Wedding venue has closed until 30th June and has cancelled our wedding

Taylorj151

Hi,
We were due to get married on the 12th June and we had an email earlier from the venue stating they have closed the venue until 30th June and will not be able to host our wedding. There is no offer to reschedule. 
They have requested us to pay the cancellation charge which is just over £15,000 and then claim this back from our insurance. 
Are they legally allowed to do this? I would expect them to refund us as they have cancelled and are unable to provide the service.
Thanks
Josh 

Taylorj151

Just to add, they have temporarily closed because of the ongoing coronavirus situation

Mrsn

You need to check your insurance policy very carefully! A lot of them will not cover for these sorts of situations. I can’t advise as to whether they can do that not as literally the guidance has only be given today for them to do so. You need to find the contract you signed for the wedding venue and read through their terms and conditions and take it from there.

diggingdude

very unlikely insurance will pay out as it is a notifiable disease affecting things.  i'm not sure i would be handing them any money right now as it is they who are breaking the contract

7Phil

Sadly it is not only them but the govt that is cancelling weddings. That's under a three week review so it may be lifted in June if everyone behaves and the numbers turn around. But, if your venue is closed until June 
Cancellation matters, refunds and who is owed what is likely to become a civil matter that will take time to resolve. If you have not yet paid them £15,000 then I'd keep them at bay and not pay anything - but otherwise be aware of your T&Cs. 
If you do have insurance get on to them now and seek advice and provide them with this correspondence. 
Sadly they may need as much cash as they can get to keep their business afloat so they will be trying whatever they can. That's not your problem though right now. 

Jeremy535897

This is a lot of money so seek proper legal advice.

Taylorj151

Thanks all for your comments. We've already paid £12,000 via installments and a £2,000 deposit which was supposed to get refunded after the wedding. 

Here's what's in the Ts and Cs from insurance company
Yes - Your policy covers you for:
1) the booked venue for the wedding or wedding reception being unable to hold your wedding due to an outbreak of infectious or contagious disease, damage to the venue, murder or suicide at the premises or closure of the venue by the relevant authority.

Here's the reason for the venues cancellation:

Due to the impact of the ongoing outbreak of infectious disease and our duty to protect our staff and guests, we have no choice but to cancel your wedding.

Any further thoughts?

HornetSaver

Horrible position to find yourself in, I can only sympathise and hope that you're able to get married as soon as feasible in the circumstances.

Just to clarify - they're asking you to pay a £15,000 cancellation over and above the amounts you say you've paid? I'm trying to understand whether, had the wedding gone ahead, you would still have owed them this sort of money over and above what you've paid so far and therefore they're asking for it on this basis, or whether it's a specific cancellation charge despite you having basically paid for everything now.

Taylorj151

Hi, it is a specific cancellation charge 80% of total invoice, so we have already paid most of it...

[Deleted User]

You are spending £30k+ on a wedding?!

7Phil

Taylorj151 said:

Hi, it is a specific cancellation charge 80% of total invoice, so we have already paid most of it...

Don't pay any more based on the venue's demand and don't take the venue's advice on what you should do about your insurance.
You've got the right info and looks like your money already paid is protected. However, insurers are going to fight tooth and nail to get out of liability as this is a massive disaster. It may take a while to get sorted out because there are going to be loads of claims.
Contact your insurer and seek their advice, possibly lodging a claim now if you need to. Your insurer should also handle dealing with the venue as well. If they start harassing you about money you allegedly still owe, tell them your insurer is handling this matter and leave it up to them. Pass them all correspondence.
Of course, if you've got your heart set on the venue and you want to still have your wedding there later on you won't want any bad blood. Keep that in mind too but make sure you use your insurer to protect you as that's what you've paid them to do.