Running a club · 6 min read · October 2026

Cancellation policy template for court bookings

A free template for tennis, padel, squash and pickleball clubs. Make seven decisions, fill in the blanks in square brackets, and publish the same text on your booking page, your confirmations and at the front desk. Written in plain British English, with the UK and EU consumer rules it is built around.

Seven decisions before you copy it

When does free cancellation end?: A number of hours before the booking (Vera Sport in Łódź uses 24), or a clock deadline such as 17:00 the day before, which is easier to remember for evening slots.
What does a late cancellation cost?: The full court fee, or part of it. Whatever you choose, it should not be more than the court fee for that slot.
What does a no-show cost?: Usually the full court fee — the same as a late cancellation, or more if you only charge part for late cancellations.
Where do refunds go?: Back to the card or payment method, or as credit on the player’s account. Say how long it takes.
Can players move a booking instead?: You can allow free moves before the deadline and treat a move after it as a late cancellation, so the move is not a loophole.
What if you resell the slot?: Refund or credit the player who cancelled late. It is fairer, and UK guidance points that way (see below).
What about weather and club closures?: If you cancel — maintenance, an event, an unplayable outdoor court — the player gets a full refund or a free rebooking.

Where to set the deadline depends on when your cancellations arrive. Across bookings in Playmore, 57% of cancellations happen in the last 24 hours before the slot, so a 24-hour window puts most of them on the paid side of the line.

The template

[Club name] — Court booking and cancellation policy

Effective from [date]

1. Booking and payment

A court booking is confirmed when it has been paid in full [online at the time of booking].
The price shown before payment is the full price for the court time booked. [There are no other charges.]

2. Cancelling a booking

You can cancel free of charge up to [24] hours before the start of your booking. Option: You can cancel free of charge until [17:00] on the day before your booking.
The exact time until which you can cancel free of charge is shown on your booking confirmation.
If you cancel in time, we refund the full amount [to your original payment method / as credit on your account] within [5] working days.
If you cancel after that time, we keep [the full price / [50]% of the price] of the booking, because we can rarely rebook the court at such short notice.
Optional: If another player books and pays for the same court time after you cancel late, we will [refund you in full / give you credit for the price].

3. Not turning up

If you do not turn up and have not cancelled, the booking is charged in full.
If a booking was not paid in advance, the amount becomes due, and we may ask you to pay it before you book again.
Optional: After [3] bookings not attended or cancelled late within [3 months], we may require payment in advance for all your bookings.

4. Arriving late

Your booking ends at the time booked. We cannot extend it or give a partial refund if you arrive late.

5. Changing a booking

You can move a booking to another free slot [of the same or higher price] up to [24] hours before it starts. After that, a change counts as a late cancellation.

6. Bookings for several players

The person who makes the booking is responsible for it. If players split the payment, each player’s share follows the same rules.

7. Regular weekly bookings

Each session of a regular booking follows the rules above. To end a regular booking, tell us at least [2] weeks before the next session you want to cancel.

8. Coaching, courses and events

Coaching sessions, courses, leagues and events may have their own cancellation rules, shown when you book them.

9. Weather (outdoor courts)

If our staff decide that an outdoor court is not playable, we will offer you [a full refund / a free rebooking].

10. If we cancel

If we have to cancel your booking — for example for maintenance, an event or a closure — we will tell you as soon as we can and refund you in full [or offer a free rebooking, if you prefer].

11. Exceptions

If you cannot play because of illness, injury or an emergency, contact us at [email / phone]. We may waive the charge.

12. Your rights

This policy does not affect your statutory rights. Questions: [email / phone].

Free to use and adapt. Delete the options you do not use and the square brackets.

The one-line version for checkout

Players do not read twelve clauses before paying for an hour of padel. Put one sentence next to the pay button and in the confirmation, and link to the full policy.

Hours rule

“Free cancellation until 24 hours before your booking. After that, or if you do not turn up, the booking is charged in full.”

Clock rule

“Free cancellation until 17:00 the day before your booking. After that, or if you do not turn up, the booking is charged in full.”

Why the clauses are written this way

The charge stops at the court fee (clauses 2–3). The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (Schedule 2, paragraph 6) and the EU Unfair Terms Directive (Annex, point 1(e)) list a “disproportionately high sum in compensation” as a term that may be unfair.
The resale option (clause 2). The CMA’s 2016 letter on cancellation terms says charges are more likely to be fair when they reflect the business’s net loss, “minus the amount it has saved from not providing the services or finding another consumer”. The letter was written to wedding and event venues; the principle is the same for a court.
Full refund when the club cancels (clauses 9–10). A term that lets the business keep the consumer’s money when they cancel, without the same for the consumer when the business cancels, is on both the UK and EU lists (Schedule 2, paragraph 4; Annex, point 1(d)).
No 14-day cooling-off clause. Leisure services booked for a specific date or period are excluded from the right to cancel within 14 days in the UK (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28(1)(h)) and the EU (Consumer Rights Directive, Article 16(l)), so a court booking is covered by your own rule.
Plain words. The CMA asks for terms communicated “in a clear, informative and easily understandable way”. “Free until 17:00 the day before” beats “no later than T-minus 24 hours”.

This is a summary of public guidance, not legal advice. Outside the UK and the EU, check the consumer rules where your club is.

Deciding what to charge, and how to collect it? Read no-show fees for court bookings.

Running this policy in Playmore

Clause 1: Online prepayment can be required for every booking: card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or a payment link, with split payment between players (clause 6).
Clause 2: The free-cancellation window is a club setting, in hours or as a clock deadline such as 17:00 the day before. Each booking shows the player the exact date and time. Cancellations in time are refunded to the Playmore wallet or the card, depending on how the club takes payments; late cancellations are not refunded.
Clause 3: Reception can mark a player as not present. An unpaid late cancellation stays on the player’s account as an amount due; reception can send a payment link and the player is asked to settle it before booking again.
Clause 11: Reception can change a late cancellation to an on-time one, and those changes are listed in a report.
Reporting: No-show and late-cancellation reports show what they cost, when they happen by day and hour, and which players do it most often.

More on bookings and payments: Playmore court booking system.

Sources (checked October 2026)

Policy written?

Let the booking system enforce it

A 20-minute call: how your deadline, refunds and no-show rule work for players and for reception.

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