gizza5 Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 (edited) then all you have to di is flash your photo registration card and club membership when signing on and bingo.. But it never happens, but that is a whole different debate? Yes agree with the ACU for moving forward and adopting the on line registration and hopefully you will get more people sign up, but it still begs the question at a trial what is the percentage of people that are in possesion of tha ACU licence until as stated a rider or spectator get injured and a claim goes in? Are the ACU going to ask the volunteer secretery if he or she checked each individual licence and hold them responsible? Won't me many volunteers for that job, it would be easier finding observers and we all know how hard that is?? Edited May 19, 2011 by GIZZA5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big john Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 There is no way the ACU would effectively issue a licence without some sort of club validation. I know the SACU are actively looking at a similar project for Scotland via their own policy and planning committee known as "Way Forward" committee. The clubs are the lifeblood of both the ACU and SACU, they should not be left out of any loop. Big John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totalshell Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 okay if club membership has to be an essential for an acu reg card why dont the acu require all membership be the same cost you pays for your licence online nominate a club and the acu gives them the money.. and your details electronically is that too simple.. no nominated club no registration card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_scorpa3 Posted May 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 okay if club membership has to be an essential for an acu reg card why dont the acu require all membership be the same cost you pays for your licence online nominate a club and the acu gives them the money.. and your details electronically is that too simple.. no nominated club no registration card Now there's a new take on the problem! There is only one draw-back to this as I see it, and call me a cynic but... Much (if not all) of this proposal is about reducing costs. Most of us are doing it, some of us have even lost our jobs because of it. I can't blame the ACU for wanting to make applications easier and quicker, it saves on admin time.... thus reducing costs. Cutting out the clubs completely would help the ACU to do this; no admin costs associated with the club at all, but at what cost to the clubs themselves? Do you think the ACU care if a club looses out on a few membership fee's due to this? If they can save a thousand pounds a year whilst the odd club run by unpaid enthusiasts looses a few hundred pounds of their own money. Will the accountants care about the clubs? Not a jot! How much would it cost to administer a system where the ACU pays the club for each rider? Sadly more than it saves I guess, and who would have to make up for that? Yes, the licence applicant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrc1 Posted May 20, 2011 Report Share Posted May 20, 2011 I'm not sure it would make any difference. Locally clubs here give discount on entry fees to members......if you ride a lot it's cheaper to join. If it's your local club you'll join anyway. Bigger events, groups, centre, national etc charge more anyway. Of course a few of us here are AMCA clubs running quite happily with no licence required at all.......now there's an idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john collins Posted May 24, 2011 Report Share Posted May 24, 2011 Some good points Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big john Posted May 26, 2011 Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 Worthy point, not all ideas are about saving money, but actually making things easier with people who have access to computers. (Which by the way the reader of this message must either own one or have access to one!) Take for instance the road fund licence, I find it a whole lot easier to apply for my road tax on-line without having to drive to the local post office (or walk on a hissing wet day) fumble about with cash or cheque, find that I have forgotten my MOT certificate and Insurance certificate, oh dear another trip! On-line, put in the reminder ID number, follow the on screen instruction, pay by credit/debit card and Bob's your uncle the round bit of paper arrives by post in two or three days, job done at the click of a mouse! Same idea with on-line licence/registration card, sound slike a good idea in principle, bring it on! Big John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_scorpa3 Posted May 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 Worthy point, not all ideas are about saving money, but actually making things easier with people who have access to computers. (Which by the way the reader of this message must either own one or have access to one!) Take for instance the road fund licence, I find it a whole lot easier to apply for my road tax on-line without having to drive to the local post office (or walk on a hissing wet day) fumble about with cash or cheque, find that I have forgotten my MOT certificate and Insurance certificate, oh dear another trip! On-line, put in the reminder ID number, follow the on screen instruction, pay by credit/debit card and Bob's your uncle the round bit of paper arrives by post in two or three days, job done at the click of a mouse! Same idea with on-line licence/registration card, sound slike a good idea in principle, bring it on! Big John With you on that one Big John! But lets not forget, the online tax disc application only works if you are insured and your vehicle is mot'd. Apply the same analogy to trials registrations, then each application should automatically check that the applicant is a member of a club. Sort this out and it is a brilliant idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john collins Posted May 26, 2011 Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 I think that is one of the points on offer on the consultation paper ( cannot find mine at moment!) For road tax - You( if in trade) or your insurer place your vehicles details etc on database and without this you would not be able to tax it Equally the MOT station records that vehicle is MOT'd and both these need to be in place before you can tax So - easy option is that as long as your name shows upon database as belonging to a club - bobs your auntie Only real problem ( there is always one) it relies soley on the poor old Club Sec having to email in the names when they join the Club - and on a very regular basis some would have no problem with this at all - may even fire off on a laptop on a Club night or whenever/ however received - but for some others it may be a chore - ot they may be away for a week ot two etc Still it is certainly one option to consider I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_scorpa3 Posted May 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 I think that is one of the points on offer on the consultation paper ( cannot find mine at moment!) For road tax - You( if in trade) or your insurer place your vehicles details etc on database and without this you would not be able to tax it Equally the MOT station records that vehicle is MOT'd and both these need to be in place before you can tax So - easy option is that as long as your name shows upon database as belonging to a club - bobs your auntie Only real problem ( there is always one) it relies soley on the poor old Club Sec having to email in the names when they join the Club - and on a very regular basis some would have no problem with this at all - may even fire off on a laptop on a Club night or whenever/ however received - but for some others it may be a chore - ot they may be away for a week ot two etc Still it is certainly one option to consider I think Asking membership Secs to confirm each member has joined the club was an option but maintaining a central list at the ACU wasn't. I guess either are almost the same amount of work for all concerned. Which ever option is adopted, I feel that memberships should be confirmed 'before' the licence is issued. The more automatic the system, then the better it is. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big john Posted May 26, 2011 Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 Asking membership Secs to confirm each member has joined the club was an option but maintaining a central list at the ACU wasn't. I guess either are almost the same amount of work for all concerned. Which ever option is adopted, I feel that memberships should be confirmed 'before' the licence is issued. The more automatic the system, then the better it is. Pete Indeed, I agree with that. And John Collins makes afair point above too. Big John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted May 29, 2011 Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 Alternatively, why do we need to be in a club to have ACU Membership? What is the specific reason for having to be in a club? It's a genuine question as I have no idea what the club membership fee is allocated to. 100% to club coffers or a portion to the ACU?. If I take my own club as an example. It's not a big club. For the last few years there have been 5 active members which includes the non-riding secretary and 2, maybe 3 of us being certified clerks of the course. It's usually been the same 3 people who lay out the trials, 7 or 8 a year roughly (this year we have another 2 or 3 helpers) Historically, any other riders who join the club do so purely to get a licence form signed in order to apply for the ACU registration, usually at our boxing day trial (I'm not criticising this by the way) They aren't actively involved in the club after that, they may ride some of the events. It's impossible to put conditions on membership to say you have to help out by doing x, y or z, as they'd just join another club to get the form signed. So the club membership doesn't really mean anything. The revenue to our club specifically from club membership is insignificant as we probably get 15 - 20 at the most at a guess. So, what purpose does it serve? They aren't active members and the financial gain is too small to be of significance. I can appreciate that to survive, a club needs a membership and if you take away the need to join a club, people may not do so and then what happens to the club. On the flip side, if club members aren't active, the club can still flounder. My argument is that people who are committed to being part of a club and enjoy getting involved in the organisation, will join/renew membership anyway and the club will continue. So, I can see an argument for being able to apply for ACU registration without the application being signed off by a club secretaty confirming club membership. If a rider has ACU registration and enters a trial, aren't they then covered should they suffer some sort of accident and claim? What, if anything would being member of a club add to that? You won't necessarily be a member of the club in whose trial you are riding. So, for trials at least (as a pilot) is it possible to just apply for ACU registration without the need to have a club membership. If this isn't viable, then I favour the earlier proposal that registration includes a nominated club, the fee includes a generic figure for membership ( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old trials fanatic Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 (edited) As for the original question then i ticked yes because i agree that a club that puts on trials for my enjoyment need to be supported because if not then like many a corner shop or local pub we wake up one morning and that corner shop, pub or trials club is no more. Simple if you dont support your local club and that includes riding in their events too then dont be surprised if it's not there anymore. I am speaking from personal experience here. As for the ACU licence it astounds me the amount of riders who either are too tight, lazy or gormless that they cant be bothered to fork out Edited June 22, 2011 by Old trials fanatic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_scorpa3 Posted June 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2011 The ACU has asked clubs to respond to their proposals by 30th June. Judging by the small number of votes cast on this subject, very few riders have a preference. Perhaps this could be explained simply by the fact that few riders have anything to do with their clubs, so they don't care if the clubs have more/less work to do or more/less income generated by licence applications each year? Failure of clubs to express an opinion to the ACU will result in them using the system that suits them best. (And you can't blame them for that.) However, the system they choose might not be the best one for the clubs. Does anyone know if their club has replied to the ACU concerning this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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