Wedding Nightmare

Alison_B

My niece was due to get married on 15 April this year.  23 days before the wedding, the government announced the lockdown and put a ban on weddings.  My niece contacted the venue regarding this and the venue were not accommodating at all.  They claimed that the lockdown did not apply to them whatsoever due to them being a private venue and if the wedding was not going to happen, my niece had to cancel which she did not do.  The venue were still sticking to the fact that the wedding could go ahead even on the day of the wedding.  Afterwards, the owners of the venue would not change the date unless a further £650 plus VAT was paid for changing the date and the only date that was on offer was December this year or January next year. 

The balance of the wedding (£2,000) was due 2 weeks before the wedding date but as the wedding was clearly not able to go ahead, the balance was not paid.  My niece wasn't going to give any further money as the venue had been adamant that no monies would be repaid.  Now the venue are saying that my niece is in breach of contract as they haven't paid up in full, so they could sue her over this.

After seeing Martin on This Morning on Monday regarding the CMA and weddings, would these refunds still be eligible due to them not paying the balance?  If it makes any difference, some monies were paid on Visa, some on Debit card and some via bank transfer. They really can't afford to lose this money.

They do have wedding insurance who they contacted before the announcement on Monday from Martin but the insurance have refused to pay out.

Thank you in advance for any help.