Conditions of Booking
Definitions: In these booking conditions the term “the Company” and “MHL” mean MATTHEWS HOLIDAYS LTD. and the term “client” means the party leader who signed the booking form or any party member named on the booking form. The contract shall be made between MATTHEWS HOLIDAYS LTD, Co Reg No: 2050214, whose registered office is 8 Bishopsmead Parade, East Horsley, Surrey, and the party leader named on the booking form and is subject to English law. 1. A deposit of £120 per Mobile Home is required at the time of booking, plus insurance premia. Payment of the final balance is due ten weeks prior to departure. In the event of non-payment of the balance due for your holiday by the prescribed date, we reserve the right, after due notice, to cancel and re-let the booking. In those circumstances the deposit and insurance premia will be forfeited. For bookings made within nine weeks of departure the Booking Form must be sent with the full payment. 2. A booking form (or photocopy) is required, signed by the party leader who must accept personal responsibility for the obligations of all party members and who warrants that he has their authority to make the booking. No contract shall exist until written confirmation of acceptance of the booking has been issued by MHL. All our holidays are offered subject to availability 3. Price Guarantee.
a) The price of your holiday is fully guaranteed and will not be subject to any surcharge once you have made your booking and paid your deposit, provided that you do not subsequently amend your booking.
b) We reserve the right to change the brochure prices at any time, but no increase will be applied to existing bookings retrospectively.
c) The prices shown in this brochure already include English V.A.T., French T.V.A. and French Taxe de Sejour. 4. Cancellation by Client: Cancellation can only be accepted in writing from the party leader who signed the booking form, this should be sent recorded delivery and will be acknowledged by return of post. In the event of cancellation by the client, the deposit shall be forfeited and MHL shall be entitled to levy cancellation charges according to the following scale. This scale is based on the number of days before departure:
More than 8 weeks ........................ Deposit forfeit
30-56 days ......................... 30% full holiday costs
15-29 days ......................... 50% full holiday costs
08-14 days ......................... 80% full holiday costs
Up to 7 days .................... 100% full holiday costs
Your attention is drawn to the Personal Holiday Insurance Policy and the circumstances under which the cancellation charges may be reclaimed under the terms of that insurance (less any applicable excess). 5. Cancellation by Matthews Holidays. Because we own or hold exclusive letting rights for the accommodation and do not need to consolidate flights, MHL will only cancel your holiday in the event of Force Maujeure (see below).
In the event of such cancellation the Company will make a full refund of your holiday payments. 6. Force Majeure is defined as circumstances which prevent the performance of the contract which are totally outside our control, and include but are not limited to war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, industrial action or dispute, technical problems to transport, port closure, congestion at a port or airport, epidemic or disease. 7. Alteration. We make arrangements for your holiday several months in advance and if there are any minor alterations which might affect your holiday in some way, we will inform you as soon as possible. Should a major alteration become necessary, for reasons other than Force Majeure we will advise you of the proposed change and ask you to decide between three courses of action:
A. Accepting the change.
B. Transferring to an alternative holiday that we are able to offer.
C. Cancelling your holiday, with a full refund of all monies paid to us.
Whichever course of action you choose we will pay you compensation per party as follows:
Written notification more
than 56 days before departure ....................... NIL
14-56 days ......................................................... £40
less than 14 days ............................................. £80
A major alteration is defined as a change of resort, change of accommodation to a lower grade than that originally booked, a change of ferry route which involves more than 100 additional miles driving to the outward or return journey, or an alteration to a ferry sailing time by more than twelve hours.
Where a client accepts an alternative holiday as a result of a major alteration the Company will refund the client any difference in cost where the alternative holiday is cheaper than that originally booked.
The Company will not refund the costs of any additional travel and subsistence incurred as a result of accepting alternative arrangements following a major alteration. Your attention is drawn to our recommended Insurance Policies which provide cover for certain unforeseen extra costs. 8. Insurance. It is a condition of acceptance of a booking that acceptable cancellation, medical, legal expenses and third party risks insurance is effected immediately. Our own Europ Assistance Insurance if taken, will be effective from the date of our confirmation of your holiday, and after the premium has been paid. 9. Responsibility. The Company accepts complete responsibility for the acts and/or omissions of its employees and also accepts responsibility for those services furnished by its suppliers (e.g. campsites). We have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the holidays advertised in this brochure have been properly and diligently arranged and we only use reputable organisations in this country and abroad to provide necessary services. Our suppliers in France are governed by the local and national laws and regulations in force in that country.
Subject to conditions a) and b) below, MHL will accept liability for such damages as a customer would be entitled to under English law in an English court for any personal injury to the customer, including illness, death, caused by negligence (as understood in English Law) either on the part of an employee of Matthews Holidays or a supplier of a service forming part of the booked holiday, other than air or sea transportation. Liability will be accepted subject to:
a) The assignment by the customer to MHL of all rights to proceed against the supplier in respect of a claim involving a supplier.
b) The customer agreeing to cooperate fully with MHL and/or its Insurers in the pursuit of any claim against the supplier, if the company or its Insurers proceed with such a claim.
MHL acts as your appointed Agent in booking your ferry crossings, insurance or other requested services. Once we have confirmed your holiday to you in writing, we then act as agent for the ferry company (or other service provider). Your contract for the provision of transport by sea, rail or air is with the transport operator, and is subject to the provisions of the relevant international conventions and to the published conditions of carriage of the operator of the scheduled service you have chosen. For copies, please request from our office or service supplier. 10. Excursions. Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are on holiday are not part of your package holiday provided by us. 11. The party leader is responsible for seeing that all members of his party abide by the general rules of the campsite. Only those persons named on the booking form and on our Accommodation Access Document may use our holiday accommodation. Maximum occupancy is normally limited to six persons. The party leader accepts that totally unreasonable behaviour by himself or by any member of his party could in the limit result in the expulsion of the whole party from the campsite and/or from Matthews Holidays Accommodation, before the end of the booked holiday. The company will not accept liability for any loss, damage or expense incurred as a result of such expulsion and no refunds will be given. The party leader accepts that either MHL or the senior campsite management have the right to impose this sanction in the limit. MHL will not accept liability if the campsite management fails to enforce its own rules. 12. Accommodation hire periods run from 4.00 pm on the stated takeover day until 9.00 am on the stated departure date. 13. The hirer undertakes to leave the accommodation in a clean and tidy condition, and to report any damages or breakages occurring during his occupation. He undertakes to refund the cost of repair or replacement of any damage or breakage. 14. Special Requirements. Please note any special requirements on the Booking Form. We shall do our best to meet these requirements but there is no guarantee given. The party leader accepts that requests for an individual emplacement or a particular Mobile Home number will not be guaranteed under any circumstances. 15. Amendments to Bookings. If you wish to make an alteration to your booking after confirmation has been issued we will do our utmost to satisfy your requirements. However, your request for the change must be in writing and must be accompanied by an administration fee of £15, or in the case of an alteration after your tickets have been issued, £25. Any alteration to your holiday accommodation date within eight weeks of your departure will incur cancellation charges. 16. Dissatisfaction. In the event of any dissatisfaction with the accommodation or other service provided by MHL in the resort the matter should be reported immediately to the local representative/agent so that appropriate action can be taken to remedy the problem. If it can’t be put right immediately, obtain a customer report form from our courier, complete it and send a copy with your letter of complaint to our offices, should you decide to follow up your complaint on your return. Complaints should be submitted to our East Horsley offices in writing within 30 days of returning from your holiday. If you don’t provide the MHL site representative with timely written details of a complaint which can be rectified on site, MHL will not subsequently accept responsibility for that complaint.
Disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract, which cannot be amicably settled, may (if the customer so wishes) be referred to arbitration under a special scheme which, though devised by arrangement with the Association of British Travel Agents, is administered quite independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
The Scheme (details can be supplied on request or visit www.abta.com) provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on the customer in respect of costs. The Scheme does not apply to claims greater than £5,000 per person or £25,000 per booking form or to claims which are solely or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness - or the consequences of such injury or illness. The rules of the scheme provide that the application for arbitration is made within nine months of the date of return from the holiday but in special circumstances it may still be offered outside this period. 17. Late Arrivals. Under no circumstances can MHL be held in any way responsible for personal expenses incurred as a result of arrivals after the time shown in your holiday itinerary. 18. Delayed Departure. MHL do not accept liability for extra hotel or subsistence expenses which may be incurred as a result of the delay or suspension of scheduled transport services included in these holidays. 19. The descriptions on this website and in our brochure have been made in good faith and were correct at the time of going to press. Published December 2010. 20. The carriers concerned assume no responsibility for the contents of this brochure. 21. Your financial protection. The Package Holidays Regulations 1992 require us to provide security for the monies that you pay for the package holidays booked from this brochure and for your repatriation in the event of MHL’s insolvency. We provide this security by way of a bond held by A.B.T.A (V2927).
