Terms and Conditions
PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY. WHEN YOU MAKE A RESERVATION REQUEST WITH US (WHETHER BY EMAIL, TELEPHONE OR POST), THESE CONDITIONS ARE DEEMED TO HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED BY YOU.
Reservations of all The Wight Holiday Company accommodation whether made by telephone, in person, in writing or from the internet are accepted by The Wight Holiday Company, hereinafter referred to as TWHC, on the following conditions.
1 DEFINITIONS
1.1 ‘Additional fees’ means any fees payable by the holidaymaker other than the rental charge, including (but not limited to) card handling fees, insurance costs and any other relevant charges.
1.2 ‘Agent’ means The Wight Holiday Company
1.3 ‘Booking’ means the reservation of the property by the holidaymaker.
1.4 ‘Booking conditions’ means these terms and conditions.
1.6 ‘Deposit’ means:
(a) 30% of the aggregate rental charge (rounded up), subject to a minimum £150; or
(b) If the holiday is due to commence within eight weeks of the date of a reservation, 100% of the rental charge.
1.7 ‘Holidaymaker’ means the person or persons making the booking.
1.8 ‘Holiday confirmation’ means the confirmation of the booking issued by the Agent to the holidaymaker (by email and/or post) once the initial payment has been processed.
1.9 ‘Initial payment’ means the deposit and any applicable additional fees.
1.10 ‘Property’ means the accommodation for which a booking is made.
1.11 ‘Property owner’ means the owner of the property.
1.12 ‘Price’ means the total rental price payable in respect of a booking.
1.13 ‘Reservation request’ means a request to make a booking in the form of a completed holiday booking form (whether submitted via the telephone, post, email, website or otherwise).
1.14 ‘Short break’ means a holiday for a duration less than seven nights.
2 ROLE OF THE WIGHT HOLIDAY COMPANY
2.1 The agent acts as agent for the property owner to take and arrange bookings. The agent does not manage the property and reserves the right to refuse any booking.
2.2 Once the initial payment has been made and a full holiday confirmation has been issued by the agent/TWHC, a legally binding contract shall exist between the holidaymaker and the property owner pursuant to which the property owner will make the property available for the period set out in the booking. The agent shall not be a party to such contract.
2.3 The contract shall be subject to these booking conditions and any other special conditions made known to the holidaymaker at the time of the booking.
2.4 The agent accepts no liability for any defects or unavailability of the property or any other problems with the holiday. The holidaymaker’s right of action (if any) shall be against the property owner and not the agent.
3 BOOKINGS AND PAYMENT
3.1 Following receipt of a reservation request the agent shall check the availability of the property. If the property is available for the holiday, the agent shall reserve the property, subject to
3.2 Upon reservation of the property in accordance with clause 3.1 the holidaymaker must make the initial payment to the agent, unless advised otherwise. If payment is not received, the reservation will be cancelled.
3.3 Upon receipt of the initial payment, the agent will issue a holiday confirmation to complete the booking. Only after you have received a full confirmation of booking is the booking deemed as confirmed and accepted.
3.4 The balance of the rental charge (if any) must be paid by the holidaymaker to the agent no later than eight (8) weeks prior to the commencement of the holiday (the agent shall endeavour to inform the holidaymaker of the due date at the time of the booking).
3.5 Where the agent has not received the balance by the due date, an overdue reminder will be issued to the holidaymaker. If the balance is not received within seven (7) days of that reminder, the agent reserves the right to treat the booking as cancelled by the holidaymaker and clause 5 shall apply and the holidaymaker shall have no claim against the agent or the property owner for compensation or reimbursement whatsoever.
3.6 The prices stated on the agent’s website (and in the agent’s printed literature) are cash prices in pounds sterling. The agent may incur charges from credit card companies when the holidaymaker pays by credit card. These charges will be passed on to the holidaymaker with a premium of 3% added to the amount payable. This applies to credit cards only. Any charges raised against the agent by its bank for handling dishonoured cheques, bank transfers or any other payments, must be reimbursed by the holidaymaker to the agent within seven (7) days of the agent’s request to do so.
3.7 All payments must be received in pounds sterling.
3.8 The agent reserves the right to correct any error in advertised and/or confirmed prices.
4 BOOKING DETAILS & PERIOD OF LETTING
Immediately upon receipt of the holiday confirmation from the agent, the holidaymaker should check the details and notify the agent of any mistakes/errors made by the agent as soon as possible.
4.1 Occupation of the property commences at 4pm on the day of arrival and ends at 10am on the day of departure. Holiday occupancy is on a weekly basis (Saturday to Saturday except at Christmas and New Year) and the maximum period of stay is 4 weeks in any continuous period. Each property maybe occupied for holiday purposes only unless expressly stated otherwise, and only to the persons named on the booking form. Short term lets of 3 or 4 days may be possible subject to availability.
5 CANCELLATION BY THE HOLIDAYMAKER
5.1 The holidaymaker should notify the agent immediately in writing if he/she wishes to cancel the booking. The cancellation only takes effect when the agent has received written confirmation from the holidaymaker
Once the deposit has been paid and your booking confirmation issued, a binding contract has been deemed to have been made between you and the Owner and you are liable for all the charges of the booking. The Agent will endeavour to re-book the period of the cancelled booking and should the Agent succeed in doing so, your liability for costs may be limited to the sum of the deposit and booking fee, settlement by forfeit. If the Agent is unable to re-book the cancelled period, you will be liable for the full amount of the booking, including the rent, even if you do not occupy the Property. In the event you cancel before your balance payment is due, this payment must be still be made by the date due unless the Agent has notified you that they have re-let the property.
5.2 The agent will seek to re-let the property for the period of hire. If successful in doing so a refund of the balance payment will be made on payment of an administration fee. If not the deposit will be forfeited by the client. If cancellation occurs less than 8 weeks prior to the hire and the owners are unable to re-let the property, then the entire fee will be forfeited by the Client.
6 OTHER CANCELLATIONS
6.1 In the event of the agent being unable to arrange the holiday accommodation requested by the holidaymaker, or if the property becomes unavailable for whatever reason, the agent will endeavour to arrange alternative accommodation for the holidaymaker of an equivalent type and standard in a similar location.
6.2 If the holidaymaker has paid any money in respect of a property and that property subsequently becomes unavailable, the agent shall use its reasonable endeavours to obtain a refund from the property owner to the holidaymaker of all monies paid by the holidaymaker.
6.3 The agent is not liable for any costs associated with alternative accommodation, which must be paid by the holidaymaker.
6.4 Save as set out above, the agent shall have no liability for the cancellation or alteration of a booking.
7 WEBSITE ACCURACY/PRINT MATERIAL
7.1 To the best of the agent’s knowledge the details relating to any property described in the agent’s website or printed materials were correct at the time of printing.
7.1.1 Older properties are full of character, especially the ones that are well over 100 years old, built long before damp-proofing and cavity wall insulation. This may mean a couple of things are needed, such as leaving a window open for the air to circulate or using moisture catcher boxes around the property to catch any excess moisture. This is to prevent condensation, however as with old houses the odd damp or moisture patch can appear in a property due to the nature of the materials that it is built from. Staying in an older property is very different to staying in a newly built property, therefore we advise against taking elderly, babies or people susceptible to damp to an older property. Older style houses will have a different smell to a newly built property, this part of the property character.
7.2 Upon becoming aware of any material inaccuracies in any published description of the property or material changes to the property, the agent shall endeavour to correct them in future publications and inform the holidaymaker. The agent may, in its sole and absolute discretion, offer the holidaymaker the option to treat the change as a cancellation event and clause 6 shall apply accordingly.
7.3 The agent cannot accept responsibility for any changes or closures to area amenities or attractions mentioned in the brochure.
8 To minimize the financial risks associated with going on holiday it is strongly recommended that the holidaymaker arranges travel insurance that matches their needs when booking the holiday.
9 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE HOLIDAYMAKER
9.1 During the period of the holiday, the holidaymaker (personally and on behalf of all other people visiting the property) undertakes (for the benefit of the property owner and the agent) as follows:
9.1.1 that the number of people occupying the property will not exceed the number of beds stated on website/print material, unless it is an infant in a cot;
9.1.2 that the property will be used solely for the purpose of a holiday by the holidaymaker and his/her party unless agreed and expressly stated otherwise;
9.1.3 to show due consideration for other parties (to include, but not be limited to, refraining from abuses of the property and/or dangerous, offensive or rude behaviour to the property owner, his representative or any third parties such as neighbours);
9.1.4 to allow the property owner or his representative access to the property at any reasonable time during the period of the holiday;
9.1.5 to keep the property and all furniture, utensils, equipment, fixtures and fittings in or on the property in the same state of repair and condition as at the commencement of the holiday and to ensure that at the end of the holiday the property is left in the same state of order and cleanliness in which it was found. The property owner reserves the right to levy an additional charge for any extra cleaning required after the holidaymaker’s occupancy and for any consequential loss.
9.1.6 to report as soon as possible to the property owner (or The Wight Holiday Company) any breakages or damage caused by the holidaymaker during the holiday and to reimburse the property owner with the cost of replacement. The property owner reserves the right to make a claim against the holidaymaker for repair or loss as a result of damage caused;
9.1.7 not (without the express permission of the property owner) to allow any person other than guests booked and staying in the property for their holiday to use the facilities and amenities of the property;
9.1.8 to notify all other members of the holidaymaker’s party of these undertakings.
9.2 In the event of a breach of any of the undertakings set out in clause 9.1 the property owner (or his representative) can refuse to allow the holidaymaker to take possession of the property or make the holidaymaker leave the property before the end of the holiday. In either case the holidaymaker shall be deemed to have cancelled the booking and the holidaymaker shall have no claim for compensation or reimbursement whatsoever.
9.2.1 To report any property issues the guest is unhappy with within 24 hours of the booked arrival date, if the property owner or agent is not given sufficient notice to repair or replace a broken or faulty item or rectify a problem no compensation or refund will be given to a guest and no complaint submitted by a guest will be considered.
9.2.2 If subject to clause 9.2.1 a guest departs a property no alternative accommodation will be offered, no refund requests accepted and no costs for alternative accommodations will given. If a guest chooses to leave a property before their holiday has finished they must take responsibility for their decision.
9.3 SMOKING IS NOT PERMITTED INDOORS.
10 PETS
10.1 Pets are only allowed at properties that are advertised as allowing a pet/pets. If a holidaymaker takes a pet to a property that does not allow them, or exceeds the stated number/size of pet, the property owner/agent (or his representative) can refuse to allow the holidaymaker to take possession of the property or make the holidaymaker leave the property before the end of the holiday. If this happens the holidaymaker shall be deemed to have cancelled the booking and the holidaymaker shall have no claim for compensation or reimbursement whatsoever.
10.2 The holidaymaker is liable for all damage caused by his/her pets. The holidaymaker should remove all traces (inside and out) from the property of pet occupation before final departure. The holidaymaker must not allow pets on beds or furniture within the property and pets must not be left alone in the property at any time. If the holidaymaker breaches this clause the property owner/agent (or his representative) may make the holidaymaker leave the property before the end of the holiday. If this happens the holidaymaker shall be deemed to have cancelled the booking and the holidaymaker shall have no claim for compensation or reimbursement whatsoever.
11 LIABILITY
11.1 The holidaymaker’s (and all other members of the holidaymaker’s party) personal belongings and vehicles (together with their contents) are left at the property entirely at their own risk.
11.2 The agent shall accept no liability to the holidaymaker for any loss, damage or injury howsoever caused to the holidaymaker or to the holidaymaker’s personal property (or to persons in the holidaymaker’s party or their personal property) during their stay at the property except to the extent such loss, damage or injury is caused by the negligence or wilful default of the agent.
11.3 No representative, agent or sales person (whether employed by the agent or not):
(11.3.1) has authority to vary, amend or waive any of these booking conditions and no amendment or addition to any of these booking conditions shall be deemed to have been accepted unless accepted in writing by a director of the agent.
(11.3.2) has authority to make any verbal representations or provide additional information over and above information contained in the agent’s brochure and website. The agent cannot accept responsibility and gives no warranty in respect of information or representations not contained in these booking conditions, the agent’s brochure and/or the agent’s website.
12 COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION
12.1 For the purpose of the Data Protection Act 1998, all personal and other information and details collected by the Agent in the course of its business, belong to the agent and will not be disclosed to any third party except to the property owner (and/or his representatives) in connection with a booking.
12.2 Provided the holidaymaker has not told the agent otherwise, the agent may use the holidaymaker’s personal information for marketing the agent’s services.
12.3 If the holidaymaker or other individual wishes to be removed from the agent’s marketing lists, they should contact the agent by email at info@thewightholidaycompany.co.uk
13 COMPLAINTS
13.1 In the unlikely event the holidaymaker may have cause for dissatisfaction, the holidaymaker should contact the agent (or his representative) within 24 hours of their booked arrival date commencing, and in any event within 7 days of completion of a stay in the relevant property. No complaint will be accepted after the booking has ended.
13.1.1 No refunds are given in any circumstances.
13.1.2 If a guest chooses to leave a property and seek alternative accommodation they must take responsibility for their decision, if guests choose to vacate the property no refunds for unused nights or costs for alternative accommodations will be paid to the guest.
13.1.3 If TWHC or the owner are denied the opportunity of investigating the complaint within a reasonable time or denied the opportunity to put matters right during the holiday, then the guest waives all rights. No further complaint received will be dealt with and no refund will be given
13.2 If the holidaymaker is unhappy with the agents’ response, the agent shall put the holidaymaker in communication with the property owner as soon as possible and provide details of the complaint and the property owner’s response.
13.3 Without prejudice to the above upon receipt of details of a complaint from a holidaymaker, the agent may (in its absolute discretion) liaise with the holidaymaker and the property owner and attempt to resolve the outstanding complaint.
13.4 This clause 13 is without prejudice to any cause of action the holidaymaker may have against the property owner.
14 FORCE MAJEURE
No liability can be accepted and no compensation will be paid by the agent or the property owner, where the holidaymaker or his personal property (and/or any person in the holidaymaker’s party and/or their personal property) suffer any loss, damage, injury, disappointment, inconvenience or otherwise, or where the performance or prompt performance of any obligations by the agent or the property owner are prevented or affected, by any event which the agent or the property owner could not have reasonably foreseen or avoided including war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial action, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, closure of international borders, disease, non availability of transport services, interruption to services/utilities and all similar events outside the control of the agent or the property owner.
15 HOLIDAYS OUTSIDE THE UK
In the event that the property is outside the UK, the agent may be able to provide travel booking services. The provision of such services will be subject to further terms and conditions, copies of which shall be available on request.
16 LAW AND JURISDICTION
All contractual obligations arising out of these conditions shall be subject to English Law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.