These are the Terms & Conditions under which the property on this website is made available to you as a holiday let.

When you book a holiday let, you will pay a non-refundable deposit of one third of the full price.  Any balance of the full price must be paid at least 8 weeks before the start of your holiday let, so if your holiday is due to start within 8 weeks of your booking, you must pay the full price at that time. We will send a Booking Confirmation to you via email once we have received the appropriate payment in cleared funds. Your payment will be deemed to imply acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.

You can pay by electronic bank transfer or by Sterling cheque drawn from a UK bank, according to details which will be provided to you at the time of reservation. Any charges for handling dishonoured cheques, credit cards, foreign transactions, chargebacks etcetera will be passed on to you and you are liable to reimburse us within seven days to avoid your booking being deemed cancelled. Payment via Paypal can incur such transaction charges (particularly if you use a credit card) so please add 3.5% to any payments you make this way using UK funds, and 5% to any you make using non-UK currency.

Once a booking has been confirmed, it can only be altered with our written agreement, and we reserve the right to charge you a reasonable administration fee.  If you wish to cancel your booking, you must notify us in writing and payments are only refundable as below, so please ensure that your own holiday insurance will cover any retained payments.  If you cancel 8 weeks or more before your start date, we will retain only your deposit. If you cancel more than 4 weeks before your start date, a penalty of 60% of the full price will be payable. For later cancellations, the penalty will be the full price.

If for any reason beyond our reasonable control the property is not available on the date booked (owing, for example, to fire damage) or the property becomes unsuitable for holiday letting, all rent and charges paid in advance by the Guest will be refunded.

If we do not receive any payment on time we will endeavour to remind you, but we must reserve the right to deem your booking cancelled incurring the penalties above if we do not receive timely payment.

Animals are only permitted into our properties with our prior written consent. If permitted, they are to be kept under control and exercised off the premises. They are not permitted in the bedrooms or on any furniture and we cannot accept responsibility for their safety. No animals may be left in the property unsupervised as this can result in damage to the property and distress to the animal. An additional housekeeping charge will be made for each animal.

All lettings commence at 4:00pm and terminate at 10:30am on your day of departure unless we agree otherwise in advance in writing. The letting confers upon you the right only to occupy our property for a holiday within the meaning of Schedule 1, Paragraph 9 of the Housing Act 1988, for a maximum period of 28 days.  For the avoidance of doubt, the letting does NOT confer upon you an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.

We reserve the right to amend prices quoted in published information due to errors, omissions or changes in our expenses, but such changes shall be notified to you as soon as possible, and if the amended price is significantly higher than the original price quoted, you will have the right to cancel the booking without penalty.

We have made all reasonable efforts to accurately describe the property in the information that we publish, but you must accept that that some differences may arise between the information given and the actual property.  Some of the information we publish relates to matters outside our control such as shops and public houses. If we become aware of any changes to such information at the time of your booking, we will try to let you know.

Nothing in these conditions excludes or limits our liability: (a) for death or personal injury caused by our negligence; or (b) under section 2(3), Consumer Protection Act 1987; or (c) for any matter which it would be illegal for us to exclude or attempt to exclude our liability; or (d) for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

Apart from those limitations and exclusions, we cannot accept liability for any act, neglect or default on the part of ourselves or any other person not within our employ or otherwise under our control, nor for any accident, loss, damage, costs, injury, expense or any other inconvenience or claim for compensation whatsoever, whether to person or property and whether caused by us, our employees or agents or otherwise, which you or any other person may suffer or incur arising out of, or in any way connected with the holiday letting. In addition, the we accept no liability for loss of or damage to your possessions on our property or land, and we accept no liability for any loss of income or revenue, loss of business, loss of profits or contracts, loss of anticipated savings or for any indirect or consequential loss or damage of any kind however arising and whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise, even if foreseeable.

In all cases, except for personal injury or death, our liability to you for the total of all claims arising out of the letting is limited to the cost of the booking fees less any insurance or cancellation charges.

By booking a holiday let from us, you agree:

• not to sell or transfer your booking without our written consent;
• to pay for any exceptional losses or damages to the property caused by you or any person or animal to whom you have allowed access (reasonable wear and tear excluded) the cost to be reasonably determined by us even if this exceeds any damage deposit paid;
• not to allow any smoking in the property;
• to secure the property while you are absent;
• to permit us, our employees or agents reasonable access to the property;
• to respect the well-being of neighbours and not to cause any annoyance;
• to take good care of the property and leave it in a clean and tidy condition at the end of the letting. (It may be possible to provide a chargeable cleaning service during the letting if you request it in advance); and
• to return the key(s) to the key-safe on your departure.

If you materially breach of any of these conditions, we reserve the right to re-enter the property and terminate the letting. If we are then unable to re-let the property before your scheduled departure date, no refund will be due to you.  If we materially breach of any of the conditions which apply to us, then you have the right to terminate the letting.  Early termination of the letting under the circumstances above does not affect either party’s other rights and remedies.

If you permit any people or animals to gain access to our property additional to those to whom we have given prior written permission, you agree to pay an additional £100 per day for every person, and £20 per day for every animal.

In our confirmation letter, we may require you to provide a refundable damage deposit of up to £300 (payable at the same time as your balance is due) which will be refunded to you within 14 days of the end of your letting, subject to deductions for any unreasonable losses or damage affecting the property during the letting. If you cannot accept this requirement, you may cancel your booking within 7 days, and we will refund all payments received from you.

We take great care to prepare our property well so that you can enjoy your holiday and relax, so if you do run into a problem, please get in touch immediately so we can try to sort it out before you leave!

We are committed to protecting your privacy, and will protect all the information that we collect about you in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.  When you make a booking we ask for personal information such as your name, postal address, email address, telephone number and payment details. We will NOT pass your information on to any third parties except as specifically permitted by you, or as required by law. By booking with us you consent to use of your personal information to inform you about news and information we think may be of interest to you, but if you prefer us to delete your information, please simply contact us in writing or by email to admin@escapetomousehole.co.uk.

If any term in these booking conditions is found by any competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unreasonable it shall to the extent of such invalidity or unreasonableness be deemed severable and the remaining terms of the booking conditions and the remainder of such term shall continue in full force and effect.

The contract embodied in the booking is governed by English law, and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.