Booking Conditions

In these booking conditions, 'you' and 'your' means all people named on the booking form (including anyone who is added or replaced at a later date). 'We', 'us' and 'our' means the owners of Somersal Cottages and their representatives.Before booking through us, please read these booking conditions carefully and all the other information relevant to your booking, including:· the property rental conditions (which means all information in any specific conditions or     restrictions set out on the website description of your chosen properties);. we arrange bookings of properties known as Somersal Cottages.When you book a property with us, you are entering directly into a contract with the owner and we may charge a fee for arranging your booking (booking fee).Your booking with us is subject to these booking conditions .All properties on our website are offered by the owners for the sole purpose of holiday lettings, unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing by the owner.   Accordingly you agree that your booking is for the sole purpose of holiday accommodation and accept that you are not offered any rights to the property other than the right to occupy the property as holiday accommodation for the period of your booking. No booking of any kind is an ‘Assured Shorthold Tenancy’ or protected under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 or any similar legislation that applies in Scotland and Northern Ireland.Please do not travel to the property if you are unwell. If this does occur please refer to our cancellation policy.If you become unwell at the cottages please inform me and return home immediately to self-isolate there. If you are unable to travel (too ill or government won’t allow it) and need to stay at the property you will be required to pay for the additional stay at the advertised rate and for any additional services required. If unable to travel you will also be required to take a coronavirus test at the first available time to confirm whether or not isolation is required. Insurance to cover this is your responsibility.1 Making your bookingAll bookings depend on the property and other arrangements being available. You, as the person in charge of the party (“the party leader”), must be at least 18 years old at the time of booking. All other members of the party must authorise you to make the booking on the basis of these booking conditions. By making the booking, you confirm that you are authorised to make the booking and that all other members of the party agree that the booking will be governed by these booking conditions. You, as the party leader, are responsible for making all payments due to us.As long as the property is available and we have received all the relevant payments from you, we will give you written confirmation (see below) as soon as reasonably possible. This confirmation will show your booking details, the amount you have paid and the amount you still owe for the booking. Your binding contract with the owner will begin when we issue you with the written confirmation. For bookings made within 14 days of the departure date, you will have a binding contract with the owner when we give written confirmation of your booking to you or your travel agent and you have made the appropriate payments to us or your travel agent.  If you pay the deposit into our bank account, it will not mean we have accepted a booking unless we have issued you with written confirmation. Please do not make any other travel arrangements (such a flights) until we have issued you with a written confirmation. We will give you your written confirmation either by post or by email. If you book with us online, we will acknowledge that we have received your booking and then send you confirmation by email. If you book by post or phone, we will send your confirmation to you by post unless you tell us at the time of booking that you would prefer it to be provided by email. It is your responsibility to check your emails regularly and to let us know about any change to your email address.We, as the owners, have the right to refuse any booking before we send you your written confirmation. If we do this, we will tell you in writing and promptly refund any money you have paid to us. In this case, we will not have any legal responsibility to you.As soon as you receive your confirmation, you must check the details carefully. If anything is incorrect, you should tell us immediately. If you book through a travel agent, we will send your confirmation and all other documents to your travel agent.Where we offer the option of a provisional telephone booking, the property will be released for general sale after the agreed time period unless you fully confirm the booking.Even if we have sent a written confirmation, we have the right to cancel a booking where there are reasonable grounds to believe that (i) it is not legitimate; (ii) you are likely to breach any of our booking conditions; (iii) information supplied by you in relation to your booking is incorrect; (iv) you have behaved in a vexatious, abusive or unlawful manner to ourselves or to our staff. If we cancel your booking, we will tell you in writing and we will have no legal responsibility to you.2 PaymentWhen you book, you must pay the deposit amount requested plus any applicable booking fee by bank transfer or by sending us a cheque. We only accept payment in pounds sterling. We must then receive the rest of the money owed no less than 10 weeks before the start of your stay, however if you book less than 10 weeks before the start of your stay, full payment will be due when making the booking.  For any arrangements booked less than two weeks before the start of your stay, you must pay for the booking in full by bank transfer, at the time of booking.  If you do not pay any payment due in relation to your booking by the appropriate date, we are entitled to assume that you want to cancel your booking. In this case, your booking will be cancelled immediately and the provisions of either Section A, clause 7b or Section B, clause 6 will apply, as applicable. You may also need to pay additional charges. Please see section A, clause 7b or Section B, clause 6 as appropriate. 3 PricingWe keep the prices charged under constant review and the prices of unsold arrangements may be increased or reduced at any time. We may also correct mistakes in the pricing of unsold arrangements at any time. We will confirm the price of your booking when you make it. As changes and mistakes can happen, you must check the price and all other details of your chosen arrangements at the time of booking.  All prices quoted or otherwise given to you include all charges and any taxes or government charges which may apply to your booking at the time it is made.  You may also be required to pay any additional taxes that arise after your booking has been confirmed.  Any additional amount of tax due will need to be paid by bank transfer before your holiday starts.  All accommodation prices are for the property as a whole and are not on a per person basis, except when an extra person charge applies.  We can charge a booking fee for the services we provide in administering your booking. Any booking fee will be stated on our website and will be shown as a separate charge on your confirmation.4 Offers with a low depositOccasionally we make offers giving you the chance to book properties with a deposit which is lower than usual. You are required to agree to pay the difference between the amount paid and the usual deposit of 25% of total price, plus any booking fee either at the time requested or, if you cancel, at the time you cancel the booking. If you cancel, you must also pay all other cancellation charges which may apply. Please see section 7 for details on cancellations.  We can decide to extend or withdraw any offer at any time, should we wish to do so.  *For some bookings we may require a higher deposit amount. The exact deposit amount will be notified to you at the time of booking.5 Website detailsWe aim to make sure that the information is presented accurately on our website, other promotional literature or material we produce and provide. It is intended to present a general idea of the arrangements. Not all details of the relevant facilities can be included on our website. Furthermore, there may be small differences between the actual property/arrangements and its description. This is usually because we are always aiming to improve services and facilities. Occasionally, problems mean that some facilities or services are not available or may be restricted. If this happens, we will tell you as soon as reasonably practical after we become aware of the situation. We cannot accept responsibility for any changes or closures to local services or attractions mentioned on our website or advertised elsewhere. We make reasonable efforts to make sure that information we give you about your property and its facilities or services, as well as advertised travel and other services, is accurate and complete on the date given. We cannot accept responsibility for any inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information about any property/arrangements or its facilities and services, unless this was caused by our negligence.  Where Wi-Fi is an advertised facility, please note that its provision is subject to availability and network conditions. It may not be available 24 hours a day and is provided for pleasure not for business purposes. Bookings are not accepted if they are wholly reliant on the uninterrupted, unlimited provision of Wi -Fi.6 ABTA membershipWe are not a Member of ABTA .7 If you change or cancel your booking:a) Changes  If you want to change any detail of your confirmed booking, we will do our best to make the changes. However, we must receive your notice in writing by post or email. We may agree to accept notice over the telephone, but this should be arranged with us first. Also, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet your request. You will be asked to pay us an administration charge of £35 for each change. Plus, where we can meet your change request, you will be charged at the rate currently shown on the website, which may differ from the price displayed when you originally booked.b) Full cancellations.We always recommend that you purchase holiday travel insurance to cover your holiday.If you have to, or want to, cancel your booking after it has been confirmed, you must phone us on the number shown on your booking confirmation as soon as possible. The day we receive your notice by phone to cancel is the date on which we will cancel your booking.You will have to pay a cancellation charge based on the number of days before the arrival date at the property that we receive notice, 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 want to, cancel, you may receive a refund of part of the cost. However, if you have not paid your total booking cost, including any booking fee, you may have to make a further payment to cover the cancellation charge.  For the purpose of the table below, total cost means the total cost of the accommodation booking, including any extra items. You will still have to pay any booking fees and administration fees for making any changes. If you have already paid booking fees and administration fees, we will not refund these if you cancel. The cancellation charges below have been calculated as a genuine pre-estimate of the losses we would incur in the event you cancelled your holiday within the stipulated time period. Cancellation charges:Number of days before the start date of your trip that we receive your notice to cancel (or on which you are deemed to have cancelled)Cancellation charge (plus all booking fees, any insurance premiums or administration fees you owe)More than 84 days Full deposit (including any balance of the deposit due)57 to 84 days50% of the total cost or full deposit (including any balance of deposit due), whichever is greater.43 to 56 days60% of total cost29 to 42 days75% of total cost8 to 28 days90% of total cost7 days or less95% of total cost If you live outside the UK and have booked through a local agent, the term ‘total cost’ in the above cancellation charges table means the amount paid by your local agent to us after taking off any booking fees, insurance premiums and any administration charge. To avoid any doubt, ‘total cost’ does not include any charges made by your local agent or anyone else for booking fees, flights, other travel services or any other amounts not paid to us and you may be liable to pay such charges in the event of cancellation in accordance with the cancellation policy of the local agent or other service provider. Other service providers may charge higher cancellation chargesc) Cutting short your stayNo refunds are payable in the event that you cut short your stay.d) Part cancellationsIf only one person in your party needs to cancel, this will not normally affect the total cost of your booking unless you cancel any extra services which are charged on a ‘per person’ basis. In these instances, the owner may provide a refund of any per person charges remaining after taking off any applicable cancellation charges.8 Cancellations or changes by the owner or service providersWe do not expect to have to make any changes to your booking, however sometimes problems happen and bookings have to be changed or cancelled or mistakes in brochures or other details corrected. We have the right to do so. If they do, we will contact you, (by phone if reasonably possible in the case of a significant change or cancellation – we will let you know about minor changes by e mail), as soon as is reasonably practical. We will explain what has happened and let you know about the cancellation or change. However, we will have no further liability to you.9 Events beyond our controlUnless we say otherwise in these booking conditions, unfortunately we will not be legally responsible or have any liability to you either jointly or individually if we are prevented or delayed from carrying out our responsibilities under this contract as a result of events beyond our control and the inability or delay in carrying out such responsibilities will not be treated as a breach of these booking conditions. This means any event we, even with all due care, cannot avoid, including but not limited to:·  strike, lock-out or labour dispute;·  natural disaster;·  acts of terrorism, war, riot or civil commotion;·  malicious damage;·  keeping to any law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction, including, for example, advice from the foreign office or other health or governmental or local authority to avoid or leave a country or a regional area within    a country;·  significant risk to human health such as the outbreak of a serious disease at the travel destination;#·  accident;·  breakdown of equipment or machinery;·  insolvency or bankruptcy of an owner or service provider;·  fire, flood, snow or storm;·  difficulty or increased cost in getting workers, goods or transport; ·  other circumstances affecting the supply of goods or services.10 Our legal responsibilities to youWe cannot accept any legal responsibility for any act or neglect of anyone representing or employed by us. Your contract is with ourselves. If you have any complaints about any services we provide you must let us know immediately in writing and in any event within seven days of the end of any booking. Unfortunately, we cannot accept any legal responsibility if you do not let us know. If we are found to be at fault in relation to any service we provide, we will not pay more than what we have earned for the booking, (or the appropriate proportion of this if not everyone on the booking is affected).We cannot be held responsible for noise or disturbance which comes from beyond the boundaries of the property or which is beyond our control. If we know about a problem before you arrive, we will contact you to let you know.We cannot be held responsible for the breakdown of mechanical equipment such as pumps, boilers, nor for the failure of public utilities such as water, gas and electricity.11 Individual property terms and conditionsNot all of our properties allow dogs, only the Granary, Coach House and Stables.All properties are non-smoking and do not allow outside music. The tennis court is only to be used until 10pm. 12 InsuranceWe recommend that you take out enough travel insurance to cover you for your total stay. You are responsible for covering us if we suffer any losses or expenses arising out of your failure to take out proper insurance cover. We strongly advise you to take out insurance which will cover any damage which may happen to property which belongs to other people and which may get damaged.13 Disabilities and medical problemsIf you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability that may affect your booking, please tell us before you confirm your booking and give us full details in writing as early as possible before you travel. If we reasonably feel unable to properly meet that person’s particular needs, we can refuse or cancel the reservation.14 The propertyWe have set the following conditions on your stay at the property:Arrival and departure - you can arrive at your property at any time after 4.30pm (unless we tell you otherwise, for example on your confirmation) on the start date of your rental period. You must leave by 9.15am on the last day. You must contact us to arrange key collection on the arrival day otherwise you may be unable to get into the property.Security deposits – we reserve the right to charge a security deposit.  The amount and details of how the payment should be made and how and when it will be returned (less any costs for breakages, damages etc. if applicable) will be provided at the time of booking.Behaviour - you and all members of your party agree:·  to keep the property clean and tidy;·  to leave the property in a similar condition as you found it when you arrived;·  to behave in a way at all times while at the property which does not break any law;.  not to use the property for any illegal or commercial purpose;·  not to sublet the property or any part thereof or otherwise allow anyone to stay in it who we have not previously accepted on behalf of the owner as a member of your party;·  not to behave in anti-social manner, breach the peace or otherwise act in a way which may disrupt or affect the enjoyment of others.Maximum occupancy - you must not allow more people than the website states to stay overnight in the property. You cannot arrange for visitors to the property without the advance written consent from ourselves. You cannot significantly change the number of adults or children during your stay. (For example, if you book for two adults and two children, you cannot arrive with four adults and no children.) You must not hold events (such as parties, celebrations or meetings) at the property without our advance written consent . If you do any of these things, we can refuse to hand over the property to you or can repossess it. If we do this, we will treat this as you cancelling the booking. In these situations, you will not receive a refund of any money you have paid for your booking and we will not be legally responsible to you as a result of this situation. (This will include, for example, any costs or expenses you have to pay due to not being able to stay in the property, such as the cost of finding other accommodation.) We are under any obligation to find any alternative accommodation for you.Pets - pets are not allowed unless we say so in the website. For properties that allow pets, they are not allowed upstairs, on beds or furniture or in any shared facilities. You must not leave any pets unattended in the property, including any garden and you must keep dogs on a lead within the boundaries of a property (including the garden). Registered assistance dogs are only allowed in the Granary, Stables and Coach House.  If you or any member of the party has a pet allergy, we cannot guarantee that dogs, or other pets, have not stayed in your chosen property, even if it states that the property does not allow pets, nor can we accept any responsibility for any subsequent health reaction.No Smoking – all  properties are no smoking (including E-cigarettes).15 DamageYou are responsible for and agree to reimburse us all costs incurred by us as a result of any breakage or damage in or to the property which is caused by you or any members of your party or any other persons invited into the property by you.  We will can ask for an extra payment from you to cover any such costs.We expect the accommodation to be left in a reasonable state on departure. If in the caretaker’s opinion, additional cleaning is required, you will be liable for the cost of this cleaning.You may need to check and sign an inventory of the property and its contents on arrival at the property. If you discover that anything is missing or damaged on arrival, please notify us immediately.16 Right of EntryWe are allowed to enter the property (without letting you know first if this is not practical or possible) if special circumstances or emergencies happen (for example if repairs need to be carried out) or if you break any of these booking conditions or any other terms that apply to your booking and/or the property. The owner or its representative also is allowed to enter the property to inspect it (including but not limited to where you have complained about the property). If this happens, you will be given reasonable notice first.  You agree to allow the owner or their representative (including workmen) access to the property as required by this clause.17 Unreasonable behaviourWe can refuse to hand over their property if the unreasonable behaviour of anyone in your party is likely to cause offence to other guests, to members of staff or to neighbours, or if we have reasonable cause to believe you or any member of your party will cause damage or loss to the property, its services or facilities. If this happens, the contract between you and ourselves will end and you will not receive any refund and neither will we have any further responsibility to you.We are entitled to end a stay after the keys have been handed over, if the unreasonable behaviour of anyone in your party (including anyone invited into the property by you) is likely to spoil the enjoyment, comfort, safety or health of other guests, residents, neighbours or members of staff or where you or any member of your party (or anyone invited into the property by you) has broken or is likely to break any of these booking conditions, any other terms and conditions applicable to the property which you have been told about. If this happens, you will have to leave the property immediately and no refund will be given. You may also be responsible for any costs the owner has as a result of your behaviour as set out in clause 15.18 Special requestsIf you have any special requests, you must let us know when you make a booking and confirm them in writing, although we cannot guarantee that any request will be met. If we fail to meet the special request it will not mean we have broken your contract.19 ComplaintsIf you want to complain, it is essential that you contact ourselves or our representative immediately if any problem arises so that it can be sorted out as quickly as possible. It is often extremely difficult (and sometimes impossible) to sort out problems properly unless we are told promptly. If you discuss the issue with us or our representative during your stay at the property, it can usually be dealt with straightaway. In particular, complaints which would only be temporary, (for example, complaints on how the property is prepared or the heating not working), they cannot possibly be investigated unless registered during your stay. We can be contacted by telephone or if we are unable to take the call, please email office@somersalcottages.co.uk.20 Governing law and jurisdictionAny dispute, claim or other matter which may arise in relation to your booking will be governed by English law and you agree that any dispute will be dealt with exclusively by the courts of England and Wales.21. Electric car charging cannot be permitted using the sockets at the properties. This is because of the fire risk caused by using a socket for that level of supply. Also leads create a trip hazard. There are electric charging points at Tesco in Uttoxeter. 22. No candles are permitted due to the risk of fire.