Club Vouchers

Yes same here. NT, Cadw, RSPB. We have annual passes to our local wildlife park, they have been up front and honest, explained that at the moment an extension is difficult, and they are concentrating efforts on the care and welfare of the animals in their charge. They are however doing an offer for NHS staff as a thank you. 

Sorry but I disagree with that. If the club dumped CL's it would be finished in no time. CL's are perfectly capable of getting their excemption certificates from other sources. We are members only because of CL's. We used to insure the caravan with the club but have voted with our feet over the tax dodging which gives the club the unfair competitive position in the market which they have trousered. We used to regularly use the club for site booking overseas and also ferry bookings until recently when we lost our deposit because of a rule weve never seen published.and so we will never use them again for that. Cl's are the Jewel in the Crown.

Whilst I agree with a lot of what you have to say Obber I'm afraid you are mistaken with regard to the "tax dodging" element. 

I  explained this in the thread about insurance a while ago. The tax is not trousered, to use your words. It is a taxation that HMRC levy on insurance transactions and insurers merely act as unpaid tax collectors. This money is sent to the government. It is the same as VAT. There are exemptions to paying VAT and there are exemptions for certain insurers. The club fall into the exemption category simply due to how they have had to set the business up, something which they didn't understand at first.I am certain that HMRC would prefer it if the club did charge this tax but the rules say that they are exempt. It is up to the law makers to change that law. It is the Government that you should take exception to if you do not agree with not paying Insurance Premium Tax. You could always send them a cheque for the 9%. There may be some clients who find the price more competitive without this tax but that assumes that it makes a difference in the first place. I am not one of those who is a big fan of the club and even have my own caravan insured elsewhere.

However I do whole heartedly agree with you about CLs. If the club stopped supporting them then we would leave. I happen to agree with Ttda about club sites as well. Too many of the type we like have been lost or neglected and I disagree with DK about the Clayton site. It wasn't needed and there are areas of the UK that need club sites more than there.

I only have an emotional tie to one organisation and it isn't this club

If it were a true business it would probably ditch CL's as beyond providing an element of membership they don't add to the bottom line because the people that use them tend not use other Club sites or services so what is the point unless the organisation is something more than a business? Any business would certainly not keep open some of the smaller sites that probably make a loss but a Club would. To me it's a funny kind of business that ignores key business priorities.

A section of DKs post.

I ran my own business a few years ago. The profit making element of this business came from Business clients. If I only dealt with those businesses I could have managed with just 1 or 2 employees. However those businesses also had spin offs which I had to handle so that the main business was protected and thrived. These spin offs were at best a break even for my company, at worst a loss as they needed more staff and infrastructure by way of bigger office etc. to deal with them. They entailed more work during the year than did the main sector.

However they were deemed necessary. One cannot always just concentrate on the bottom line for every part of a business. Supermarkets and other retailers have loss leaders. Insurance companies, Energy companies etc. all have some part of their business which makes a loss. 

As the sites seem to need big investments and maintenance with high employee costs maybe the club should just concentrate on Insurance and Holidays abroad and sell all of the sites?

Sometimes one has to look at the bigger picture and accept that there are some parts of the business you just have to accept.

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but they are putting themselves at a competitive advantage operating the "cover" scheme.

wow a business giving themselves a competitive advantage who would have though it and what is so wrong with that? And of course its customers benefit as well, shocking capitalism at it's worst. The club should play fair and not do this of course.

 

That equates almost exactly to the 12% insurance premium tax.

Not sure what you're saying here, as WN said the club merely passes on the tax to the HMRC, you're making it sound like Obber that it is keeping it to make its premium cheaper which of course is total nonsense.

As for your dig with proper insurance that is nonsense too, Remember more people have stated on here the club has paid out fully and promptly than those with other companies who sadly said their insurance did not pay out, 3 to 2 I believe it was. 

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good dodge but then why state your £60 is the same as the 12% and the competitive advantage. you posted?

A dodgy product, by whose defintion? Well the evidence with three saying the club has paid v the two who the non club company who did not pay out seems to suggest that the others maybe the dodgy ones.

I assume they changed the dates as they were so popular?

 

 My apologies. I'm still living in the past. The tax rate has indeed risen to 12%. See what happens when you don't keep up to date?

I'm still happy with Saga, who to be even handed did in fact settle my claim last year to my satisfaction. As it was a total loss it wasn't a small matter either. the premium at renewal only increased due to the increased value of the replacement caravan. I didn't even consider looking at alternatives.

I hope the thread can now get back on track.

I assume they changed the dates as they were so popular?

That does not make sense to me. Surely the further into the future they are used the better for the CC. If prices have risen by the discount, there is little affect, over someone who just turns up and pays with a credit card. Plus they have had the advantage of the money in their bank for two or three years.