Terms & Conditions For Our Swim Trips & Courses
a) Making a booking:
All participants must be aged 17 years or older on the date of the swim. To make a booking you are usually required to pay either the full amount (e.g. for day swims) or a deposit for swims that involve accommodation. Deposits vary depending on the actual trip that you wish to book. Deposits are accepted for bookings 10 weeks or more in advance of the trips start. At 10 weeks or less full payment is required. The outstanding balance of your trip cost must be paid at least 10 weeks prior to the trip start. If the balance is not paid by the due date then unfortunately your booking is treated as being cancelled by you and your deposit will be retained. Please note we do not routinely send out reminders for balance due dates.
b) Vouchers:
Vouchers redeemed against a swim experience cannot be exchanged for goods once a booking has been confirmed. Once a booking is confirmed it is treated as a swim booking and you should refer to these Swim T&C’s and the section on cancellation information.
Vouchers are valid for 12 months from the date of purchase and must be used within this time. Voucher purchase cancellations made within 7 days of purchase will receive a 100% refund, no further refunds can be made.
If you have trouble redeeming your voucher online, please ring or email us.
Vouchers can be spent on swim bookings or products, but we regret there is no cash alternative and no change can be given.
c) Changes to the itinerary:
Our trips all require a degree of flexibility due to weather and other local conditions that might affect its operation and safety. For this reason changes to the itinerary are possible and can add a unique experience to each trip. We may make alterations to the trip itinerary at anytime. We will always ensure changes have as minimal impact as we can ensure and will inform you as soon as possible.
d) Cancellations Made By You: (for all swims except those with accommodation, see below)
All cancellations made by you must be in writing. Cancellations made within 7 days of booking will receive a 100% refund. Other cancellations made by you, you will be refunded as follows:
cancellations made…
60+ days before the start date will be refunded 50% of your individual trip price;
30 days to 59 days before the start will be refunded 30% of your individual trip price,
for 29 days and less no refunds will be made.
If the outstanding balance is not paid by the due date (which is 10 weeks before the trip start date) then unfortunately your booking is treated as being cancelled by you and your deposit will be retained. Please note we do not routinely send out reminders for balance due dates, so please do put it in your diary.
[Trips that involve accommodation and where a deposit has been paid:
For trips where a deposit has been paid and where the cancellation is made 70+ days before the trip start date the deposit is retained by us and a credit will be issued to the same value and can be used against a trip starting within the following 12 months. Credits are non-transferable. Cancellations made less than 70 days from the trip starting date a 100% of the trip price will be retained for each person cancelled and any outstanding balance remains payable. This helps to cover costs which have been committed to for your booking.]
e) Non-Attendance/Late Arrival: Non- attendance (or late attendance where the trip has already left or started and which meant we are unable to accommodate you) on a trip or course means this has been cancelled by you and no refunds will be given. Once a group has left the meeting location you will not be covered by our insurance or be considered part of our group, even if you are able to locate our group and attempt to join it (you will have missed our safety briefing and swim plan information).
Please ensure you allow plenty of time to arrive and if you have not had any joining details or are unsure where to meet please contact us at least 72 hours before the trip /booking starts.
f) Changing the date of your booking:
You may wish to change the date of your booking (swim trip or course) to the same swim on another date or another swim on a different date. Date changes will be accepted at a minimum 30 plus days from the original date of your trip/course at the Company’s discretion. Date changes are subject to, among other things, available spaces on the trip to which you want to transfer too. The first date change is free, however any changes to your booking thereafter will incur a fee of £5 per change, per person. All date change requests must be made in writing or email to Swim the Lakes.
At less than 30 days to your swim or course booking no date changes are possible, at this point you can chose if you would like to cancel your booking (See section d above) or substitute another person to your booking who meets or exceeds the trip requirements. See section g).
If you choose to cancel your booking you may be able to get a ‘goodwill transfer’. Please see section h) below.
g) Substitution: You can substitute another person to your booking who meets the trips requirements. You must inform us in writing at least 72 hours before the trip start. Any substitution is at our discretion and we reserve the right to refuse the substitution at any time and this will be treated as a cancellation made by you.
h) Goodwill Transfers: If you make a cancellation 29 days or less from the start of your swim or course, as a gesture of goodwill we may offer you a ‘last minute availability’ transfer. This means we will try to offer you a ‘last minute’ space on another swim or course, 7 days or less from its start date.
Please contact us via email or phone 7 days or less from the date of the swim you wish to do and we will do our best to book you on, subject to availability. It is the customers responsibility to re-book their last minute availability space. Goodwill transfers are not possible more than 12 months from the date of the original booking and cannot be rolled-over into the following calendar year.
We will do our best to help, but we cannot guarantee transfers. Please quote your booking number and date of original booking when re-booking a last minute availability space.
Goodwill Transfers are generally not possible for trips that include accommodation.
i) Bespoke swim bookings: All bespoke bookings require 50% non-refundable, non-transferable deposit ( or are payable in full if less than £100) at the time of booking. Outstanding balances must be paid to us at-least 60 days before your booking start date. If the outstanding balance is not paid by the due date then unfortunately your booking is treated as being cancelled by you. Please note we do not routinely send out reminders for balance due dates. Bespoke bookings cannot be transferred to another person(s). If you need to make a change to the date we will do our best to accommodate, if we are unable to accommodate a new date, you will need to cancel the booking.
We will always do our best to ensure your swim goes ahead however we do reserve the right to alter your swim location, time and / or date if necessary due to reasons beyond our control such as; safety issues, adverse weather conditions or extreme circumstances and no refunds will be available.
j) Cancellations made by us :
We regret if there is insufficient demand for the trip / course or the minimum number is not met we have the right to cancel it. If we do have to cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible and normally no later than 3 weeks prior to the start date. In this situation, you will then have the choice of having a full refund of all monies paid or, if possible, transferring to another trip/ course. We regret that under such circumstances no compensation or other monies will be payable (for example, the cost of any travel arrangements you have made independently).
Minimum course / trip numbers are displayed on the relevant trip information page.
If we need to cancel due to extraordinary circumstances beyond our control such as ( but not restricted to) extreme weather, natural disasters, medical and other emergencies, acts of terrorism; we will refund a percentage of your original payment. The amount refunded will be dependent on costs already paid out by us on the cancelled event.
We strongly suggest you have travel insurance that covers any unforeseen cancellations made by either party..
k) Health and Trip / Course Requirements
By entering you declare you are of good health, that you meet the course /trip fitness and other requirements as listed on the relevant course or trip information page; and that you take part entirely at your own risk. All entrants must be 16 years or over, and those under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
l) Insurance:
We recommend you have comprehensive travel insurance which has adequate cover for the requirements of your trip and to cover you for incidents such as; illness, accident, cancellation, lost property etc.
Please also see the following pages which form part of our Terms & Conditions: