There is now an immediate likelihood of the UK government taking measures, the effect of which will mean that booked events do not happen putting them potentially in breach of contract.
Most likely everyone in the country will suffer some loss by a pre-booked event not taking place, and they may expect a refund. Insurers are declining cover.
Can official guidance or requirements release organisers from their contractual obligations, or will it put them in breach of contract?
The common law doctrine of ‘frustration’ applies where an event arises, which the parties have not provided for in their contract, which makes performance of the contract impossible, but which does not arise as a result of breach by one of the parties. But the ramifications of frustration are significant, so the Courts do not invoke it lightly.
The inclusion in contracts of a ‘force majeure’ clause, where the parties expressly provide that they are released from performing their obligations by the happening of a specified event outside their control, can also apply.
Force majeure, refers to an unforeseeable and unavoidable event which prevents a party from performing a contract, including freak weather, volcanic eruptions, etc. They are clauses defined to cover events that were beyond comprehension at the time of drafting. If an agreement has a force majeure clause, it may well be that Covid-19 is an event that would be covered, so that an organiser of an event can rely on that clause and lawfully refuse to perform.
If neither of those get-outs apply, then an event organiser who cancels an event may be in repudiatory breach of contract.
But we have seen from widely reported news, that event organisers are careful not to say that events are cancelled, but only postponed, sometimes very creatively. By saying that they are postponed rather than cancelled, they are protecting their position. Postponement does not mean that they will not perform the event at all, so they are not admitting that they will breach the requirement to perform.
If an event is postponed, it will be more difficult for a customer to say that the organiser is in breach. Temporary postponement as opposed to cancellation is less likely to give rises to claims for breach of contract.
These are uncertain times, and perhaps the government will legislate specifically. In the meantime, expect events to be postponed, rather than assume that you will receive any immediate easy refunds.