deposit-and-cancellation-terms

---
name: deposit-and-cancellation-terms
description: Builds the pre-booking information a venue must show before taking a deposit, drawn from Schedule 1 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 and the CMA's standard for a fair deposit. Checks the deposit is sized as a reservation fee not an advance bill, and never invents a cooling-off right a restaurant booking does not have. Use before you take a deposit, card hold or advance payment.
---

# Tell them the price and the terms before you take the deposit

Give it the booking type, the deposit amount and what it is held against. Get back the information block shown before the booking binds, a check that the deposit is sized as a reservation fee, and a note on what cancellation right, if any, applies.

## What it does

1. **Fix what must be shown before the contract binds.** Regulation 9(1): "Before the consumer is bound by an on-premises contract, the trader must give or make available to the consumer the information described in Schedule 1... if that information is not already apparent from the context." A table booked by phone, in person or online is on-premises.

2. **Pull the exact Schedule 1 items**: "the main characteristics" (a); "the total price... inclusive of taxes" (c); "all additional delivery charges" and that they "may be payable" (d); "the trader's complaint handling policy" (f).

3. **Size the deposit as a reservation fee, not an advance bill.** CMA standard: terms look more defensible where "a deposit is just to reserve the goods/services and is no more than a small percentage of the total price."

4. **State cancellation terms alongside the deposit**, not in a document found later.

5. **Never claim a cooling-off right that does not exist here.** The 14-day right is built for distance and off-premises contracts; a table booked in person, by phone or online is treated differently, and date-specific services are commonly excluded anyway.

6. **Test one-sidedness against the general fairness rule** (s.62(4), CRA 2015): a deposit term silent on what happens if the venue cancels sits close to that line.

## Then it checks

1. All five Schedule 1 items are present in the shown text.
2. The deposit is stated as a percentage of expected spend.
3. No cooling-off right is claimed without checking the contract type.
4. Cancellation terms and deposit are shown together, before booking binds.
5. The terms state what happens if the venue cancels.

Any check fails: redo that step once. Failed twice: say what is wrong and stop.

## Rules
- Public information only. Never invent a fact, number or quote. Anything sent in someone's name says whose name it is.
- Never state a cancellation right applies without checking the contract type.
- Never size a deposit without stating it as a percentage of expected total.
- Working document for the owner's solicitor to check before reliance. Not legal advice.

## Built from
- Consumer Contracts Regs 2013, reg.9, legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/9, read 4 Nov 2026: step 1.
- Consumer Contracts Regs 2013, Sch.1, legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/schedule/1, read 4 Nov 2026: step 2.
- CMA, "Wedding venues advised to play fair", gov.uk/government/news/wedding-venues-advised-to-play-fair, 2 Mar 2016, read 4 Nov 2026: step 3.
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, s.62, legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/62, read 4 Nov 2026: step 6.

# deposit-and-cancellation-terms

## You are given
The booking type (`table`, `event`, `private hire`). The expected total spend in GBP. The deposit amount in GBP and what it is held against. The cancellation window and charge, decided by Claude. The complaint handling policy, in one sentence. The exact information block text as shown, and channel (`booking page`, `phone script`, `in-person`, `confirmation email`). The contract-type classification made by Claude: on-premises, distance or off-premises, and whether a cancellation right applies.

## Produce
Write into a `./deposit-and-cancellation-terms-output/` folder:

1. `schedule-1-check.csv`: `item`, `required_by`, `present_in_text`, `text_excerpt_verbatim`. One row per item: `main characteristics`, `total price`, `additional charges`, `cancellation terms`, `complaint handling policy`. `present_in_text` is `yes`/`no`.
2. `deposit-sizing.csv`: `deposit_gbp`, `expected_total_gbp`, `deposit_as_percent`, `held_against_description`, `flag`. `flag` is `reservation fee` (≤20%), `review` (20-50%), or `advance payment of most of the bill` (>50%).
3. `cancellation-right-check.md` - the contract-type classification restated, and whether the shown text claims a cancellation right it should not. Any mismatch is listed first in `gaps.md`.
4. `reciprocity-check.md` - whether the text states what happens if the venue cancels, quoted verbatim, or `not found`.
5. `timing-check.csv`: `channel`, `shown_before_booking_confirmed`, `shown_in_same_document_as_deposit`. Both `yes`/`no`.
6. `gaps.md` - a numbered list of: any Schedule 1 item `not present`; any deposit flagged `advance payment of most of the bill`; any cancellation-right mismatch; a missing reciprocity statement; any channel shown after confirmation or separately from the deposit.

## Rules
- Codex checks and records. It never decides the contract-type classification, cancellation terms or deposit amount; those are supplied by Claude.
- Never write or imply a cancellation right beyond what the supplied classification states.
- Never mark an item `present_in_text` without quoting the excerpt.
- Percentages are calculated exactly, shown to one decimal place.
- Use British English, GBP and DD Month YYYY dates. No em dashes; flag any supplied text containing one in `gaps.md`.
- Every file ends with: this is a working document for the owner to check against their booking terms and current CMA guidance, and for their solicitor to check before reliance. Not legal advice.

## Return
Each file's absolute path and row count. Schedule 1 items present and missing, by name. The deposit percentage and flag. The cancellation-right verdict. The reciprocity-check result. The timing-check result per channel. The `gaps.md` item count.