Do we pay for our honeymoon?

jadesmart

My fiancé and I are due to pay off the balance for our honeymoon in a few weeks with Bestattravel. The honeymoon is in July and unlikely to go ahead! So far we’ve only paid £200 deposit and are due to pay close to £8000. My question is, do we have to pay the remainder of the money? In our contract it says 100% cancellation fee. So does that mean if we cancel we have to pay the whole balance anyway? Can they force us to pay it? 

Obviously we would rather lose £200 than take the risk of paying £8000 if we don’t have to. 

Looking at the other comments about bestattravel they are refusing to give refunds and only rearranging. My fiancé has actually been made redundant so we can’t really afford to pay it now anyway and  if had the choice to reschedule we would go for something cheaper. 

Any advice would be great, thank you!

Socajam

I would not be giving any one £8000 in this economic climate, only to receive vouchers for a later date.
Who is to say that the company might not end up bankrupt, then you would be in a worse situation.
As you said it's far better to lose £200, than the £8000 that is due

veravera123

I would give them a call and ask if you can have an extension on when you pay your balance. That may buy you a little more time until a decision is made on your date of travel.  Who is your holiday booked with, as in the tour operator , I am presuming Best at Travel are acting as the travel agent ? With regards to refunds, most travel agents will offer a refund credit note until they get a refund back from the airline & hotel. Refunds are happening, it is just a very long process due to the sheer volume. 

Life__Goes__On

jadesmart said:

 My fiancé has actually been made redundant so we can’t really afford to pay it now anyway and  if had the choice to reschedule we would go for something cheaper. 

Any advice would be great, thank you!

TBH I  think it's an easy choice, if it's just the £200 then take the hit,
Trying to chase £8K when you need the money will just lead to stress

bradders1983

"Bestatravel"

Sounds legit.

Pollycat

This MSE article covers the question of paying a holiday balance:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/02/coronavirus-travel-help-and-your-rights/?_ga=2.172027175.502291125.1587284438-278771506.1587284438

You will need to scroll down.

jadesmart

Thanks all.

My worry is that the company will chase us for the rest of the money. On their terms and conditions it says that cancellations later than 3 months prior to travel will incur a 100% cancellation fee. Our balance was initially due by 3 months before but they moved it to 2 months due to current circumstances so we’re now in the “less than 3 months before” time. 

Can they say we legally have to pay them the rest of the money?

Its impossible to speak to anyone as they say unless you’re due to travel in the next 2 weeks they will not respond to emails/calls.

Thanks

spiro

As it is in the T&Cs they have a case to claim the remaining money. Also it depends if we can travel in July. If you fail to pay the balance you won't be able to claim via your holiday/wedding insurance because it will be classed a voluntary cancellation because you failed to pay the balance.

jimexbox

Absolutely no chance would I be paying the balance, take the hit and walk away. Write a letter, recorded delivery, including the latest Competition and Markets Authority advice, which includes your right to cancel without any penalty and leave it with them.