Booking Conditions

Booking

• All booking confirmations are subject to availability.
• The person making a booking through Cottage Central must be at least 18 years of age at the time of booking.
• The person making the booking is deemed to be the party leader and by making a booking confirms that he/she is authorised to make the booking that all other members of the party for which the booking is made agree to that booking in accordance with the Booking Conditions herein.
• All names and ages of all people within the party will be collected and should be given at the time of booking
• Pets must also be disclosed on the booking form
• The party leader is responsible for all payments made to Cottage Central in relation to the booking.
• A deposit payment will be taken upon receipt of a booking request, should that request not be confirmed then the deposit payment will be returned.
• All bookings made will be confirmed in writing through email, text or post to the party leader once all the necessary payments and receipts have been received and the availability of the booking has been confirmed with the owner of the property.
• Once a confirmation has been received by the party leader the contract with the owner comes into force.
• As the agent of the owner we have the right to refuse any bookings prior to the confirmation of an accepted booking in writing.  If any booking is refused prior to a confirmation being sent then any monies taken in relation to the property will be promptly refunded.

Payments

• Payments can be made to Cottage Central by Post, Debit or Credit Cards using Paypal or Bank Transfer. Payments must be made at the time of booking.
• Where a sterling cheque is being sent by post, the provisional booking will be held for a maximum of four days.
• A 30% deposit is required at the time of booking.
• A 70% balance payment is due 8 weeks prior to the commencement of the confirmed booking.
• Deposit or full payments must be paid to Cottage Central
• Balance payments are paid directly to the owner of the Cottage and you will be advised regarding the method and due date for this payment at the time of confirmation of your booking.  Where payment details are not given in full, contact details for the owner will be given.
• Where a booking is made within 8 weeks of the commencement of the booking 100% of the payment is due by Post, Debit or Credit Card or Bank Transfer.
• Where a booking is made within 2 weeks of the commencement of the booking then the required 100% payment is required by Debit or Credit Card through paypal or Bank Transfer,  postal payments cannot be accepted.
• If the required payments are not made by the due dates, Cottage Central has the right on behalf of the owner to assume that the booking has been cancelled.  Where this failure to meet payment obligations by the due date relates to the balance payment then Cottage Central on behalf of the owner is entitled to keep any deposit received in relation to the booking.  Please see cancellation policy.
• If you pay by credit card you will be subject to the charges levied by your own credit card company.  If payments are not honoured by due dates Cottage Central is entitled to make an administrative charge of £20.
• Payments through paypal will attract a 3.7% fee which will be added to the required payment for your booking.  Payments made through bank transfer and cheque do not attract additional charges. 

Property Details

• All properties promoted through Cottage Central are visited annually. All reasonable steps are taken by us to ensure that the information that we give you via our website or other promotional material in relation to the properties we are promoting are as accurate as possible.
• It is possible that there may be slight variations to the information given as our owners continue to improve services and whilst we will always endeavour to capture that information for website purposes there are occasional instances where the variation may occur.
• In the event that any facilities or services become unavailable or are restricted for any reason we will endeavour to communicate the change to the party leader as soon as information becomes available to us.
• Cottage Central cannot accept responsibility for any of these changes or inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information about property facilities and services beyond our reasonable attempts to ensure that the information supplied via our promotional opportunities is accurate.
• Cottage Central cannot accept responsibility for any changes to local services, amenities in the surrounding areas of the properties that may be referred to via the website or other promotional material.

Disability

• The Disability Discrimination Act places a responsibility not to discriminate against disabled people. Cottage Central encourages owners to take all reasonable steps to enhance accessibility to their holiday let properties.  However, it should be noted that many properties advertised through Cottage Central may not be suitable for people with mobility restrictions or for wheelchair use.  This may be due to the age, style of the property and the topography of the area.
• Cottage Central will endeavour to ensure there is enough information to make an informed decision through the cottage description and access statement.  If in doubt Cottage Central can put you in direct contact with the owner to discuss your particular needs.        

Prices of Properties

• Any corrections made to errors in advertised prices may be made at any time prior to the confirmation of a booking.  Prices associated with unsold periods for properties may be increased or decreased at any time.
• Offers may occur from time to time on individual properties and prices will be amended to cater for the offer during the period within which the offer is in place.
• Occasionally there may be an offer on properties in relation to deposits at either a reduced deposit or no deposit offer.  When this occurs the party leader will be responsible for meeting the deposit payment obligations at the same time as the balance due date and so 100% of the costs of the property on a zero deposit offer will be due 8 weeks prior to the booking taking place.

Changing your booking

• If any detail of a booking needs to be changed then Cottage Central must be notified in writing by the party leader.  Whilst Cottage Central can take up a request to change the booking detail with the owner there is no guarantee that the change can be accommodated.
• Any changes to a booking that can be accommodated must be accompanied by a £20 administration fee payable to Cottage Central, any charges incurred by the owner in managing the change must also be met prior to the changes being agreed.  Any required change in relation to dates that cannot be met may render the original booking cancelled. Please see cancellation policy.

Cancellations

• Holiday makers are strongly advised to take out holiday insurance to cover them against eventualities like cancellations.  Cancellations must be notified immediately to Cottage Central.
• It is Cottage Central policy on behalf of owners policy that deposits and balances already paid on a property cannot be refunded and any monetary compensation must be sought through third party insurers through the relevant insurance policies that holiday makers have taken out with insurers themselves.
• The ability to reclaim from insurers is subject to the insurers terms and conditions of booking.  In some cases a cottage owner may refund a balance payment if the property can be relet and this will be covered in individual terms and conditions and in dialogue with individual cottage owners.  Booking fees levied on cottage owners from deposit payments are however not refundable.  

Force Majeure

• The owner may cancel bookings made if the property becomes unavailable for reasons outside the owners control including flooding, fire significant damage or failure of utility services to the property. 
• Cottage Central will try and source alternative accommodation and failing this will arrange through the owner for a refund to be paid to you of any sums you have paid.  Neither the owner nor Cottage Central has any liability beyond these actions.

Cottage Central Liability

• As an acting Agent of the owner of the holiday property, Cottage Central accepts no Liability for any act or omission on their part or anyone representing them or employed by them.  Your contract with the Owner is subject to their terms and conditions which may contain additional limitations to their liability. 
• Cottage Central does not accept any liability for any shortcomings or defects within any property as the property is within the sole control of the owner.  Should you wish to complain to Cottage Central in relation to the handling of a booking, then this will be fully investigated. 
• Our liability in relation to negligence in the handling of a booking will be limited to the commission we have accrued against that particular booking.  Cottage Central is not liable for any loss or damage suffered by you or any member of your party

Complaints

• Cottage Central takes seriously all complaints and will always work to a satisfactory conclusion by all parties.  Cottage Central accepts no liaibility in relation to the property itself and all complaints in relation to the property should be made directly to the owner of the property. 
• If you require maintenance,  have a complaint  or wish the owner to be aware of some discrepancy then the owner should be notified promptly and before the end of the holiday so that any necessary remedial action can be taken and the complaint can be investigated and resolved if necessary in a timely way.  If you are unable to contact the owner of the property you should contact Cottage Central. 
• The owner is ultimately responsible for resolving any difficulties that you may encounter with the property.  If you have a complaint about Cottage Central as a booking agent then you should make your complaint in writing to Cottage Central within seven days of the complaint arising.

 
Occupying the Property

• Unless otherwise stated in the property descriptions or previously agreed by you and the Cottage Owner, properties can be occupied at 3pm on the day of arrival and must be vacated at 10am on the date of departure.
• The people named on the booking form are the only people are entitled to occupy the property.  All the names and the ages of the people booking the property will be taken at the time of booking and are a mandatory requirement.  Should you wish to invite friends to the property, at no time must the amount of people exceed the amount of people we have said that the property sleeps unless you have the owners prior consent.
• You must ensure that all occupants use the property responsible and comply with any reasonable rules laid down by the owner.  Where no specific rules are laid down then rules implicit in responsible behaviour will apply for example consideration for neighbours and the property itself. The property cannot be used for business purposes without the prior consent of the owner.
• Where pets have been allowed you must ensure that no damage is caused by them to the property and that they do not create any disturbance within the surrounding area.
• Pets must be supervised and under control at all times and you must ensure that you always clean up after your pet.  Pets are not allowed on furniture or upstairs.

Cautionary Deposits

• Some property owners charge a cautionary deposit which must be paid on occupation of the property.  This charge is not collected by Cottage Central and should be paid directly to the owner on takeup of the holiday or prior to the holiday if so requested. The deposit will be refunded at the end of the holiday.  Cottage Central cannot intervene in any dispute regarding cautionary deposits and any payments that the owner claims from that deposit.
• Holiday makers are expected to keep the property clean and in good order and will be responsible for any breakages.
• Owners can deduct costs of breakages and damage from the cautionary deposit prior to refunding the balance to the holiday maker.  Alternatively owners may invoice you for any damage incurred where a cautionary deposit was not taken.   

Miscellaneous

• The agreements between you and Cottage Central and between you and the owner of the property are subject to English law and to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
• These terms and conditions supercede all previous versions and any other terms found in any other promotional literature with regard to Cottage Central operations.   
• Cottage Central through its booking and payment processes will collect personal information from you including name, address, email address, telephone number, credit or debit card details and expiry dates.  This information complies with our requirements for booking and allows you to make a payment for your booking.  We will also collect information from you through subscription to newsletters, possible competitions, request for brochures, reviews etc. Please see privacy policy.
• We may use this information to occasionally notify you of promotional offers, news and information that we think may be valuable to you.  If at any time you wish to cease receiving information from Cottage Central then please notify us in writing or by telephone or email.  Your information will only be used with individuals and others employed to perform business operations for us and with the property owners with whom you have booked the property. 
• Any information used will only be used for the purposes for which it was collected and as such will not be used for any other purposes or disclosed to any other non related third parties.   Cottage Central will comply with the requirements of the Data Protection legislation.

Cottage Central acting acts as an agent for the Owner of cottages promoted through Cottage Central.  Once a booking has been confirmed, the person/persons making the booking have directly entered into a contract with the Owner. 

As we act as agents when taking your booking, we accept no liability in relation to any contract you enter into for accommodation or for the acts or omissions of any owner or other person or party connected with your booking. 

Our fee for making bookings, offering information and advice is included in the property price.  There are no additional booking fees except in relation to credit card charges (See payments)  
Cottage Central
January 2011