The thorny question of deposit or booking fee – Wedding Photographers Legal Advice

Here are some of the questions about deposit or booking fee that I get asked most often by wedding photographers –

  • ‘What should I call the initial down-payment?’

There is no legal definition of deposit or booking fee. How a Judge would view them, and the answer to whether a deposit or booking fee would be enforceable, arises primarily from case law – that means previously decided cases. In simple terms the higher a court and the more senior a judge decides a case, then that binds lower courts and judges, and creates precedents that should be followed. There‘s no magic to calling  a deposit or booking fee one thing or another, that means you are certain to be able to recover it, or keep it in the face of a cancellation or dispute, but there are some things that would help massively.

A contract in writing with a clear payment schedule, and cancellation clauses, is a must. We have a template to buy here that does this…

Read on for some other great tips.

  • ‘Is there a legal difference between a booking fee and a deposit’

In short – no – but you might like to add some detail about why you are taking the initial payment. What’s its purpose? First and foremost, it is to save the date of the event you are photographing so no other person books you.  If the arrangements you have were to be cancelled, you would lose the opportunity to deliver your services and thus get paid for the full price of your services. The key here is that you would lose the profits of the day, so its important to think about how that might be different to your actual fee.

For example, if you charge £1000 for the shoot, and it costs you £600 to undertake it– the lost opportunity translates into £400 profit (hopefully!) Thus, a non-returnable deposit of £400 would be justifiable.

It doesn’t need to be as explicit as that but think it through. Set out in your contract why you have the deposit and what it secures. If you have to do some preparatory work for the event, and the deposit covers that too – say so.

  • ‘How much should the deposit be?’

In general terms a deposit should be a proportion of the fee (so a 95% deposit is clearly a non starter….) I would suggest up to 50% of the total cost – no more! If all you are doing is securing the date, a smaller percentage may be appropriate, but this will depend on time scale. It’s easier to justify a higher percentage deposit if you are being booked closer to the event date. Why? Because if you have a long lead time then the chances of you getting alternative work on a date in 3 years’ time are much higher than getting alternative work in say 3 months.

  • ‘Can it be non-refundable?’

Yes, if you have been clear about this in your contract. There are some rules about online contracts and cancellation periods so do be careful if you are exclusively dealing with online enquiries. However, most wedding photographers will have more interaction with their clients to secure a booking than simply an online enquiry. It may start with that, but you will chat, you may meet, you may go to the venue and do a ‘reccy’. This all has an impact on the online cancellation requirements so take advice, and I don’t mean from the internet….

Contact Stanford Gould if we can help.

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