The following booking conditions form the basis of your contract with Step In Georgia – IRC LTD. Please read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. By asking us to confirm your booking, we are entitled to assume that you have had the opportunity to read and have read these booking conditions and agree to them. These booking conditions only apply to holiday arrangements which you book with us and which we agree to make, provide or perform (as applicable) as part of our contract with you. All references in these booking conditions to “holiday”, “booking”, “contract”, “package”, “tour” or “arrangements” mean such holiday arrangements unless otherwise stated. In these booking conditions, “you” and “your” means all persons named on the booking (including anyone who is added or substituted at a later date) or any of them as the context requires. “We”, “us” and “our” means Step In Georgia – IRC LTD.
1. Making a Booking
1.1 To make a booking, you must complete our booking form. This must be signed and confirmed by the first named person on the booking (“party leader”). The party leader must be authorized to make the booking on the basis of these booking conditions by all persons named on the booking and by their parent or guardian for all party members who are under 18 when the booking is made. By signing the booking form, the party leader confirms that he/she is so authorized. The party leader is responsible for making all payments due to us. The party leader must be at least 18 when the booking is made.
1.2 The completed signed booking form must then be sent to us together with the payments referred to the tour arrangement.
1.3 Subject to the availability of your chosen arrangements, we will confirm your holiday by issuing a booking receipt. This receipt will be sent to the party leader. Please check this receipt carefully as soon as you receive it. Contact us immediately if any information which appears on the confirmation or any other document appears to be incorrect or incomplete as it may not be possible to make changes later. We regret we cannot accept any liability if we are not notified of any inaccuracies (for which we are responsible) in any document within ten days of our sending it out (five days for tickets). We will do our best to rectify any mistake notified to us outside these time limits but you must meet any costs involved in doing so.
1.4 We will communicate with you by e-mail in relation to your booking. You must accordingly check your e-mails on a regular basis. We may also contact you by telephone and/or post if we cannot, for whatever reason, contact you by e-mail. References in these booking conditions to “send” and “in writing” include communication by e-mail.
1.5 If booking online, any acknowledgement of your booking request we send you is not a confirmation of your booking. This will come once the booking has been confirmed in the form of either a booking receipt or confirmation invoice.
2. Payment
2.1 At the time of booking you will be required to pay a deposit of 30% of the tour price (or other amount specified at the time of booking) per person or make full payment for your booking if booking less than 35 days before departure and in some cases significantly earlier. Where you only pay a deposit, you must pay the full balance by the balance due date notified to you. If full payment is not received by the balance due date, we will notify the supplier who may cancel your booking and charge the cancellation fees set out in their Terms and Conditions. Alternatively, where you have booked a package with us, you will be subject to our cancellation charges as set out in Sections B below.
2.2 If we do not receive all payments due (including any surcharge where applicable) in full and on time, we are entitled to assume that you wish to cancel your booking. In this case, we will be entitled to keep all monies paid or due at that date. If we do not cancel straight away because you have promised to make payment, you must pay according to our the cancellation charges in clause 9 depending on the date we reasonably treat your booking as cancelled.
2.3 Once a booking has been created and the deposit paid, the currency can no longer be changed on that booking.
2.4 Group Bookings:
Where 10 people or more are booked on the same reservation, you will be required to make deposit payments as set out below:
PayPal will not be accepted as a payment method for group bookings; clients should transfer the payment into our Bank of Georgia’s account (details….).
2.5 In the case of international payments you should ensure that the full invoice amount, is received by us after all bank charges have been levied.
3. Passports, Visas and Health
3.1 We can provide general information about the passport and visa requirements for your trip, but this is for guidance only and it remains your responsibility to check the requirements before you travel. Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements, are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates prior to travel. Neither we nor the supplier accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements and normal cancellation fees will apply
3.2 However requirements may change and you must check passport and visa requirements with the embassy or consulate of the country(ies) to or through which you are intending to travel.
3.3 It is the party leader’s / your responsibility to ensure that all members of the party are in possession of all necessary travel and health documents before departure. All costs incurred in obtaining such documentation must be paid by you. We regret we cannot accept any liability if you are refused entry onto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part to carry all required documentation. If failure to have any necessary travel or other documents results in fines, surcharges or other financial penalty, costs or expenses being imposed on or incurred by us, you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly.
4. Travel Insurance and emergency contact
4.1 Adequate travel insurance is a condition of booking with us. You must take out a policy of insurance in order to cover you and your party against the cost of cancellation by you; the cost of assistance (including repatriation) in the event of accident or illness; loss of baggage and money; and other expenses. Failure to disclose relevant information will affect your insurance. You agree to provide us with a copy of your insurance policy on request.
Please note we do not check insurance policies. If you choose to travel without adequate insurance cover, we will not be liable for any losses howsoever arising, in respect of which insurance cover would otherwise have been available.
4.2 You must give to us the name, address and telephone numbers of your emergency contact (next of kin) or persons to be notified in the event of an emergency.
5. Behavior
Please be aware that the booking conditions of the supplier will normally state that your holiday arrangements can be terminated, with no refund, if the behaviour of your party falls below an acceptable standard. Suppliers will also often require you to pay for any damage you cause to the accommodation or services in resort. We are under no obligation to you if any event such as this occurs. You agree to indemnify us for the full amount of any claim (including all legal costs) made against us by the supplier or any third party as a result of your conduct.
6. Guaranteed Departures
6.1 All tours operated by us becomes guaranteed when a minimum number of guests (2 persons) is met and will operate unless force majeure circumstances or other unforeseen circumstances arise. Due to the traveler numbers on a specific tour, we reserve the absolute right to change the type or style of transportation or other elements, to enable the tour to operate.
6.2 For tours not operated by us, where we sell as Agent, at the time of printing all tours are guaranteed to operate but please note that the Principal operators in Azerbaijan and Armenia reserve the right to change this without prior notification. Under these circumstances an alternative tour of comparable standard or a full refund of monies paid will be offered.
7. Fitness to Travel, Age and Medical Conditions
7.1 Persons over 65 years of age may be asked to provide medical evidence of fitness to travel on certain itineraries. Minors (those under 18 years of age) are accepted on some group tours operated by us at our discretion provided they are accompanied by a parent or guardian who accepts full responsibility for them. Unaccompanied minors will not be accepted.
7.2 Our age recommendation acts as a guide only.
7.3 Clients agree to accept the authority and decision of our employees, tour leaders, and agents whilst on tour with us or, where we act as agent, the authority of the employees, tour leaders, and agents of the supplier. If in the opinion of such a person, the health or conduct of a client before or after departure appears likely to endanger the safety, comfort or enjoyment of a tour, the client may be excluded from all or part of the tour, without any refunds. In the case of ill health, we may make such arrangements as it sees fit and recover the costs from the client.
7.4 If a client is excluded from the tour as above or chooses to leave the tour of their own free will or leaves the tour due to ill health or any other reason there will be no refund of the tour price, extra services, surcharges, local payments/funds or any local surcharges. All services forming part of the whole package booked will be forfeited though may be recovered through travel insurance in some circumstances.
8. Safety Standards
Safety standards is not same in some countries. We strongly advise that all customers seek to minimize their exposure to injury by familiarizing themselves with relevant safety information that may be posted around the hotel or anywhere else.
9. Cancellation By You
9.1 Should you or any member of your party need to cancel your holiday once you have received your booking confirmation, the party leader must immediately advise us in writing. Your notice of cancellation will only be effective when it is received in writing by us at our offices. As we incur costs from the time we confirm your booking, the following cancellation charges will be payable. Where the cancellation charge is shown as a percentage, this is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person(s) cancelling excluding amendment charges. Amendment charges are not refundable in the event of cancellation.
9.2 9.3 and 9.4 define our cancellation policy, therefore Period before departure within which written notification of cancellation is received by us and cancellation charge per person cancelling. As well as Definition Large Group and Small Group
9.3 Large Group Booking Cancellation charge – 4 or more persons in one booking.
9.4 Small Group Booking Cancellation charge – 3 or less persons in one booking
9.5 Any payments for flights are non-refundable.
9.6 Depending on the reason for cancellation, you may be able to reclaim these cancellation charges (less any applicable excess) under the terms of your insurance policy. Claims must be made directly to the insurance company concerned.
9.7 On private bookings where any cancellation reduces the number of full paying party members below the number on which the price, number of free places and/ or any concessions agreed for your booking were based, we will recalculate these items and re-invoice you accordingly.
10. If You Cancel
10.1 If you or any other member of your party decides to cancel your confirmed Package you must notify us in writing. Your notice of cancellation will only take effect when it is received in writing by us at our offices or by email (when you receive an email response confirmation from us). Since we incur costs in cancelling your arrangements, you will have to pay the applicable cancellation charges up to the maximum shown in the table below (the cancellation charge detailed is calculated on the basis of the total cost payable by the person cancelling, excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges which are not refundable in the event of the person to whom they apply cancelling).
Period before departure within which notice of Cancellation by you is received and amount of cancellation charge
10.2 Please note that certain arrangements may not be amended after they have been confirmed and any alteration or cancellation could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100 % of that part of the arrangements, in addition to the charge above.
10.3 If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges. We will deduct the cancellation charges from any monies you have already paid to us.
11. If We Make a Change or Cancel Your Package Holiday
11.1 It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your booking, but we do plan the arrangements many months in advance. Occasionally, we may have to make changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you of them at the earliest possible date. We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your booking. However, we will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 45 days before your departure date, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance. Most alterations will be minor and while we will do our best to notify you of any changes as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before your departure, we will have no other liability to you.
11.2 Examples of “minor changes” include the following when made before departure:
11.2.1A change of outward departure time or overall length of your holiday of twelve hours or less.
11.2.2 A change of accommodation to another of the same standard or classification.
11.2.3 Occasionally we may have to make a major change to your Package. Examples of “major changes” include the following, when made before departure:
11.2.4 A change of accommodation area for the whole or a significant part of your time away.
11.2.5 A change of accommodation to that of a lower standard or classification for the whole or a significant part of your time away.
11.2.6 A change of outward departure time or overall length of your arrangements of twelve or more hours.
11.2.7 A significant change to your itinerary, missing out one or more destination entirely.
11.3 If we have to make a major change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible via email and if there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of (for major changes):
You must notify us of your choice within 7 business days of our offer in writing. If you fail to do so we will assume that you have chosen to accept the change or alternative booking arrangements.
11.4 If we make a major change or cancel, less than 45 days before departure, we will also pay compensation as detailed below:
11.5 Period before departure within which notice of Cancellation or major change is notified to you Compensation payable per person booking
11.6 We will not pay you compensation where we make a major change or cancel more than 45 days before departure or in the event that we are forced to make a change or cancel as a result of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which we could not have avoided even with all due care or if we cancel your arrangements. (We will tell you if we have to cancel for this reason not less than 45 days before departure).
11.7 The above sets out the maximum extent of our liability for changes and cancellations and we regret we cannot meet any expenses or losses you may incur as a result of change or cancellation. In no case will we pay compensation if accommodation is offered by us and accepted by you in the same location with a higher price than at the time of the original booking, where no additional payment is made by you for the higher priced accommodation.
11.8 We will not pay you compensation and the above options will not be available if we make a minor change or cancel as a result of your failure to make full payment on time or where the change(s) or cancellation by us arises out of alterations to the confirmed booking requested by you.
11.9 Very rarely, we may be forced by “force majeure” (see clause 12) to change or terminate your arrangements after departure. If this situation does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds (unless we obtain any from our suppliers), pay you compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result.
11.10 If we become unable to provide a significant proportion of the services that you have booked with us after you have departed, we will make alternative arrangements for you at no extra charge and, if appropriate in all the circumstances, will pay you reasonable compensation.
12. Changes by You
12.1 If you wish to change any part of your Package after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you must inform us in writing as soon as possible. This should be done by the first named person on the booking. Whilst we will do our best to assist, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet your requested change. Where we can meet a request, all minor changes will be subject to payment of an administration fee of 25 € per booking per change as well as any applicable rate changes or extra costs incurred as well as any costs incurred by ourselves and any costs or charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers. You should be aware that these costs will increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible.
12.2 Period before departure within which notice of change by you is received and amount charged for the amendment
12.3 Where we are unable to assist you and you do not wish to proceed with the original booking we will treat this as a cancellation by you. A cancellation fee will be payable. If you are prevented from traveling it may be possible to transfer your booking to another suitable person provided that written notice is given. An administration fee will be charged, details available upon request.
Note: Certain arrangements may not be amended after they have been confirmed and any alteration could inc
13. Complaints
13.1 Where you have booked a package holiday with us or a single-element booking where we are acting as principal, please inform your Tour Leader about any queries or concerns immediately or contact us via the contact numbers listed on our website. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 14 days of your return home by writing to us giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services in question without delay whilst on tour. If you fail to follow this procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were on tour and this may affect your rights under this contract.
13.2 Where we are acting as agent, the contract for your arrangements is between you and the supplier/local operator and any queries or concerns should be addressed to them. If you have a problem whilst on holiday, this must be reported to the representative / supplier or their local supplier or agent immediately. If you fail to follow this procedure there will be less opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint. The amount of compensation you may be entitled to may be reduced or you may not receive any at all depending upon the circumstances.
13.3 If you wish to complain when you return home, write to the supplier. You will see the name and address plus contact details in any confirmation documents we send you. We will of course assist you with this if you wish – please contact us. However, any assistance will be provided as a gesture of goodwill.
14. Force Majeure
Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions we will not be liable or pay you compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by any event which we or the supplier of the service in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. These events can include, but are not limited to war, threat of war, civil strife, terrorist activity and its consequences or the threat of such activity, riot, the act of any government or other national or local authority including port or river authorities, industrial dispute, lock closure, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster and all similar events outside our control or the control of the supplier concerned.
15. Law and Jurisdiction
These terms and conditions are governed by Georgian law and any dispute arising between the parties is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the court of Georgia.
If any exclusion(s) or limitation(s) contained in these Conditions is found, in whole or part, to be unlawful, void or for any other reason unenforceable for any purpose(s), that exclusion(s) or limitation(s) or the part(s) in question shall be deemed sever-able and omitted from these Conditions for that purpose / those purposes. Such omission shall not affect the validity, effectiveness or enforce-ability of the other provisions of these Conditions.
16. Conditions of Suppliers
Many of the services which make up your holiday are provided by independent suppliers. Those suppliers provide these services in accordance with their own terms and conditions which will form part of your contract with us. Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier’s liability to you, usually in accordance with applicable International Conventions. Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request from us or the supplier concerned.
17. Pricing
When you book a tour with us, you must pay either a deposit or the full balance of the total advertised price, if booking within 35 days of departure. Where you pay only a deposit at the time of booking, full payment is due no later than 35 days prior to departure.
17.1 We reserve the right to amend the price of unsold holidays at any time and correct errors in the prices of confirmed holidays. The price of your confirmed booking is subject at all times to changes in transport costs such as fuel, any other cost changes which are part of our contracts with operators and any other transport providers; changes in the currency exchange used to calculate your arrangements and to rates, dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports any or all of which may result in a variation of your holiday price.
17.2 We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements. You will be charged for the amount over and above that, plus any applicable administration charges together with any amounts to cover agents’ commission. If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10 % of the price of your confirmed travel arrangements (excluding any insurance premiums, amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements), you will have the option of accepting a change to another holiday if we are able to offer one (if this is of equivalent or higher quality you will not have to pay more but if it is of lower quality you will be refunded the difference in price), or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid to us, except for any insurance premiums and any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements. Should you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to do so within 7 days from the issue date printed on your final invoice.
17.3 There will be no change made to the price of your confirmed holiday within 14 days of your departure nor will refunds be paid during this period. We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy. Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your confirmed holiday cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.
Our a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.
18. Our Responsibilities to You in respect of Booking Tours
18.1 We will accept responsibility for the arrangements we agree to provide or arrange for you as an “organizer” under the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 as set out below. Subject to these booking conditions, if we or our suppliers perform or arrange your contracted holiday arrangements negligently, taking into consideration all relevant factors (for example following the complaints procedure as described in these conditions and the extent to which ours or our employees’ or suppliers’ negligence affected the overall enjoyment of your holiday), we will pay you reasonable compensation. Please note that it is your responsibility to show that we or our supplier(s) have been negligent if you wish to make a claim against us.
We will not be responsible or pay you compensation for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or other claim of any description if it results from:
18.2 We limit the amount of compensation we may have to pay you if we are found liable under this clause:
For loss of and/or damage to any luggage or personal possessions and money:
The maximum amount we will have to pay you in respect of these claims is 25 € per person in total because you are assumed to have adequate insurance in place to cover any losses of this kind.
18.3 For claims not falling under list above and which don’t involve injury, illness or death: The maximum amount we will have to pay you in respect of these claims is twice the price paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you or your party has not received any benefit at all from your booking.
18.4 For claims in respect of international travel by air, sea and rail or any stay in a hotel:
The extent of our liability will in all cases be limited as if we were carriers under the appropriate Conventions, which include The Warsaw/Montreal Convention (international travel by air); The Athens Convention (with respect to sea travel); EU Regulation 392/2009 (relating to the Liability of carriers of passengers by sea in the event of accidents); The Berne/Cotif Convention (with respect to rail travel) and The Paris Convention (with respect to hotel arrangements). You can request copies of these Conventions from our offices. In addition, you agree that the operating carrier or transport company’s own ‘Conditions of Carriage’ will apply to you on that journey. When arranging transportation for you, we rely on the terms and conditions contained within these international conventions and those ‘Conditions of Carriage’. You acknowledge that all of the terms and conditions contained in those ‘Conditions of Carriage’ form part of your contract with us, as well as with the transport company and that those ‘Conditions of Carriage’ shall be deemed to be included by reference into this contract.
In any circumstances in which a carrier is liable to you by virtue of the Denied Boarding Regulation 2004, any liability we may have to you under our contract with you, arising out of the same facts, is limited to the remedies provided under the Regulation as if (for this purpose only) we were a carrier.
18.5 When making any payment, we are entitled to deduct any money which you have received or are entitled to receive from the transport provider or hotelier for the complaint or claim in question.
It is a condition of our acceptance of liability under this clause that you notify any claim to us and our supplier(s) strictly in accordance with the complaints procedure set out in these conditions.
Where any payment is made, the person(s) receiving it (and their parent or guardian if under 18 years) must also assign to ourselves or our insurers any rights they may have to pursue any third party and must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require.
18.6 Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss or expense or other sum(s) of any description: (a) which on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you; or (b) relate to any business.
18.7 We will not accept responsibility for services or facilities which do not form part of our Agreement, or where they are not advertised in our brochure. This is for example any excursion you book directly with an external supplier, or any service or facility which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you.
18.8 Extra activities will be available on all tours, that will enhance your travel experience, but you have a choice as to whether or not to participate. Please note these are not part of your tour, these excursions are not operated by Step In Georgia – IRC LTD, nor do they form part of your contract with us. Whilst we may arrange the activity, where we do so we act as an agent of the local supplier. Should you participate in any extra activities your contract will be with the local supplier and their conditions will apply.
19. Delays, Missed Transport Arrangements and other Travel Information
19.1 If you or any member of your party misses your Coach or other transport arrangement, it is cancelled or you are subject to a delay for any reason on the day of departure, you must contact us and any other transport supplier concerned immediately.
19.2 Our tours run to a schedule and if you, or any member of your party is late during the tour, you may be left behind. If this occurs, please contact your tour leader and they will provide you with assistance to help you travel to the next destination, please note that any costs incurred will be at your own expense. The departure times during the tour are set by the tour leader and driver and will be notified to you at each stop.It is your responsibility to be on time, failure to be on time can cause delays to the tour itinerary.
20. Liability
20.1 We promise to make sure that the holiday arrangements we have agreed to make, perform or provide as applicable as part of our contract with you are made, performed or provided with reasonable skill and care. This means that, subject to these booking conditions, we will accept responsibility if, for example, you suffer death or personal injury or your contracted holiday arrangements are not provided as promised or prove deficient as a result of the failure of ourselves, our employees, agents or suppliers to use reasonable skill and care in making, performing or providing, as applicable, your contracted holiday arrangements. Please note, it is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against us. In addition, we will only be responsible for what our employees, agents and suppliers do or do not do if they were at the time acting within the course of their employment (for employees) or carrying out work we had asked them to do (for agents and suppliers).
20.2 We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (including loss of enjoyment or possessions), damage, expense, cost or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever which results from any of the following: – the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party or the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your holiday and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or ‘force majeure’ as defined in clause 14
20.3 Please note, we cannot accept responsibility for any services which do not form part of our contract. This includes, for example, any additional services or facilities which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you where the services or facilities are not advertised by us and we have not agreed to arrange them as part of our contract and any excursion you purchase whilst on holiday. In addition, regardless of any wording used by us on our website, in any advertising material or elsewhere, we only promise to use reasonable skill and care as set out above and we do not have any greater or different liability to you.
21. Excursions/Activities:
21.1 We may provide you with information (before departure and/or when you are on tour) about activities and excursions which are available in the area you are visiting. We have no involvement in any such activities or excursions which are neither run, supervised, controlled nor endorsed in any way by us. They are provided by local operators or other third parties who are entirely independent of us. We cannot accept any liability on any basis in relation to such activities or excursions and the acceptance of liability contained in clause 11.1 of our booking conditions will not apply to them.
21.2 We cannot guarantee accuracy of information given in relation to such activities or excursions as these services are not under our control.
22. Brochure/Website/advertising material:
The information contained in our brochure, on our website, in our detailed itineraries, travel essentials guides, pre-departure information, suggested packing lists, travel wallets and in our other advertising material is believed correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of printing or publication. However, errors may occasionally occur and information may subsequently change. You must therefore ensure you check all details of your chosen holiday (including the price) with us [or your travel agent] at the time of booking and where practical to do so we advise you to independently verify information which is provided for guidance only.
