Terms & Conditions
CONDITIONS OF HIRE
BROCHURE/WEBSITE. Descriptions of craft in our brochure are generally accurate, but the Company shall not be liable for any minor inaccuracies that may exist.
BOOKING. A boat is not booked until the Hirers Full Name, Address and Contact details, together with the appropriate deposit, has been received by the Company, and its official Booking Confirmation email issued.
BALANCE OF HIRE CHARGE. The Hirer, upon making a booking becomes responsible for the whole of the Hire Charge.
PETS. There is a charge £25 per pet, per a holiday max 2 per a boat (unless prior agreement).
SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNTS. All payments to be settled by 56 days before the commencement of hire.
MINORS. Bookings will not be accepted from Hires under 18 years of age.
HIRE PERIODS Unless otherwise agreed in writing, cruises begin and end at the Company's base. The time for embarking and disembarking will be stated on the Booking Confirmation email.
RETURN OF CRAFT. Craft must be returned to base at the end of the cruise in a clean and tidy condition and vacated at the agreed time and place. The Hirer is responsible for allowing a sufficient margin of time for contingencies. The Company reserves the right to claim upon the Hirer for any expenses for which it is involved resulting from late return.
PERSONS ON BOARD The signed skipper will be responsible for the behaviour of persons on board as per the named crew members on the Arrival Advise sheet.
SECURITY DEPOSIT. Security deposits will be returned the following day after your holiday less any costs for breakages, damage etc. if applicable. Behaviour: You are expected to leave the boat clean and tidy, not break any law while on the boat, not behave in an anti-social manner, not breach the peace or disrupt the enjoyment of others, not to use the boat for any illegal or commercial activities, not to allow anyone else to stay on the boat who we have not previously been accepted as a member of your party, not operate the boat while under the influence of alcohol/drugs,or allow anyone else to do so.
If Union Canal Carriers have any reports or witness these behaviour’s they will take back the boat. If we do this, we will treat this as a cancellation by you. In these situations, we will not refund any money for your booking or security deposit we will not have any legal responsibility to you as a result of this situation arising. (This includes, for example, any costs or expenses you have to pay due to not being able to use the boat, such as the cost of finding another boat/accommodation or any compensation to you.)
INSURANCE. Insurance of the boat and its equipment, and against the Hirer's liability to other parties, is included in the Hire Charge. (Hirer's personal effects are not covered by this insurance).
NON-REFUNDABLE DAMAGE WAIVER. A non-refundable damage waiver is paid within the hire fee. This frees the Hirer from liability for accidental damage to the boat, its fittings and equipment. It does not cover damage or losses caused by negligence on the part of the Hirer or the return of a boat in an unclean condition, which will incur an extra payment.
ACCIDENTS The Hirer must report immediately by telephone to the Company any accident to the boat or its equipment, or to waterway property, whether other craft are involved or not and shall proceed as instructed by the Company. The Hirer shall not at any time admit any liability for any accident to any third party and shall not put any repairs into the hands of any firm without the Company's permission.
LOSS OF WATER. The Hirer may be responsible for charges made by Waterways Authorities in respect of loss of water or other damage to waterway property arising through their own negligence.
NAVIGATION. No boat may tow another, travel after dark, or navigate any tidal waters without the prior permission of the Company. The Hirer shall comply with instructions given to him by the Company or Waterway Authorities.
UNSUITABLE HIRERS. The Company reserves the right to refuse to hand over a boat to any person who, in the opinion of the Company, is not suitable to take charge. In such cases, all Hire Charges paid will be refunded in full and all liability of the Hirer and the Company shall thereupon cease, the Company also reserves the right to decline to accept any booking without giving any reason.
AVAILABILITY OF CRAFT. If due to circumstances beyond its reasonable control, the Company is unable to provide the Hirer with a boat booked or a suitable alternative, the Company will refund all Hire Charges paid in full, but the Hirer shall have no further claim upon the Company.
HIRERS PROPERTY The Company accepts no responsibility for loss or damage to Hirer's property whilst upon the craft or premises of the Company, however caused.
RESTRICTED CRUISING. The Company accepts no liability in the event of cruising waters being restricted through repair work, floods, drought or any other cause beyond the control of the Company.
BREAKDOWN The Hirer shall have no claim upon the Company because of any breakdown or failure of the boat, or its engine or equipment and, where such breakdown is caused by the negligence of the Hirer in failing to carry out instructions given to him by the Company, the Company shall have the right to claim upon the Hirer in respect of expenses involved in rectifying the matter.
COMPLAINTS If you so wish to make a complaint to the company regarding your booking, you may do so by post or email within 30 days of the End Date of your booking. The company has a procedure to handled complaints promptly. If you fail to make your complaint within 30 days of the End Date this may affect your entitlement to claim.
FUEL Is included in the brochure price but subject to surcharge if the cost of fuel rises by 15% since December 2022.
HOLIDAY CANCELLATION AND CURTAILMENT PROTECTION
Unforeseen circumstances sometime result in a holiday cancellation, or problems whilst you are on holiday may result in curtailment of your holiday. Fortunately, this happens in only a minority of cases but unless some form of cover is offered it can be very expensive for the unprotected holidaymaker. Therefore, included in the hire fee is Union Canal Carriers Holiday Protection Plan.
Changes If you want to change any detail of your confirmed booking, we will do our best to make the changes. However, we must receive your notice in writing by post or email. We may agree to accept notice over the telephone, but this should be arranged with us first. You may be asked to pay us an administration charge of £31 (£42 for overseas bookings) for each change.
Full cancellations If you have or want to cancel your booking after it has been confirmed, you must phone us on 01788 890784 and email us info@unioncanalcarriers.co.uk as soon as possible. The day we receive your notice by phone to cancel is the date on which we will cancel your booking, our confirmation by email will confirm receipt of your cancellation. Depending on your reason for cancellation, you may receive a refund of all money you have paid to us for your booking (apart from booking fees, bank charges and, if it applies any amendment charges). We will also charge a cancellation administration fee of £53 per boat. The conditions on making a refund only apply if the cancellation applies to all members of your party. All prices are for the entire boat and not on an individual basis. Under your contract with Union Canal Carriers, to be considered for a refund you must have one of the following reasons for cancellation and must produce any evidence we ask for within 12 months of the date of cancellation: • Illness or pregnancy (we will need to see medical evidence that you or a member of the party is not fit to travel). We will not refund for pregnancy if the relevant person was pregnant before the booking was made. And, we will not make a refund if the woman is due to give birth within 14 weeks of the arrival date home. • Death. • Redundancy (as long as the employment has been continuous with the same employer for at least two years). • Jury or witness service (in a court of law). • Illness or death of a close relative (a close relative is defined as a husband, wife, civil partner, partner, son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, parent, mother-in-law or father-in-law, grandparent, sister or brother, fiancé or fiancée). • Your home is damaged and cannot be lived in because of a fire, storm, flood, subsidence or malicious damage. • The police have asked you to stay at home, following a burglary at your home or place of business, during the period of your trip or within the seven days before this. • You are in HM Forces and are posted unexpectedly or have leave cancelled if you are in the police (unless you can recover the cost of the lost trip from any other source). • You are placed in quarantine. Please note that all of the above reasons must have arisen after you made your booking and must not have been within your knowledge at the time of booking. This particularly applies to pre-existing illness. You may also receive a full refund if you cannot reach your holiday destination due to snow or flood conditions or due to being involved in an accident while on the way there. (This only applies if you have made every effort to try to complete your journey. You will need to produce evidence from the police, or Highways Agency.) We will ask you to fill in a cancellation form which may need signing by a medical practitioner or employer. In this case, we may need you to give us more information from other people (we will tell you at the time). The following reasons for cancellation do not qualify for a refund as set out above: • Suicide or attempted suicide; • deliberate self-injury; • the effect of alcohol or drugs; or • any other reason we have not specifically referred to. If the reason for cancellation does not fall within one of the qualifying reasons, for example, you do not want to travel, your leave has been cancelled by your employer (other than HM Forces or the police) and so on, you will have to pay a cancellation charge based on the number of days before the arrival date when we receive your notice of cancellation, as shown in the table below. This means that if you have paid the balance of your total booking cost and then have or want to cancel, you may receive a refund of part of the cost. However, if you have not paid your total booking cost, including the premiums for any personal travel insurance (if you have bought this), by the time of your cancellation, you may have to make a further payment to cover the cancellation charge. The purpose of the table below: ‘total cost’ means the total cost of the boat accommodation, including any extra items. In addition to the cancellation charges below, you will still have to pay any booking fees, credit-card charges and administration fees for making any changes as these are non-refundable. If you have already paid the booking fees and administration fees, we will not refund these if you cancel.
CANCELLATION CHARGES
Period before scheduled arrival date within which we receive written notice of cancellation charges levied on behalf of owners as a percentage of total costs (but not amendment and credit-card or bank charges which are non-refundable)
More than 70 days Loss of full deposit (including any balance of deposit due)*
43 – 70 days 50% of total cost or full deposit (including any balance of deposit due whichever is greater)
29 – 42 days 75% of total cost
8 – 28 days 90% of the total cost
7 days or under 100% full cost.
BROCHURE/WEBSITE. Descriptions of craft in our brochure are generally accurate, but the Company shall not be liable for any minor inaccuracies that may exist.
BOOKING. A boat is not booked until the Hirers Full Name, Address and Contact details, together with the appropriate deposit, has been received by the Company, and its official Booking Confirmation email issued.
BALANCE OF HIRE CHARGE. The Hirer, upon making a booking becomes responsible for the whole of the Hire Charge.
PETS. There is a charge £25 per pet, per a holiday max 2 per a boat (unless prior agreement).
SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNTS. All payments to be settled by 56 days before the commencement of hire.
MINORS. Bookings will not be accepted from Hires under 18 years of age.
HIRE PERIODS Unless otherwise agreed in writing, cruises begin and end at the Company's base. The time for embarking and disembarking will be stated on the Booking Confirmation email.
RETURN OF CRAFT. Craft must be returned to base at the end of the cruise in a clean and tidy condition and vacated at the agreed time and place. The Hirer is responsible for allowing a sufficient margin of time for contingencies. The Company reserves the right to claim upon the Hirer for any expenses for which it is involved resulting from late return.
PERSONS ON BOARD The signed skipper will be responsible for the behaviour of persons on board as per the named crew members on the Arrival Advise sheet.
SECURITY DEPOSIT. Security deposits will be returned the following day after your holiday less any costs for breakages, damage etc. if applicable. Behaviour: You are expected to leave the boat clean and tidy, not break any law while on the boat, not behave in an anti-social manner, not breach the peace or disrupt the enjoyment of others, not to use the boat for any illegal or commercial activities, not to allow anyone else to stay on the boat who we have not previously been accepted as a member of your party, not operate the boat while under the influence of alcohol/drugs,or allow anyone else to do so.
If Union Canal Carriers have any reports or witness these behaviour’s they will take back the boat. If we do this, we will treat this as a cancellation by you. In these situations, we will not refund any money for your booking or security deposit we will not have any legal responsibility to you as a result of this situation arising. (This includes, for example, any costs or expenses you have to pay due to not being able to use the boat, such as the cost of finding another boat/accommodation or any compensation to you.)
INSURANCE. Insurance of the boat and its equipment, and against the Hirer's liability to other parties, is included in the Hire Charge. (Hirer's personal effects are not covered by this insurance).
NON-REFUNDABLE DAMAGE WAIVER. A non-refundable damage waiver is paid within the hire fee. This frees the Hirer from liability for accidental damage to the boat, its fittings and equipment. It does not cover damage or losses caused by negligence on the part of the Hirer or the return of a boat in an unclean condition, which will incur an extra payment.
ACCIDENTS The Hirer must report immediately by telephone to the Company any accident to the boat or its equipment, or to waterway property, whether other craft are involved or not and shall proceed as instructed by the Company. The Hirer shall not at any time admit any liability for any accident to any third party and shall not put any repairs into the hands of any firm without the Company's permission.
LOSS OF WATER. The Hirer may be responsible for charges made by Waterways Authorities in respect of loss of water or other damage to waterway property arising through their own negligence.
NAVIGATION. No boat may tow another, travel after dark, or navigate any tidal waters without the prior permission of the Company. The Hirer shall comply with instructions given to him by the Company or Waterway Authorities.
UNSUITABLE HIRERS. The Company reserves the right to refuse to hand over a boat to any person who, in the opinion of the Company, is not suitable to take charge. In such cases, all Hire Charges paid will be refunded in full and all liability of the Hirer and the Company shall thereupon cease, the Company also reserves the right to decline to accept any booking without giving any reason.
AVAILABILITY OF CRAFT. If due to circumstances beyond its reasonable control, the Company is unable to provide the Hirer with a boat booked or a suitable alternative, the Company will refund all Hire Charges paid in full, but the Hirer shall have no further claim upon the Company.
HIRERS PROPERTY The Company accepts no responsibility for loss or damage to Hirer's property whilst upon the craft or premises of the Company, however caused.
RESTRICTED CRUISING. The Company accepts no liability in the event of cruising waters being restricted through repair work, floods, drought or any other cause beyond the control of the Company.
BREAKDOWN The Hirer shall have no claim upon the Company because of any breakdown or failure of the boat, or its engine or equipment and, where such breakdown is caused by the negligence of the Hirer in failing to carry out instructions given to him by the Company, the Company shall have the right to claim upon the Hirer in respect of expenses involved in rectifying the matter.
COMPLAINTS If you so wish to make a complaint to the company regarding your booking, you may do so by post or email within 30 days of the End Date of your booking. The company has a procedure to handled complaints promptly. If you fail to make your complaint within 30 days of the End Date this may affect your entitlement to claim.
FUEL Is included in the brochure price but subject to surcharge if the cost of fuel rises by 15% since December 2022.
HOLIDAY CANCELLATION AND CURTAILMENT PROTECTION
Unforeseen circumstances sometime result in a holiday cancellation, or problems whilst you are on holiday may result in curtailment of your holiday. Fortunately, this happens in only a minority of cases but unless some form of cover is offered it can be very expensive for the unprotected holidaymaker. Therefore, included in the hire fee is Union Canal Carriers Holiday Protection Plan.
Changes If you want to change any detail of your confirmed booking, we will do our best to make the changes. However, we must receive your notice in writing by post or email. We may agree to accept notice over the telephone, but this should be arranged with us first. You may be asked to pay us an administration charge of £31 (£42 for overseas bookings) for each change.
Full cancellations If you have or want to cancel your booking after it has been confirmed, you must phone us on 01788 890784 and email us info@unioncanalcarriers.co.uk as soon as possible. The day we receive your notice by phone to cancel is the date on which we will cancel your booking, our confirmation by email will confirm receipt of your cancellation. Depending on your reason for cancellation, you may receive a refund of all money you have paid to us for your booking (apart from booking fees, bank charges and, if it applies any amendment charges). We will also charge a cancellation administration fee of £53 per boat. The conditions on making a refund only apply if the cancellation applies to all members of your party. All prices are for the entire boat and not on an individual basis. Under your contract with Union Canal Carriers, to be considered for a refund you must have one of the following reasons for cancellation and must produce any evidence we ask for within 12 months of the date of cancellation: • Illness or pregnancy (we will need to see medical evidence that you or a member of the party is not fit to travel). We will not refund for pregnancy if the relevant person was pregnant before the booking was made. And, we will not make a refund if the woman is due to give birth within 14 weeks of the arrival date home. • Death. • Redundancy (as long as the employment has been continuous with the same employer for at least two years). • Jury or witness service (in a court of law). • Illness or death of a close relative (a close relative is defined as a husband, wife, civil partner, partner, son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, parent, mother-in-law or father-in-law, grandparent, sister or brother, fiancé or fiancée). • Your home is damaged and cannot be lived in because of a fire, storm, flood, subsidence or malicious damage. • The police have asked you to stay at home, following a burglary at your home or place of business, during the period of your trip or within the seven days before this. • You are in HM Forces and are posted unexpectedly or have leave cancelled if you are in the police (unless you can recover the cost of the lost trip from any other source). • You are placed in quarantine. Please note that all of the above reasons must have arisen after you made your booking and must not have been within your knowledge at the time of booking. This particularly applies to pre-existing illness. You may also receive a full refund if you cannot reach your holiday destination due to snow or flood conditions or due to being involved in an accident while on the way there. (This only applies if you have made every effort to try to complete your journey. You will need to produce evidence from the police, or Highways Agency.) We will ask you to fill in a cancellation form which may need signing by a medical practitioner or employer. In this case, we may need you to give us more information from other people (we will tell you at the time). The following reasons for cancellation do not qualify for a refund as set out above: • Suicide or attempted suicide; • deliberate self-injury; • the effect of alcohol or drugs; or • any other reason we have not specifically referred to. If the reason for cancellation does not fall within one of the qualifying reasons, for example, you do not want to travel, your leave has been cancelled by your employer (other than HM Forces or the police) and so on, you will have to pay a cancellation charge based on the number of days before the arrival date when we receive your notice of cancellation, as shown in the table below. This means that if you have paid the balance of your total booking cost and then have or want to cancel, you may receive a refund of part of the cost. However, if you have not paid your total booking cost, including the premiums for any personal travel insurance (if you have bought this), by the time of your cancellation, you may have to make a further payment to cover the cancellation charge. The purpose of the table below: ‘total cost’ means the total cost of the boat accommodation, including any extra items. In addition to the cancellation charges below, you will still have to pay any booking fees, credit-card charges and administration fees for making any changes as these are non-refundable. If you have already paid the booking fees and administration fees, we will not refund these if you cancel.
CANCELLATION CHARGES
Period before scheduled arrival date within which we receive written notice of cancellation charges levied on behalf of owners as a percentage of total costs (but not amendment and credit-card or bank charges which are non-refundable)
More than 70 days Loss of full deposit (including any balance of deposit due)*
43 – 70 days 50% of total cost or full deposit (including any balance of deposit due whichever is greater)
29 – 42 days 75% of total cost
8 – 28 days 90% of the total cost
7 days or under 100% full cost.
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