The Outward Bound Trust terms and conditions for all individual courses

It is vital you read, understand and accept the following conditions prior to signing your Booking Form and booking your Course place.

1 PROVISIONAL BOOKINGS
Subject to availability we can provisionally hold a place on an individual course for up to 14 days. Provisional bookings must be confirmed by completing and signing a Booking Form and paying a non-refundable deposit. By signing the Booking Form you are entering into a Contract and you are committing to pay the Course Fee. Your Contract is with The Outward Bound Trust, a registered charity [no. 1128090] and a company limited by guarantee [no. 6748835], registered in England and Wales, whose registered office is at Hackthorpe Hall, Hackthorpe, Penrith, Cumbria. CA10 2HX. The Contract is subject to English law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. The address for correspondence for all matters relating to this Contract is: Customer Services, The Outward Bound Trust, Hackthorpe Hall, Hackthorpe, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 2HX

2 FEES
Once the Booking Form has been signed and the deposit paid the booking becomes firm. The deposit is non refundable. If the booking is made less than 8 weeks before the departure date, the full Course Fee is payable with the booking. Payment of the balance for the total course fee is due not less than 8 weeks before the departure date. In the event of non-payment of fees, the Trust reserves the right to release your place. Supplementary charges which occur during a course – e.g. loss or damage to equipment or other property, photography etc. will be invoiced separately and such charges are due and payable on receipt of the invoice.Course Fees for participants under the age of 25 on the start date are exempt from VAT. Other charges will be subject to VAT at the standard rate.

3 AMENDMENT OR CANCELLATION BY YOU
[a] Amendments:
If you wish to change any of the booking details after payment of the deposit, we will do our best to make the change but we cannot guarantee that it will be possible. Any amendments must be made in writing [post, email or fax]. An administration fee of £20 inc. VAT will be charged per amendment. Amendments will not normally be possible less than 4 weeks prior to departure. If for any reason it is not possible to make a requested amendment then the original booking remains a firm contract.
[b] Cancellation:
In the event of cancellation by you of a paying participant place more than 8 weeks before the start of your course the deposit payment may be transferred to a substitute participant. If this is not possible and the participant place is cancelled then the deposit will be forfeit and retained by us. In the event of a cancellation by you of a paying participant place less than 8 weeks before the start of your course the deposit payment may still be transferred to a substitute participant but we reserve the right to charge an administration fee of up to £20 per amendment. If a transfer is not possible then the cancellation will be subject to the following charges;
56 to 29 days before start of course, 50% of the total course fees
28 to 15 days before start of course, 75% of the total course fees
14 days or less before start of course, 100% of the total course fees
In all cases the effective date of cancellation is the day of receipt of your written advice [by post, email or fax] by our Cutsomer Services Team.

4 MINIMUM NUMBERS
We reserve the right to cancel a Course if insufficient places have been sold to make it viable. If this happens we will endeavour to give you at least 4 weeks notice in writing prior to the planned start date. If there is a place on an alternative Course we will offer it to you. If there is no place available on a suitable Course we will offer you a full refund.

5 FORCE MAJEURE
We will not be liable to pay any compensation if we are forced to cancel or change any aspect of the Course due to circumstances beyond our control which we or our suppliers could not have reasonably foreseen or forestalled. Such circumstances include, but are not restricted to war or threat of war, terrorist activity, riots or civil strife, industrial disputes, natural or nuclear disasters, fire, bad weather, closure of airports, ports or stations, cancellation or changes in schedules by air, land or sea carriers.

6 INSURANCE
The Outward Bound Trust provides comprehensive course and travel insurance cover as part of the course fee. This includes cancellation, personal accident, medical expenses, personal belongings, money and personal liability. A summary of the cover is available here.

7 HEALTH
Course participants must expect to be involved in adventurous and sometimes strenuous activities. No previous training or experience is required but you must be of good general health. Those taking part in a Course should be willing to become involved in all aspects of the Course. A medical declaration form will be sent to you with your Joining Instructions. You must complete this and return it to us at least 4 weeks prior to the start of the course. If you are under the age of 18 your parent / guardian must also sign the form. All prior injuries or serious illnesses must be declared. Any illness or injury suffered after the completion of the medical form and before the start date must be notified to us immediately in writing. We can take no responsibility in the event of any ailment or aggravation of ailment suffered either during or after the Course which arises from an undeclared injury or illness. Nobody who has been in contact with an infectious disease may take part in an Outward Bound® Course within the normal quarantine period. Whilst taking part in a Course participants must comply with our safety and disciplinary regulations. We will take no responsibility for your safety if you wilfully contravene these regulations, and such behaviour may result in you being sent home [see “Behaviour” below]. Any specific queries concerning health or safety should be directed to one of our Centre Senior Instructors.

8 BEHAVIOUR
The booker is required at the time of booking to fully advise The Outward Bound Trust, and follow up in writing, of any illness, disability, social or behavioural problems that a participant has, or has recently experienced, which might affect the participant or any other participants during their course. We reserve the right to exclude any participant before or after course commencement, if we have not been fully advised, in the opinion of the General Manager, or if his/her behaviour is incompatable with other course participants. If this happens, the booker will be liable for all additional costs incurred or claims from third parties, and we will not be liable for any compensation.

9 BROCHURES
Any prices, statements, descriptions, illustrations, photographs, drawings or any other matters contained in our brochures or other literature are made in good faith but are not guaranteed to be accurate and are intended merely to represent a general picture of our products and services and shall not form any part of the Contract between us. We reserve the right to amend our products and services from time to time so that the descriptions as set out in our brochures and other literature may not be identical with those set out in our proposal to you.

10 COMPLAINTS
We will try to sort out any problems as soon as you notify us of them. If you want to complain during the Course, please inform your Course Tutor or the Course Director. If the problem cannot be sorted out satisfactorily, please notify our office in Hackthorpe in writing within 28 days of the completion of the Course, setting out the full details of the complaint. We will reply to you within 28 days of the receipt of your letter.

11 CONSENT OF PARENT / GUARDIAN
If you are under the age of 18 at the time of making the booking, your parent or legal guardian must also sign the Booking Form as having read, understood and accepted these Terms and Conditions and as giving their consent for you to take part in the Course.

12 LIABILITY
We will accept liability for matters which arise as a direct result of our negligence and/or our breach of our contractual duty to exercise care in making arrangements for you including any acts of omission by our employees or agents.
In respect of carriage by air, sea and rail and the provision of accommodation our liability in all cases will be limited in accordance with the relevant international conventions. Travel with a particular carrier will be subject to the conditions of carriage of that carrier, some of which may limit or exclude liability. Operational decisions may be taken by Air Carriers and airports resulting in delays, diversions or rescheduling. We have no control over such decisions and are therefore unable to accept responsibility for them.

13. ESCORTED TRAVEL
Bookings for Escorted Travel do not have to be made at the time of booking your course; however, we would appreciate it if all reservations were made 3 weeks prior to the start of the course.  Cancellation of travel arrangements must be made 6 weeks prior to the course start date, any changes made after this period  will result in a loss of monies.  All bookings are subject to availability.  Pick up times may vary but notification of any changes will be provided in advance.  The Outward Bound Trust reserves the right to cancel travel arrangements, if  operational, weather or other considerations dictate.  Please note the times shown are approximate and we are unable to take responsibility for any delays.  On receipt of your Booking Form you are hereby accepting the above Terms & Conditions.