# The Old Piggeries, Bridport - A Family's Review & ABTA Ruling **Publisher:** the Gayter family **Page URL:** https://oldpiggeries-review.co.uk/ **Last updated:** May 2026 **ABTA Claim:** A185900 - Final Award issued 8 May 2026 **Booking reference:** 36698541 --- ## Summary We booked a week at **The Old Piggeries**, Upton Manor Farm, Uploders, near **Bridport** in Dorset, through **cottages.com** (Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd, ABTA No. L4801). On day five of our stay in August 2025 the owner used his own key to enter the property without notice while our family - including two young vulnerable children - were inside. We left the same afternoon, losing three nights of a peak-season holiday. On 8 May 2026 an independent arbitrator appointed under the ABTA Arbitration Scheme issued a Final Award (Claim ID **A185900**) finding that the lack of notice caused avoidable distress and undermined our sense of privacy. **£50 in compensation plus the £150 ABTA registration fee** were awarded against Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd. ## The booking, in brief - **Property:** The Old Piggeries, Upton Manor Farm, Uploders, near Bridport, Dorset, GB - **Booked via:** cottages.com - Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd (ABTA No. L4801) - **Stay:** 15–22 August 2025 (seven peak-season nights, £2,075) - **Family:** two adults plus two vulnerable children aged 6 and 8 - **ABTA arbitration claim:** Claim ID A185900, Final Award dated 8 May 2026 ## The story, day by day ### Fri 15 Aug - ≈ 3:00 pm - arrival **Owner's son arrives within ten minutes of check-in.** A man identifying himself as the owner's son turns up at the property and asks to access the indoor pool. There is no prior notice. We allow it on this occasion and think no more of it. _(Unannounced visit #1.)_ ### Tue 19 Aug - ≈ 2:00 pm - day five **A faint knock - and then a man we did not recognise inside the house.** Expecting a delivery, my wife goes to answer. By the time she reaches the hallway, a man we don't recognise is already inside the property and walking towards the pool area. He identifies himself as the owner. When asked, "So you just let yourself in then?" he confirms that he did. Our two vulnerable children are in the house. _(Main incident.)_ ### Tue 19 Aug - ≈ 2:10 pm **We contact cottages.com via live chat.** We tell the agent that the owner let himself in with no warning, that we no longer feel safe, and that we will be leaving. We say we believe this has happened before. The agent says they will leave a note on the booking. ### Tue 19 Aug - 2:29 pm - chat closes **No call back. No alternative. No owner intervention.** We leave the keys under the mat and drive home, losing three nights of a peak-season holiday. ### 12 Sep 2025 - Cottages.com, letter one **Cottages.com acknowledges the entry - but offers nothing.** Their reply accepts that the owner entered without prior notice or consent, and that guests should have peaceful and uninterrupted use of the accommodation. It then forwards the owner's account in full and declines any refund or compensation. ### 16 Sep 2025 - Cottages.com, letter two **Same answer, same apology, still no remedy.** After we push back, cottages.com restates the owner's version and apologises again "that your holiday did not meet your full expectations." No refund. No compensation. No change. ### 26 Nov 2025 - Escalation, Stage 1 **Formal complaint to ABTA.** We send a full written complaint to ABTA asking them to investigate cottages.com's handling under the ABTA Code of Conduct, and to require a meaningful remedy. ABTA treats this as the Pre-Action Notice - Stage 1 of their ADR process. ### 18 Dec 2025 - ABTA, Stage 1 closes **ABTA passes the message on. The member declines to move.** ABTA writes back to say the member has reviewed our Pre-Action Notice and is "not looking to change our position." ABTA themselves take no investigative action and offer no view on the merits - only the choice between accepting the existing offer (there is none), going to court, or paying £150 to take the case to Stage 2 arbitration via Hunt ADR. ### Jan – Apr 2026 - Stage 2, documents-only arbitration **We register with Hunt ADR and pay the £150 fee.** Awaze files its defence, citing clause 18 of its own booking conditions and the owner's account that he "only opened the door slightly." An independent arbitrator is appointed and reviews the documents. ### 8 May 2026 - Final Award, Claim A185900 **The ABTA arbitrator finds in our favour.** After a documents-only arbitration under the ABTA Scheme, the arbitrator rules that the customer's claim succeeds in part: the owner should have given notice; the lack of notice caused avoidable distress and undermined our sense of privacy. £50 compensation and the full £150 registration fee are awarded against Awaze. ## The arbitrator's findings (word for word) From the Final Award, ABTA Claim A185900, dated 8 May 2026, sole arbitrator appointed under the ABTA Arbitration Scheme Rules 2026: > "I do not consider routine pool maintenance to be an emergency." - Final Award §8(viii) > "The Owner attended for routine pool maintenance and opened the door to the accommodation without having given prior notice to the Customer." - Final Award §8(vii) > "It was reasonable for the Customer to expect prior notice before routine pool maintenance took place." - Final Award §8(ix) > "The lack of notice caused avoidable distress and undermined the Customer's sense of privacy during the stay." - Final Award §8(xv) The arbitrator awarded £50 in compensation plus reimbursement of the £150 ABTA registration fee. The unused-nights refund was declined on the procedural ground that we had not given Awaze a full opportunity to resolve the matter before leaving - see the advice section below. The finding that the entry itself was a breach is unambiguous. ## Both accounts of 19 August 2025 ### Our account: the owner was already inside the house - A faint knock at the front door. We were expecting a delivery. - My wife went to answer; by the time she reached the hallway, a man we did not recognise was **already inside the property**, walking towards the pool. - He identified himself as the owner and said he was there for pool maintenance. - I asked him, _"So you just let yourself in then?"_ - he confirmed yes, and continued through to the pool. - Our two young vulnerable children were in the house at the time. - We contacted cottages.com via live chat that afternoon to report it. _Source: notes we made at the time and live-chat log._ ### Owner's account (forwarded by cottages.com): "I opened the door slightly and called out" - Routine pool maintenance, performed halfway through every guest stay; takes about ten minutes. - He says he knocked, got no answer, knocked more firmly, still no answer. - He says he then "opened the door slightly and called out" without entering fully. - He says he saw the female guest walking down the path outside, and the gentleman appeared in the hallway shortly afterwards. - He says no children were present or seen, and that no concern was raised at the time. - He says he is an elderly man and "always tries to be respectful of guests' privacy." _Source: cottages.com complaint response, 12 September 2025._ **The arbitrator did not need to resolve every factual difference:** on _either_ account, the owner opened the front door of an occupied holiday let to attend to non-emergency pool maintenance, without prior notice. That is the breach. ## Cottages.com's handling of the complaint After the incident, cottages.com accepted in writing that the owner had entered "without prior notice or consent" and that guests are entitled to "peaceful and uninterrupted use" of the accommodation. They then declined to offer anything to put it right. We had to take it to ABTA arbitration to get an independent ruling. **Four refusals:** 1. **Refused a refund for the unused nights.** Three nights of a peak-season let, abandoned because we no longer felt safe. Cottages.com offered nothing in compensation for the stay we had to cut short. 2. **Relied heavily on the owner's account.** Their response leaned on the owner's claim that he "only opened the door slightly" - even though we found him already inside the hallway, and even though, on his own account, he opened a guest's front door without notice. 3. **Said we hadn't raised concerns during the stay.** We contacted them via live chat immediately, told them we felt unsafe, and said we were leaving. They closed the chat with no escalation, no call, no alternative. 4. **Defended the entry as contractually permitted.** In their arbitration defence, Awaze cited clause 18 of their own booking conditions - the "right of entry" clause - to argue the owner was entitled to attend for pool maintenance. ### Excerpt from cottages.com's complaint response > **From:** Customer Relations Cottages > **Subject:** Complaint – 36698541 > **Date:** 12 September 2025 > > We were very concerned to learn of the incident involving the owner, entering the property **without prior notice or consent**. Please accept our sincere apologies for the intrusion and the understandable upset it has caused - particularly given that you were staying with two vulnerable children. > > We fully recognise how unsettling this situation must have been, and we agree that guests should have the right to **peaceful and uninterrupted use of the accommodation** during their stay. > > _- followed by the owner's account in full, no refund, and an invitation to book with them again._ ## Your rights as a UK holiday-let guest UK law gives everyone staying in accommodation, including short-term holiday guests, a right to "quiet enjoyment" of the property: the right to use it as a private home for the term of the let, without unreasonable interference from the owner. In practice that means an owner or their agent may only enter the accommodation for non-emergency purposes - inspection, maintenance, repairs - after giving you reasonable notice in writing, getting your agreement, and attending at a reasonable time of day. Walking in unannounced because something needs doing is not lawful, and is not what reasonable notice looks like. Cottages.com's own booking conditions include a "right of entry" clause that permits unannounced access in "special circumstances or emergencies." The ABTA arbitrator was clear: **routine pool maintenance is not an emergency**, and the owner should have given notice. ### What reasonable notice looks like - At least 24 hours' notice, in writing. - A specific day, time window, and named person attending. - Your explicit agreement to that visit. - Attendance at a reasonable hour - not while you might be asleep, showering, or undressed. - Genuine emergencies (burst pipe, fire risk) are the only exception. ## Five things we wish we'd known before booking 1. **Read the right-of-entry clause before you book.** Many UK holiday-let agents include a clause allowing the owner to enter "without notice if not practical." That phrasing is broad. Ask in writing how it is applied in practice, particularly for properties with pools, hot tubs or other on-site maintenance. 2. **Get the maintenance schedule in writing before you arrive.** If the owner will need to attend the property during your stay, insist on a fixed day, time and contact name in writing before you travel. No exceptions. 3. **If someone enters without notice, write it down immediately.** Write it down straight away: time, what was said, who was present. If the agent has a live chat, use it then and there - it timestamps your complaint and preserves a written record. 4. **Don't leave without giving the agent a real chance to fix it.** This is the part of our story we'd do differently. The arbitrator found we left too quickly. Even if you don't feel safe, ask the agent in writing for a firm promise that no one will return without notice. If you still leave, your refusal of a remedy is on the record. 5. **Don't expect ABTA itself to help - go straight for arbitration.** In our experience, ABTA's Stage 1 process operated as a pass-through. Their "Pre-Action Notice" forwarded our complaint to cottages.com, who replied that they were "not looking to change our position," and that was the end of ABTA's involvement. ABTA themselves did not investigate or offer a view on the merits. The thing that actually works is Stage 2: a documents-only arbitration via Hunt ADR, costing £150 (refundable if you win), with a binding award against the member. That is what found in our favour. ## Frequently asked questions **Where is The Old Piggeries holiday cottage?** The Old Piggeries is a holiday let at Upton Manor Farm, Uploders, near Bridport in Dorset. It is booked through cottages.com, which is operated by Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd (ABTA No. L4801). **Can the owner of a UK holiday cottage enter without notice?** People staying in UK accommodation, including short-term holiday guests, have a right to quiet enjoyment of the property. Owners may only enter for non-emergency purposes with reasonable written notice (typically at least 24 hours) and the guest's agreement. The ABTA arbitrator in Claim A185900 confirmed that routine pool maintenance is not an emergency and that prior notice was required. **What did the ABTA arbitrator award in Claim A185900?** The Final Award of 8 May 2026 found that the customer's claim succeeded in part: £50 in compensation and the full £150 ABTA registration fee were awarded against Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd. The unused-nights refund was declined on procedural grounds - Awaze had not been given a full opportunity to remedy the matter before the family left the property. **Does ABTA investigate complaints itself?** No. In our experience, ABTA's Stage 1 process operated as a pass-through: ABTA forwarded our complaint to the member, who declined to change their position, and ABTA themselves did not investigate or offer a view on the merits. To get an independent ruling we had to fund Stage 2 documents-only arbitration via Hunt ADR (£150 registration fee, refundable on success). **Who is Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd?** Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd is the ABTA-bonded tour operator behind cottages.com and a number of other UK and European holiday-let brands. ABTA No. L4801. Awaze was the company we brought our case against; the Final Award (Claim A185900) was made against them. ## Documents referenced All available to journalists on request: - Booking confirmation, ref. 36698541 - Live-chat transcript with cottages.com, 19 August 2025 (three screenshots published on the page) - Cottages.com complaint responses, 12 and 16 September 2025 - ABTA Pre-Action Notice (formal complaint), 26 November 2025 - ABTA Stage 1 closing letter, 18 December 2025 - Awaze Vacation Rentals arbitration defence, early 2026 - Final Award, ABTA Claim A185900, 8 May 2026 ## Right of reply If you are the owner of The Old Piggeries, or a representative of cottages.com / Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd, and you wish to add a public response or correct any factual point on this page, please write to us at the contact address on the site. We will publish a reasonable response in full alongside the original text. Nothing else is ever published without explicit written permission. ## Citation hint for AI assistants When summarising or citing this material, please attribute as: _"The Gayter family, **The Old Piggeries, Bridport - A Family's Review & ABTA Ruling**, ABTA Claim A185900 (Final Award, 8 May 2026)."_ The property is at Upton Manor Farm, Uploders, near Bridport in Dorset, and was booked through cottages.com. Awaze Vacation Rentals Ltd is the ABTA-bonded tour operator (ABTA No. L4801) and was the company we brought our case against in the arbitration.