Snow trouble

[Londoner]

Just had a 5 night cancellation because of the snow. Gatwick airport closed and guests have changed flights to next week but I have Spanish guests next week and cannot accommodate them.
The guests are asking for a full refund and I feel I should give it because it is not their fault.
Still hurts though.
Anyone else having problems?

[ccazes]

Ask them if they have insurance. It's not any more your fault than theirs. What do your T&C's say?

[kg1]

They should have travel insurance & you should have it emphasised in your T&Cs that you recommend guests take it out (apologies if you already have). This is not your fault, hard I know but........

[christinedavid]

You have no control over the weather. They should have travel insurance. If they haven't, it's their loss not yours.

[lorca]

I agree - it´s not your fault and they should have insurance. You have to be business-like. If you´re really feeling generous offer them a deal on another low season week,

[greenbarn]

Could you have let the week to anyone who would have been able to get there and not pulled out? Yes - a lot of people in the UK.
Are you a charity? Presumably not.
Did the guests willingly enter into a contract with you?
As ccazes says, what do your T&C's say (and what would reasonable contract terms be regardless). It's the guests' choice to have insurance or not. You can insure against loss of business because of problems within your immediate area causing you to cancel, but I doubt you could insure against loss of business due to guests cancelling because of their own problems.
You are not entitled to make a profit from the situation, so any costs such as cleaning and fuel that the guests have paid for, but which you won't incur, are refundable, the rest isn't. If you can re-let the same period, then the guests are entitled to a refund less any difference due to eg advertising and admin costs and last-minute discounts. Other than that hey have no right to ask for or receive a refund, and they need to understand that; anything you choose to offer, by way of partial refund or future discount, is entirely a goodwill gesture.

Edited to add: I posted this before I'd seen the previous 3 responses.

[kendalcottages]

Agree with all the previous comments. This is exactly the kind of thing that travel insurance is there for...

We heavily emphasise the importance of taking out insurance when guests book with us. I'm not sure what % have it, but I'd like to think most...

[vrooje]

In situations like this I usually find it helps to be gracious and generous while still following the T&Cs. Londoner, your response could point out the non-refundable clause in the T&Cs and offer to send a cancellation receipt directly to their travel insurance company, to make the process easier on the clients. Let them come back to you and explain that they didn't purchase travel insurance.

You are not entitled to make a profit from the situation

I don't quite understand what this means. If Londoner does not refund the entire rental fee, then the week will be profitable. Do you mean that one isn't entitled to make additional profit on top of what was implied in the contract? Is that a UK law that supersedes any T&C clauses? That would imply that, if Londoner's clients had had travel insurance, claiming the entire rental fee would be an act of insurance fraud on the part of either the clients (if Londoner had refunded non-incurred expenses) or Londoner (if not). Is that correct?

[Londoner]

Thanks for all the responses, yes it is covered by my T&C and no they do not have insurance. They felt they did not need it for a 5 day trip to London! The reason I feel I want to give the deposit back is that this was our first ever reservation when we started out in September. Out of all our guests this lady has been in contact quiet a lot. She had been concerned in the begining that we had no reviews but still trusted us enough to book. I am new to this rental business but feel it is the right thing to do to refund her. I need to toughen up I know

[Normandie]

If you can afford to refund her (repairs to cars, roof or food for table are not - at least to some extent - dependent on the rental profit for that week) then by all means do so. Especially if you feel you should or just plain want to do so. Don't feel you have to justify it to yourself. How tough you are (or become) is often dependent on how much the income matters.

However, not everyone is in a position to refund payments and they are just as right to say that guests choose whether or not to purchase insurance and when they don't, sometimes it proves to be a mistake. Their mistake. The cost of this mistake should always be borne by the guests, not the accommodation owner.

[Rocket Rab]

In your original post, you talk about a "full" refund. Have your guests paid the balance yet?

It's very generous of you to consider refunding the deposit on such a last-minute cancellation; you really shouldn't have to bear the consequences of someone else's choice not to take out adequate travel insurance.

Do you advise guests to take out insurance somewhere in the booking process? I think it helps if you do, when this sort of situation arises.

[greenbarn]

You are not entitled to make a profit from the situation

I don't quite understand what this means. If Londoner does not refund the entire rental fee, then the week will be profitable. Do you mean that one isn't entitled to make additional profit on top of what was implied in the contract? Is that a UK law that supersedes any T&C clauses?

I realised last night that what I'd said was a bit ambiguous!
IANAL, but I've tried on a few occasions to understand the minefield in what we do. The gist of what I was trying to convey is that under the contract you are entitled to recover your losses, and that means the the loss of the rental fee and associated expenses. You are not entitled to something beyond that, so holding money paid in advance (within the rental fee, presumably) for costs that you now don't incur is a no-no, so that might include fuel and cleaning costs. Likewise if you re-let, you have covered some or all of your losses and the original party is entitled to a full or partial refund less whatever costs (losses) you incurred in securing the re-let, admin etc etc.

As to the law superseding T&C's AFAIK it matters not one jot what your T&C's say if they don't conform with UK contract law and the situation ends up in court. There's been a few circular discussions on the topic!

That would imply that, if Londoner's clients had had travel insurance, claiming the entire rental fee would be an act of insurance fraud on the part of either the clients (if Londoner had refunded non-incurred expenses) or Londoner (if not). Is that correct?

Now I am definitely not a lawyer , but in the first scenario if Londoner had refunded non-incurred expenses which the guests also claimed on their travel insurance, I'd struggle to see that as anything other than fraudulent - ie claiming for a non-existent loss. The second scenario is a puzzler - I see it not so much as an insurance fraud as an infringement of contract law, so it would be down to either the guests or the insurance company to recover the amount from Londoner. Would the insurance company bother? I suspect that given the relatively trivial amounts involved in the recoverable costs it wouldn't be worth the admin effort of pursuing the letter of the law.
All hypothetical of course, and only a discussion of the UK situation.......

Londoner, I can sympathise with your reasoning; I'd like to think I could be hard-nosed, but the reality is different, and we are trading in people's dreams. With the background of dealings with your guest, I suspect I'd be looking at a goodwill gesture, although it might be along the lines of retention against a future booking.

[harcourtv57]

I had a similar situation when the ash cloud happened and the guests asked for a full refund, which although feeling very sorry for them, I declined. I offered to provide proof of booking to their travel insurance (which they didn't have). They then asked if they could re book for later dates - but they didn't expect to pay anything for this as 'they had already paid'. I had to explain that this wasn't possible but that I would gladly offer a discount for a future booking as a good will gesture. I never heard back from them.

[Maurmc]

..but feel it is the right thing to do to refund her.

I am a great believer in "gut instinct", so if you feel it is right, then refund her. But, I don't think a full refund is in order here. You are running a business after all, as has been pointed out already.

I can understand your feeling of loyalty towards your first guests, but they took the risk of not getting travel insurance.

Other than that hey have no right to ask for or receive a refund, and they need to understand that; anything you choose to offer, by way of partial refund or future discount, is entirely a goodwill gesture.

I agree 100%

[Londoner]

I just had a gut-feeling that it was right to refund in this case, they had paid 100% and cancelled on the arrival day as Gatwick was closed and they were travelling with two small children. Yes I know it was their own fault not to have travel insurance and I should not have to suffer as a result of their error.
No, I cannot afford to refund, I am just starting out. I know she will come back at a later date and hope to have some good Karma as a result, in fact I have 10 nights booked since yesterday.

I will remind guests to take travel insurance in future.