During COVID-19, some suppliers and venues are denying refunds and in many cases this is not lawful. Here are your rights in the UK

I have talked to many Brides and Grooms in person and on Social Media that following postponement or cancellation of their wedding are not being treated fairly by suppliers and venues. The venues I partner with are doing everything they can to help couples, but it seems others are not being so kind.

Luckily, there are clear guidelines that they need to follow, and even if you’ve signed a contract, these guidelines will protect you and get you your money back.

IMPORTANT: If you decide to cancel, a venue can and should be paid for parts of the service they have delivered or spent time on and other unrecoverable costs. This is reasonable and fair and is usually handled by a booking fee or deposit - anything else is deemed unfair according to government guidelines.

This post is written in the hope that more couples have access to the right information.

If anyone has any questions or comments, please leave a comment and I can reply.

Suppliers and Venues are up against it

Before we start, bear in mind that some companies will have a whole set of financial problems of their own. The ones that cannot weather the storm are going to have to play hard to keep running and unfortunately that means a tough ride for some couples.

But remember too that smaller venues, usually the ones being mentioned, are family businesses and are real people. Use the details in this post to help you as a consumer, but remember there is potentially a stressed and worried person at the other end of an email.

That said, suppliers acting irresponsibly and in some cases illegally, give the industry a bad name. This is particularly frustrating when many suppliers, like us at Nick Church Photography are doing all we can to help couples deal with the current situation

Your Hero: The Competition & Markets Authority

Want a letter from the government to send a wedding venue that is acting unfairly? Done. Read on….

The UK Government have put in place a team called the Competition & Markets Authority (the CMA), whose job it is to regulate how companies operate and ensure that they are being fair to consumers.

The CMA have usefully provided specific guidance on how wedding suppliers should operate during the COVID-19 crisis. These are not new rules, but just make it nice and clear for us to understand.

Here are the key points:

A supplier/venue is NOT able to keep payments for a service that was not delivered: This is an important point and the key rule that is being breached by a venue arguing that your full fee is still payable, even if you cancel your wedding.
You are NOT bound by any contract you have signed if that contract is unfair: This is key to your case. Many couples are simply accepting the contract terms that they sighed and not pursuing getting their money back, But you cannot get people to sign a contract if it is agains CMA rules, it’s meaningless. So if the contract you signed says that a full fee will have to be paid, then don’t worry, they cannot hold you to this.
A supplier/venue CAN keep a reasonable portion of funds: When you place a booking, it takes time and effort to handle that booking which must be paid for. In some cases they venue may have paid for materials or suipplies. These are unrecoverable costs and you should rightly compensate the venue for these if you have terminated the contract by cancelling. But anything paid on top of what can be argued has been a delivered part of the service should be returned to you. Whether you have paid a deposit, booking fee or the full amount.
These rules are in place regardless of who cancels the contract: Many couples are hearing that if they cancel, then the rules are different. This is not true. Regardless of who cancels. or indeed why, you are entitled to get your money back.
Missed bookings is NOT an unrecoverable cost: Often, the reason that suppliers try to enforce a full fee is that they could have taken alternative bookings on the original wedding date, and now you have cancelled they have lost the ability to fill that date. Unfortunately for us venues, that is not a valid reason to withhold funds. Only unrecoverable costs can be withheld
Couples may be offered vouchers, re-booking, credit, but they should not be pressured into doing so. If you want your money back, that’s fine, you are entitled.

You can find a full list of CMA Guidelines here.

You can find a letting from CMA to Wedding Venue here

Next Steps: How to deal with the supplier/venue

In the first instance, it is worth sending the venue a link to the CMA guidelines document. They will be aware of this already, and the fact that you are now also aware is going to be useful.

If you have cancelled a service not delivered, and the supplier are requesting you pay your final fee, do not pay it. Even if your contract states that you need to then this may well be unfair.

If you have paid your full amount, then naturally things are a bit harder as you actually need to recover funds, but the CMA are there to help you.

Here are some steps you can take:

Send the supplier the CMA guidelines and the above CMA letter. Explain that you want to cover their losses but that you find it unfair that you need to pay for a service that was not delivered. Keep things polite and professional.
Ask a supplier to detail what has been done so far towards the delivery of your wedding service. This will be key information should you end up going to the small claims court
If you have paid on credit card, then contact the card issuer. They will issue a chargeback if there is an unfair transaction. a Chargeback means you’ll get your money back right away, and that the supplier will need to battle to get it back. They may be successful, but importantly they are battling Visa or MasterCard, not you, who have much more experience and resources at their disposal.
Solicitor advice. If you need to take it a step further, then contact a solicitor. They will also be aware of CMA guidance, and a solicitor sending a letter to a venue will hold much more weight. Your solicitor will also be able to take your through a small claims court process.
CMA have a process in place so you can report a supplier not acting fairly in response to the COVID-19 crisis. There will be huge delays, but it is worth doing early to get in the queue. Here is the portal

Remember, the majority of venues are reasonable and fair, so give the benefit of the doubt in your interactions.

Nick Church Photography - a breath of fresh air

We provide stunning wedding photography and films to clients all over the South, the South-West and Wales. It’s a natural and relaxed approach which captures moments and connections, not awkward poses.

In addition to the quality of our work, we are passionate about service level, and dealing with clients during the COVID crisis is no different. We have a unique process in place, so that if our clients postpone their wedding then we simply move the booking. No fees, no fuss and helped by our talented collective of photographers, a guarantee of availability on the new date.

Should you need to cancel your booking, then you will not be charged your remaining balance. Not just due to CMA guidelines, but because that’s the right thing to do.

We also partner with a selection of venues that have the same high values that we do. If you’d like a recommendation for a venue that place service and quality as high as we do, then let us know.

Should you be looking for photography or film for your wedding, then we’d love to hear from you. Look at our portfolio and then get in touch:

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