Holiday Deposit.

[schiehallion]

Hello again ABers.
Another Question for you all.
My Son and his two friends planned a holiday abroad for August this year.
They booked with Barrhead Travel in Aberdeen early in January and each of them paid a deposit of £50 with a further £50 due each to be paid at the end of this month.
Due to unforseen circumstances the Holiday can no longer go ahead and when my son called Barrhead to explain he was told they must each pay the remaing £50 before they can cancel the Holiday. Is this true that this must be paid?. I would have thought that Barrhead would automaticaly cancel the Holiday upon the default of the deposit payment?. The lads understand they have lost the primary £50 and have no interest in wanting to try to recover it, but are worried that if they default on the secondary payment barrhead may at worse try to claim for the full cost of the Holiday or at least put them on the list of bad payers and therefore affecting their credit rating.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers.

[bednobs]

it will depend entirely on the contract they signed

[New Judge]

Yes Barrhead (whom I assume are agents) are correct.

Many tour operators offer a “low deposit” scheme where you only pay a portion (usually half) of their normal deposit when you book early. It is (or should be) made clear when booking and in the T&Cs that the full deposit amount will be forfeit in the event of cancellation. I’ve just made a holiday booking myself for 2014 and paid a low deposit. The situation regarding the balance of the deposit being payable in the event of cancellation was made perfectly clear to me.

[IggyB]

your son would need to consult the terms of conditions he agreed to when he made the booking.

Presuming these are the right agents then see the booking terms and conditions here:
https://secure.traveltek.net/images/www.barrheadtravel.co.uk/v2/Barrhead_Travel_booking_Conditions.pdf

See clause 7 for info re cancellation - if these standard T&Cs were agreed and the holiday in question is 'Type 2' (definition in clause 7) then they would only lose their deposit (as it is more than 84 days before the holiday).

Check the T&Cs is the starting point though