Travel Question: our ski trip plans have gone off-piste

Q Last February, our family of four paid a £1,000 deposit for a skiing holiday for December this year. For various reasons, we want to move the holiday to December next year but the holiday company are saying we can either have a week in February, which we can’t do, or we lose the deposit. What can we do?

Name withheld

A Travel firms ask for a deposit because it shows an indication of your intention to go through with the trip, and – should you be unable to do so – protects the company somewhat against possible losses if, for example, price levels have fallen since you first booked.

For a skiing holiday, the deposit might be 10 or 15 per cent of the total or a fixed sum of around £150 per person. So on an “average” ski trip – perhaps costing £700 per person – the deposit looks pretty substantial.

In any event, if you can prove that the company has sold your holiday to someone else, then you have a possible legal channel to recover the deposit. Write to the travel firm asking for a refund of the deposit, subject to a reasonable deduction to cover financial loss that the cancellation has caused them. Ask for supporting evidence for any such loss.

It is possible the company will simply say, “No, you agreed to our terms and conditions when you booked the holiday and paid the deposit. We’re keeping the money.”

If this happens, write back saying that the terms and conditions are unfair under the terms of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and repeat the request. Include a warning that if you do not receive a satisfactory response within two weeks, you will take legal action through Money Claim Online.

That may persuade the company that it should let you transfer the deposit to a holiday in December next year.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder