Ulsterbus subscribes to the Code of Conduct of the Bonded Coach Holiday Group (BCH) of the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) and has been approved for membership of the BCH. The BCH requires a bond to be taken out to provide protection in the unlikely event that a member cannot carry out his obligations to his passengers for financial reasons.
Our Fair Trading Agreement and tour information set out clearly and simply the responsibilities which we at Ulsterbus have to you and which you in turn have to us when a contract is made between us. The contract is made when you make a booking and we accept it by written confirmation of the terms set out in this pack. When signing the Booking Form for your tour, you will sign on behalf of yourself and your party that you have read, understood and have accepted this Fair Trading Agreement and the tour information provided in this pack. Your obligation is to pay the tour price and recognise your liabilities if you wish to alter the tour or have to make a cancellation. On our part, we have obligations to provide you with the tour you have booked. Our specification of that tour and our terms are clearly stated in this pack. Your contract is entered into with Ulsterbus. Any other subsidiary companies of Ulsterbus involved in the booking or management of your holiday shall be deemed to act as our agents. This Fair Trading Agreement applies to all tours sold from this pack.
Your contract with
Ulsterbus Limited
1. You pay a deposit
When making your booking, you must complete a booking form accepting on behalf of all your party the terms of the Fair Trading Agreement, and pay a deposit of £5 per person on all one and two day tours, and £30 on all tours exceeding two days duration.
2. You pay the balance
The balance of the fare must be paid to Ulsterbus at least six weeks before the tour departure date. If you book within six weeks of the departure date, you must pay the full cost of the tour at the time of booking. If the balance is not paid in time, we reserve the right to cancel your tour, retain your deposit and apply cancellation charges as set out in paragraph 4 - ‘If you cancel your tour’. All tour fares are payable in Sterling currency.
3. If you change your booking
If, after our confirmation has been issued, you wish to change the tour or change the departure date, pick-up point etc, we will do our utmost to make the changes, provided that written notification from the person who signed the Booking Form is received at our office not later than the date on which the balance of the original tour cost was due for payment. Any alteration made by you later than the original balance date may be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will be subject to the cancellation charges set out below.
4. If you cancel your tour
You, or any member of your party, may cancel your tour at any time provided that the cancellation is communicated to us in writing by the person who signed the Booking Form. As this incurs administration costs, we will retain your deposit and, in addition, apply cancellation charges up to the maximum shown:-
Period before departure within which written Amount shown as cancellation is received % of holiday price
More than 42 days Deposit
42 to 29 days 30%
28 to 15 days 45%
14 to 8 days 60%
7 to 1 day 75%
Departure date or after 100%
NOTE: If the reason for the cancellation is covered by our Tour Insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges (see Insurance).
5. If you have a complaint If you have a complaint during your tour, please inform our driver/courier or representative, who will do his/her utmost to resolve the problem immediately. If the matter cannot be rectified on the spot, you must notify us in writing within 28 days after the tour ends. Please address your letter to: Ulsterbus Educational Tours Supervisor, Ulsterbus Limited, The Travel Centre, Europa Buscentre, Glengall Street, Belfast BT12 5AH. Failure to establish your complaint immediately in accordance with the above procedure may affect its outcome.
6. Statutory Authorities This brochure is issued subject to applicable Acts of Parliament and Government Regulations and the company reserves the right to modify itineraries to conform with requests from competent authorities in the United Kingdom and any other sovereign state through which the tours travel.
7. Conditions of Carriage When travelling on an Ulsterbus coach, you are carried under the Ulsterbus Ltd Conditions of Carriage. When travelling on a ferry or transport provided by any other Courier, the Conditions of Carriage of that Courier apply and are subject to any applicable National Conditions or International Conventions which may limit or exclude Liability. The Public Service Vehicle (Conduct of Drivers, Conductors and Passengers) Regulations as amended in 1990 apply to all coaches throughout any holiday in the UK.
8. Other items
On tour it is not permitted to:
(a) bring a pet or any other animal (other than Guide Dogs in the UK and Eire only and by arrangement)
(b) play a radio or cassette player on a coach
(c) consume alcohol, carry to or consume alcohol at sporting events in the UK
(d) smoke/consume prohibited or connected substances
Ulsterbus reserves the unconditional right to refuse a booking or terminate a tour in the event of unreasonable conduct which in Ulsterbus’s opinion is likely to cause damage, distress, danger or annoyance to employees, property or to any third party. If you are prevented from travelling or continuing your tour by such a termination, Ulsterbus’s responsibility for your tour thereupon ceases. Full cancellation charges will apply and Ulsterbus will be under no obligation for any refund, compensation or loss which you may incur.
You are responsible for ensuring that you are at the correct departure point at the correct time, and we cannot be liable for any loss or expense suffered by passengers because of their late arrival at any departure point.
9. Obligatory Tour Insurance
It is a condition of your contract with us that you have insurance to cover prior cancellation and the event of illness, personal injury or death during the course of your tour. Your tour price includes insurance.
Our contract with You
1. We reserve your tour
When we have provisionally confirmed the tour of your choice, a confirmation will be forwarded to you normally within 5 weeks of your signed booking form and the contract is made between us when you receive this confirmation.
2. Your tour price
UK Holidays
The price of your tour is guaranteed and will not be subject to any surcharges except for those resulting from fuel, government action, including additional bonding or licensing requirements and VAT. In all cases we reserve the right to pass these amounts on in full. Tour prices include all coach travel, hotel accommodation and meals specified in the tour description and VAT at the current rate 17.5% where applicable.
European Tours (including Ireland)
Price guaranteed except for government action. We guarantee that the price of your tour will not be subject to any surcharge except for those resulting from governmental action, including VAT. Even in this case, we will absorb an amount equivalent to 2% of the tour price which excludes insurance premium. Only amounts in excess of this 2% will be surcharged.
If this means paying more than 10% of the tour price, you will be entitled to cancel your tour with a full refund on all money paid except for any premium paid to us for your insurance. Should you decide to cancel because of this, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days.
Whatever happens to the value of the Pound, the price of your tour will not be subjected to any currency surcharges except for government devaluation. The price of your tour is, however, subject to surcharges on the following items: governmental action including VAT and evaluation etc. Surcharges will not be imposed within 30 days of departure.
3. If we change your tour Changes are sometimes unavoidable. Most of these changes may be very minor but where they are significant we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible before your departure date. A significant change would be regarded as changes in departure date, tour area, or reducing the quality of your main accommodation (not single overnight accommodation). In the event of a significant change you may decide to:
(a) continue with the tour as amended or
(b) accept an alternative tour which we may offer to you or
(c) cancel your booking.
If you choose (a) or (b) we will pay you compensation on the scale below. If you choose (c) we will refund all monies paid by you, plus compensation on the scale below, no other claims for compensation or expenses will be considered.
Period before departure within which a significant change is notified to one compensation per person you or your travel agent.
More than 29 days Nil
28 - 15 days £5
14 - 8 days £10
7 - 0 days £15
4. If we cancel your tour
If, in the unlikely circumstances this option crystalises and we have to cancel your tour we will return to you all the money you have paid to us, or offer you a suitable alternative. However, we will only cancel your tour:
(a) Immediately prior to the departure date if you have not paid for your tour in full. If we do cancel your fully paid tour you will be entitled to either a comparable tour or a full refund.
(b) After the balance due date, as a result of hostilities, political unrest or other circumstances amounting to force majeure. If we cancel your tour at any time, Ulsterbus is liable only for any monies you may have paid to Ulsterbus at the time of cancellation and for the compensation payments as detailed in paragraph 3 above.
5. What happens to complaints All the complaints which are received are thoroughly investigated and you will be kept informed at each stage of the investigation.
Sometimes the investigations can take time when awaiting a response from third parties. We can normally agree an amicable settlement, if the complaint is found to be genuine.
Check other paragraph "If you have a complaint".
6. Our responsibility to you
We accept responsibility for ensuring that all component parts of your tour as described in this brochure or as contract to you are supplied to you at a reasonable standard. If any such part is not provided in the agreed manner, we will pay you reasonable compensation unless the non-provision was due to circumstances which we could not predict and which were beyond our control such as adverse weather, road or traffic conditions or the matters referred to in paragraph 4(b).
(i) Please remember that some amenities (eg hotel lifts, swimming pools, etc.) require servicing and cleaning and may not therefore be available at all times. Some services may be affected by weather conditions and their availability is entirely at the discretion of the provider of the service. Entertainment (particularly live entertainment) provided by hotels is frequently subject to demand and its nature and/or sufficient numbers staying in the hotel.
(ii) Some excursion itineraries include the use of ferries and other forms of transport which can be affected by inclement weather, and may have to be cancelled or arrangements changed. Whenever possible a suitable alternative excursion will be offered. The published running times of services are estimates only and we will not be liable for any loss (however caused) arising from delay or failure to operate services in accordance with published timings.
7. Personal Injury
(Whilst participating in arrangements made by us) Ulsterbus has taken all reasonable and proper steps to ensure that proper arrangements have been made for all the tours which are advertised in this binder, including Optional Excursions offered by our employees or agents, and that the suppliers of all the services are efficient, safe and reputable and that they comply with the local and national laws and regulations of the country in which they provided those services (note: Laws, Regulations and Standards of other countries may differ from those in the UK). Whilst we have no direct control over the provision of services to you by suppliers, we will pay our clients the equivalent of such damages as they would be entitled to receive under Northern Ireland Law or any personal injury to the client, including illness or death, caused by the failure to perform or the improper performance of such services by the servants or agents of ourselves or any of our suppliers contracted or sub-contracted by us to provide any part of the arrangements for your tour as described in this pack where such failure or improper performance is due to the fault of such person and not an event which such person could foresee or forestall even if they had taken all due care.
NOTE: We will make payments as stated above provided (a) that claims for personal injury are notified to us within 3 months of the return from tour (b) the injured client(s) assign to Ulsterbus any rights against a supplier or other person or party they may have relating to the claim (c) they agree to co-operate fully with us should we or our insurers wish to enforce those rights which have been assigned to us or to which we are subrogated and (d) such payment is limited in the case of transport by water or air to a maximum of such sums as would be obtained under the provisions of the appropriate International Conventions.
This assignment is necessary to enable us to try and recover from suppliers any compensation we have paid to clients, and associated costs, arising from personal injury to clients by fault of those suppliers. If we recover more than such compensation and costs, any excess will be paid to the injured clients.
8. Personal injury
(Unconnected with arrangements made by us) Where appropriate and subject to our reasonable discretion, we will afford general assistance to clients who through misadventure suffer illness, personal injury or death whilst travelling on an Ulsterbus tour arising out of an activity which does not form part of the advertised itinerary nor part of an excursion offered through the company, and which is the responsibility of a third party.
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