Security Deposits, Refunds & Cancellations
What is a security deposit?
This is a sum of money that is pre-authorised within your account between a week to a few days prior to you arriving at the self-catering property you have booked. The amount will depend on size and furnishings of the property often ranging between £100-£250. Once pre-authorised, the money sits in your account and you are unable to use it until approximately 4-7 days after your departure, when your bank will release it (if no claims are made). However, if you book via a third-party website, they will have their own policy with regard to releasing the security deposit which could be up to 10 days after your departure.
What does it cover?
Here are a few things that would warrant a claim being made on a security deposit; permanent stains on bed linen, towels, carpets, curtains, broken bedside lamps, missing items, excessive mess incurring extra cleaning costs, broken dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer, tv etc, windows or locks, broken furniture, excessive use of the heating and electricity, doors taken off hinges (yes we had this once!). It is not for covering general wear and tear in properties and one or two broken glasses are not going to warrant a deduction from a security deposit.
Why ClickBookStay request the pre-authorisation of a security deposit.
We always like to give our guests the benefit of the doubt when they book with us. In order to safeguard both guest and owner, we do however pre-authorise a security deposit, which, unlike many other companies, does not leave your bank account and is only ring-fenced within it. This keeps both the guest and the owner safe in the knowledge that should any damage or breakages occur, both are prepared and therefore any incidents can be dealt with swiftly and amicably. It is only after contact either via email or phone along with attached evidence of photos/invoices, will any monies be deducted. Thankfully, our guests are trustworthy and respectful of our properties and house rules and this really is a rare occurrence.
Honesty is always the best policy though, so if you have damaged or broken something within the property, please notify the host/owner as soon as possible which helps to avoid bitter disputes and negative reviews from both sides.
A wee key reminder….
As many of our properties are accessed via key safe boxes with codes, it is important to remember and take with you the arrival details of key collection/return and key code noted on your phone and also written down (in case your phone runs out of charge or there is no signal). Forgetting to put the keys back in the correct place; e.g. posting them through letterboxes or indeed, taking them with you by accident can cause some upheaval in our wee office in order to resolve the situation and often results in car trips and new keys having to be cut and you may be billed for this…so the key (no pun intended!)…is please don’t forget!
To refund or not to refund that is the question?
All holiday rental companies have Terms & Conditions with regard to cancellations and refunds
and although not the most exciting reading material, it really is worth reading the small print before you book. We do always recommend taking out travel insurance, it doesn’t cost much and is well worth it as you never know what’s around the corner! Check what bank account you have; you may already have travel insurance in place and not even realise.
Happy Holidays!