Deposits that protect your diary,
and keep clients on side.

How should a salon take deposits?

Take a deposit by card when the client books, on the treatments a no-show would hurt most, such as long appointments and first visits. Keep it to a small part of the price, tell the client before they pay exactly when it stops being refundable, and give it back or move it when they give you the notice you asked for. If you’re the one who cancels, always give it back. Covered Beauty, which we make, takes the deposit as part of the online booking and pays it into your own Stripe account, with no commission.

This is general information, not legal advice. We’ve linked the law and the regulator’s guidance at each step, and said what Covered Beauty does where it matters. For the words of your own policy, use our free cancellation policy writer.

Why take a deposit at all?

A no-show is time you can’t sell twice. A deposit asks the client to commit when they book, and when someone doesn’t come, part of your time is already paid for.

You don’t need one on everything. A missed two-hour full set is a hole in your day, a missed brow tidy much less so, and free consultations and patch tests often work better with none, so nothing stands between a new client and their first visit.

How much deposit should you take?

Start with what a no-show really costs you: the time you can’t fill at short notice, and anything you buy for that one client, such as hair for their extensions.

Then keep it to a small part of the price. The Competition and Markets Authority’s unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37, paragraph 6.62) says a genuine deposit may be kept in full if it works as a binding reservation, you make clear at the earliest opportunity that it’s needed, and the circumstances in which it isn’t refundable are clear and narrow. It adds that such a deposit won’t normally be more than a small percentage of the price, and a larger prepayment is more likely to be unfair.

Want more up front for a long or expensive treatment, such as semi-permanent makeup? Treat anything bigger than a small deposit as a prepayment. If the client cancels late, keep only what the late cancellation cost you, and give the rest back. The CMA’s guide to writing a fair contract says any prepayments or deposits you keep must take into account what your business will actually lose.

A fixed amount or a percentage?

In Covered Beauty you set a default deposit for the salon and change it for any treatment, so a patch test can have none while a full set takes a percentage. A deposit can never be more than the treatment’s price, and one set to nothing is saved as no deposit.

What must a client know before they pay?

Everything that decides whether they get their money back. The CMA’s guide says to bring important terms to the customer’s attention as soon as possible and make them easy to find on any device, and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says written terms must be transparent: in plain and intelligible language, and legible.

For online bookings, regulation 13 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 says that before the client is bound, you must give them the information in Schedule 2, clearly. That includes the total price, how payment works, the existence and conditions of any deposit, and any right to cancel. So tell them:

• the amount, and that it comes off the price
• exactly when it stops being refundable, in hours
• what happens if they’re late or don’t come
• how to cancel or move, and whether moving keeps their deposit
• that they get it back if you cancel

In Covered Beauty

The deposit shows next to each treatment on your booking page. Before booking, clients tick a box that says: “I understand that my deposit is non-refundable if I cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice or miss my appointment, and that I can cancel via the link in my confirmation email.” The hours come from your cancellation window, 24 unless you change it, and the pay page says the same above the pay button. Your own policy, pasted into Salon terms and conditions, sits on the booking form under Salon policies and terms, and clients tick to agree to it.

When can you keep a deposit?

When the client cancels later than your policy allows, or doesn’t turn up, and they knew the rule before they paid. Set your cancellation window at the notice you need to have a real chance of filling the time.

The CMA’s guide says you can protect your business when a customer cancels and it isn’t your fault, but making prepayments non-refundable whatever the reason they cancel is unlikely to be fair. So:

• Never keep a deposit when the client gave the notice you asked for.
• If you refill the time from your waiting list, think about moving the deposit to their next booking instead.
• A sliding scale, such as the deposit inside 48 hours and more for a no-show, may be acceptable if the charges are never likely to be disproportionate (CMA37, paragraph 6.64).

What if you cancel, or the client wants to move?

If you cancel, give the deposit back. The CMA’s guide says to refund prepayments when the customer isn’t at fault, and Schedule 2 of the Consumer Rights Act lists as possibly unfair a term letting you keep a client’s money when they cancel, without them being entitled to the same amount from you as compensation when you cancel. Under section 62, an unfair term isn’t binding on the client.

When a client gives enough notice, let your policy say whether they get a refund or can move the deposit, then do what it says. A move is often easier for both of you, and a refund doesn’t give you back the card fee.

In Covered Beauty

Deposits are never refunded automatically. To give one back, open the appointment and press Refund on the card payment, which refunds what’s left of it to the original card from your Stripe balance. For part of it, use your Stripe dashboard. To move a deposit, reschedule the appointment instead of cancelling it, and the deposit stays with it. A client who cancels in good time from their confirmation email is told you’ll refund or move it, as your policy says.

Do online bookings change anything?

Possibly. Regulation 29 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations lets a consumer cancel a contract made at a distance within the cancellation period without giving a reason, and for a service regulation 30 says that period ends 14 days after the contract is made. Regulation 36 says you mustn’t start a service within it unless the client has asked you to.

Regulation 28 makes an exception for services related to leisure activities with a specific date, and the regulations don’t say whether a beauty treatment counts. If you rely on keeping deposits from clients who book online, ask an adviser how this applies to you.

What do card fees cost?

Every card payment has a small fee, and you can’t add it on top. Regulation 6A of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 says a business must not charge a fee for paying by card, unless it’s a commercial card. Build it into your prices instead.

Source: Stripe UK pricing, checked 24 October 2026.

Stripe’s page also says international cards cost 2% more when the money has to be converted, a refund doesn’t give back the original fee, and each dispute, or chargeback, costs £20.

In Covered Beauty, deposits are taken on your own Stripe account, so Stripe takes its fee before the money reaches your bank. We don’t add a fee or take a commission. Stripe’s payouts guide gives 3 business days as the usual time for a UK payment to settle, and says your first payout typically arrives within 7 to 14 days of your first live payment.

Source: Stripe’s guide to payouts, checked 24 October 2026.

How do deposits work in Covered Beauty?

1. Set your deposit. A Default deposit in Settings, fixed, a percentage or none, changed for any treatment on the Treatments page.
2. Set your notice. Cancellation window (hours), in Settings, decides when a deposit is kept. At 0, clients can cancel for free right up to the start, and only a missed appointment loses it.
3. Add your policy. Write it with the policy writer and paste it into Salon terms and conditions.
4. Connect Stripe. On the Payouts page, Stripe asks for your bank details and photo ID, and deposits are paid into your own Stripe account, not ours. Until it’s live, deposits are paused: clients still book online, your booking page says “No deposit needed to book”, and your Overview and Payouts pages tell you.
5. Clients pay when they book. By card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, with their time held for 10 minutes. Several treatments in one visit means one deposit, each treatment’s added together, and a gift voucher code can pay all or part of it.
6. No-shows. The card they pay with is saved, with their agreement, so you can charge a no-show or late cancellation fee from the appointment. Nothing is charged automatically.
7. Bookings you make yourself take no deposit. Set a no-show fee under Card on file for bookings you make, and their confirmation email asks them to add a card.

Deposits, consultation forms and reminders are on both plans, from £9 a month, with no commission. Try it free for a week, no card needed.

Sources

Each page was read on 24 October 2026.

• Unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37), Competition and Markets Authority (GOV.UK)
• Writing a fair contract for customers, Competition and Markets Authority (GOV.UK)
• Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 68: requirement for transparency (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, regulation 13: information before a distance contract (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, Schedule 2: information relating to distance and off-premises contracts (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2: consumer contract terms which may be regarded as unfair (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 62: requirement for contract terms and notices to be fair (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 29: right to cancel (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30: normal cancellation period (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 36: services supplied during the cancellation period (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28: circumstances excluding cancellation (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012, regulation 6A (legislation.gov.uk)
• Stripe UK pricing
• Stripe’s guide to payouts