Fal Cottages Ltd
Accommodation Booking Conditions
Please read these terms and conditions (“Conditions”) carefully before booking your accommodation. When you make a booking and pay the deposit, a legally binding contract is made and you will receive a booking confirmation. Please do ensure that you take out adequate travel and cancellation insurance in accordance with our cancellation policy.
These Conditions govern all bookings through falcottages.co.uk which are websites owned by Fal Cottages Ltd (company number 14440504) of 22 Victoria Road, St Austell, Cornwall, PL25 4QD (“Company”). The booking arrangements are made by the Company, on behalf of and as agent for the title holders(s) of the relevant property (“Owner”), and you the customer (“Occupier”).
Any booking made or order placed by you, whether through the Company’s websites or otherwise, shall constitute your acceptance of the offer to hire the relevant accommodation subject to these Conditions. All bookings through our Company and all matters arising from them are subject to English law and to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
The person who makes the booking accepts these conditions on behalf of all members of the party and is responsible for all payment due from the party. Booking services with the Company are only available to persons who are at least 18 years old. Any property is hired by you on the basis that the property is to be occupied for a holiday as mentioned in the Housing Act 1988 Schedule 1 paragraph 9 and the Occupier acknowledges that these Conditions shall not confer on the Occupier any security of tenure within the terms of that Act.
By submitting a booking you warrant and confirm to us that you have read these Conditions and agree to comply with them.
1. Liability In consideration of the fact that the Company acts only as a booking agent, the Company accepts no liability whatsoever for any aspect of the arrangements and in particular, accepts no liability for any loss, personal injury/illness or death however incurred. Although the Company uses all reasonable endeavours to ensure the accuracy of all information provided and the quality and facilities of the properties, we cannot accept any liability whatsoever for any problems that occur while guests occupy the property of their choice. All information has been provided in good faith and no liability is accepted whatsoever by the Company for any misrepresentation of property material or accommodation.
2. Credit Card Payments Your credit card statement will show that you have been billed by ‘Fal Cottages’.
3. Deposit & Payment A deposit payment for all properties is required at the time of booking, once a booking request has been confirmed by the Company. If the booking is made within 8 weeks of the date of arrival, then full payment is required immediately. Balance payments will be processed automatically to the same debit or credit card used for deposit payment unless we hear from you to the contrary. The Company will not accept responsibility for cash sent through the post. Payment
can be made by Debit Card or by Visa/Mastercard subject to a booking fee. Booking confirmation together with arrival instructions for the property will be sent by email or, if requested, by post. Where an initial deposit is paid, the balance must be paid within 8 weeks of the commencement date of the booking, whether demanded by us or not. If this is not paid within 7 days of it being due, then we reserve the right to cancel the booking without any refund. Where the Company has not received the balance by the due date, an overdue reminder letter may be issued to the Occupier and a charge of £20 will be added to the balance due. Provisional bookings may be taken upon application and will only be held for up to 48 hours pending receipt of a cleared deposit or full payment, as may be required. Bookings will not be guaranteed until we have received your full payment as required and have sent you our formal booking confirmation in writing.
4. Cancellation by the Occupier You or any member of your party may cancel your booking at any time, however no refund will be made for any monies paid unless we can re-book the period of the cancelled holiday at the same price. If we can re-book the period of the cancelled holiday, but at a lower price, we will refund this proportion if appropriate to you. In certain cases any loss, if incurred involuntarily, may be covered by insurance that you may have taken out. Travel Insurance is strongly recommended.
5. Cancellation by the Owner If deemed necessary the Company reserves the right to withdraw or cancel the property booking. In this unlikely event you will be offered the choice of renting another property through the Company (subject to availability) with the price difference payable/refundable as appropriate, or of receiving a full refund of all monies paid. No compensation is payable by the Company.
6. Behaviour It is your responsibility to ensure that you and the members of your party do not behave in a way which causes offence or danger to others or which risks damage to property belonging to others. In such circumstances the property Owner/s and the Company have the right to terminate arrangements made on your behalf, in which case the Company’s responsibility to you ceases immediately and there can be no refunds, no payment of compensation and no reimbursement of any cost or expenses you may incur as a result. Further, you will be liable to reimburse the Company for any expenses whatsoever it incurs as a result of your behaviour. All- male or all-female groups may be accepted by prior arrangement and may be subject to a higher security deposit.
7. Breakages & Cleanliness A property is made available for letting on the understanding that the property will be left clean and tidy, in the same state of cleanliness and general order in which it was found, at the time of checkout and all personal waste must be removed from inside the property and placed in the dustbins provided. It is generally our policy to take any security deposits although on certain properties this is not the requirement of the Owner. Whether a security deposit is taken or not, the customer will be held responsible for any damage or breakages to the property, caused by the customer and in the event of such occurrence, the incident must be reported to the Owner or their representative immediately and appropriate compensation made (and any items shall be replaced at equal value). Any losses or monies owed to the Owner will be taken from a security deposit. If no security deposit is taken (or the security deposit amount is insufficient), the Owner shall be entitled to make an additional charge to the Occupier. An additional charge may also be made if extra cleaning is made necessary as a result of the property being left in a dirty
condition upon the Occupier’s departure. Customers are not permitted to move any furniture or equipment without prior written consent from ourselves or the Owner. In the event of such permission being granted, it is the customer’s responsibility to return the same to its original position before checkout. Under no circumstances must any furniture or equipment for use inside the property, be moved outside. Where a security deposit is held on behalf of the property owner, this will normally be pre-authorised to a debit or credit card and this pre-authorisation will be released once the Owner or their representative has made a full inspection of the property. Where any damage or breakage has occurred and been left unreported, this will be informed to the customer and the security deposit or part of the security deposit will be used as payment or part payment of any appropriate compensation made.
8. Third Parties The Owner and the Company do not accept any responsibility or liability for acts or omissions of third parties, which may prevent or disrupt an Occupier’s booking. In particular, any building work which may commence in the local area is outside of our control, and we cannot be held responsible for any resulting disturbance. However, should we become aware of any building work which may reasonably be considered to aversely affect the enjoyment of your holiday we will notify you as soon as possible, and wherever possible, will offer you the opportunity to transfer to an alternative property at the advertised price. Whilst we assure you of our best endeavours to minimise any inconvenience we regret that we cannot accept any liability in this case.
9. Property Check-in / Check-out times Access to properties will be after 4pm on your day of arrival to allow time for cleaning and servicing, and the property must be vacated by 10am on the day of departure (unless otherwise agreed by us in writing). Late check outs will attract a further charge. On check out, the property is to be locked and the keys returned in accordance with the arrival instructions given to the Occupier.
10. Complaints Once a property has been booked and paid for in full, clear arrival instructions will be provided which include contact details for the Owner or their representative. Thereafter guests will be liaising directly with the Owner or their representative upon arrival at their property. In the unlikely event of a problem with your property occurring, you must inform the Owner or their representative so that the matter can be put right. If the Owner or their representative cannot resolve the problem to your satisfaction at the time, you may contact the Company by telephoning 01326 567556 so that the Company is given the opportunity to try to assist. All claims must be addressed directly to the Owner/s.
11. Pets Pets are only permitted with the prior consent of the Company and the Owners and where pets are permitted, they are to be kept under control, exercised off the premises and any dog fouling must be removed immediately. Pets are not permitted in the bedrooms or on the furniture and neither the Company nor the Owners can accept responsibility for their safety. Pets must not be left in the property unsupervised as this can result in considerable damage to the property and distress to the pet. A weekly charge may be made for each pet according to the requirements of the property Owner. The Company or the Owners cannot guarantee that there have been no pets previously kept at any property. If a pet is taken to a property where pets are excluded, or the stated number/size of pets is exceeded, the Owner and the Company are entitled to refuse entry and this will be treated as a cancellation by the Occupier. The Occupier will be responsible for all damage caused by the pet.
12. Amenities The use of amenities where offered, such as swimming pools, tennis, fishing, golf etc is entirely at the Occupier’s risk and the Company and the Owner shall not accept responsibility for loss or damage to the Occupier’s belongings. Availability of amenities cannot be guaranteed.
13. VAT Many of the Owners of properties are not registered for VAT, in which case no tax is payable. Where VAT is payable the tax is included in the weekly rent.
14. Alterations by the Company Although the Company makes every effort to ensure that advertised descriptions are correct, it does not own any of the properties and therefore cannot control or prevent changes. Although changes to properties advertised are infrequent, the Company reserves the right to change the description of any property at any time, in which case we will endeavour to notify you of all changes before commencement of the booking date, if it is practical to do so. No compensation will be payable by the Company in such cases. Accordingly, the Company shall bear no liability for any errors or omissions and no claims will be accepted for costs or additional expenses incurred as a result of any changes.
15. Use of Property The Occupier must not assign, underlet or part with or share possession of the hired property or any part of it. The Occupier shall use the hired property for the purpose of a private holiday residence for the maximum of agreed persons only and not for any other purpose whatsoever and the Occupier must not use the property or any part of it for any improper, immoral or illegal purposes. The Occupier shall ensure that the property is securely locked when not occupied during the period of the holiday let.
16. Rights of Access The Occupier must allow the Owner, the Company or contractors access to the property at reasonable hours during the day, to inspect the condition of the property and to carry out repairs or other works that may be necessary.
17. Indemnity The Occupier shall indemnify the Owner and the Company against any claim which may arise as a result of their holiday letting, the Occupier’s use of the property and the Occupier’s breach of any of these Conditions.
18. Smoking The Occupier is only permitted to smoke in the property with the prior consent of the Owner.
19. Force Majeure The Owner and the Company shall not be liable or accountable for any unforeseen circumstances such as severe weather conditions, local or national strikes, fire, floods, acts of government or of any other authorities.
20. Data Protection In the course of business we will collect and use information or data about you. We will ensure that this information or data is properly collected, recorded and used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.