Court makes woman pay 834,675 krónur over lodging refund claim

A woman living in Germany must pay 834,675 krónur in legal costs after losing a claim for a refund of more than 157,000 krónur for accommodation in Vogar. The ruling was issued by Reykjanes District Court on 9 November, mbl.is reports.

The woman said her family could not use two rooms booked for five nights, from 8 to 13 February 2024, because a lava flow damaged an HS Veitur main pipeline and cut hot water to the Reykjanes Peninsula, including Vogar.

The family had booked flights and accommodation through a German travel agency, which reserved the rooms at Arctic Wind through Expedia. The lodging operator, Arktik Rok ehf., said it alerted the woman to the outage and advised her to cancel, offering to split the cancellation cost. The woman said the family was refused the rooms because the building was unheated and that she had been promised a refund. The company denied promising a full refund.

The court found the lava flow and resulting hot-water outage were unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances. It said the operator tried to contact the woman the day after the planned arrival, after electric radiators and fan heaters had been installed, but she did not respond.

The court noted that a party who cancels a contract may be entitled to a refund, but found the woman had not cancelled despite the operator’s urging. It also found no evidence that the company had promised a full refund. The court said she had waited until 4 April 2026 to bring the case, more than two years after the events, despite repeatedly seeking repayment.

The court also found that the woman appeared to have bought a package holiday from the German travel agency and had no direct contract with the lodging operator. It dismissed her claim and ordered her to pay the company 834,675 krónur in legal costs.