We only cared about the money at the outset, but the OFT decision was a bonus.

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

Looking at the previous posts, it's nice to see that I'm not alone!

 

My mother booked a cottage through Cottages4you for 6 of us in February but the next day my husband had his leave cancelled by his managing Director as there is an impending company court case which it is imperative that my husband is available for as he is a witness. We cancelled by 9am the next morning and was told that it would be subject to cancellation fees and the outstanding amount of deposit £378 :jaw:

At the time of booking my mother was not made aware that the contract was between herself and the owners of the property and didn't have sufficient time or understanding of the terms and conditions when the sales advisor read them out over the phone. And once you have paid for the low deposit then you are bound to these 'unintelligible' oral contracts which do not give you enough time to allow yourself to get fully acquainted with all the small print.

We could claim on the insurance but need a court summons letter...we sent paper work into them from solicitors advising of my husbands witness status...which the company lost but blame my mother for not sending recorded delivery, although looking at the cover notes which the company sent, at no point do they mention recorded delivery. Because we do not have the official court summons as yet we have had to pay the full deposit under the terms and conditions of £490 :-x

We have done so under protest but have stuck to the company's terms and conditions.

However am I right in thinking that this could be covered by Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2083 The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999? The company has made a profit from us not taking a holiday of nearly £500...this is not how much it would cost to cover their costs. Despite thinking that cancellation fees are too high, we understand that they do exist so have never had an issue with paying them...however we have a major issue with a company who operate when: (from OFT)

 

■ consumers unfairly losing prepayments if

the contract is cancelled

 

■ consumers being subject to unfair

penalties

 

When a contract is cancelled consumers should not generally end up paying for something they have not received. This is

especially true where the contract is ended by the supplier. Where the consumer causes the cancellation, prepayments should not be retained beyond what is needed to cover losses and costs which the business suffers as a direct result, and cannot reasonably reduce by, for instance, selling to someone else.

 

Unfair Terms

5. - (1) A contractual term which has not been individually negotiated shall be regarded as unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer.

 

(2) A term shall always be regarded as not having been individually negotiated where it has been drafted in advance and the consumer has therefore not been able to influence the substance of the term.

 

(3) Notwithstanding that a specific term or certain aspects of it in a contract has been individually negotiated, these Regulations shall apply to the rest of a contract if an overall assessment of it indicates that it is a pre-formulated standard contract.

 

(4) It shall be for any seller or supplier who claims that a term was individually negotiated to show that it was.

 

Schedule 2

 

© making an agreement binding on the consumer whereas provision of services by the seller or supplier is subject to a condition whose realisation depends on his own will alone;

 

(e) requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation;

 

(i) irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which he had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract;

 

Can anyone advise please...have tried to talk to consumer direct but have been given duff information on both occasions :|

 

I am currently waiting for Trading Standards to call me back but their first suggestion was for me to call consumer direct!!!:!:

 

Thanks Guys...this sort of thing makes me so mad and now I have seen so many other people going through this I'm even madder at the thought of all that 'free' money cottages4you and the hoseasons group must be 'winning' :-x

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What can they do to get this £300 off me?

 

:roll:

 

They could sue you, of course, for breach of contract.

 

With due regard to Schedule 2 to The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.

 

© is irrelevant because the seller or supplier is willing to provide.

 

(e) fails to fly because the charges are not so disproportionate, compared to usual practice and to what a County Court would grant as a relief, were the contract to fail to provide.

 

(i) fails because of the incongruity of posting the terms and conditions, here, now, without an explanation of why this would not have been possible before the conclusion of a contract.

 

There is no general right to cancel a contract. The general right is to expect a contract to be performed.

Edited by perplexity
trivial
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  • 1 year later...

I did!! :-D

 

I got so fed up of being told 'that's the terms in your contract' by their customer service team that during yet another heated discussion, I exploded 'the terms were unfair to the consumer' and spent the next 48 hours searching the web for anything to do with unfair terms in contracts and hit upon this piece. Trading standards did agree that it was unfair terms but this piece of legislation had never been tested as a stand alone act :|

 

Didn't even get to court, just the threat of action was enough! I rang the company stating the detailed case I would put together and that whilst I really did't WANT to, I would have no hesitation but to go through the legal process. Obviously I was aware that the judge may not find in my favour but I believed that the company had no legal basis for making a profit on my cancellation over and above the administration costs incurred, based on a non-negotiated contract by themselves which resulted in them profiting from my cancellation.

 

I put the phone call in, obviously it was referred to their legal team and with 12 hours I had a phone call back confirming that I was correct and they would refund me my deposit minus....the administration costs.

 

I would have had no hesitation in reclaiming through the small claims had they chosen to go that route.

 

I now work for trading standards as a direct result of this experience!!!

 

Good luck!

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  • 1 month later...

Hi there this has happened to me today,, I have read the above and that's great but wondering how to keep it short and sweet with them but worded strong,,

Top lad have you heard anything,,kind regards dean

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yep, defended on unfair terms and conditions.

also they refused to send any paperwork across detailing all my complaints. so i also stated that my defence was not complete due to this.

 

the case was thrown out as they did not sned all the paperwork in on time.

 

iam sure they do not want unfair terms and conditions tested in court

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