Cancellation and refund policy

Version 0.2, 25 September 2026

This policy forms part of the Halo Club terms of use and uses the same defined terms: member, host, guest, home, booking, host amount, reservation fee, booking service and commission have the meanings given there. It explains what happens to the money paid for a booking when a guest cancels, when a host cancels, when Halo Club cancels and when something outside everyone's control prevents a stay. The cancellation policy that applies to a booking is the one shown on the listing and in the booking confirmation.

All times are in the local time of the home. "Check-in" means the check-in time on the day the stay begins. Days are whole days before the check-in time: "at least 5 days before" means five full days, so four and a half days counts as four.

1. The five cancellation policies

Each host chooses one of the following policies for each home. The refund is of what was paid for the nights (the host amount). The reservation fee is dealt with in section 3, and taxes collected by the platform are refunded in the same proportion as the host amount.

Flexible: a full refund if you cancel at least 1 day before check-in; otherwise none.

Moderate: a full refund if you cancel at least 5 days before check-in; otherwise none.

Limited: a full refund if you cancel at least 14 days before check-in; a 50% refund between 7 and 13 days before; none within 7 days.

Firm: a full refund if you cancel at least 30 days before check-in; a 50% refund between 7 and 29 days before; none within 7 days.

Strict: a 50% refund if you cancel at least 7 days before check-in; none within 7 days.

The app states what the policy means for your dates before you send a request, and the refund is paid from the same thresholds.

2. How a guest cancels

A guest cancels through the app. The cancellation takes effect when it is submitted, and the refund is calculated from that moment. Cancellations by message, email or phone are not effective until the guest confirms them in the app, unless the guest cannot access the app, in which case the time the message was sent is used.

Refunds are paid to the payment method used for the booking within 14 days of the cancellation. Where part of the host amount has not yet been charged, because the stay is 30 nights or more and is charged month by month, the charges still to come are reduced or cancelled instead.

3. The reservation fee

The reservation fee is Halo Club's charge for the booking service, which is complete when the booking is confirmed. It is not refunded when a guest cancels, whatever the host's cancellation policy says about the host amount, and this is stated on the booking screen before the guest pays. It is refunded in full only when the host cancels the booking, or when Halo Club cancels it for any reason other than the guest's breach of the terms of use. It does not affect the guest's right to a refund if Halo Club fails to provide the booking service with reasonable care and skill, or any other legal right.

4. The commission

Halo Club's commission is charged to the host only on the part of the host amount the host actually receives after any refund under this policy, as set out in section 6 of the terms of use, and never on the reservation fee. No commission is charged on a booking the host cancels.

5. When a host cancels

A host may cancel a confirmed booking only through the app. When a host cancels: (a) the guest is refunded everything paid, the host amount, the reservation fee and any taxes, within 14 days; (b) the host is paid nothing and no commission is charged, and the host pays Halo Club the reservation fee the guest paid, as section 8.1 of the terms of use says, which the club may waive where the host had to cancel because of circumstances beyond their control; and (c) Halo Club does not contribute to the cost of a replacement home. The cancelled dates are released for other members to book. The host is asked why they cancelled, and may write to the guest. A host who cancels repeatedly may, at the club's discretion, have their listing paused or their membership reviewed.

A host who does not provide the home as booked, or makes it impossible for the guest to stay, is treated as having cancelled.

Halo Club's help does not limit any claim the guest may have against the host under the stay contract for losses caused by the cancellation.

6. Extenuating circumstances

A booking may be cancelled without charge by either party, with a full refund to the guest (including the reservation fee), where one of the following prevents or legally prohibits the stay and was not known or reasonably foreseeable when the booking was made: (a) death or serious illness or injury of the guest, the host or a member of their immediate family; (b) a government travel restriction, evacuation order or entry ban affecting the guest's journey or the home; (c) a natural disaster, severe weather event or public health emergency at the home or on the route to it; (d) damage to the home, or loss of essential utilities, that makes it unsafe or unfit to occupy; or (e) a host being required to give up the home by a court, landlord or public authority.

The party relying on an extenuating circumstance must tell Halo Club through the app as soon as possible and within 14 days, and provide reasonable evidence (for example a medical certificate, an official notice or a news report). Halo Club, acting reasonably, decides whether the circumstances qualify and will give reasons. Either party may challenge the decision under section 19 of the terms of use.

The following are not extenuating circumstances: a change of plans, a cheaper or better alternative, an event being cancelled, transport disruption that does not prevent travel by another route or a condition that was known when the booking was made.

7. Problems on arrival

If, on arrival or during the stay, the home is materially not as described, is not accessible, is unsafe, is unclean, has a serious defect the host did not disclose or the host does not provide access, the guest must tell the host and Halo Club through the app within 24 hours of discovering the problem, and in any case before leaving, with photographs where possible, and give the host a reasonable chance to fix it.

If the problem is not fixed, Halo Club will, depending on the seriousness of the problem and acting reasonably, arrange a partial refund of the host amount for the affected nights or cancel the booking with a full refund of the remaining nights, and may help the guest look for another home. Where the guest could not stay at all, the host is treated as having cancelled, so the reservation fee is also refunded. Refunds under this section come out of the host's payout for the stay, which is held while the report is open; section 11 explains what happens if the host has already been paid.

8. When Halo Club cancels

Halo Club may cancel a booking where it reasonably believes the booking or the listing breaks the terms of use or the law, where a listing is removed or where a public authority requires it, and will give both parties its reasons. The guest is refunded everything paid, including the reservation fee, and the host is paid nothing for the cancelled booking, except that where the cancellation is because the guest has broken the terms of use (for example by bringing people who are not named in the booking, holding an event the host did not agree to or paying outside the platform), the reservation fee is not refunded and the host is paid under the host's cancellation policy as if the guest had cancelled on that day.

9. Changes to a booking

A guest and a host may agree to change dates or the number of guests through the app. A change is a new agreement on the same terms: the host amount is recalculated, the reservation fee is recalculated if the new length of stay falls in a different step (with the difference charged or refunded) and the host's cancellation policy applies to the new dates from the moment the change is confirmed. The 48-hour period in section 3(c) runs from the original confirmation and does not restart. A guest who shortens a stay after check-in is treated as cancelling the remaining nights.

10. No-shows and early departures

A guest who does not arrive and does not cancel is treated as having cancelled at check-in. A guest who leaves early is treated as having cancelled the remaining nights at the time they leave. The host's cancellation policy applies in both cases.

11. How refunds are paid

Refunds are made by our payment provider to the payment method used for the booking, from the money held for the booking. Halo Club does not issue credit or vouchers in place of refunds. Most refunds appear within 5 to 10 working days of being issued, depending on the card issuer. A host's payout is released 14 days after check-out and is held while a report about the stay is open, so a refund decided after a report normally comes out of the payout before it is released. Where a refund under this policy is decided after the host has already been paid, Halo Club will pay the refund to the guest and recover it from the host under section 7 of the terms of use.

12. Questions and reports

A problem with a stay, or a question about a refund, should be raised as a report through the app within 14 days of check-out. Halo Club hears both sides, applies this policy to the facts it can verify and explains its decision. Nothing in this policy limits a guest's or a host's legal rights.

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