Terms and Conditions of Hire

Bookings of all holiday accommodation whether made by telephone, e-mail, in person, in writing or over the internet are accepted by Puffin Cottage Holidays acting as the agent on behalf of the Owner. The contract to occupy the property is between you and the owner.

By making any booking with us, you confirm that you accept these terms and conditions and agree to comply with and be bound by them.

These booking terms and conditions include a number of defined terms as follows:

When you make a booking through us you are confirming that you and every Hirer understands, agrees and accepts these terms and conditions. Please read them carefully as any breach may result in the Owner (or their representative) refusing to allow you and your guests to enter and stay at the property or requiring you and your guests to leave the property before the end of the holiday period without any compensation or refund.

1. Contract and Booking

We act as agents for the Owner. When you make a Booking through us the contract to occupy the Property is always between you and the Owner.

Bookings cannot be accepted from persons under 18 years of age.

The Lead Hirer must be one of the Guests staying at the property and shall not part with possession of the property or share it, except with other Guests named on the booking form.

The Properties are not meant to be reserved for the purposes of parties and group bookings, including for stag, hen dos and birthdays, may not be allowed unless explicitly agreed with the Owner. In these circumstances the Owner may special requirements (including the possible requirement for, but not limited to, an extra damage deposit payment)

No Bookings are confirmed until the Deposit (or Balance and Deposit if the holiday is less than 8 weeks away) is received and written confirmation of its receipt has been sent.

Once a booking is confirmed it cannot be changed by you, unless agreed by the Owner, or by us on the Owner's behalf. If we or the Owner agree to make requested changes to your booking (for example, amending the date or Hirer) you will be required to pay £25 amendment fee per change.

2. Booking Fees

A booking fee of £24.00 is payable when making a booking. This is included in the displayed price of the holiday.

3. Deposits and Balance Payments

Bookings made within 8 weeks of your holiday date must be paid for in full at the time of booking. For a booking made more than 8 weeks before your holiday a deposit of 20% of the total due will be paid when booking to secure the booking. The balance will be paid 8 weeks prior to your holiday. If you make a booking within 8 weeks of the start of the holiday you will be required to pay for the holiday in full at the time of booking to secure the booking. In the event that the balance payment is not received by the required date, Puffin Cottage Holidays reserves the right (on behalf of the Owner) to cancel the booking and will be under no obligation to refund any deposits previously paid.

The booking fee and Deposit are non-refundable unless we are unable to accept the booking on behalf of the Owner, or the Property is unavailable at the time of the holiday

4. Damage Deposits

Some properties may require damage deposits for all bookings made. Any damage deposit will be due along with the final balance payment, 8 weeks prior to your holiday, or, where the booking is made within 8 weeks of your holiday, the damage deposit must be paid in full at the time of booking. The damage deposit may be held by Puffin Cottage Holidays on behalf of the Owner. Whilst we will endeavour to liaise between the Owner and the Hirer, any disputed claims must be settled between the Owner and the Hirer and Puffin Cottage Holidays are not liable for any disputed claims.

5. Availability

The Contract of Hire is made on the understanding that the property and its facilities as published will be available for the dates stated. In the unlikely event that the property is not available through events outside the Owners control the Hirer will be notified as soon as possible. The Hirer shall be offered alternative dates or, at the Owners discretion, a refund but will have no further claims against the Owner or Puffin Cottage Holidays. Puffin Cottage Holidays will not be responsible to pay any compensation or expenses as a consequence of a Property not being available in these cases. The booking fee will be non-refundable in these circumstances as we will have carried out our services for this to you at the point of booking.

6. Guest Cancellations

In the event of a cancellation from the Hirer, the deposit and booking fee will not be refunded. In the event of cancellation after payment of the balance every effort will be made to relet the property. If such reletting is possible the balance or that part thereof that is paid by another client will be repaid (less the deposit and booking fee).

7. Hirers' Responsibilities

The Hirer will ensure that:

As with all the points contained within these terms and conditions, failure to comply with the requirements set out here may result in the Owner (or their representative) refusing to allow you and your guests to enter and stay at the property or requiring you and your guests to leave the property before the end of the holiday period without any compensation or refund. We and the Owner will be entitled to make a reasonable charge where the Hirer has failed to comply with these responsibilities

8. Capacity

The Hirer will not allow more than the maximum number of people or pets to stay at the Property as stated on the Website.

9. Pets

Dogs are only allowed at Properties where this is specifically stated in the Property description. All rules on allowing pets at the Property should be adhered to at all times. There may be an extra charge for pets which will be listed in the Property Description.

Registered assistance dogs are allowed in all Properties. You must inform, prior to making a booking, that you intend to bring an assistance dogs, with evidence of registration.

If any Hirer has an allergy to dogs, please be aware that neither our Owners nor we can guarantee that a dog has not stayed in a particular Property. Neither we nor our Owners can accept responsibility for any suffering which may occur as a result of such animals having been present in a Property.

The following rules must be followed when dogs are at the Property:

Pets other than dogs may be allowed at the Owner's discretion. This must be approved prior to making a booking and confirmed in writing.

If any of these rules are not followed, the Owner (or their representative) or Puffin Cottage Holidays may notify you that you have broken these terms and may cancel the booking and ask that the Holidaymakers leave the Property before the end of the holiday period without compensation, and/or that they pay an additional reasonable charge.

10. Motor Car and Personal Belongings

Personal belongings are at the Hirer's risk at all times. No responsibility can be accepted by the owner for loss or damage to any vehicle or its contents. Electrical car charging us not permitted at any of the Properties unless there is prior agreement from the Owner, in which case the Owner may request a reasonable charge for this.

11. Access

The Owner or their representatives shall be allowed access to the Property at any reasonable time during the tenancy.

12. VAT

All prices quoted include VAT

13. Descriptions

Puffin Cottage Holidays endeavours to ensure that all our Properties are correctly represented on our website. It is the Hirers responsibility to ensure that they have fully read the description as stated on our Website before making a booking. All information is given in good faith and believed to be correct, but Puffin Cottage Holidays cannot be held responsible for any errors, or the results of such errors. Puffin Cottage Holidays cannot accept liability for events outside of reasonable control, such as breakdown of domestic appliances, plumbing, wiring, sudden temporary invasion of pests, damage resulting from exceptional weather conditions or owner's negligence resulting in loss, injury or accident.

14. Price Changes

Puffin Cottage Holidays reserve the right to change any advertised prices due to errors or any change in the VAT rate.

15. Complaints Procedure

In the unfortunate situation that you have a complaint, please report it to Puffin Cottage Holidays, the Owner or his representative as quickly as possible to allow any problems to be resolved. Where a complaint is reported to us we will, as the Agent, liaise with the Owner on your behalf to attempt to resolve the issue. No complaint will be accepted after the end of your holiday, where the Owner has not had the opportunity to investigate and remedy any problem.

16. Our Liabilities

The contract to occupy the Property is made on the basis that the Property is to be occupied by the Holidaymakers for a holiday (as mentioned in the Housing Act 1988 Schedule 1 paragraph 9 or similar legislation in other jurisdictions).

When making a booking, you acknowledge on behalf of all Holidaymakers that the tenancy granted by these terms and conditions is not an assured tenancy and that no statutory periodic tenancy will arise when it ends.

Once you have made a booking there is no "cooling off" period as the contract you have made is for accommodation services for a specific period.

Puffin Cottage Holidays acts only as agents for the Owner and cannot accept any legal responsibility for any act or neglect on their part or of anyone representing or employed by them. Puffin Cottage Holidays cannot accept any liability for any problems or faults with or in any Property. The Owner is solely responsible for the accommodation and for the safety of all guests.

Nothing in these terms and conditions will limit our liability or an Owner's liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our or the Owner's negligence or the negligence of our or their employees, agents or subcontractors, or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

Any dispute, claim or other matter which may arise in relation to your booking will be governed by English law and you agree that any dispute will be dealt with exclusively by the courts of England and Wales.

17. Holiday Insurance

We strongly recommend that you take out Holiday Insurance to cover you for anything that may go wrong before your holiday that prevents it from going ahead and during your holiday.

These booking terms and conditions apply to all confirmed bookings created on or after 10th January 2022 and supersede all previous versions.