Many popular London restaurants now ask for a card guarantee, a deposit or a prepayment before they confirm a table. This article sets out what UK consumer law and official guidance say about what a venue may charge if plans change, and where the limits lie.
Why do restaurants ask for deposits at all?
A table that sits empty is a sales loss that cannot be recovered later: the kitchen has bought ingredients, rostered staff and turned away other bookings. Deposits and no-show fees are the industry’s response, and they are most common for peak evenings, larger parties, tasting menus and set-price events.
For diners, the practical effect is that a booking is no longer a casual courtesy. It is a contract, and the terms agreed at the point of booking, including any fee, shape what happens if the evening is cancelled. The question for readers is not whether such charges exist, but what makes one lawful and reasonable.
Is a booking really a contract?
Citizens Advice, in its guidance on cancelling a service you have arranged, says a contract can be formed even verbally, for example by accepting a quote or paying a deposit. Once a contract exists, the page warns that you are unlikely to get all your money back unless there is a generous cancellation clause.
The same page makes the opposite point: if no contract was formed, you should not have to pay anything, and any money paid should be refunded in full. So the first question in any dispute is what was actually agreed, when, and on what terms. A booking confirmation email, an online checkout screen or a card-guarantee tick box all become evidence.
Does the 14-day cooling-off period apply to a table?
Usually not. According to Citizens Advice, there is a 14-day minimum cooling-off period for services arranged online, by phone or by mail order, or away from the business’s premises, where they cost £42 or more. But the same page says there is no cooling-off period for accommodation, transport of goods, vehicle rental, or catering or leisure services for specific dates.
A dinner reservation for a named date and time falls naturally into that last group. A diner who books online therefore should not assume a right to change their mind within 14 days, and should read the venue’s own cancellation terms, since some businesses offer more than the legal minimum.
Where the cooling-off period does apply, the guidance is more generous: a customer who cancels within it is entitled to all their money back, unless they asked for the service to begin during that period.
What can a venue keep if you cancel or don’t turn up?
GOV.UK’s guide for consumers on cancelling goods or services sets out the central principle. A business is generally entitled to keep an amount sufficient to cover its actual losses that directly result from the cancellation. Two lines are worth noting:
- Cancellation charges must be a genuine estimate of the business’s direct loss.
- A charge is not fair just because it appears in a contract you signed; it needs to be reasonable.
The same guide says businesses must take reasonable steps to reduce their losses, for example by reselling the goods or services. For a restaurant, that could mean offering a cancelled table to a walk-in or waiting-list party. It also says non-refundable deposits should only be a small percentage of the total price.
What does the Consumer Rights Act 2015 say about fairness?
The legal backbone is Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. According to the official legislation database, section 62(1) states that an unfair term of a consumer contract is not binding on the consumer. Section 62(4) defines a term as unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer. Under section 62(5), fairness is assessed by reference to the nature of the subject matter of the contract and all the circumstances existing when the term was agreed.
Schedule 2 to the Act contains an indicative list of terms that may be regarded as unfair. Among them are terms that require a consumer who decides not to conclude or perform a contract to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation or for services not supplied. A fee that bears no relation to a venue’s likely loss is the kind of term that provision has in mind.
Section 62(3) adds that the consumer may still choose to rely on an unfair term if it suits them. The test is therefore a shield for the diner, not a restriction on the venue’s ability to offer a more generous policy.
A worked example: when does a charge look proportionate?
The arithmetic below is illustrative only and is not a legal ruling on any real venue.
Suppose a party of four books a set menu at £60 per person, a total of £240, and the venue takes a £15 per person deposit.
| Item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Total booking value | 4 × £60 | £240 |
| Deposit taken | 4 × £15 | £60 |
| Deposit as a share of booking | £60 ÷ £240 | 25% |
Now consider two outcomes. If the party cancels a month ahead and the table is easily resold, the venue’s real loss may be close to nil, and a deposit retained in full would be harder to justify as a genuine estimate. If the party fails to turn up on a fully booked Saturday and the table stays empty, the venue’s direct loss could be the profit on the whole £240, and keeping the £60 deposit looks more defensible.
The point is that the same deposit can be reasonable in one set of circumstances and excessive in another. GOV.UK’s guide asks whether the sum reflects direct loss and whether the business tried to reduce it, not whether the figure was printed in advance.
How can you challenge a charge that looks excessive?
Both official sources point to a similar, practical sequence.
- Check the terms you agreed to at booking, including any emailed confirmation.
- Ask the venue to explain how it calculated the amount it wants to keep or charge, as the GOV.UK guide suggests.
- Cancel in writing where possible and keep a copy. Citizens Advice says that if you phone, you should note who you spoke to and what was agreed, then follow up in writing.
- Negotiate, and ask whether the business belongs to a trade association that might help.
- If that fails, ask whether the business uses an alternative dispute resolution scheme, and record when you asked.
Citizens Advice also notes that the Competition and Markets Authority and Trading Standards can act against unfair terms, and that its own page covers England only, with separate advice for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
How this fits the wider economics of eating out
Booking deposits sit alongside other changes in how London dining is paid for. Our explainer on where your restaurant tip goes under UK law covers how service money must now reach staff, and our look at the restaurants where London’s business deals happen shows how much weight a reliable table carries for professional hosts. The late-evening side of the sector is examined in what the Nightlife Taskforce wants changed.
Analysis: deposits transfer part of the risk of a cancelled evening from the venue to the diner. That is a reasonable trade when the fee is modest, clearly disclosed and refunded or credited when the venue can fill the table. It becomes a problem when the charge is large, hidden in small print or retained even when no loss occurred.
A fair fee is one that tracks real loss
The legal position is consistent across the official sources: a cancellation charge must reflect a genuine estimate of loss, the venue should try to limit that loss, and a term does not become fair simply because the diner clicked to accept it. For readers, the useful habit is to read the booking terms before paying, keep the confirmation, and ask for the calculation if a charge arrives that looks out of proportion.
This article offers general information, not personalised financial or legal advice; rules and rates change.
Sources: Citizens Advice; GOV.UK; UK Legislation
