Lay My Hat

A man booked back in january for a short break in october. Struggled to pay his deposit of £50 but then agreed he would pay half balance in july and the rest in august. The balance doesnt actually fall due until 12th sept.
I was anticipating problems with him (you get that feeling...) and sure enough yesterday he asks if he can pay half today and the rest on the 5th october (his holiday starts on the 12th oct) as he had had a flood. He used the same excuse back in january so now concerned about what to do. I have told him no, full balance due by 12th sept but on thinking now I dont really want him to come even if he manages to pay as it is possible he will wreck revenge for my hard stance on it. Am I legally allowed to cancel and return his deposit? Or what would you do in this instance?

What do your terms and conditions say?

Personally I would go ahead if he paid by 12 Sept.. assuming this is what is required by your terms and conditions

I would always ask for payment of the balance 8 weeks before a holiday. This allows time to re-advertise if something goes wrong.

IANAL but I think that you’d be on sticky ground if you cancelled his booking - you’ve entered into a binding contract to to provide the accommodation on the dates chosen. However, if the contract requires balance payment by 12th September, then if he doesn’t pay then (or reasonably(?) soon afterwards) he’s in breach of contract and you can regard him as having cancelled the booking - which is very different from you cancelling it. As I said, IANAL so I might be giving duff information.

As rosebud suggests, balance payment 8 weeks in advance gives a bit of breathing space and is well worth considering for future bookings; 6 or 8 weeks is standard practice.

Thankyou, yes I am thinking I will increase to at least 6 weeks for next year but on the whole most have been ok. I have scrutinised my booking conditions and I havent got anything in there that gives me the right to cancel unless breach of contract.
He has messaged again today to offer £150 now and the remainder (£70) by the 5th. Still dont know really what to say to him! Surely if it was a genuine flood he could claim on house insurance so wouldnt be out of pocket. Just concerns me if he comes then he will wreck it and I will have no way of getting anything off him

The time to back out was right at the get go when he struggled to raise 50 quid. That would indicate to me that it’s probably more hassle than it's worth. Too late now, but you can still insist he pay in full by the due date - if not you have your get out of jail free card.
However I see no reason to think he 'might wreck it' just because he's a bit skint. It's a little unfair to assume unacceptable behaviour from his financial status don't you think? Indeed, I can recall a good few clearly affluent guests over the years that have left our place like an absolute tip. Money doesn't buy you class
As already said, balance at 8 weeks.

Yes I totally agree COYS, money doesnt buy you class BUT if anything had of gone wrong there would have been no chance of getting anything back from him and sadly on past experience I have had similar issues and the people have wrecked it, stole sheets etc. I now charge a damage deposit for those with children and seems to be a lot better.

Thankfully he decided yesterday to cancel his booking so I can breathe again!

This brings me to another question - if I have another feeling about a guest again - what do you say to stop them booking?

What is the chance of any legal redress over what looks like a fairly small outlay? Not a lot. Alternatively do not push the pay by date too vigorously and let him default then you can scrub the booking and probably keep the deposit if you were so inclined.

Once or twice at the enquiry stage I've told someone that the house is unfortunately no longer available for those dates because either another enquirer has gone ahead and booked via a different site (Airbnb, TripAdvisor etc.) or we're going to need it ourselves for an unexpected family gathering or for essential maintenance.