Holiday cottage - Booting family out, AIBU?

[HolidayCottageAnnoyance]

I have a holiday cottage which does not allow children under 12. This is for health and safety reasons (think steep stairs, pond, open and functioning fireplace etc). It says on the listing at three different points on the listing page that children under 12 are not allowed. This includes babes in arms. It also makes it clear when you book (i.e. once you've selected dates and you get through to payment) that children are not allowed. There is literally no way this can be missed.

I had a phone call from a neighbour this morning as they had seen a toddler in the garden and had noticed that the car that the 'couple' arrived in has a baby-seat in it. I rang the cottage company before lunch and received a rather passive response that made it clear they didn't want the grief of turfing the family out. I was very firm and said I wanted them out by the end of the day. Long story short they are still there (I have texted said neighbour to check).

So here is my AIBU: would I be completely unreasonable to send a relative tomorrow to boot them out if they are still there? As it's all done through the cottage company I have no way of getting in touch with them myself, so either relying on the ineffectual cottage company or sending a relative are my only choices.

YABU: Let it go, the child hasn't been injured so far and it's only four more nights.
YANBU: They're cheeky fucks and you should boot them out even if the holiday cottage company isn't going to help. Then you should find a new holiday cottage company to list through.

I don’t disagree with you.

Update: Holiday makers were apparently very apologetic when holiday cottage people (+relative who lurked in the background) showed up. They apparently claimed they didn’t know children weren’t allowed.

However, they have now gone! Holiday cottage company people offered them another (child friendly!!!!) property on the same cul-de-sac. They’re even going to cover the cost, so I don’t lose any money and the other owners get money for their property being used. Although, that’s almost certainly because I have kicked up such a fuss rather than because they feel guilty for being so sodding slow.

But I will be changing to another company, as it shouldn’t have taken a relative turning up at their business for them to get a shift on. I think they were hoping I wouldn’t make a fuss. I’ll probably lose my summer bookings, and be liable for a fee, but better to have peace of mind.

And my very nice neighbour has a nice gift box coming her way. So it’s a win/win for everyone including me as I’ve enjoyed watching the debate about who is/isn’t liable. I always forget how heated mumsnet can get

No one has seen the contract (other than op), so we don’t know that.

Great update, OP!

The contract must state I’d have thought that children aren’t allowed.

Good update OP. Even though I don’t believe them!

It seems a bit extreme to lose your summer bookings over.

Why not block off October onwards and leave at the end of the season?

They probably won’t do it again this summer. That’s if it was the agent’s fault. I don’t believe the guests didn’t know if it was on your listing and your Ts&Cs.

I don’t think it’s fair for you to cancel your summer bookings, people will be relying on them for their holiday

If there's an accident, you might be held liable. The family should have been made aware of the conditions by the cottage company and they are the ones who should get the family out, making alternative arrangements if necessary.

My money is on this being cottages.com and the fines are ridiculous for cancelling upcoming bookings so be careful.

Maybe it’s now time to sell the property and let someone who wants to live in the area have it,

One issue for those say parents need to parent, is that holiday lets have to have thumb key locks on external doors, so very easy for a child to open and escape.

That must have been really tough. You have to be a bit nuts as a parent of a toddler to book a cottage with an accessible pond, though. What were they thinking?

Don't cancel the summer bookings that you have, that wouldn't be fair on the people that have booked and you could be out of pocket. Send your current lettings company a very strongly worded email advising them of their responsibilities and liabilities and you do not want a repeat of recent activities.

Would this still apply though, since the booking company must have been in breach of contract due to contravening the agreement with the property owner not to allow small children to stay there? Haven't RTFT but don't you normally have to provide full details including ages of guests, which means that either the guests lied or the booking company was negligent because it failed to spot that there were children under 12 on the booking?

I would ask the holiday cottage company to write you an email and you want it to explicitly saying that they take full responsibility for any injuries that happen

bet you they won’t ….

What does your holiday let insurance say about your pond?

We recently had an instruction to put fences round ponds on our allotment site with fairly specific guidance on gates and fence.

You do have a liability to anyone on the land whether lawfully there or not. 1950ish occupiers act I think
.

I'll refer you to Latte Lady's comment about the amount of deaths from children drowning she's dealt with.

"You had me at pond... I was a Child Death Review Officer in a previous job... so many children lost either to ponds, or covered swimming pools. Thank goodness your neighbour spotted this."

I'm sure they'd rather be turfed out of a holiday home than their child fall into the pond and drown.

This family’s contract is with the company they booked through so therefore your grievance is with the company. In short, you can’t turf them out, the company has to, also the company, not you, is liable for any accidents that may befall the child

Has the neighbour actually eye balled a child being in the house or is it because of the car seat they’ve jumped to conclusions? DD isn’t with me 24:7 but her car seat is in my car permanently 🤷‍♀️

A toddler had been in the garden, seen by the neighbour. It was in the OP.

OP it’s very unfair to cancel the summer bookings when people are expecting to come for a holiday, this full shit show is down to your cottage letting company.

Simply not true.

The law changed two or three years ago (for England at least): holiday cottages have to have locks that can be easily opened from the inside without any need for a key. If a child is old enough to physically be able to twist or push a door knob/handle, they can get out; just keeping the key away from them is not an option.

100% this. ⬆️