Should we get holiday deposit back due to covid cancellation?

[maybemove]

Hi, hoping someone has some advice. At the beginning of the year my family and a friends family had booked to go away this new year to a holiday house, 2 families.
Obviously with everything going on and all these rules it’s not possible to go. My friend is the one who has been dealing with it and for months I’ve been asking her to check in regards to deposit etc, and she never got back to me with an answer, always skirted around it (I think she was still hoping to go tbh) The company asked for full payment in October which I said I wasn’t prepared to do as there is no way we would be allowed to go with the current restrictions.
She finally sent me an email she got back today to say we would lose the deposit (£250) but as a goodwill gesture they would refund £150. So we’d lose £100.
Does anyone know if this is right? I thought that due to current rulings that we would get the whole deposit back, as it’s not us that’s cancelled so to speak.
I think my friend is getting annoyed with me asking her to double check, I think if she had her way she would still go which is not something I’m prepared to do.

Any advice would be great, thank you.

Work trips I was supposed to do this year...

Airbnb & justpark each only refunded 50%.

Eurotunnel only gave vouchers (would have been useless to me but I sold them to someone else ThFk)

Train company deducted £10 handling charges on each booking but otherwise refunded.

Hotel fully refunded.

Ferry and foreign train still ran so no refunds from them at all.

Employer's travel insurance refuses to pay out on anything unless we produce a lot of documents to show that refunds were refused.

Good luck with trying, but I think you did very well to get down to just £100 out of pocket.

Oh dear that sounds a nightmare!

We had 2 other small trips that were fully refunded, so I presumed they were all supposed to be. I tried looking into citizens advice and it says a full refund should be given but didn’t mention deposits so that’s why I was unsure.

Thanks for your reply.

You need to check terms and conditions. If you have only just cancelled it may well be fair. Is there any option to defer the booking, reusing the £100?

You should have paid the balance when it was due as regulations are changing constantly they couldn’t be sure you couldn’t go. As you refused to pay the balance when it was due they could claim it was you who “cancelled” and defaulted by not paying when due and therefore forgo deposit. They are being generous giving you anything back. oct was a long way from new year in an ever changing situation.
I work for a travel company and if people don’t pay balances we could that as them cancelling and they don’t get deposit back. If they are fully paid up then we assess shortly before they’re due to go that they cannot due to current regulations then we of course return everything including deposit as we are cancelling their trip.

Thank you, my friend did it all so I can’t read the specific t&cs (although I could google the company ones actually, good shout) just feel in an awkward position as it’s all being done through my friend.

We never cancelled per se, back in October it was clear the rules wouldn’t allow 2 families so she apparently asked about it back then in regards to deposit etc.

Who was it booked though? If through a third party she has a reasonable case for a full refund because she booked it before the first lockdown. Companies are being stricter about bookings made after 24td March, because then people knew they were taking a risk in booking. Eg Airbnb insisted on full refunds for anyone who booked before 23rd March, but down to host's discretion if you booked after that date

I don’t think full amount was actually due until arrival, I thought my friend just asked for it in October to keep aside (we often do this to separate from regular spending)
I’ll check though as that would make sense if that’s the case.

It was through a large travel company, booked in Feb.

Sorry my tags aren’t working for some reason.

There's a lot you are unclear on here. You say your friend asked about "deposits etc" in October but don't say what the outcome of those discussions were? You haven't got access to the full Ts&Cs and you don't actually know when the full amount was due. There's lots to clarify before people on MN can give you advice!

I’ve just read this on the company’s site, my friend didn’t say about this email, just about the part refund. Maybe it’s because we enquired earlier that this doesn’t apply to us? God I feel so awkward bringing any of this up to her, got a feeling I need to just accept the loss and move on to keep the peace. Could really do with the money too.

Bookings between 26 December 2020 and 16 January 2021: The Scottish government has announced that Scotland will move to Level 4 restrictions from 26 December 2020 until 16 January 2021. In Level 4, holiday accommodation must close. Find out more here. If you live in Scotland or have a booking in Scotland between 26 December 2020 and 16 January 2021, we have emailed you with your options, which include the choice of a refund or a voucher of the amount paid for your booking. Please refer to that email to make your choice. If you have a booking beyond 16 January 2021, we contact you in due course with the options available to you at the time.

Very true unfortunateevents, I asked my friend to enquire back in October but the first of her getting back to me with any answer is today! I don’t know if she held off because she still wanted to go or what the situation was.
You’re right, I do need proper clarification from her before I know what can be done.
Thanks.

OP, I hope you get some answers from your friend and it doesn't turn out that she wasn't upfront with you in October or since, in the hopes of being able to go on holiday and you have somehow ended up being out of pocket because you have missed a cancellation window or something!