Short Term Let - Terms and Conditions Help

greensleeves24

Hi there, I wondered if you can help with this situation.

 

I am the landlord of a property that does short term lets. I usually rent it out on Airbnb where the terms and conditions are stipulated. However, I recently rented it out on another platform and through a misunderstanding between the platform and myself, no cancellation terms and conditions were included in the email asking for payment 90 days ahead of the stay. The guest booked the accommodation and paid in full by bank transfer on 10/5/24 for a stay of three days from 18/8-21/8/24.

 

In the booking platform Guests Terms and conditions, this is stated

2.5 Please note that the agreement in relation to your rental of the Accommodation is between you and the Host and will be governed by the Host’s own terms and conditions (“Host’s Terms”). You should request to see the Host’s Terms and ensure that you are satisfied with them (in some circumstances we may be able to supply you with a copy of the Host’s Terms directly). We have no liability to you in relation to the Accommodation or your rental other than as set out in this Agreement.

 

The guest asked to see my terms and conditions until on 7/8/24 she asked to see the terms and conditions as her husband had a medical emergency and wasn’t able to travel. I sent the terms and conditions to her (see below) on 7/8/24 and asked her if she still wanted to cancel. She said she still wanted to cancel. I asked her if she had travel insurance and the guest did not. I said given the circumstances, if I managed to rent the property for the full 3 days, I would refund her 50% of her payment even though her cancellation was within 14 days of the booking so I technically didn’t have to give her a refund. I had to reduce the price by 2/3 and only got booked for 2 days instead of the 3.

 

She then replied to say she has sought legal advice and didn’t think it was right that my cancellation terms and conditions were not available on booking and that I am in breach of my obligations to provide them. 

 

“ TERMS AND CONDITIONS 

Non-smokers only.
No pets.
Full payment for the rental is due 90 days in advance of arrival.
Cancellation Terms:
To receive a full refund of the balance, guests must cancel within 48 hours of booking, and the cancellation must occur at least 14 days before check-in
If guests cancel 14 or more days before check-in but not within 48 hours of booking, 50% will be retained
If guests cancel after this time-frame, the balance is non-refundable.
We recommend you take out travel insurance.”

 

 

I have sought advice from a Trading Standards contact and they said my terms and conditions should have been clear at booking but there was a thread on here that stated that the contract was "I will provide accommodation on x dates and she will pay which she did and she is not entitled to a refund'.

 

Please can you tell me what my rights are here. 

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Mark_d

You need to pay a full refund because you did not state otherwise at the time of booking.

BarelySentientAI

Whilst it might well be true that a contract existed - a service was offered, accepted and paid for - your T&Cs did not form part of that contract because you hadn't provided them.

You can't rely on a cancellation clause in terms that were not part of the contract.

The booking platform terms don't cover you, nor do they mean she must ask for your T&Cs.  They only exist to cover the platform against her trying to blame them.

greensleeves24

Thank you @BarelySentientAI  and @Mark_d. These are however opposite opinions to the comments in the forum post entitled  "Wondering where I stand on short term lets cancellation" on 21/5/24. Can you help with sources of where you got your information from? Thanks

greensleeves24

This was another post that shows the opposite of your opinions @Mark_d and the_lunatic_is_in_my_head (thank you).

Please help! Many, many thanks in advance.

Hello OP

You can cancel even if it's "non-refundable" however you are liable for lost profits or costs, not both so the accommodation owner can't keep both.

It's covered under (sorry link was not allowed to be posted)

legislation.gov uk pga/2015/15/schedule/2

A term which has the object or effect of permitting the trader to retain sums paid by the consumer where the consumer decides not to conclude or perform the contract, without providing for the consumer to receive compensation of an equivalent amount from the trader where the trader is the party cancelling the contract.

A term which has the object or effect of requiring that, where the consumer decides not to conclude or perform the contract, the consumer must pay the trader a disproportionately high sum in compensation or for services which have not been supplied.

Booking.om are just an agent so it's something to take up with the accommodation owner if they don't refund something. 

There's no right to cancel for

the supply of accommodation, transport of goods, vehicle rental services, catering or services related to leisure activities, if the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance.

So you don't have to be told the above about being liable for costs or profit, it's just a given  

greensleeves24

Sorry @the_lunatic_is_in_my_head - meant to say  this is your comment and thank you for it. Meant to post and cc @BarelySentientAI. My apologies, I'm new to posting. Don't know how to edit posts.

Schwarzwald

I would be in favor of OP.
the platform says that guests shall seek the hosts T&C. She failed to do so.
the hosts never said that cancellations for full refund can be made and it is difficult to argue that such practice would be standard.
as long as you never said “full refund in xyz scenario”, the didnt clarify cancellation options, she paid in full, her issue.
also medical emergency, did she provide proof or just said so?
i would not refund

BarelySentientAI

greensleeves24 said:

These are however opposite opinions to the comments in the forum post entitled  "Wondering where I stand on short term lets cancellation" on 21/5/24. Can you help with sources of where you got your information from? Thanks

General knowledge - and nothing I posted disagrees with the other comments.

You can't rely on your T&Cs.

You can, however, rely on general contract law - because there was a contract.

Bookworm105

the issue appears not to be about the wording of the cancellation clause, but rather about when the T&C were provided. 
Reference to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 is therefore irrelevant since that deals whether the wording of clauses is "unfair"

As others have said, your issue is one of general contract law. At the point the contract was established were its T&C "available" so the contract was accepted subject to those T&C

greensleeves24

Many thanks for these answers. @propertyrentals @propertyrentals
 - please can you help in this matter by attaching any links to legislation or policy that I could use?