YOUR HOLIDAY
9 - Continued
b) The price of your holiday is subject to surcharges on the following items: exchange rate variations, government action, aircraft fuel, over flying charges, airport charges and increases in scheduled airfares. In the case of surcharges we will absorb an amount equivalent to 2% of the holiday price excluding insurance premiums and any amendment charges. We will only surcharge amounts in excess of this 2% but where a surcharge is payable there will be an administration charge of 50p per person. If this means paying more than 10% of the holiday price, you will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a full refund of all money paid except for any premium paid to us for holiday insurance and amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel because of this you must do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on the invoice.
Any surcharges will be notified to you no later than 30 days prior to departure.
10 - Complaints
a) Many problems can be put right straight
away but this can only happen if you tell us and our
suppliers as soon as they happen. If you have a problem
or you are not satisfied in any way with any aspect
of your holiday, you must complain immediately. In particular,
you must speak to our tour manager, local representative
or local agent (whichever is appropriate) and the hotel,
transport or hire company (whichever is appropriate)
as soon as possible. You must confirm your complaint
in writing, within 24 hours of the problem, to the people
above. If they are not available or you are not satisfied
with their response, you must contact our 24 hour UK
Help Number on 0191 427 5003 straight away. If you do
not follow the above procedure, and we can prove that
if you had told us or our suppliers about your problem
we would have been able to find a reasonable solution,
the amount of compensation that you would have been
entitled to will be reduced or you may not receive any
at all, depending on the circumstances.
b) If you think that, by law, we have to pay you any
compensation, you must write to us and ask for compensation
within 40 days of your return from your holiday. If
you don’t do this, you no longer have any right
to claim compensation.
c) Disputes arising out of, or in conjunction with this
contract which cannot be amicably settled may be referred
to arbitration, if the customer so wishes, under a special
scheme arranged by the Association of British Travel
Agents, and administered independently by the Chartered
Institute of Arbitrators. The scheme provides for a
simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents
alone with restricted liability on the customer in respect
of costs. Full details will be provided on request or
can be obtained from the ABTA website (www.abta.com).
The Scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater
than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit
of £25,000 per booking form. Neither does it apply
to claims which are solely in respect of physical injury
or illness or their consequences. The Scheme can however,
deal with compensation claims which include an element
of minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,000
on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in
respect of this element. The application for arbitration
and Settlement of Claim must be received by the Chartered
Institute of Arbitrators within nine months of the date
of the return from holiday. Outside this time limit
arbitration under the Scheme may still be available
if we agree, but the ABTA Code does not require such
agreement.
11 - Our Liability And Help
a) If you do suffer personal injury, illness or death,
we will pay you a reasonable amount of compensation
that will take into account the cost of the holiday
and how much your enjoyment of the holiday was affected.
We will take from your compensation any money you receive
from suppliers, such as airlines under the Denied Boarding
Regulations (in this case, the money paid by the airline
will be the full amount of compensation that you are
entitled to for all matters that were caused by the
airline’s actions). The most compensation we will
pay you is the cost of your holiday, a refund of any
direct expenses and £50 each day for each person.
We will use this maximum amount to work out the appropriate
amount that is due to you as a result of your particular
complaint.
b) If you do suffer personal injury, illness or you
die, the amount of compensation we will pay you or your
representative is limited in line with any international
conventions that apply to the services that caused your
injury, illness or death. International conventions
which set limits of compensation include the Warsaw
Convention 1929 (including as amended by the Hague Protocol
1955), the Berne Convention 1961, the Paris Convention
1962, the Geneva Convention 1973 and the Athens Convention
1974. You can get copies of these conventions if you
ask us but please allow 28 days.
c) If you die or suffer an injury or illness during
your holiday because of an activity that is not part
of the arrangements you have booked with us, we may
help you if you or your representative want to make
a claim against someone, as long as you ask us within
90 days. We will give you advice, guidance and up to
£5,000 for each booking towards your legal costs.
You will pay us back out of any settlement or insurance
payment you get.
d) You must help us to get any money from anyone else
that will compensate us for any money we pay you. In
particular, you must give us any rights you may have
against any other person who has caused us to pay you
compensation.
12 - Conditions Of Carriage
Any form of transport depends on the conditions of carriage
of that carrier. These conditions of carriage may limit
or exclude the carrier’s liability to you under
international law, such as the Warsaw Convention.
13 - Excursions And Optional Tours
a) Excursions and optional tours include any sightseeing
trips or other tours that you book and pay for through
us, our tour manager or overseas representatives while
you are actually on holiday.
b) Excursions and optional tours are not package holidays
and are not covered by the Regulations.
c) Unless you suffer personal injury or die because
of our negligence, we do not accept any liability for
any loss or damage you may suffer from any excursion
or optional tour.
d) We are not responsible for any arrangements that
you make while you are actually on holiday and that
you do not make through us.
14 - Data Protection
Please be assured that we have measures in place to
protect the personal booking information held by us.
This information will be passed on to the relevant suppliers
of your travel arrangements. The information may also
be provided to public authorities such as customs or
immigration if required by them, or as required by law.
Certain information may also be passed on to security
or credit checking companies. If you travel outside
of the European Economic Area, controls on data protection
may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this
country. We will only pass your information on to persons
responsible for your travel arrangements. This applies
to any sensitive information that you give us such as
details of any disabilities, or dietary/religious requirements.
If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers,
whether in the EEA or not, we will be unable to provide
your booking. In making this booking, you consent to
this information being passed on to the relevant persons.
Full details of our data protection policy are available
on request.
15 - Law
Your contract with us, and any matters arising from
it, will be governed by English law. Any dispute will
be dealt with in the courts of any part of the UK in
which you live. If you live outside the UK it will be
dealt with in the English courts.
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