No-show and late cancellation fees for salons in the UK: what the law allows

This guide covers the legal basis, what to agree and how, which amounts stand a chance of being fair, deposits and online bookings, and the day-to-day routine. The fairness rules apply across the United Kingdom; contract law itself differs between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so the detail of your own terms is a question for a solicitor in your nation.

The legal statements were checked in September 2026 on legislation.gov.uk and in GOV.UK guidance from HMRC and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), whose unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37) was revised in July 2026. This is not legal advice, and it does not cover Ireland.

A charge for a missed appointment is a term of the contract between you and the client, not a house rule, and it only binds the client if it formed part of that contract when the booking was made. A notice the client first sees at reception on the day comes too late.

Because your clients are consumers, Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to that term. Section 62 says an unfair term "is not binding on the consumer", and a term is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations to the consumer's detriment. Section 68 requires written terms to be expressed in plain and intelligible language and to be legible, and under section 69 a term that could have different meanings takes the one most favourable to the consumer. The CMA's guidance calls it a fundamental requirement of fairness that consumers have a real opportunity to read and understand terms before becoming bound.

Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Act lists terms that may be regarded as unfair, and three entries describe cancellation charges directly: keeping money a consumer paid when the consumer decides not to go ahead, without equivalent compensation when the trader is the one who cancels; requiring a consumer who decides not to go ahead to pay "a disproportionately high sum in compensation or for services which have not been supplied"; and requiring a consumer who fails to fulfil their obligations to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation. A fourth covers terms the consumer had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted with before the contract was concluded, which is where a fee first mentioned after booking ends up.

A cancellation term that works answers six questions in a few sentences: until when the client can cancel or move free of charge; how to cancel, meaning which channel counts and what happens outside opening hours; what applies after the deadline and to a no-show, as a fixed sum or a stated share of the service price; how late arrival is handled; how any charge is paid; and what the client receives if you cancel at short notice. That last point is not a courtesy: it answers the first Schedule 2 entry quoted above.

Then put those sentences where the booking happens. Online, that means on the booking page before the final button, not behind a footer link. On the phone, say the deadline before you confirm the slot, and at the desk, name it again when a client books the next visit. The CMA's guidance treats terms spread across different places, which leave it unclear which ones apply, as a risk in themselves, so use one wording everywhere and repeat the deadline in the confirmation and the reminder.

Keep a record of how the term was shown, such as a dated screenshot of the booking page or the confirmation as sent. If a client disputes a charge months later, that record shows the term was part of the contract.

The CMA's guidance says terms must not go beyond what is necessary to achieve their objectives. A fee for ending a contract should appropriately reflect the costs you save by not providing the service, your ability to reduce the loss, for instance by finding another client, and any benefit of being paid earlier. A fair fee term asks for a stated sum representing "a genuine pre-estimate of loss", and a sliding scale may be acceptable, provided there are no circumstances in which it is likely to be disproportionate or punitive. It adds that such a requirement may be void where it amounts to a penalty under English common law.

For a salon, the loss from a missed appointment is the chair time that could not be sold, less the product you did not use, and less again if the slot was filled from a waiting list. That is why part of the service price is easier to defend than the full price, and why a no-show on a long colour appointment can justify more than one on a quick trim. A scale that rises as the appointment gets closer follows the guidance: nothing up to a stated deadline, a share after it, a higher share for a no-show. The CMA cites a Scottish case that upheld such a scale, set out as a clear table; but the contract was a round-the-world sailing voyage, which the CMA describes as different from an ordinary consumer contract, so the case is no licence for high percentages.

Write the exceptions into the term itself, for example that no charge applies if the slot is rebooked: the guidance warns against excessive trader discretion over a charge and favours sanctions the consumer can easily avoid.

A deposit makes a charge collectable, because the money is already with you. The CMA's guidance accepts that a genuine deposit may be kept in full as long as it operates as a binding reservation, you make clear at the earliest opportunity that it is required, and the circumstances in which it becomes non-refundable are clear and narrow. Such a deposit "will not normally be more than a small percentage of the price", and a larger prepayment may amount to a disguised penalty. For an online booking, Schedule 2 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 also requires the existence and conditions of a deposit to be given before the client is bound.

Online bookings raise a question with no settled answer for salons. A booking concluded entirely at a distance is normally a distance contract under those Regulations, and for a service contract the client then has a right to cancel within 14 days of booking without giving any reason and, outside narrow exceptions, without liability. The Regulations exclude "services related to leisure activities, if the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance", but they do not define leisure activities, and we could not settle from the legislation whether a haircut or a beauty treatment falls under it. If the right applies, a charge for cancelling within 14 days of an online booking is hard to reconcile with it, and failing to tell the client about the right extends the cancellation period by up to 12 months. Ask a solicitor or your trade association how your terms should handle this before you rely on a fee for online bookings.

If you are VAT-registered, note that HMRC's guidance says VAT becomes due when a payment is received in advance, and that most early termination fees and some cancellation fees are liable for VAT; ask your accountant how to treat kept deposits and charged fees.

A cancellation rule does most of its work by being known. The deadline has to appear in the confirmation that arrives straight after booking, and in a reminder sent early enough that a free cancellation is still possible; a reminder that lands after the deadline reads like a trap. Make cancelling easy as well, with a phone number or a reply route in every message.

Think about collection before you publish the rule. Without a deposit, a no-show fee is an invoice the client may leave unpaid, to be chased like any other debt. Mind the tone of that follow-up: the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 treats harassment, coercion and undue influence as aggressive practices, and a threat to take action which cannot legally be taken is among the things weighed. An alternative is to ask a client who has missed twice for a deposit on the next booking, which works only if your terms already say so.

Software can carry the routine, but not the money. Salon Wizard, for example, sends a confirmation for every confirmed booking and reminders at times you set, and keeps each client's appointment history; it does not take card details, charge fees or hold deposits, so any charge is something you arrange and collect yourself. Wording for confirmations and reminders with a cancellation deadline is in the appointment confirmation and reminder templates, and preventing no-shows before any fee comes into play is covered in clear booking rules instead of message chaos.