Payment Protection

Please note that we at Simply Owners have never had a single incident or claim relating to Owners Direct Payment Protection since the launch of our site whilst we have been trading, (since 2016). We have facilitated hundreds of thousands of holiday bookings during this time. This 100% security record is due to the rigour and vetting procedures we apply to both owners and their properties prior to allowing them to advertise on our site and both owners and holidaymakers following our advice.
We are proud of our reputation as the SAFE SITE for holidaymakers to come to find their Holiday Rental and book direct with the Owner without booking fees.

How it works

Simply Owners enables its property owners to issue an Owner Direct Payment Protection Certificate to holidaymakers upon booking their property. This is subject to holidaymakers having found the property and contacted the owner on the verified telephone number held for the owners on the Simply Owners site.
Whilst the holidaymaker only pays the Owners price and Simply Owners do not add a penny to that price in any way we still want to ensure that Owners protect holidaymakers from the two main scams that have occurred in this sector on other sites.

Steps to follow

Payment protection is guaranteed for those holidaymakers who meticulously follow the method of payment, detailed below.
Don’t allow scammers to phish or hack your emails to redirect your payments away from owners to their scam accounts. Only ever use emails to send general enquiries and receive general information and always check they are from Simply Owners or the homeowner, you should never communicate with anyone else.

 

• Choose your holiday-home.
• Contact owner by phone or email.
• Discuss all matters except bank / payment details.
• Acquire a satisfactory booking contract that details every aspect of your arrangement not least the terms of payment for deposits, balances, bonds and cancellations etc.
• Phone the owner, using the trusted phone number provided by Simply Owners to verify payment details, found here on their advert:

• Make a direct payment (by credit card, debit card, Paypal or bank transfer) to the details acquired from the call you made directly to the holiday homeowner on the trusted phone number provided by Simply Owners.
• Make a note of the date of the phone calls and payments.
• Do not discuss any payments with anyone other than the owner via the trusted number on the Simply Owners website.
• Retain all documentation and copies of correspondence such as rental agreement terms etc.
• After any booking has been made direct with the owner, request your payment protection certificate to be emailed to you from the owner.
• You must be in possession of a valid Payment Protection Certificate to be considered for a claim.
• Take careful note with photos or videos of the property upon arrival with particular attention to anything that concerns you or you believe may be faulty.
• Retain all documentation and correspondence related to your booking which can include emails, phone records, rental agreement terms etc.

What does it protect against?

There are two common scams that the owner Direct Payment Protection  covers against:

• Spoof Properties:  After booking holidays on other sites some holidaymakers have arrived at their destination to find that the property has been fabricated and does not exist. We vet owners and their properties to ensure that they are legitimate before allowing them to advertise on our site and so ensure that they do exist.
• Payment interceptions by scammers: On other sites holidaymakers have had their communications hacked by scammers and had their payments diverted away from the intended receiver. We vet owners and ensure that when holidaymakers call the owner on the vetted and trusted phone number held on our site they know that they are speaking with the real owner or their authorised property manager and therefore can be sure of the legitimacy of any payment details supplied.

Please note Payment Protection applies solely to these two dimensions and only then when owners and holidaymakers have meticulously followed the Simply Owners advice.

What is not covered?

Whilst we take steps to verify advertisers, unfortunately we cannot account for advertisers who do not comply with our terms, or who break the law or otherwise go rogue. Any such incident would not be covered by the Owner Direct Payment Promise. Simply Owners will however support holidaymakers with their claims in the courts against any advertisers breaking the law.

How to claim under our Payment Promise?

To make a claim for compensation under the Payment Promise, you are required to provide all such evidence as may reasonably be required to access the claim. Such evidence will vary for each individual situation and circumstances, but will include evidence of your booking, bank statements showing payment to the owner direct and all correspondence between the parties.
You must also be in possession of a valid Owner Direct Payment Protection Certificate provided by the advertiser at the precise time of entering the booking onto the Owners Calendar and this booking is showing on the respective property calendar.

Our decision

Whether you qualify for recompense shall be determined by Simply Owners and the owner in absolute sole discretion. You acknowledge and agree that any decision made relating to either your entitlement of compensation or the level of compensation shall be final and cannot be challenged.

Simply Owners reserves the right to revise or withdraw its support for the Owner Direct Payment Promise at any time and at our sole discretion by amending the applicable web page on the Website or by publishing notices elsewhere on the website.

As you can appreciate, we do not act as an insurance policy. We strongly recommend that you take out adequate holiday insurance to cover all eventualities. If you have the ability to claim under an insurance policy, please consider doing so before submitting a claim via the Owner Direct Payment Protection. A claim or payment made under the Payment Promise may invalidate your right to make a subsequent claim under your insurance policy.

Please note Payment Protection applies solely to these two dimensions and only then when owners and holidaymakers have meticulously followed the Simply Owners advice on booking and paying directly with the owner. These terms and conditions should be read in conjunction with the main Terms and Conditions, the Privacy Policy and the Cookie Policy detailed on this web-site. If you do not agree to any aspect of these Terms and Conditions then you have no right to apply for reimbursement under this Policy.

This Policy may be revised at any time and at our sole discretion by amending the applicable web page on the website or by publishing notices elsewhere on the website.

To get this Payment Protection into context Simply Owners is an advertising service for advertisers and an accommodation search facility for Holidaymakers. We do not own, nor have we inspected, nor do we have any control whatsoever over any property listed on our site and we make no representations or warranties regarding any of the properties on our website.

We do not have any contractual arrangement whatsoever with the holidaymaker, as their contract is solely with the Holiday-Home Owner (Advertiser).

Ultimately it will be at Simply Owners Ltd's and the Owners sole discretion as to whether an Owner Direct Payment Protection claim is valid and is recompensed. Any claim against the Owner Direct Payment Protection will be limited to £2000 per booking.