Terms of service

This website is operated by UK Diving Academy. Throughout the site, the terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to UK Diving Academy. UK Diving Academy offers this website, including all information, tools and services available from this site to you, the user, conditioned upon your acceptance of all terms, conditions, policies and notices stated here.

By visiting our site and/ or purchasing something from us, you engage in our “Service” and agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions (“Terms of Service”, “Terms”), including those additional terms and conditions and policies referenced herein and/or available by hyperlink. These Terms of Service apply to all users of the site, including without limitation users who are browsers, vendors, customers, merchants, and/ or contributors of content.

Please read these Terms of Service carefully before accessing or using our website. By accessing or using any part of the site, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this agreement, then you may not access the website or use any services. If these Terms of Service are considered an offer, acceptance is expressly limited to these Terms of Service.

Any new features or tools which are added to the current store shall also be subject to the Terms of Service. You can review the most current version of the Terms of Service at any time on this page. We reserve the right to update, change or replace any part of these Terms of Service by posting updates and/or changes to our website. It is your responsibility to check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to the website following the posting of any changes constitutes acceptance of those changes.

Our store is hosted on Shopify Inc. They provide us with the online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you.

SECTION 1 - ONLINE STORE TERMS
By agreeing to these Terms of Service, you represent that you are at least the age of majority in your state or province of residence, or that you are the age of majority in your state or province of residence and you have given us your consent to allow any of your minor dependents to use this site.

You may not use our products for any illegal or unauthorized purpose nor may you, in the use of the Service, violate any laws in your jurisdiction (including but not limited to copyright laws). You must not transmit any worms or viruses or any code of a destructive nature. A breach or violation of any of the Terms will result in an immediate termination of your Services.

SECTION 2 - GENERAL CONDITIONS
We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time. You understand that your content (not including credit card information), may be transferred unencrypted and involve (a) transmissions over various networks; and (b) changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices. Credit card information is always encrypted during transfer over networks.

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any portion of the Service, use of the Service, or access to the Service or any contact on the website through which the service is provided, without express written permission by us.
The headings used in this agreement are included for convenience only and will not limit or otherwise affect these Terms.

SECTION 3 - ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND TIMELINESS OF INFORMATION
We are not responsible if information made available on this site is not accurate, complete or current. The material on this site is provided for general information only and should not be relied upon or used as the sole basis for making decisions without consulting primary, more accurate, more complete or more timely sources of information. Any reliance on the material on this site is at your own risk.

This site may contain certain historical information. Historical information, necessarily, is not current and is provided for your reference only. We reserve the right to modify the contents of this site at any time, but we have no obligation to update any information on our site. You agree that it is your responsibility to monitor changes to our site.

SECTION 4 - MODIFICATIONS TO THE SERVICE AND PRICES
Prices for our products are subject to change without notice.  We reserve the right at any time to modify or discontinue the Service (or any part or content thereof) without notice at any time.  We shall not be liable to you or to any third-party for any modification, price change, suspension or discontinuance of the Service.

SECTION 5 - PRODUCTS OR SERVICES (if applicable)
Certain products or services may be available exclusively online through the website. These products or services may have limited quantities and are subject to return or exchange only according to our Return Policy.

We have made every effort to display as accurately as possible the colors and images of our products that appear at the store. We cannot guarantee that your computer monitor's display of any colour will be accurate.We reserve the right, but are not obligated, to limit the sales of our products or Services to any person, geographic region or jurisdiction. We may exercise this right on a case-by-case basis. We reserve the right to limit the quantities of any products or services that we offer. All descriptions of products or product pricing are subject to change at anytime without notice, at the sole discretion of us. We reserve the right to discontinue any product at any time. Any offer for any product or service made on this site is void where prohibited.

We do not warrant that the quality of any products, services, information, or other material purchased or obtained by you will meet your expectations, or that any errors in the Service will be corrected.

SECTION 6 - ACCURACY OF BILLING AND ACCOUNT INFORMATION
We reserve the right to refuse any order you place with us. We may, in our sole discretion, limit or cancel quantities purchased per person, per household or per order. These restrictions may include orders placed by or under the same customer account, the same credit card, and/or orders that use the same billing and/or shipping address. In the event that we make a change to or cancel an order, we may attempt to notify you by contacting the e‑mail and/or billing address/phone number provided at the time the order was made. We reserve the right to limit or prohibit orders that, in our sole judgment, appear to be placed by dealers, resellers or distributors.

You agree to provide current, complete and accurate purchase and account information for all purchases made at our store. You agree to promptly update your account and other information, including your email address and credit card numbers and expiration dates, so that we can complete your transactions and contact you as needed.

For more detail, please review our Returns Policy.

SECTION 7 - OPTIONAL TOOLS
We may provide you with access to third-party tools over which we neither monitor nor have any control nor input.
You acknowledge and agree that we provide access to such tools ”as is” and “as available” without any warranties, representations or conditions of any kind and without any endorsement. We shall have no liability whatsoever arising from or relating to your use of optional third-party tools.

Any use by you of optional tools offered through the site is entirely at your own risk and discretion and you should ensure that you are familiar with and approve of the terms on which tools are provided by the relevant third-party provider(s).
We may also, in the future, offer new services and/or features through the website (including, the release of new tools and resources). Such new features and/or services shall also be subject to these Terms of Service.

SECTION 8 - THIRD-PARTY LINKS
Certain content, products and services available via our Service may include materials from third-parties.  Third-party links on this site may direct you to third-party websites that are not affiliated with us. We are not responsible for examining or evaluating the content or accuracy and we do not warrant and will not have any liability or responsibility for any third-party materials or websites, or for any other materials, products, or services of third-parties.

We are not liable for any harm or damages related to the purchase or use of goods, services, resources, content, or any other transactions made in connection with any third-party websites. Please review carefully the third-party's policies and practices and make sure you understand them before you engage in any transaction. Complaints, claims, concerns, or questions regarding third-party products should be directed to the third-party.

SECTION 9 - USER COMMENTS, FEEDBACK AND OTHER SUBMISSIONS
If, at our request, you send certain specific submissions (for example contest entries) or without a request from us you send creative ideas, suggestions, proposals, plans, or other materials, whether online, by email, by postal mail, or otherwise (collectively, 'comments'), you agree that we may, at any time, without restriction, edit, copy, publish, distribute, translate and otherwise use in any medium any comments that you forward to us. We are and shall be under no obligation (1) to maintain any comments in confidence; (2) to pay compensation for any comments; or (3) to respond to any comments.
We may, but have no obligation to, monitor, edit or remove content that we determine in our sole discretion are unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, pornographic, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party’s intellectual property or these Terms of Service.

You agree that your comments will not violate any right of any third-party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, personality or other personal or proprietary right. You further agree that your comments will not contain libelous or otherwise unlawful, abusive or obscene material, or contain any computer virus or other malware that could in any way affect the operation of the Service or any related website. You may not use a false e‑mail address, pretend to be someone other than yourself, or otherwise mislead us or third-parties as to the origin of any comments. You are solely responsible for any comments you make and their accuracy. We take no responsibility and assume no liability for any comments posted by you or any third-party.

SECTION 10 - PERSONAL INFORMATION
Your submission of personal information through the store is governed by our Privacy Policy. To view our Privacy Policy.

SECTION 11 - ERRORS, INACCURACIES AND OMISSIONS
Occasionally there may be information on our site or in the Service that contains typographical errors, inaccuracies or omissions that may relate to product descriptions, pricing, promotions, offers, product shipping charges, transit times and availability. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions, and to change or update information or cancel orders if any information in the Service or on any related website is inaccurate at any time without prior notice (including after you have submitted your order).

We undertake no obligation to update, amend or clarify information in the Service or on any related website, including without limitation, pricing information, except as required by law. No specified update or refresh date applied in the Service or on any related website, should be taken to indicate that all information in the Service or on any related website has been modified or updated.

SECTION 12 - PROHIBITED USES
In addition to other prohibitions as set forth in the Terms of Service, you are prohibited from using the site or its content: (a) for any unlawful purpose; (b) to solicit others to perform or participate in any unlawful acts; (c) to violate any international, federal, provincial or state regulations, rules, laws, or local ordinances; (d) to infringe upon or violate our intellectual property rights or the intellectual property rights of others; (e) to harass, abuse, insult, harm, defame, slander, disparage, intimidate, or discriminate based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, race, age, national origin, or disability; (f) to submit false or misleading information; (g) to upload or transmit viruses or any other type of malicious code that will or may be used in any way that will affect the functionality or operation of the Service or of any related website, other websites, or the Internet; (h) to collect or track the personal information of others; (i) to spam, phish, pharm, pretext, spider, crawl, or scrape; (j) for any obscene or immoral purpose; or (k) to interfere with or circumvent the security features of the Service or any related website, other websites, or the Internet. We reserve the right to terminate your use of the Service or any related website for violating any of the prohibited uses.

SECTION 13 - DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
We do not guarantee, represent or warrant that your use of our service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free.
We do not warrant that the results that may be obtained from the use of the service will be accurate or reliable.
You agree that from time to time we may remove the service for indefinite periods of time or cancel the service at any time, without notice to you.

You expressly agree that your use of, or inability to use, the service is at your sole risk. The service and all products and services delivered to you through the service are (except as expressly stated by us) provided 'as is' and 'as available' for your use, without any representation, warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied, including all implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, merchantable quality, fitness for a particular purpose, durability, title, and non-infringement.

In no case shall UK Diving Academy, our directors, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, contractors, interns, suppliers, service providers or licensors be liable for any injury, loss, claim, or any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, special, or consequential damages of any kind, including, without limitation lost profits, lost revenue, lost savings, loss of data, replacement costs, or any similar damages, whether based in contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability or otherwise, arising from your use of any of the service or any products procured using the service, or for any other claim related in any way to your use of the service or any product, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of the service or any content (or product) posted, transmitted, or otherwise made available via the service, even if advised of their possibility. Because some states or jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or the limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, in such states or jurisdictions, our liability shall be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

SECTION 14 - INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless UK Diving Academy and our parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, officers, directors, agents, contractors, licensors, service providers, subcontractors, suppliers, interns and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third-party due to or arising out of your breach of these Terms of Service or the documents they incorporate by reference, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third-party.

SECTION 15 - SEVERABILITY
In the event that any provision of these Terms of Service is determined to be unlawful, void or unenforceable, such provision shall nonetheless be enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and the unenforceable portion shall be deemed to be severed from these Terms of Service, such determination shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any other remaining provisions.

SECTION 16 - TERMINATION
The obligations and liabilities of the parties incurred prior to the termination date shall survive the termination of this agreement for all purposes.

These Terms of Service are effective unless and until terminated by either you or us. You may terminate these Terms of Service at any time by notifying us that you no longer wish to use our Services, or when you cease using our site.
If in our sole judgment you fail, or we suspect that you have failed, to comply with any term or provision of these Terms of Service, we also may terminate this agreement at any time without notice and you will remain liable for all amounts due up to and including the date of termination; and/or accordingly may deny you access to our Services (or any part thereof).

SECTION 17 - ENTIRE AGREEMENT
The failure of us to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

These Terms of Service and any policies or operating rules posted by us on this site or in respect to The Service constitutes the entire agreement and understanding between you and us and govern your use of the Service, superseding any prior or contemporaneous agreements, communications and proposals, whether oral or written, between you and us (including, but not limited to, any prior versions of the Terms of Service).

Any ambiguities in the interpretation of these Terms of Service shall not be construed against the drafting party.

SECTION 18 - GOVERNING LAW
These Terms of Service and any separate agreements whereby we provide you Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of United Kingdom.

SECTION 19 - CHANGES TO TERMS OF SERVICE
You can review the most current version of the Terms of Service at any time at this page.
We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to update, change or replace any part of these Terms of Service by posting updates and changes to our website. It is your responsibility to check our website periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to our website or the Service following the posting of any changes to these Terms of Service constitutes acceptance of those changes.

SECTION 20 - CONTACT INFORMATION
Questions about the Terms of Service should be sent to us at info@ukdivingacademy.com.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: COURSES & EXPERIENCES

SECTION 1: FITNESS TO DIVE & MEDICAL DECLARATIONS

All students participating in PADI programmes are required to complete mandatory PADI course documentation, no later than 14 days before the start of your course. Known medical conditions must be declared and notified to Uk Diving Academy, prior to the start of any in-water activity. Failure to declare medical conditions in accordance with the PADI Medical Statement will result in a temporary suspension from in-water activities until medical clearance is received.

If you have any YES answers on your Medical Form then you need to get a Doctor to confirm fitness to dive. A doctor is required to complete the second page of the PADI Medical Statement and confirm that they find no medical conditions that they consider incompatible with diving.

If this has not been done and you attend the course OR this results in you needing to reschedule because you will not be able to dive you will be charged the full rescheduling fee as listed below. If you are unsure, please check the PADI Medical Statem and Guidance Notes. If you are in doubt, we recommend speaking with your doctor and discussing the Medical Statement prior to booking your course or experience.

All courses require a level of fitness consistent with the activity required. It is normally sufficient, for a general practitioner to assess and if any doubt may exist, this course of action should be taken. Most individuals tend to self-certify themselves for entry-level to non-professional courses and specialties. (A list of requirements for health and fitness are available from Info@UKDivingAcademy.com or via the web site). Where medicals are required for professional-level courses, divers may have to undergo an appropriate medical to a defined standard for diving. The training agency or the Health and Safety Executive will set the standard, details of which are available.

SECTION 2: COURSE FEES

For Experience Programmes including the Discover Scuba Diving, Discover Snorkelling, Bubblemakers, Reactivate and others, payment in full is required to secure your booking. Upon receipt of payment, each participant is required to complete the appropriate booking forms and medical forms which will be sent directly by email, no later than 14 days before start of your experience, if these forms are not received you will not be able to take part in any in water activity and your place will be cancelled.

All other courses require a booking in advance although your place on the course is not confirmed until full payment is made no later than 30 days before the start date the receipt of your full payment will release your course materials (if required). please note we do not provide any refunds in full and/or any part payments made for courses however these will remain in credit on said account for up to 1 year from the booking date. 

For any reason caused by the student will result in additional charges being made to complete the course at a later stage. This includes not being able to demonstrate competence to meet the performance requirements as laid down by the Course Standards. If you are not willing to pay the additional fees to complete your course, a referral document will be issued to you which will hold good for a period of 12 months from the date of the last portion of the course completed.

Once you have placed your order your course/experience this will be confirmed via a Email, please note if this is a custom order that then confirmation will be included within the invoice,  If you do not receive your confirmation email, please email or call the Uk Diving Academy. Please be sure to check your spam or junk email, to ensure the confirmation has not been filtered out.

All bookings and payments are non-refundable, once your course is booked your place has been confirmed.

Commencement of the course is subject to timely completion of all requirements including:

• Completion of any relevant forms. These must be sent to us in advance and brought along on the course start date.
• Complete all pre–study materials in advance of the course start date and submit at no later than 14 days before the start of the course. If you fail to complete the relevant pre-course study, you will be unable to start the course and will be asked to reschedule on a standby basis and the £100 late notice fee will also apply.
• UK Diving Academy tries to ensure all courses finish on time, however due to students learning at different rates the courses may over run. We would recommend that you leave yourself extra time at the end of the stated course finish time.
• Students agree to be present at all training sessions between the times communicated
• Students agree to make adequate travel arrangements to ensure they arrive before the course start time. This includes downloading maps of locations, checking public transport, allowing for traffic hold ups ect. We will not inconvenience other customers by delaying the course. Students arriving late will not be able to start the course.
• It is a mandatory requirement that all students have their own course materials for every course, electronic learning or manuals are available from UK Diving Academy if you do not already have your own copy. Please ensure you bring along your course materials with all the relevant Knowledge reviews completed and electronic exam score record sheet to every session.
• All certification paperwork and documentation will completed at the end of the course. Copies of paperwork and a training record are kept on file, if there are any discrepancies with your paperwork please contact UK Diving Academy. Copies of referral forms, can be sent via emailed only.

SECTION 3: CANCELLATIONS & NO SHOWS

No cancellations are available once your order is confirmed, In the unlikely event a student chooses to cancel their course on medical grounds, a 50% cancellation fee or the cost of the course materials and completed training, whichever is greater, will be charged. All cancellations must be submitted in writing and will be forwarded to senior management. However, a doctors certificate will be required for cancellations made on medical grounds.

‘No Shows’ are when you fail to turn up for a scheduled session without giving us any notice. Payments made for the session will not be refunded or credited to a future session.

SECTION 4: RESCHEDULING

Should you need to reschedule a course or experience with less than the required notice period then a rescheduling fee will be applied. Rescheduling a course or experience after the start time of that session is classed as a ‘No Show’.

If you are unable to attend a course, or part of a course and provide more than the required notice period for that course, we will endeavour to reschedule your course to another date that is suitable to you without any rescheduling fee. We do not provide any refunds and any part payments made for courses will remain in credit on said account for up to 1 year from booking date.

Failure to complete the full course requirements for any reason caused by the student will result in additional charges being made to complete the course at a later stage. This includes not being able to demonstrate competence to meet the performance requirements as laid down by the Course Standards. If you are not willing to pay the additional fees to complete your course, a referral document will be issued to you which will hold good for a period of 12 months from the date of the last portion of the course completed. For PART A of the Open Water Diver Course, this is charged at £100 per Confined Water session. There are 5 CW sessions in PART A and you only need to pay for the sessions that were incomplete, Open Water Session will be charged at £100 per day, plus equipment hire.

In the event that a situation arises and UK Diving Academy is unable to deliver your course on pre-arranged dates, we will endeavour to give you as much notice as possible and will re-schedule your course. Uk Diving Academy requires a minimum of three students for a course to run unless the course is a private booking, due to the nature of UK diving, we reserve the right to change the dive sites for reasons out of our control.

If you cancel your course outside of 48 hours due to illness we may reduce your rescheduling fee but we will require a medical certificate from your GP within 7 calendar days. Failure to provide us with a medical within 7 days of the original course date will result in the listed Rescheduling Fee for that course. Canceling a course or experience After the start time of that session is classed as a ‘No Show’ (point 3).

SECTION 5: PERSONAL & CREDIT CARD DETAILS

We hold your personal details for a period of 7 years as required by PADI EMEA. We will, at all times, treat your details with respect and will never share them with any other company.

Credit card details are never stored in any way. Please see our Privacy Policy for full details.

SECTION 6: PAYMENT INFORMATION

We accept all major credit and debit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro (Switch). You can also pay by Bank transfers are also possible and our bank details can be supplied upon request. Please allow at least 3 working days for the transfer to credit our account. We prefer online payments wherever possible.

SECTION 7: PRE PAID GIFT CERTIFICATES & CREDIT NOTES

Each gift voucher & credit note is valid for a maximum of 12 months unless otherwise stated. The voucher will be deemed to be invalid if it is out of date. The validity period is normally stated on the gift voucher and/or Invoice) If the customer or recipient is unable to utilise the voucher before the expiry date then upon the customer contacting UK Diving Academy prior to the stated expiry date and paying an administration fee of £50 (if the activity has increased in price the additional amount will have to also be paid at the time) the company will, if agreed, issue a voucher extension cover letter granting an additional period of time in which to take the goods or services. After a voucher has been extended it cannot be extended a further time. Vouchers can only be extended if they are inside their expiry date. Vouchers are representative of goods or services to the face value of the voucher. The vouchers may only be redeemed against the goods or service stated and cannot be exchanged for cash.

SECTION 8: COURSE EQUIPMENT

For all recreational courses, equipment hire is included as part of the course fees, unless otherwise stated, We have a selection of Marks, Hoods, Gloves and Boots for hire however due to fitting issues we would recommend that you have your own of these items, please contact us and we be happy to help. We will do our best to provide the best sizing and best fit for you. However, each diver is different and we may not be able to accommodate every divers size.

Any existing diving certification held and logbooks plus any dive equipment you own that you wish to use on the course. For further education diving activities, the onus is upon the customer, to provide valid certification and make suitable arrangements for any required equipment such as diving kit, etc. Where hire kit is loaned or provided, in addition to the course, this will be shown on the invoice. Where equipment is provided for the purpose of the course the Customer is responsible for the care and ownership of the equipment and is solely responsible for any damages or losses.

You will be required to have a fitting and collect your core dive gear prior to the open water training dives from us.

SECTION 9: TRANSPORT

UK Diving Academy does NOT provide transport to the Open Water dive sites. We will make every effort to try and get you a car share with another student but if this is not possible you will be expected to make your way to the site by your own means.

SECTION 10: HEALTH & SAFETY

Scuba Diving is an extreme sport and as such comes with a number of risk, as a Dive Centre our activities are over seen by HSE & our Professional code of conduct.

Information about Diving at Work can be found here.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l105.pdf

Please be aware, unless all conditions are met within our safe working practices we will not allow the diving project to take place. Our team of Professional Diving Instructors, Lead Instructors, Supervisors and Contractor will not be bullied, bribed into allowing the diving project to take place.

As PADI Professionals The UK Diving Academy as part of members Code of Conduct agree to:

1. Put the safety of diving clients and students as your first priority and responsibility. In doing so, abide
   by the requirements and intent of PADI Standards and Procedures in the PADI Instructor Manual,
   PADI’s Guide to Teaching, Training Bulletin, Training News and other updates while applying your best judgment during the PADI courses and programs you conduct.

2. Although scuba diving is a reasonably safe
   activity when safety rules are followed, the risk/ consequence of scuba diving can lead to very serious injuries. Be safety minded, safety conscious, and practice instructing and dive mastering professionally.

3. Perform a personal readiness self-assessment before you teach or lead others on dives. This includes evaluating your physical health and fitness for diving as well as your ability to supervise and respond to diver emergencies on that day and at that location.

Reviewed Date 07/12/2021