Last updated: [ DATE ]  ·  This policy forms part of our Terms of Supply.

We would always rather reschedule than cancel, and rather talk than invoice. If circumstances have changed, tell us early — early almost always costs less, for both of us.

1. Who this applies to

1.1      This policy covers all bookings and engagements with AltarSeal Media Limited.

1.2      Some parts apply only to consumers — individuals buying for purposes outside a business, trade or profession. Those parts are marked. If you are a church, charity, company or other organisation, the business sections apply to you.

1.3      If you are not sure which you are, ask before you book. We will tell you straight, and we will put it in the quotation.

Drafting note: a plain explanation here prevents the most common dispute of all — a customer asserting a statutory right they do not have, or a business quietly denying one that applies.

2. If you are a consumer

DRAFTING REQUIRED — your adviser must complete this section. The outline below is indicative only.

2.1      [ Where the contract was made at a distance or away from our premises, you generally have 14 days from the day after the contract is made in which to cancel without giving a reason. ]

2.2      [ Where you have asked us to begin the work within that 14-day period, and we have done so, you may be required to pay for what has been provided up to the point you cancel. ]

2.3      [ Where the service has been fully performed within the 14-day period at your express request and with your acknowledgement that the right would be lost, the right to cancel may no longer apply. ]

2.4      [ Certain contracts are excluded from these rights, including some for leisure services on a specified date. Your adviser should confirm whether any of your event work falls within an exclusion. ]

2.5      To cancel, write to [ CANCELLATION CONTACT EMAIL ]. A clear statement is enough — a form is not required.

2.6      Refunds due under this section are made within 14 days of us being told, using the same payment method you used.

2.7      Nothing in this policy affects your statutory rights.

3. If you are a business, church or other organisation

Statutory cancellation rights do not apply. The sections below govern instead, and they are the terms we and you agreed at booking.

4. Deposits

4.1      A deposit reserves your place in our calendar and covers work that begins immediately: scheduling, turning down other enquiries for the same dates, reserving crew and equipment, and pre-production.

4.2      Because that work starts on acceptance, deposits are non-refundable once we have begun, except where this policy or the law says otherwise.

4.3      If you cancel before we have started any work, we will refund the deposit less [ any costs already committed / an administration fee of £X ]. Tell us quickly and there is usually nothing to deduct.

4.4      A deposit is always applied against the final price. It is not an additional charge.

The second sentence of 4.1 is doing the persuading. A deposit that is explained — “we turned other work away for your date” — is accepted; an unexplained non-refundable deposit feels like a penalty, and for a Christian brand serving churches that perception costs more than the money.

5. Cancelling an event booking

Event work — livestreaming, broadcasting, photography, event coverage — is sold by date. Once a date is reserved we decline other bookings for it, and late cancellation means the date usually cannot be resold.

 

You cancel	You pay
More than [ 30 ] days before	Deposit only
[ 15–30 ] days before	[ 50 ]% of the total
[ 8–14 ] days before	[ 75 ]% of the total
[ 7 ] days or fewer before	[ 100 ]% of the total

 

5.1      Third-party costs already committed on your behalf — equipment hire, travel, accommodation, venue fees, freelance crew — are payable in addition, whenever you cancel. We will evidence them.

5.2      Where we are able to resell the date, we will reduce the charge accordingly. We will always try.

6. Moving a date

6.1      We would much rather move a booking than lose it. You may reschedule once at no charge, provided you give us at least [ 14 ] days’ notice and the new date is within [ 6 ] months and we have availability.

6.2      Further changes, or changes at shorter notice, are treated as a cancellation and rebooking under section 5.

6.3      If the new date needs different resources — a longer day, more crew, more travel — we will requote the difference before confirming.

The single free reschedule is worth keeping. It costs very little in practice, it is genuinely useful for churches whose calendars move, and it is the clause clients remember and repeat.

7. Cancelling a project part-way through

For design, branding, website, print and post-production work:

7.1      You may stop a project at any time by writing to us.

7.2      You pay for work completed up to that point, plus any third-party costs already committed. We will provide a breakdown.

7.3      Where a deposit exceeds the value of work done, we refund the difference. Where the work done exceeds the deposit, we invoice the balance.

7.4      Intellectual property in unfinished work does not transfer to you unless it has been paid for in full. Concepts, drafts and working files remain ours.

7.5      We will hand over anything you have paid for in a usable format within [ 14 ] days of settlement.

8. Retainers and monthly services

8.1      Monthly services — social media management, website care plans, design retainers, media management — run on a rolling monthly basis unless the quotation says otherwise.

8.2      Either of us may end a retainer by giving [ 30 ] days’ written notice. Notice takes effect at the end of the next full billing period.

8.3      Work already delivered in the notice period is payable. Unused allowances do not carry over and are not refunded.

8.4      Annual retainers paid in advance are [ refunded pro rata from the end of the notice period, less any discount given for paying annually ].

8.5      At the end of a retainer we hand over access, files and accounts within [ 14 ] days. We do not withhold a client’s own accounts or content — [ subject to settlement of any outstanding invoices ].

Clause 8.5 is worth stating prominently rather than burying. Being held hostage by a former supplier over website logins and social accounts is a widespread and bitter experience in this market, and saying plainly that you do not do it is a genuine selling point.

9. Training and courses

9.1      On-site training sessions follow the event cancellation tiers in section 5.

9.2      Places on scheduled courses may be cancelled up to [ 14 ] days before for a full refund, or transferred to another person or date at any time.

9.3      Free courses can be left at any time, with nothing to refund.

9.4      [ Paid online courses: where a consumer is given immediate access to digital content, the right to cancel may be lost once access begins, provided the customer has agreed to that and acknowledged it. Your adviser should draft this. ]

10. Equipment and installations

10.1    Equipment ordered specifically for you cannot usually be cancelled once ordered, because our own supplier will not accept a return. We will tell you at the point of order when that applies.

10.2    Installation labour follows the event cancellation tiers in section 5, since it is a booked date.

10.3    Where equipment can be returned, any restocking charge applied by the supplier is passed on to you at cost.

11. If we have to cancel

11.1    We will do everything reasonable to avoid it. If we must cancel, we will tell you immediately and, where we can, arrange a suitably qualified alternative supplier at no extra cost to you.

11.2    If we cancel for any reason other than your breach or non-payment, you receive a full refund of everything paid for the cancelled work, including the deposit.

11.3    [ Consider whether to offer anything beyond a refund where we cancel at short notice on an event date — a contribution, a credit, or a discount on rebooking. It is not legally required. It is the difference between a client who understands and a client who tells other churches. ]

12. Things outside anyone’s control

12.1    Where either of us cannot proceed because of something beyond reasonable control — severe weather, illness, bereavement, venue closure, power or network failure, civil disruption, government restriction — neither is in breach.

12.2    We will first try to reschedule at no charge.

12.3    Where rescheduling is impossible, you pay for work already done and third-party costs already committed, and we refund the rest.

12.4    Neither of us is liable to the other for wider losses arising from such an event.

Churches remember how a supplier behaved when something went wrong more clearly than how they performed when everything went right. A generous, clearly written force majeure clause is cheap insurance on reputation.

13. Refunds

13.1    Refunds go back by the method used to pay, unless we agree otherwise.

13.2    We process refunds within [ 14 ] days of agreeing them. Your bank may take a few days more.

13.3    Where a payment was made in a currency other than sterling, we refund in sterling at the rate applying on the refund date. We are not responsible for exchange movements or your bank’s charges.

14. How to cancel or reschedule

Write to [ CANCELLATION CONTACT EMAIL ], or to your project lead with that address copied in. Include your name, your organisation, the project or booking reference, and the date affected. We will acknowledge within [ 2 ] working days and confirm what applies.

Please do not rely on a phone call or a message to a personal mobile. Write it down — it protects you as much as us.

15. If you’re unhappy

If you think this policy has been applied unfairly, tell us. Contact [ COMPLAINTS CONTACT ]. We will look at it properly and respond within [ 14 ] days. We have waived charges before where the circumstances warranted it, and we would rather be asked than assumed about.

That last sentence is the most commercially valuable line in the document. It signals that the policy is a framework rather than a weapon, which makes clients considerably more comfortable booking — and it costs nothing, because you retain the discretion either way.