SUBSCRIPTION RULES EFFECTIVE FROM 1 JANUARY 2008
INTRODUCTION
1. These Rules relate to subscriptions payable from 1 January 2008 by all members of the Association and shall apply until amended or revised by the Board.
2. Each year the Board will, with regard to the income and expenditure budget for the next year, agree the calculation and inform members of the subscriptions and the rate per £1 m of net book value which will apply in the next year.
3. In any question of the application and interpretation of these rules the decision of the Board shall be final.
4. The Board reserves the right to vary the subscriptions of individual full or associate members where their special circumstances, in the view of the Board, merit exceptional treatment.
5. All subscriptions will be invoiced at the beginning of the calendar year or on admission to membership to be payable within 21 days of receipt as laid down in the Memorandum & Articles of Association and are subject to VAT.
FULL MEMBERS’ SUBSCRIPTION
Basis of Calculation
6. Full members’ subscriptions will consist of a fee paid by all members regardless of size comprising a Basic subscription and a Divisional subscription, plus an amount variable according to the member’s size.
7. Each member’s size shall be measured as the net book value of the assets of the member or group of the companies of which the member is part subject to certain exclusions. The detailed definition of the net book value of assets is attached as Appendix A.
8. Each year every member shall, upon request, provide the Association with a Certificate of its Net Book Value as defined in Appendix A as at a specified date for use in calculating the next year’s subscription.
9. Where by acquisition, but not organic growth, a member’s net book value increases by more than 20% over the certified net book value before the start of the next subscription year, the member is required to submit a revised net book value figure for use in calculating the next year’s subscription. Similarly, where by disposal, a members net book value decreases by more than 20% below the certificated net book value before the start of the next subscription year the member is required to submit a revised net book value figure for use in calculating the next year’s subscription.
10. Basic Subscription. The basic subscription is £2,850 + VAT. In addition, a member must join at least one Division.
11. Divisional Subscriptions. A fixed amount of £2,850 + VAT will be payable for each Division which the member elects to join.
12. Variable Subscription. The variable subscription for each Group member shall be calculated on their certified net book value for the appropriate year except that any Group member with a net book value of more than 1% of total members’ net book value shall have all their net book value in excess of the 1% figure discounted by one quarter. The 2008 rate per £1m of net book value is £12.70 plus VAT.
13. Where two or more members of the same Group of companies are in membership of the Association or apply to join, the two (or three etc) companies will be individual members, and each shall declare its Net Book Value. Only one Basic Subscription will be charged. The total Net Book Value and divisional memberships of the individual members will then be used to calculate a notional Group Subscription as if the Group was a single entity. A Group Discount will be calculated by subtracting the notional Group Subscription from the sum of the individual member subscriptions. In practice this means all except one basic subscription plus any volume discounts will be rebated.
The Association shall rebate the group discount to whichever member(s) the Principal member of the Group determines.
14. The maximum subscription for a member/group shall be £124,440 plus Vat in 2008; the maximum member/group subscription in respect of any single division shall be £103,700 plus VAT in 2008.
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS’ SUBSCRIPTIONS
Basis of Calculation
15. The basic subscription for Associate members shall be the same as the basic subscription for full members.
16. The divisional subscription for Associate members shall be the same as the divisional subscription for full members.
OVERSEAS SUBSCRIBERS TO FLA SERVICES
17. Organisations that are not trading in the UK can subscribe to FLA services. The subscription is £674 + VAT for 2008 plus £337 + VAT for any additional Division membership. Overseas subscribers are not members of the association and will not be able to attend member events other than as a guest or be eligible for member discounts on our services, for eample conferences, training or publications.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
18. Full or Associate members joining part way through the calendar year will pay that proportion of the full year’s subscription which relates to the number of months of membership rounded to the nearest £1.
19. “Start-up Companies” i.e. an entity in its first year of trading that is not a subsidiary of an existing member will receive a discount of 50% on the basic & divisional subscription for their first 12 months following incorporation.
20. “Small members” i.e. those with a net book value of less than £25mn will be entitled to a rebate on the subscription on a sliding scale based on 10x the average NBV effective rate subject to a maximum rebate of £2,850. Start-up companies which are also small members shall pay the lower of the subscriptions calculated using the formulas set out in paragraphs 19 and 20.
Resignation of a Full or Associate Member
21. Any full or associate member may at any time give three months notice of their decision to resign from membership. The Association may accept a shorter period of notice depending on the circumstances of the member company.
22. No part of the subscription paid or payable by a member who resigns will be refundable, and any subscriptions due will remain payable
Joining or resigning from the divisions
23. Any full or associate member may join an additional Division(s), resign from membership of one of the Divisions or change membership between Divisions by giving written notice to the Association at any time provided that:
a. resignations from the Division must be notified by 1 December in one year to be effective from 1 January of the next year, otherwise the additional fee for membership of an additional Division(s) will be included in the subscription invoice for the next year;
b. no part of the additional fee for an additional Division(s) paid by a member who resigns from an additional Division(s) during the year will be refundable, and any fee invoiced will remain payable; and
c. members joining an additional Division(s) during the calendar year will be invoiced for that part of the additional fee which relates to the number of months of membership of the additional Division(s) rounded to the nearest £1.
Other non-subscription charges to Members
24. The subscription excludes:
a. attendance at workshops, unless these are free of charge;
b. attendance at the Annual Dinner, the lunch following the Annual General Meeting or other social events;
c. participation in the benchmark statistics service;
d. attendance at training courses or conferences;
e. purchase of publications;
f. other services to members, for which a specific charge is made;
g. Vehicle Fraud Unit or other shared projects
APPENDIX A
DEFINITION OF NET BOOK VALUE FOR SUBSCRIPTION PURPOSES
The net book value of the items below in the financial statements of the Member or, of the group companies of which the member is part, including quasi-subsidiaries and associates of the member as defined in FRS5:
a) all assets on finance or operating leases or otherwise accounted for as assets under FRS5 after conventional depreciation and specific provisions for bad debts, but before deferred tax; and
b) balances on hire purchase, lease purchase, instalment finance agreements, conditional sale agreements, stocking loans, secured loans, second mortgages, commercial mortgages, and other transactions defined by FRS5; and
c) all other advances, loans or agreements related to the ‘…. business of providing consumer credit and finance, instalment finance or asset finance or carrying on the business of asset leasing in the United Kingdom.’ (Article 6 of the Memorandum & Articles of Association); and
d) including any securitised assets which, under FRS5 or FSA requirements are permitted to be treated under the ‘linked presentation’ at the amount of the asset before deducting non-recourse finance and before debt deduction; but
e) excluding first personal mortgages on residential property; and
f) excluding the value of the assets, balances and advances of British Clearing Banks and such other bodies whose business the Board consider to be outside the scope of Article 6 of the Memorandum &
Articles of Association.
