West Virginia
West Virginia has no statute on service deposits, and its Supreme Court of Appeals asks about the reasonableness in fact of the agreed sum when the contract was made. A missed appointment’s cost is the kind of uncertain loss the parties may set in advance, so a deposit reasonable in size at booking holds, and the client who calls it a penalty has to prove it. A deposit grossly disproportional to the real loss is a penalty whatever the policy calls it. West Virginia also requires a written consumer agreement to use everyday words.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in West Virginia?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
The Supreme Court of Appeals allows agreed damages where the damages are uncertain and not easy to work out, or where the parties have already made a fair estimate of them, and it treats a clause as a penalty when the amount is grossly disproportional to the damages actually incurred, whatever the contract calls it. In Wheeling Clinic v. Van Pelt, it said the important question is the reasonableness in fact of the agreed sum when the contract was made, not the parties’ intent. It reversed a trial court that had cut a clause for being meant to deter, and held that the physician challenging the clause had not carried his burden of proving it a penalty.
“A clause for damages in a contract is a penalty rather than a liquidated damage provision when the amount is grossly disproportional in comparison to the damages actually incurred. ... the important question is not the intention of the parties but rather the reasonableness in fact of the agreed sum when the contract was made” Wheeling Clinic v. Van Pelt, 192 W. Va. 620, 453 S.E.2d 603 (1994)
Showing your refund policy
No refund-policy disclosure statute was found. The section list of the Consumer Credit and Protection Act’s unfair practices article (W. Va. Code ch. 46A, art. 6) was read for any refund or return provision, its list of unfair or deceptive acts names none, and a search of the state code for “refund policy” found nothing. The Attorney General’s consumer protection pages name no refund-posting law.
Body-art rules and money
Nothing about deposits or refunds in the tattoo studio statute (W. Va. Code §§ 16-38-1 to 16-38-7), the body piercing studio article (art. 16-37) or the body piercing studio rule, 64CSR80, effective July 1, 2001. The money in them is permit fees.
Read: W. Va. Code §§ 16-38-1 to 16-38-7 · W. Va. Code art. 16-37 · 64CSR80, Body Piercing Studio Business (Taylor County Health Department copy)
What reaches your deposit page
A written consumer agreement in everyday words
West Virginia requires every written agreement a consumer makes to buy or lease goods or services to be clear and coherent, in words with common and everyday meanings, in easily readable type, and appropriately organized and captioned. A violation does not void the agreement, but a consumer whose request to rewrite it is refused may sue to have it reformed.
“Every written agreement entered into by a consumer ... for the purchase or lease of goods or services ... Be written in a clear and coherent manner, using words with common and everyday meanings” W. Va. Code § 46A-6-109
- The default deposit policy is 3 short sentences in plain words, and you can write your own. Whatever it says, your client sees all of it before paying.
This page summarizes public law in plain language, with the source each point comes from, read at the source on 2026-09-23. It is not legal advice.