Booking Terms & Conditions

1.Definitions and Interpretations

In these Booking Conditions "The Company" shall mean Stephen Utting Properties of 51, Rannoch Drive, Cyncoed, CARDIFF CF23 6LP and where the context permits shall include its agents or employees.

"The Client" shall mean the person in whose name the booking is made and shall include the person or persons on whose behalf the same is made;

"Force Majeure" shall mean any event outside the Company's control which prevents the prompt performance of its obligations, including war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial disputes, terrorist activity, natural disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions, or acts of God; The singular shall include the plural and vice versa and the masculine shall include the feminine where the context so requires.

2. Booking and Deposit

No contract is made between the Company and the Client and no booking is valid (and accordingly the Company shall have no obligations to the client) until the Company has received a written, or e-mailed, confirmation from the client and the appropriate deposit received (and any Client's cheques cleared by our bank). In the case of a completed on line booking form a confirmation e-mail, as soon as possible and certainly by the next day, will be sent confirming that the period requested is available.

The deposit shall only be refundable in accordance with Booking Conditions No. 5 or 6. The Company has the right to refuse to accept any bookings at the Company's discretion, refunding any deposit received.

3. Terms of Payment

The full balance of the villa rental price (including any charges made by any supplementary invoice) must be paid by the due date shown on the initial confirmation/invoice(either 8 weeks prior to date of departure or by return within this period). The Company shall have the right to send the Client a supplementary invoice to cover any subsequent charges. These charges would become part of the villa price and would be payable by return. The Company reserves the right to treat the booking as cancelled if any part of the balance of the holiday price remains unpaid by the due date. If cancelled, the cancellation terms as per Booking Condition No. 7 will apply. If the reservation has been made through an agent all monies paid to agents for villa accommodation are held by the agent on behalf of the Company at all times.

4. Prices

We reserve the right to increase or decrease our prices at any time prior to booking. The charges which make up the total price stated on this website and specified in our confirmation invoice.

5. Cancellation by the Company

The Company shall have the right to cancel a Client's booking but only in the following circumstances and on the following terms:

a) At any time owing to Force Majeure, in which case the Company shall not be liable and no refund of monies will be given.

b) At the due date if the Client has failed to pay the full balance of the holiday price in accordance with Booking Condition No. 3, in which case cancellation charges as per Booking Condition No. 7 will apply.

c) At any time, should the Company so decide, in which case the Company shall make an offer or refund but should this be within 8 weeks before the date of departure, refunds will be paid in accordance with the scale shown in Booking Condition No. 7. Provided that the Company complies with this Booking Condition, the Company will not be liable for any breach of contract or claim that may arise as a result of inconvenience suffered.

6. Alterations by the Client

Once your booking has been confirmed any changes to accommodation, dates or names of the party requested by the client will incur a £30 amendment fee per person in respect of each change to cover costs incurred. Changes cannot be made within 42 days of departure and any such request will be subject to the cancellation charges set out in Clause 7.

b) If a Client chooses to change their booking by transferring it to another person, the Company will arrange for such a transfer, provided that:

i) The reason for the transfer of the booking is that the Client is prevented from travelling. In any of these events the client will need to provide documentary proof (such as a doctor's certificate) of the reason before the company will authorise a transfer and:

ii) The Client or the transferee, pays any balance due before the transfer is authorised by us and;

iii) The transferee meets all conditions of the accommodation originally booked;

iv) The request for a transfer is sent to us in writing 28 days before departure together with full details of the transferee, documentary proof (as outlined in (i) above) and payment of a fee of £50 per person to cover our administrative costs plus any charges which our suppliers impose by virtue of the transfer, particularly where any supplier regards the transfer as a cancellation and new booking.

c) If a Client chooses to modify the arrangements after commencement of the holiday i.e. change accommodation or the duration of the stay, they will be deemed to be breaking their contract with the Company. The Company cannot therefore accept liability for any loss, damage or additional expenses and no refunds for unutilised services or arrangements will be made.

7. Cancellation by the Client

All cancellations by the Client must be in writing from the person who signed the booking form, either by recorded delivery or facsimile. Cancellation applies only from the date of receipt by the Company of cancellation notification. If the cancellation notification is received 43 days or more before the departure date, only the holiday deposit and insurance premium is forfeit.(Plus any costs incurred by us for non-refundable or non changeable travel reservations). Within this period the following percentage of the total holiday price will be payable as a cancellation charge by the Client:

Between 56 - 41 days before departure 45%
Between 42 - 28 days before departure 60%
Between 27 - 15 days before departure 80%
Between 14 days and the departure date or later 100%

The above cancellation charges represent the best possible estimate by the Company of the likely losses as a result of your cancellation. They shall also apply to booking periods which are foreshortened after they have been booked. In the event of a cancellation charge arising under this clause the amount due must be paid by the Client to the Company within 7 days of the charge arising, not withstanding the fact that the Client's holiday insurance policy may cover the cancellation charge. If a client wishes to change or part cancel accommodation, dates or names of the party, we will endeavour to secure such a change and the client will pay all costs incurred by us.

8. Abandonment of your booking

If you choose, in the course of your stay, to abandon the booking and instead to make your own arrangements, unless the Company is at fault and has been afforded the opportunity to rectify the situation, the Company accepts no liability and no refunds will be made for the services you choose not to take.

9. Subletting

At no time will the client sublet the property to other parties unless the company gives them written authority to do so.

In cases where subletting has occured without written permission from the company the client will be invoiced for the additional monies charged by them to the sublessors plus a penalty of 50% of the total cost charged by the client to the sublessors.

10. Liability of the Company

a) The Company accepts responsibility for ensuring the accommodation which the Client books with us is supplied as described in this website and the services offered reach a reasonable standard. If any part is not provided as contracted, we will pay the client the appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of the holiday, unless there has been no fault on our part or that of our suppliers. We do not accept liability for any disappointment which the client may feel as a result of unrealistic expectations. We do limit the level of our liability to a refund of twice the cost of the holiday. The limit does not apply to injury, illness or death.

b) The Company is only liable for death, bodily injury or illness arising as a direct result of the negligent acts or omissions of its employees, agents or servants, subcontractors and suppliers acting in the course of their employment and on the Company's business.

c) Any claims made pursuant to (a) and (b) above, must be notified to the Company within three months of return from holiday and shall be subject to English law. The Client must assign to the Company all rights against any party to the claim and must give the Company and its insurers full assistance in claiming against such party.

d) If any Client suffers death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of an activity which does not form part of the booked accommodation, the Company shall, at our discretion offer advice, guidance and assistance to help the Client or members of their party.

e) The company shall not be liable for any noise, nuisance of disturbance arising outside the property rented under this contract caused by third parties beyond the control of the company. The company shall, however, make every effort to minimise such noise, nuisance or disturbance and forewarn the client if the company has knowledge of this.

The Company reserves the right to refuse to accept bookings from clients who are not adequately insured against holiday risks. Clients must provide evidence of adequate insurance at the time of booking.

11. Photographs

These are intended to give an overall impression rather than details of a specific villa. The Company is not liable for any items of furniture or chattels, which appear in the photographs, which may have been changed or removed from the villa and any aspects of the villa environment which may have changed since the photographs were taken.

12. Dispute

a) Disputes arising out of, or in connection with, this contract which cannot be amicably settled, may be referred to arbitration under a special scheme which is administered quite independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

b) Any dispute or complaint, which Clients may have concerning their villa booking, must be reported by the client by telephone, either immediately if urgent, followed in writing to us or within 48 hours of the complaint or dissatisfaction arising. If a client fails to follow this procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify any complaint whilst clients were in resort and this will affect a client's rights under this contract. Any complaint, which cannot be satisfactorily resolved in the resort, must be reported in writing to the Company's office within 28 days of the Client's return from holiday. Upon receipt of a client's letter, we will acknowledge it, investigate the points raised, and reply within 28 days, If this is not possible, we will send an interim letter, advising of our progress.

c) This contract shall be governed in all respects by the laws of England and both parties shall submit to the jurisdiction of English courts at all times (save by Arbitration).

d) We reserve the right in our absolute discretion to terminate or curtail your booking if your behaviour is likely, in our opinion or that of our suppliers to cause distress, damage, annoyance and danger to our employees or to any third party, or their property. If you are prevented from travelling or have to return home early for this reason, we will have no further responsibility for your holiday, including any arrangements for your return home. We will impose full cancellation charges and will not give any refunds. Furthermore, we will be under no obligation whatsoever to pay you compensation or cover any costs which you may incur as a result of having to make alternative arrangements.

13 General

The facilities, local prices and amenities mentioned in this website are shown in good faith as generally being available at the time of publication and for the duration of the programme 2007. Should facilities not be available at certain times as a result of weather conditions, lack of support, etc., the Company cannot accept responsibility.