Feature · Reservations
Deposits and cancellation policies
Hold a deposit or a card at confirmation — with clear terms by service, applied automatically when a guest does not arrive.
What it does
Terms set once, applied automatically.
Deposits and cancellation rules configured per service and shown to the guest at confirmation, so a no-show settles without a phone call.
Deposits and pre-authorisation
A deposit or card hold taken at confirmation, sized to the service.
Policies by service
Different terms for a Friday dinner or a tasting menu.
Shown up front
The policy is presented to the guest before the booking is confirmed.
Automatic capture
A no-show or late cancellation is charged on the same record as the payment.
Notice windows
A full refund, a partial charge, or forfeit, set by how much notice is given.
One record
Booking, policy, and charge sit together, so there is nothing to reconcile.
A deposit isn’t a barrier to booking. It’s an unspoken promise that the table will be kept.
Questions
Deposits and cancellation policies, answered.
How do restaurants take a deposit for a booking?
A restaurant takes a deposit by requiring a card or a set amount at confirmation, with the terms shown before the reservation is confirmed. In Inservo this is configured per service, and any no-show or late-cancellation charge is captured automatically on the same record as the booking and the payment.
Can different services have different policies?
Yes. Deposits, amounts, and notice windows can be set separately for each service.
What happens when a guest cancels in time?
The notice window decides the outcome — a full refund, a partial charge, or forfeit — applied automatically and shown to the guest at confirmation.
Further reading
Further reading
Published guides from Inservo on the same subject.
The real cost of no-shows in 2025 — and how deposits fix it
With £3.4bn in new costs and NICs at 15%, UK restaurants can no longer absorb empty tables. How deposit policies protect revenue without hurting bookings.
GrowthPop-ups and guest chef nights: low-risk revenue 25% of Britons want
A quarter of UK diners — and 34% of parents — want restaurants to host pop-up events. How to run them without breaking your operation.
GrowthPrivate dining is up 19% — and it carries 25-40% higher spend per head
Private dining bookings in major UK cities rose 19% year on year, with function menus running 25-40% above à la carte (industry research, 2025).
Protect the covers you were promised.
A short walkthrough of deposits, policies, and automatic capture on one record.