Terms and Conditions

By booking on to a Hiking Nation trip or holiday, you accept that you are participating in activities of your own accord, entirely at your own risk and expressly accept that neither Hiking Nation nor the organisers have any responsibility or liability for loss or injury.

Furthermore, you agree that Hiking Nation bears no responsibility for the accuracy of information regarding public transport costs, times and conditions of carriage or statistical, technical or safety specifications regarding equipment, facilities, timings or costing either on its own or other websites or documentation.

Though Hiking Nation will endeavour to offer what it believes to be accurate information at the time of publication for any event, you agree that it is ultimately the responsibility of each participant to satisfy themselves of any accuracy of the information directly with third-party facilities, enabling companies or persons, like hotels and etc.

It is your responsibility to inform Hiking Nation about any relevant health conditions to ensure you are personally satisfied with any agreed actions relating to it.

HIKE PACE AND SAFETY

Our hikes have a moderate pace, not too fast and not too slow, to ensure you enjoy your surroundings and to avoid unnecessary injuries like falls and ankle sprains. To ensure everyone has a good time we have set a few rules on this topic:

Your guide may refuse to take you on a hike if they believe you to be physically unfit for the exercise ahead.
Your guide may refuse to take you on a hike if you are carrying the wrong gear for the trail ahead.
Your guide may ask you to turn back if your pace is so slow that it would extend the hike to extra hours. If you refuse to turn back and cannot catch the pace of the group, the guide will assume that you are capable of finding your way back to your final destination.
Your guide will not rush the group to catch up with a faster hiker. If you disappear ahead, your guide will assume you decided to leave the group and find your own route.

We strongly recommend you take out appropriate travel insurance cover at the time of booking. This travel insurance should cover you for all activities and cancellations, curtailment of your break or holiday and any illness that may stop you from attending.

Under certain extreme situations where it is considered dangerous, then we may modify, or change, the route to take account of any safety concerns. No refunds are due if routes are changed for safety reasons.

PAYMENT TERMS

Overnight Trips

A deposit is payable upon booking a trip or holiday. The deposit is non-refundable and non-transferable unless specified. The deposit will only be refunded if the event is cancelled by us or rescheduled by us and the participant cannot make the rescheduled dates.

Unless otherwise specified, the balance of the payment for short breaks of less than 7 days is usually due 30 days before the start date unless otherwise specified.

For holidays and treks of one week or longer, the balance is due at least 60 days before the start date or as specified as per the trip details. If the balance is not received by the due date, Hiking Nation reserves the right to cancel the booking and re-advertise it. Any deposit will not be refunded.

Cancellation and Refund Policy for Overnight Trips

If a participant cancels a booking, the deposit is forfeited.

If a participant cancels a booking less than 56 days (8 calendar weeks) before an event and the balance has been paid, Hiking Nation will endeavour to fill that place.

If we are able to fill the cancelled place then we will either :

(a) refund the advertised cost of the event less the non-refundable deposit.
OR
(b) transfer the whole cost of the event towards another event. In this case, the participant should book themselves onto another event to take within the next 12 months (i.e. no more than one year later than the date of the original cancelled event).

If the space cannot be filled, no refund will be made.

Day trips

Day trip fees are payable in full immediately at the time of booking.

Cancellation and Refund Policy for Day Trips

Day trip fees are payable in full immediately at the time of booking.

If the hike is cancelled by us for any reason, all payments are fully refundable.

In all other cases, payments for trips and events with Hiking Nation are non-refundable and non-transferable, with the following exceptions:

Only if

• the trip becomes fully booked
• AND your space sells

on that order.

We'll refund you the full amount (minus £20 admin fee) on Monday following the hike. Please note that the trip is fully booked ONLY if this is stated in the description of the event.

Your specific attention is drawn to the fact that insurance policies are available that cover cancellations for various reasons and any cancellation charges or deposits lost by virtue of a cancellation by you may be recovered by such means. You are strongly advised to take out such insurance.

If you have paid via a bank transfer and are owed a refund, please PM the main organiser your bank account details (account name, sort code and account number).

If you no-showed or arrived after departure time, ticket refunds cannot be made and there is no chance to join the trip later in the day. We do not allow our drivers or hike leaders to delay the departure time!

Trips are not cancelled if the weather is poor, and refunds are not possible under these circumstances.

Disclaimer

Hiking Nation cannot be held responsible for any loss, damage to, or theft, of personal belongings, or for any illness, injury or accident which may occur during a tour or guided walk unless proven to be caused by negligence on the part of Hiking Nation.

Clients should take all normal, sensible precautions and exercise an appropriate degree of care at all times. It is recommended that clients carry insurance for personal optical or electronic equipment and this is often covered by household insurance so please check with your provider.

Travel Insurance

For all trips and especially our overseas trips, we recommend you take out travel insurance as soon as you book. This should cover you for any cancellation, illness or any other circumstances that may prevent you from attending the trip, as well as any flight delays, lost luggage and any other additional travel expenses incurred.

Smoking

Smoking (of cigarettes/e-cigarettes/vape pens) is not permitted during our events either inside or in a group environment. You may smoke outside designated areas.

Dogs

Dogs are very welcome on our day trips but check with us first.

Age

The minimum age is 18 years of age.

Teenagers and pre-teens may be allowed on trips if accompanied by an adult.

Private bus transportation

For some of our trips, we offer full travel on our own private buses.

If attending events in our private bus, you agree to respect any extra rules specific to road trips.

As with any road trips and vehicle transportation, there is a chance of being stuck in traffic for long periods and also of vehicle breakdowns.

By signing up for a trip that includes travel in our buses, you agree to be understanding if things don't go to plan. No refund will be made if the trip is delayed or shortened because of such events.

A refund will be given if the trip has to be cancelled.

Cancellation or Alteration of Trips

Some advertised walks on trips are weather dependent thus are subject to change if necessitated by safety considerations.

We reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your holiday arrangements. We will not cancel a trip less than 60 days before departure except in cases of force majeure, unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, unusual or unforeseen events outside our control, such as but not limited to, terrorism, natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics, political instability or other external factors. If we cancel or postpone your trip for one of these reasons where you are not in breach of these booking conditions you can either move your payment to a trip on an alternative date or we can provide you with a credit note.

We are not responsible for any non-refundable incidental expenses that you may have incurred as a result of your booking.

By booking a trip with Hiking Nation you agree to abide by the authority of our trip leader. The decisions of the leader are final. If, in the opinion of the leader, your behaviour or physical condition present a risk to the safety, welfare and well-being of yourself or the group as a whole you may be asked to leave the trip without the right to any refund for unused services.

Anyone attending a trip must at all times comply with the laws and regulations applicable in the country visited. Should you commit any illegal act when on the trip, you may be asked to leave the trip without the right to any refund for unused services.

Due to factors outside of our control like bad weather conditions or in regard to other safety reasons, Hiking Nation reserves the right to alter a planned trip agenda or cancel an activity. Changes may be necessary for a variety of areas - the accommodation used, the trip leaders, the itinerary. Such changes are rare but necessary at times and we will endeavour to stick as closely as possible to the originally planned details

Transport to and from trips. Where our trips do not include transport, we are not responsible if 3rd party service providers alter or cancel their transport. This can include but is not limited to flights to or from a destination, trains or buses to or from a trip. If the transport provider that you have chosen to a trip cancels or alters your transport, it is your responsibility to find an alternative, such as another flight to a destination, or taking a bus if the train isn't operating etc

Clothing and equipment

For all activities, suitable clothing and equipment are required. This includes but isn't limited to :
Footwear - sturdy hiking boots ideally waterproof both for water and some of our hikes include mud on rural tracks.
Clothing - warm layers in winter and something lighter for the summer. Waterproof layer in case of rain. No jeans.

As a participant, it is your responsibility to be suitably dressed and equipped for whatever activity you have chosen to do with us. If you are deemed by the trip leader to have inadequate clothing for the conditions then you will not be allowed to participate in the event. No refund or partial refund will be given in these circumstances.

Photos

You consent to us using images of you or taken by you and put on the Hiking Nation Meetup or Social Media pages like Facebook for advertising and promotional purposes in any medium we choose. You grant us a perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide, irrevocable licence to use such images.
If you do not wish this to happen please advise us in writing or by confirmed email (where we reply to confirm that the photo/s will not be used) within 10 working days of the trip.

Privacy policy

We understand your concerns about data and how it is stored and used and are committed to complying with all data protection laws including GDPR. This privacy policy explains how we use your data, what we use it for and whom we share it with.

Personal information may be used for any purpose associated with the operation of the trip you have booked. The information may be disclosed to agents, service providers or other suppliers as necessary for that trip or as the law requires to the emergency services. We will otherwise treat your details with confidentiality.

Applicable Law and Jurisdiction
This contract is governed by English Law and the jurisdiction of the English Courts and you submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England or Wales to settle any dispute.

Types of data that could be collected and processed:

Personal details: Your name or nickname that you have used under your Meetup account and any public information you have chosen to share on Meetup.

Sensitive data: Although this is rare, in some situations we may need to kindly request from you personal information that is more sensitive, such as:

- Full name, date of birth, address, mobile number, medical conditions, medication, allergies, dietary requirements, next of kin contacts - this is only requested and used with your consent for our overnight trips - this also applies to anyone else on the same booking when such information is provided.

- Payment details: When you purchase a service from Hiking Nation, your payment is made with the help of a third party agent serving as an intermediary in the process. Some of your data such as your full name and email address will be processed to finalise your booking and may be further used solely for communication purposes relating to the trip. Further details about bank payments from you and other details of products and services you have purchased from us are also processed at discretion for the purposes of booking and accounting.

We limit any sensitive personal data we collect to the minimum possible. Unless we have a specific lawful reason to use this information, we will ask for your consent to collect it.

Communication details: Any questions, advice, comments, feedback, complaints provided by you in the process of communication with our staff.

Job applications: If you apply for a job with Hiking Nation, all the details you have sent us voluntarily will be processed and stored at our discretion.

Retention periods:

We will only keep your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose we collected it for, including for the purpose of satisfying any legal accounting or reporting requirements.
By law, we have to keep basic information about booking and our customers for six years for legal claims and tax purposes.

Sharing personal data:

In order to provide you with our services, we may share your personal information with third parties such as accommodation providers, transport companies, excursion providers. All third parties are required to equally respect your privacy and to treat your personal data in accordance with the law.

Transgender Policy

Under the Equality Act 2010:
“A person has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment if the person is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the person's sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex"

The process mentioned above may include undergoing medical gender reassignment treatments, but the Act does not require someone to undergo medical treatment in order to be protected.

Transgender Person
For the purpose of our policy, a transgender person is someone who, by the definition above, has the protected characteristic of Gender Reassignment.

Hiking Nation has always provided and advertised single-gender rooms (as opposed to single-sex rooms) and our policy at Hiking Nation is to assign people into the room of the gender that they associate with.

We acknowledge the exemptions in the Equality Act 2010 which relate to communal accommodation and single-sex services; specifically, sleeping facilities. These exemptions allow for the provision of different services to transgender guests in certain circumstances, so long as it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. In certain circumstances we may choose to invoke these exemptions; however, this is not a rule. In such situations, we would work with all parties to provide a solution while still ensuring access everyone has access to our services.

We invite people who meet the above criteria to get in touch with us in advance; please contact our office at sheila@hikingnation.co.uk Individual requests will be handled on a case by case basis. Please be aware that these requests can take up to 14 days to process.

If we find individuals are fraudulently trying to gain access to spaces they should not genuinely be in, they will be excluded from our trips. This is undertaken to ensure the safety and welfare of our customers.

Terms and Conditions

HIKE PACE AND SAFETY

PAYMENT TERMS

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