SMC Conferences and Courses Cancellation Policy, including Terms and Conditions of Service  

 

 

 

 

SMC Conferences and Courses Cancellation Policy, including Terms and Conditions of Service

 

 

 

 

 

1. General

All Santa Maria College (SMC) cancellations and refunds requests must be made in writing as indicated below. Requests must be sent to the SMC Events Office. Requests may be mailed or emailed at conferences@santamariacollege.org.uk . Telephone requests will not be honoured.

 

1.1.    Please note that people registering as students are required to provide evidence of student status at the time of registration for the conference/event from the respective colleges or universities or schools must be submitted by the delegates. 

1.2.    If the evidence of student status is not submitted with 20 days of registration, then the student registration will be cancelled and no refunds will be due. 

1.3.    If further costs are incurred in the preparing and sending of visa documents to the delegates and Embassies, then the delegate will be required to pay these additional costs.

1.4.    Registration for the conference is not transferable from one person to another.

1.5.    All candidates are required to pay the correct registration fee.  Incorrect registration fee will not be refunded.

 

 

 

2. Full Refunds

 

2.1.    To receive a full refund, SMC must receive written requests no later than 35 days prior to the first day of the conference or event. 

2.2.    All refunds are processed less the administration charges.

  

3. 50% Refunds

3.1.Less than 35 days’ notice Requests for refunds received by SMC within 35 days, but not within the final 15 days, prior to the conference or event will be eligible for a 50% refund, less administration and other fees concerned in the process. 

3.2. Again, please see the rules on points 1.1 and 1.2 for those who registered as students, as evidence of student status at the time of registration for the conference/event from the respective colleges or universities or schools must be submitted by the delegates. 

3.3. If the evidence of student status is not submitted with 20 days of registration, then the student registration will be cancelled and no refunds will be due. 

3.4. If further costs are incurred I the preparing and sending of visa documents to the delegates and Embassies, then the delegate will be required to pay these additional costs.

 

4. None Eligibility for Refunds 
4. .1. No refunds–Within 15 days

 

4.1.1. Requests for refunds within 15 days prior to the start of the conference will not be eligible for a refund.

 

 

4.2.No refunds–After Publication of your abstract in the conference Book of Proceedings for those who submitted their abstract/paper for publication.

 

4.2.1.Requests for refunds after the publication of a registered delegates abstract in the Official Conference Book of Proceedings will not be eligible for a refund, as it constitutes a breach of contract.

 

 

5. Instances When Refunds Cannot be Paid 

The following rules apply:

1. 1. If a person provides false information about their status, for example, if a person wrongly claimed that he/she is a student when he/she has finished their courses, their registration will be cancelled and he/she will not be entitled to any refund in any way. 
2. 2. All the people registering for the conference as students must provide evidence from their College or University or School; stating that they are students, and providing information about when their sources star and when it will finish.  This information must be provided before the end of the conference due to the fact that we need to provide correct ad accurate information on certificates issues and to officials like Embassies and accrediting bodies for our events.
3. 3. Refunds will not be paid after the Association has processed and sent off visa documents on behalves of a person to Embassies.  Any requests for refunds after contacts have be made to Embassies with various agents, and documents delivered to Embassies on behalf of the delegate will not be paid.
4. 4. Refunds will not be paid when a person suddenly withdraws from attending the conference after visa documents have been delivered to the Embassy. 
5. .5. If there is an emergency, in case the delegate is unwell, valid evidence must be submitted to the Events Committee for their consideration.  Merely saying any excuse/reason without any documentary evidence that will be verified will not be accepted
6. .6. If a person claims that they cannot locate the events venue/location, or they cannot contact the event’s Organisers at the specified venue, no refunds will be made due to the fact that the Organisers had already incurred costs in preparing materials and delegates’ packs and in organising the event.
7. 7. If a person requests for refund after the completion of the event, then no refund will be made.
8. 8. If the person requests for refund through their financial institution after the event have ended to allege that - items were not received, then no refund will be paid.
9. .9. If the person falsely and incorrectly obtained refund from PayPal or their Financial Institution or Bank by stating the reason in point 5.8, then we will take all necessary actions and legal proceedings to recover the money with costs and interests.
10. .10. If a person claims that they are a student to falsely get registration certificate and receipt from SMC and pass the registration for a professional to use in false pretense to enter the conference and to obtain visas to enter the United Kingdom (UK) or any other country, then this amounts to fraud and immigration issues and these will be reported to the relevant country authorities
     

 

6. Special Note on Refunds Requests

 

1. 1. Please note that no refunds will be processed or paid until after the date of the event in order to allow time for reports of the events to be received by the Committee and verified. 
2. 2. This is important to check attendances and make sure that the correct evidence like student status, any evidence of circumstance and accounting process are verified and complete.

 

 

7. Author/Speaker refunds

 

1. 1. Authors who have their papers included in the Official Conference Book of Proceedings are not eligible for a refund.
2. 2. Authors may receive a refund if they withdraw their papers before the paper is included in electronic or hard-copy of the Book of Proceedings. This is usually 27 days to the start of the event.

 

1. 3. If an Author withdrew or successfully claimed back his or her conference fee from nay finance company after his or her abstract has been published in the official Conference Book of Proceedings, the Conference Organisers/Collaborators reserve the right to treat the Delegate’s abstract(s) publication as an open access publication and send an invoice to the delegate for payment.  This request for payment will be pursued until payment is received because the publication cannot be revised as the abstract has been printed and published by the Publishers to available in the public domain. The bands that we charge for Open Access Publications are guided by the Publishers. It is treated as a journal article publication, which can be stated below:

 

 

1. 5. PROCESSING CHARGES FOR BOOK OF PROCEEDINGS AND JOURNAL ARTICLES AND ABSTRACTS ARE STATED IN THE TABLE BELOW:

 

 

Contract Type	Euro ( €)	USD ($)
CC-BY-NC(-ND)	1,299	1,499
CC-BY	1,990	2,290

 

 

 

 

 

All prices are excluding VAT.

 

 

1. 6. ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGE (APC) BY PUBLISHING OPTION

 

7.6.1. The prices do not include Value-Added Tax (VAT). Residents of European Union countries need to add VAT based on their specific country rate. Institutions and companies, outside of Croatia, registered as VAT taxable entities in their own EU member state, will not pay VAT by providing IAES with their VAT registration number. This is made possible by the EU reverse charge method, and the UK and international methods.

 

 

8. Emergency illness or Death of Registrant or Immediate Family Member

 

1. 1. Refunds may be granted if an attendee is unable to attend the Conference due to a family death, illness or other extraordinary circumstance (at the discretion of the Organising Committee).
2. 2. In such circumstance, the Events Office must be contacted by letter or email.  Approved refunds would be made less administration and other fees concerned in the process.

 

 

9. Substitution Policy
   1. 1. Registrants may send a substitute in their place in lieu of requesting a refund, if the attendee submits an abstract or paper with co-authors and the substitute is one of the authors of the paper or abstract.
   2. 2. The Events/Conference Office must be notified of this at least 30 days prior to the start of the event or conference in order to allow time to complete the process.

 

1. 3. If a delegate who is supposed to be presenting the paper cannot attend, he/she may send another co-author to present the work in their place.  In this instance, the Events Office must be notified of this at least 20 days prior to the start of the event or conference.

 

10. Visa Letters and refunds

 

1. 1. Visa letters and invites cannot be produced until payment for course, conference or event registration fee has been made.
2. 2. In the event that a visa cannot be obtained by a registered delegate seeking the visa in his/her name, a refund may be given subject to various factors.
3. 3. Notification of this in writing must be given to the Events Office at least 30 days prior to the start of the Conference or Event.
4. 4. Visa refusal letters with the name and address of the registered must also be sent to the Events Office before any refund will be processed.  Again refund would be made less administration and other fees concerned in the process.

 

11. Transfer of Registration to another SMC Conference, Course or Event

 

1. 1. If a registered delegate(s) cannot attend an event due to visa refusal or illness, bereavement and other circumstances, the candidate can apply to have his/registration transferred to another conference or event .  This would allow time for the delegate to resolve the issues and obtain the visas required to attend the event in case of visa refusal with genuine queries or other factors.

 

12. Transfer of Registration to another SMC Conference, Course or Event and Moving of Events' Dates and/or venue by the Organisers.

 

1. 1. If a registered delegate(s) cannot attend an event due to visa refusal, visa delays or illness, bereavement and other circumstances, the candidate(s) can request to have his/her (their) registration transferred to another conference. 
2. 2. The Organisers reserves the right to move the event to the next available one due to the unforeseen circumstance(s).  This would allow time for the delegate to resolve the issues and obtain the visas required to attend the event in case of visa refusal with genuine queries or other factors, or the Organisers to move the event to another date ad or venue, as the case may be. 

 

 

13. Cancellations and Rescheduling of Events due to Unforeseen Circumstances by the Organisers.

 

The following terms and conditions apply:

1. 1. If an event is rescheduled or moved to other dates or venue due to unforeseen circumstances by Organisers or in the event of the case where an event needs to be moved for whatever reasons, registered delegates can be moved to the next event as registered delegates or be allowed to attend another event in due course without paying another registration fee.
2. 2. No refund of delegates registration fees apply due to the fact that the event is moved or cancelled as a result of unforeseen circumstances, like flight cancellations by airliners, which can affect the attendance of organisers and many delegates or groups, venue cancellation by the venue owners due to unforeseen circumstances or incidents or natural disasters etc.
3. 3. Please note that the SMC does not refund or pay for people's flights/travel costs, hotel/accommodation or any other personal demand for payments due to the fact that the Association is a not for profit healthcare membership organisation with charitable intent, with the main objective of promoting excellence in patient care and education.  Hence the Association gives equal opportunities to all healthcare professionals internationally in order to attend the Association's events.
4. 4. In cases of special conferences, these events are specially organised and the numbers of participants are strictly limited due to the nature of interactions required for the accredited and approved CME and CPD points, no refunds will be paid if the event is cancelled or moved due to unforeseen circumstances.  Delegates will be offered the opportunities to transfer their registrations to other events whenever they are able to attend.
5. 5. No refunds will be paid in cases where the delegates pack, which includes the book of proceedings and certificates of attendance have already  been printed and sent to delegates
6. .6. Any other unforeseen circumstances beyond the SMC and/or the collaborating Associations and Academies control.

 

 

 

14. Refund time scale

 

1. 1. The Events Team will refund fees 60 to 90 days after the event in order to allow time for all reports and returns regarding the event to be made.  
2. 2. Please note that sometimes it may take longer to process refunds if there are complicated issues to resolve before refunds are made. 
3. 3. It is also very important to note that refunds can only be made via the same payment method that it was originally received from for correct accounting purposes.

 

 

 

 

15. Accommodation

 

1. 1. For accommodation cancellation policies, please refer to the individual hotel policies noted on their Websites.
2. 2. Any amendments to original hotel bookings must be forwarded via email to the Conference office.
3. 3. Verbal changes or cancellations cannot be accepted nor will the hotels accept any changes direct.

 

 

16. General Special Notices
    1. 1. Please note that all refunds are also subject to administration charge/fee of £30, plus the deducted percentages due for refund. 
    2. 2. Refunds will only be processed and made about 60 to 90 days after the event in question in order to take care of the annual returns and reports required as stated above. 
    3. 3. Refunds may take longer to complete if there are issues and matters arising to be resolved. 

 

1. 4. It is also extremely important to note that we are a not for profit Organisation that is required by the law to produce current accounting.  Our main aim is to promote excellence in patient care and education through medical practice education and research. 
2. 5. We therefore do not deal with buying and selling of goods for profit and we do not deliver goods, as it is outside the scope of our membership organisation.  Therefore any attempt to abuse our objective will not be tolerated in any way.   

 

17. Special Notice About COVID-19 Pandemic

 

1. 1. Please note that there may be a possibility that face to face events event can be held online via ZOOM depending on the situation with the COVID - 19 infection rate or governmental rules/restrictions in the UK and other countries and above all, as agreed by the Joint Events Committee of the conference or course in question at the time of the conference.  In which case, updated information will be published on this page.
2. 2. In line with point 17.1 above, all notifications with regards to the conference or course will be sent via Email message and if the Email has attachments, these will also be attached to the message.
3. 3. Provided that the message is not returned, the message and attached information will be deemed as delivered.
4. 4. Notification/invitation links to the conference/meeting or event, including instructions on how to join the meeting will be sent to all delegates.  This will be confirmed that the delegates have received the items for the conference or event.
5. 5. Certificates of attendance can only be given to delegates who joined the event and participated in the proceedings as required, including the CME or CPD certificates as well.
6. 6. Please note that due to the anti-epidemic measures, and restrictions and preventive measures stipulated, including requirements for social distancing, the Conference Managers and administrative may be required to be working away from the offices or working from home as required, so visitors are not received at our offices during this time.
7. 7. Our Conference Administrators can be contacted via Email at conferences@santamariacolege.org.uk or conferences@iahcp.uk

 

18. Special Notice Sending of items and documents about Conferences and Events.

 

1. 1. All conference or course/event materials/items are sent within the UK via the Post Office/Royal Mail by First Class Post, and it is deemed as delivered after two working days of posting it.
2. 2. Proof of Delivery/Posting issued by the UK Post Office/Royal Mail is the proof of delivery.
3. 3. All conference or course/event materials/items are sent overseas outside the UK via the Post Office/Royal Mail by Air Mail Post, and it is deemed as delivered after 10 days of posting it.
4. 4. Again, Proof of Delivery/Posting issued by the UK Post Office/Royal Mail is the proof of delivery.
5. 5. If a delegate did not attend the event with the materials sent to him/her, he/she will be given the materials, as the hosts of our events always have spare materials on site or during an Online event.

 

 

19.  Instances When Late Participation in the Event may be allowed.

 

19.1. There are certain instances when a delegate or a professional cannot attend and participate on the scheduled event on dates stated due to the following valid unforeseen circumstances:

• Illness
• Delayed flights or cancelled flights
• Bereavements

19.2. Please note the following points:

 

19.2.1.       If a delegate/or intended participant has any of the above reasons and wish to undertake the exercises on the sessions/workshops of the missed conference, he/she will be sent the conference pack, which comprise of the Official Book of Proceedings of the event, various booklets for the sessions missed in the programme of proceedings etc., after the payment of a reduced conference fee which ranges from 20% to 45% discounts, depending on individual circumstance 

19.2.2.       Once the reduced conference fee has been paid, the conference pack as stated above with the various documents will be sent to him/her. 

19.2.3.       After completion of the sessions, certificate of attendance will also be sent to the delegate. 

19.2.4.       If the delegate wishes to receive additional CPD and CME certificates, they will be required to complete exercises based on the session(s) in question.

19.3.           Please note that as a responsible Organisation, the SMC Joint Events Committee does not permit the issue of certificate of attendance to any person who did not comply with the items stated in points 19 (19.1 and 19.2, including 19.2.1 to 19.2.4) above. 

19.4.           Please further note that SMC Conference Services cannot just issue certificate of attendee with negotiated further reduced cost to anyone only without sending the conference pack and following the rules stated here in points 19 ( 19.1 to 19.3) above.

 

 

 

Approved by the Events Committee Members on 15 May 2020 and signed on their behalves by:

 

 

Dr Peter Fenton

Chair of SMC Events Committee

 

 

You can contact us at:  conferennces@santamariacollege.org.uk