Help!

rustie

Hi there - this is a tough one in many ways...not least that I'm having to write this...

My daughter and was-future son-in-law got engaged last July - visited a number of venues and settled on one last October - paid a 30% deposit = £1,623.00. Balance due 8 weeks before etc. "if the holiday (as the venue is a country house) is cancelled, the full amount is due = £5,410.00"

We are now in a very sorry state as future son-in-law was unfaithful (very long sad story - was over a period of time over Christmas) and daughter has called wedding off...they have parted and daughter has just moved out of the home they shared - they were together for 4 years...heartbroken...

The venue are now demanding full payment - is this legal? what about if they relet the house?

With all the stress and trauma over the last 3 months, this is the last straw...and insurance doesnt cover calling the wedding off!

any ideas...? help...?
Many thanks

jtr2803

I am going to try and write this in as nice a way as possible....

If the contract with the venue states that the full payment is due even if the event is cancelled then absolutely yes, this is legal. They do this to protect their business and they could, and probably will, choose to enforce this.

Whilst I appreciate it's a very sad time for you and your daughter, it's also not the venues fault that she wishes to cancel, whilst a full payment clause from the start is actually quite unusual (most cancellation charges will increase the later the cancellation is) it's not unheard of. If they have refused other couples because of the booking and are not able to resell the date then that's not good business.

I think a best case scenario would to try and find a sympathetic manager and see if they would agree to lower the cancellation charge if they are able to re-book the date but that's quite a big IF.

If your daughter does have to pay then she could of course consider small claims court against her former partner but I have no knowledge of how this would work or what the appropriate costs would be, sorry.

gadgeteer_2

I agree. Technically they are well within their rights. When was the date?

I would try to have a conversation with the manager and see if they will as a gesture of goodwill waive some of the charges since even if they cannot resell the day, if the date is cancelled then they presumably will not need to bring extra staff in (if they were going to) and also not need to buy the food etc.

Did both of them sign the contract? If so legally both are liable but in practice they will chase whomever they can get the money from.

74jax

rustie wrote: »

My daughter and was-future son-in-law paid a 30% deposit = £1,623.00.

Balance due 8 weeks before etc. "if the holiday (as the venue is a country house) is cancelled, the full amount is due = £5,410.00"

The venue are now demanding full payment - is this legal? what about if they relet the house?

In what way do you not think this may not be legal? I don't mean that is a 'harsh' way, but if you gave us more information on why you think this, hopefully we might be able to see a way out?

Are you saying there was no contract? If your daughter and her partner didn't sign anything then i am not sure they could force the issue.

I would try and negotiate that if the house is re-let then you only pay a % to them, however if a contract was signed then I can't see how you could get out of it.

catmonkey85

When was the wedding supposed to happen? Did you just have the house for one day?

If you have to pay up and have no choice then I'd ask the groom for *AT LEAST* half - the contract is in his name too.

Then I'd go to the venue, invite my nearest and dearest, and have a "What a lucky Escape" party! Yes there will be tears, but much better than letting it go to waste!

Or else find another couple (with the venue's help) and sell it to them at a reduced rate.

lika_86

Agree with all of the above, it always amuses me that people are so willing to sign up to terms and conditions and yet start complaining when the other party wants to enforce their contractual rights. If the venue reneged on their obligations you'd be the first to wave the contract in their face and claim your contractual rights.

First, who signed the contract? If it's not your daughter then no problem.

Secondly, as others suggested, try and negotiate with the venue. They may be able to re-let it, if the dates is a way off, in which case, they may be willing to let you have all of the money back or the money minus the deposit.

It's worth making the point that if you are made to pay the whole amount, you will be expecting whatever is in the contract on that day (ie. if the venue cost includes food, you will be expecting they will be providing food for [X] number of people). It doesn't matter if there is a wedding or not, you will have paid for what you get and therefore should expect that you could turn up and get it (take the whole family for dinner maybe if food is included and already paid for or just a night away). Make clear you will not be paying for any extras however (ie. wine, flowers etc) unless in the contract. Although I'm not sure what is included is if it's a country house rather than a wedding venue as such.

However, if they re-let it, they will potentially make more money at the bar and in extras etc. You don't want them taking the whole cost from you AND rebooking on the same day on the basis that you've cancelled and so making double. I think you probably need to accept that your deposit at least is probably gone, even with some good negotiating.

End of the day, harsh as it sounds, £5,400 now is going to be cheaper than a divorce in the long run.

ognum

First read the contract carefully.

If you do have to pay in full check if there is anywhere that it says you can't sublet the venu.

If you can sublet then go onto all the wedding forums etc and see if you can get someone else to take the vans for a% of the price. that way you will get your money back.

If you cannot do that then arrange some kind of party or give the venue to a charity of your choice for them to hold a party or use as a raffle prize etc.

make some good come out of this sad story. Maybe your daughter could arrange a charity event.

Thegirl

I agree with what most people have said.

Check the contract fully and negotiate with the venue. For example if the fee includes food, drink, staff and you are cancelling with plenty of notice and before these costs have been incurred by them, do they really need to be charging you in full for a cost they will obviously not be incurring.
What they are legally allowed to charge for and what they will charge for might be two different things. But, if that is the clause in the contract, they are legally allowed to charge for it. As others have said, fair or not, if you signed for it you are liable. It is unusual though with enough notice to have to pay the full amount.

Ask if they can re-let it and if so what they will then expect you to pay.

If they are claiming they cannot re-let it (why bother themselves when you are already paying in full for example) then ask if you can offer it to someone else yourself. Someone else might be able to make use of it for a reduced rate and then at least you know you are contributing to someones happiness.

If none of the above works then have a huge, lavish party. And be grateful, as someone else has said, this is a whole lot less expensive than a divorce.

Also, the groom is equally liable for costs, assuming he also signed the contract.

rustie

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond...
I see I wasn't clear on my original post... The venue is a country house which sleeps 20 - the idea was to have a marquee on the lawn - organised and paid for separately - no loss there. The house itself is just that- accommodation for 4 nights for 20 people... Nothing else is included.. No food, staff, drinks ... Nothing... The actual ceremony was to take place in a local church..
So, in terms of cancelling, it's like a holiday let where it is possible to re-let - a penalty obviously for admin etc but I have no doubt that it will be easy to let the house... The wedding was due to take place on 31st August and we cancelled at the beginning of Feb...

I appreciate that you must always read the contract which we have done... And it clearly states that 'in the event of a cancellation, if the property can be re-let, a refund will be due less £100.00 costs'

Thanks again...

Thegirl

Did they have wedding insurance? Although this does not cover cancelling the wedding, it may offer some free legal assistance which you could make use of.

I would say that there is every chance that this will be re-let given the dates.

Given what you have quoted from the contract if the wedding was to go ahead then they would have to have paid the full amount eight weeks before hand. However upon cancellation you have to pay the full amount straight away and they will refund you, less £100 admin fee, if they re-let the property. But that does leave you reliant on them being honest enough to try and re-let the property.

At the very least I would try and get them to accept the payment in full eight weeks before the booking, as per the contract if you were staying there. At least then they have an incentive to look like they are trying to market the property. Plus you have the money in your bank account earning interest rather than theirs.

I would also try to arrange with them that should they not let the property and you do pay in full that you can still have full use of the facilities. At least then once the dust is settled you could always use the venue for a weekend away for the whole extended family/friends. It might not be ideal, but it could at least be used for a lovely break for you all.

podperson

Ok, that is actually a little strange then. If they have 5 months to relet it then surely at least some of the rooms will be booked by then - and why are they chasing you for the money now when you were originally meant to pay 8 weeks before - so the start of July?
Could you go back to them and try and agree something along the lines of you will pay for any rooms not let out again by a month before or something? Then you could try selling any rooms leftover on yourself if you needed to at a reduced rate to try and get some of the money back at least.