Curious as to where I stand - holiday booked on the very snowy Isle of Arran!

ahrimaniac

Hello there

Hope all is well.

My partner and I have booked to stay at a lovely cottage on the Isle of Arran starting this Friday for a week. We've booked it through a lettings company a few months ago.

We've just had a call from the owner, a very nice chap who informed us that at the moment there is no electricity, no places open, island at a complete standstill because of the weather. Absolutely fair enough and can't be helped and it was good of him to call us to warn us.

Thing is, we've spent ages trying to get our time off sorted, and obviously we're geared up for this holiday - but he's recommending we stay away (understandable!) and claim it on our insurance.

We don't have travel insurance - is that us completely !!!!!!ed then? I'm going to give the lettings agency a call tomorrow. Gutted if we have lost £700 because of the snow, but it's not a case of us not being able to go, but rather being told we can't...

I'm hoping the lettings agency might put us somewhere else in Scotland and the owner did seem very amenable over the phone. Just wondering what people's thoughts were?

p00hsticks

I'd say you need to clarify with the lettings agency / owner if the original cottage is actually available to you in the circumstances or not. If it isn't (i.e. it is completely inaccessible due to the weather or the owner cannot provide what is promised - and I would guess the absence of any electricity might be key in determining this) then I suspect you'd be entitled to at least a partial refund. If it is available but there is simply going to be nothing to do due to the weather then I think if you choose not to go you'll have lost your money, unless the lettings agency can offer you something else as a goodwill gesture.

I think the owner, however amenable, might be being a bit disingenuous here - by telling you to claim on your insurance, he presumably gets to keep the money. If the cottage isn't available, then he can't meet his side of the contract and should be refunding you. If the cottage is available, then even if you had had insurance, I don't think it would pay up if you just decided not to go.

elljay

Interesting. I came on here to ask something similar. Have just had an upset call from a friend who arranged a trip away with a group of friends last weekend. (In Derbyshire) Although they made it most of the way there, the police turned them back not far from the venue and they had to stay in hotels etc before returning home the next day. My friend is furious as the accommodation owner gets to keep all the money they paid him. She didn't have insurance - I don't think it occurred to her to get insurance in this country. I think now she feels a bit of a fool for not sorting that out.

She thinks he should refund some if not all of the money as she felt she should have been warned more about the difficulties however as far as I can see the house was all prepared ready for her so it's not his fault she couldn't get there.

Does she have any legal redress, its such a lot of money and some of the people with her really had to scrimp and save to get the money together.

I've told her that she should have got insurance or in view of the forecast, just not bothered going. After all, it was forecast all over the country so it was her choice to drive.

Does anyone have any views or knowledge about the legal situation? Thanks

keigcf

Couple of years ago we had booked a long weekend away and it snowed. The owners kindly gave us a weekend which was free a couple of weeks later:beer:
My point being that rather than refund the money a suggestion might be to go another time?

elljay

Thanks. Yes, they've been offered a midweek break but none of them can make that because of families and work.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

elljay wrote: »

Interesting. I came on here to ask something similar. Have just had an upset call from a friend who arranged a trip away with a group of friends last weekend. (In Derbyshire) Although they made it most of the way there, the police turned them back not far from the venue and they had to stay in hotels etc before returning home the next day. My friend is furious as the accommodation owner gets to keep all the money they paid him. She didn't have insurance - I don't think it occurred to her to get insurance in this country. I think now she feels a bit of a fool for not sorting that out.

She thinks he should refund some if not all of the money as she felt she should have been warned more about the difficulties however as far as I can see the house was all prepared ready for her so it's not his fault she couldn't get there.

Does she have any legal redress, its such a lot of money and some of the people with her really had to scrimp and save to get the money together.

I've told her that she should have got insurance or in view of the forecast, just not bothered going. After all, it was forecast all over the country so it was her choice to drive.

Does anyone have any views or knowledge about the legal situation? Thanks

Surely they should return the fees and claim on their insurance?

zzzLazyDaisy

If the owner of the cottage is unable to fulfil their part of the contract (having no electricity = an uninhabitable cottage and not what you have contracted for) then you are entitled to receive a full refund. They should have insurance for these situations.

On the other hand, in the case of the second scenario posted by another poster, if the owner is fully able and willing to fulfil the contract but you cannot get there because of some intervening event which has nothing to to with the owner (death in the family, adverse weather conditions etc) then you are not entitled to a refund. You should have insurance for these situations.

OP you should see the booking agent and request a full refund on the grounds that the owner has cancelled the booking because the cottage is uninhabitable.

elljay

This is absolutely what I would expect and have explained to my friend, it's common sense after all. She seems still to think that the owner owes her something, I have no idea what sort of insurance he has but really it is her fault that she didn't take out insurance. In the Arran case, that's different, the owner already admitted liability.

Thanks for setting it out so clearly.

aggypanthus

Try here to find another place, http://www.cottageguide.co.uk/W_Scotland/ I suggest the East coast for better weather, or central area.

your booking on Arran seems very expensive , was that for 2 people?

aggypanthus

I wonder where they went??