Should a company return the deposit paid by my husband now he’s died

DUTR

Car_54 said:

DUTR said:

Mistral001 said:

proudnannie22 said:

My husband ordered a car in January from a broker.  He paid a broker fee, (broker4cars) £297 & a deposit of £500 on a M&S credit card.  The car was due for delivery after 1st June when my husband should have retired on 29 May.  Sadly he died suddenly on 9 May.  My son called the firm & they cancelled the order but I can’t any of the money back he paid out.  Do they have a legal right to keep this money.

In answer to the question: do they have the legal right to keep the money, maybe the following will help:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/can-i-claim-back-a-non-refundable-deposit

The article includes "But, if you cancel at unreasonably short notice and the business can’t find another customer you could expect the business to keep most - if not all - of your deposit."

But the family could not have cancelled earlier, so it can hardly be described as unreasonable.

I agree, with essence to the original question, from my seat the answer is NO they do not have to return the deposit, in practice they probably will.
I'm sure they will have this situation agreed in the T&Cs.
It's not the fault of the dealer or broker that the deal can no longer be concluded and at the end of the day it's what stands up in the legal world and the goodwill of the dealership.