Terms & Conditions of Membership

Submitting an application for membership of the Veterinary Management Group (VMG) or renewing your membership indicates acceptance of these terms and conditions. VMG’s acceptance of your application by activation or continuation of your membership creates a legally binding contract between you and VMG, incorporating these terms and conditions.
VMG is a non-profit Company limited by shares, company number 11118326.

1. Eligibility
1.1 VMG Membership is available to anyone with a role or interest in veterinary business, leadership and management.
1.2 VMG reserves the right to refuse membership to anyone who, in the opinion of the Board of Directors and at their sole discretion, it would not be in the best interest of VMG to admit or retain as a member. Members are expected to hold themselves to high professional standards, and behave in a manner which supports VMG and upholds its values. Membership may be terminated if a member acts in a manner which contravenes the rules of membership set out in section 2 below or which in the reasonable opinion of the Board of Directors could cause reputational damage to VMG.

2. Rules
2.1 By becoming a VMG member or continuing your VMG membership you agree to abide by the membership rules set out in the VMG Memorandum and Articles of Association; and to uphold the Values of the VMG.

3. Membership Categories & Fees
3.1 All VMG memberships run for 12 months from the date your application or renewal is accepted(Membership Year), regardless of category, fee status,or payment method.
3.2 VMG membership is subject to, and conditional on, the payment of membership fees(see clause 4 (Payment) below). The current membership fees are set out here. All VMG membership fees include VAT at the prevailing rate.
3.3 Concessionary membership rates may be made available to those wishing to bulk-purchase a large number of memberships, at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors.
3.4 VMG reserves the right to increase membership fees on an annual basis following ratification at a VMG Annual General Meeting. Notification of any fee increase will be given in all renewal correspondence.
3.5 Honorary lifetime membership may be granted to those who have demonstrated exceptional and sustained service to VMG at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors.

4. Payment of membership fees
4.1 VMG is a not-for-profit organisation, and membership subscriptions allow us to plan and provide services for the benefit of our members. All members, save for those awarded Honorary Membership as per Clause 3.5 above or students who qualify for free associate membership, are expected to pay their membership fees promptly and in any event within 7days of the due date.
4.2 Membership fees can be paid by credit/debit card, BACS, or direct debit. If you have an annual direct debit agreement with VMG, payments will be made automatically via your bank or building society, on the date shown on your renewal notice or first working day thereafter. If you have a monthly direct debit agreement, payments will be made on 1stor 15thof the month, whichever is the sooner following your setup date. If a direct debit request is returned by your bank as ‘unpaid’ after two requests, we will request an alternative payment source from you and your membership will be suspended until payment is completed.
4.3 Members are responsible for keeping their contact details up to date on their online membership record.

5. Refunds of membership fees
5.1 If you are a new member paying directly for your own membership, you have the right to cancel your membership within 14 days of joining and receive a full refund. No refund will be issued if VMG has reason to believe that you have benefitted from their membership by accessing membership content, obtaining member discounts or registering for VMG events, CPD, courses or qualifications. Notification of the wish to cancel must be in writing or via email to office@vetmg.com. This right does not apply to existing/ongoing memberships, nor to memberships paid for by employers or organisations.
5.2 If you have overpaid your membership fee, you will receive a refund of the overpayment. If a processing error is made by VMG resulting in overpayment, you will receive a refund of the overpayment.
5.3 In the event of death of a member, a refund of any full months’ membership remaining will be made on request.
5.4No refunds will be given mid-year if you change membership category mid-year. One month’s notice must be given in writing to change membership category at your annual renewal date.

6. Transfer of membership
6.1 If a practice holds a group membership, additional members may be added to the group mid-year, and a separate invoice will be issued for the additional member(s) for the part-year until the renewal date.
6.2 If a member leaves, their membership may be transferred to the new post holder(or an alternative staff member)in the same organisation for the remainder of the membership year. Refunds will not be given mid-year.

7. Duration
7.1 Memberships are rolling annual agreements which run for 12 months from the joining or renewal date and renew on the anniversary of your joining date. No refunds will be made for memberships cancelled mid-year (save for the 14 day period as described above for new memberships).
7.2 A full year’s membership will be due whether paid annually or in monthly instalments. If you pay by annual Direct Debit, you will receive notification at least 10 days prior to renewal. Your membership will renew automatically unless you notify us in writing at least one month prior to your renewal date.
7.3 Access to all membership benefits and resources will be suspended if membership fees are outstanding for more than 7days after the due date.

8. Reclaiming tax
8.1 VMG has been approved by HMRC as a professional body, meaning that membership fees can be offset against professional salary. If you are self-employed, you can deduct your VMG membership fee as an allowable expense prior to calculating taxable profit. If you are an employer, you can include VMG membership fees on P11D tax forms and reclaim the tax. If you are an employee who pays your own VMG membership fee, you can reclaim the tax annually.

9. Benefits and resources
9.1 VMG reserves the right to change the specific services and benefits available to members, or suppliers of such benefits, at any time and without notice. Goods and/or services supplied by company members are subject to the provider’s own terms and conditions.
9.2 VMG membership does not guarantee a place at or on any VMG event, CPD, course or qualification. Such places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
9.3 All resources, materials, publications and information on the VMG Resource Hub are for members’ use only and strictly must not be shared, circulated or republished without the prior written consent of a VMG Officer (President, Senior Vice President, Junior Vice President,or Finance Director). All such resources may not be used directly or indirectly for commercial purposes of any kind without the prior written consent of a VMG Officer. Personal login details for the VMG website Members’ Area must not be shared with anyone else. VMG will not be liable for damages or refunds should the VMG website become temporarily unavailable due to system backup procedures, regular maintenance, traffic volume or any other cause beyond the control of VMG, but will make reasonable efforts to address any problem brought to the attention of the VMG Office.
9.4 Unless otherwise stated, VMG owns or is the licensee of the copyright and any other intellectual property rights to all material on the VMG website. Those works are protected by copyright laws. All such rights are reserved. Members agree to be bound by copyright law with respect to use of VMG materials. Members may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from our site for their personal use and they may draw the attention of others within their organisation to content posted on the VMG website.Members must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials they have printed off or downloaded in any way, and must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text. VMG’s status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on its site must always be acknowledged. Members must not use any part of the content on the VMG website for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from VMG or its licensors.
9.5 Where the VMG website contains links to third party sites and resources, these links are provided for information only. VMG has no control over the content of third party sites and resources.
9.6 VMG reserves all its rights, whether registered or unregistered, to the VMG logo, strapline, branding and/or imagery. Members may not use them without the express permission in writing of a VMG Officer.

10. Online Communication
10.1 The VMG Members’ Discussion Group is a closed Facebook group available to all VMG members. The group exists to stimulate discussion, seek and provide advice, and share experiences. In contributing to the Discussion Group you agree to the following:

• You will behave in a supportive, professional and collegial manner
• You will not use exclusive or derogatory language, post obscene or rude content or content that belittles or attacks individuals or groups, share profane or illegal material, or knowingly violate intellectual property rights
• Anonymised questions, answers and comments from the Discussion Group may be used by VMG for marketing or publicity purposes
• VMG accepts no liability for any reliance placed by any person on any fact or opinion expressed in the Discussion Group
• VMG has the right to remove any posting made in the Discussion Group if, in VMG’s opinion, the post contravenes the standards set out above.

10.2 Any member who breaches these rules may have their access to the Discussion Group revoked or, for serious or persistent breach, their VMG membership terminated.

11. Annual General Meeting
11.1 Individual, Group, Charity and Honorary Members have voting rights at the VMG AGM. VMG is governed by a Board of Directors and elections for positions on the Board take place at the AGM. Members will be eligible to stand for election to the Board under VMG’s Articles of Association.

12. Data Protection
12.1 VMG and members will comply with all applicable requirements of current data protection legislation. For the purpose of such legislation, VMG is the Data Controller in respect of all personal data collected or processed in connection with VMG memberships or activities. VMG will collect, process,use and disclose personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We will use collected personal data for the purposes of:

• Carrying out our general business activities
• Meeting out legal and regulatory obligations
• Administering memberships and providing membership benefits
• Communicating with members
• Responding to enquiries
• Conducting research
• Providing product and service information

12.2 By becoming a member, you consent to VMG appointing third-party data processors where a written agreement exists with any third-party processor incorporating terms substantially similar to those here. Lapsed or cancelled members’ personal data will be retained for a period of three years following the date of our last contact with the member, after which all of that members’ information will be destroyed.

13 Limitation of Liability
13.1 Nothing in these terms shall limit or exclude VMG’s liability for:

a. death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors (as applicable);

b. fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or

c. any matter in respect of which it would be unlawful for VMG to exclude or restrict liability.

13.2 Subject to Clause 13.1,

a. VMG shall not be liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, for

i. any loss of profit,

ii. loss of anticipated savings;

iii. loss of use or corruption of software, data or information;or

iv. any indirect or consequential loss arising under or in connection with any contract between us; and

b. VMG’s total liability to you for all other losses arising under or in connection with any contract between us, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, shall be limited in any Membership Year to the total fees paid by you in such Membership Year.

14. Other important terms
14.1 These terms and conditions may be varied by VMG at any time giving 14 days’ notice. The most recent edition of these terms and conditions will be binding.
14.2 VMG shall not be in breach of these terms and conditions nor liable for delay in performing, or failure to perform, any of its obligations under these terms and conditions if such delay or failure result from events, circumstances or causes beyond its reasonable control.
14.3 These terms and conditions constitute the entire agreement between us and supersedes and extinguishes all previous agreements, promises, assurances, warranties, representations and understandings between them, whether written or oral, relating to its subject matter.
14.4 Each party acknowledges that it does not rely on and shall have no remedies in respect of any statement, representation, assurance or warranty (whether made innocently or negligently) that is not set out in these terms and conditions. Each party agrees that it shall have no claim for innocent or negligent misrepresentation or negligent misstatement based on any statement in these terms and conditions.
14.5 If a court finds part of these terms and conditions illegal, the rest will continue in force. Each of the paragraphs of these terms and conditions operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
14.6 Even if VMG delay in enforcing these terms and conditions, VMG can still enforce them later. If VMG do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms and conditions, or if it delays in taking steps against you in respect of you breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent VMG taking steps against you at a later date.
14.7 Any person who is not party to these terms and conditions shall not have any rights under or in connection with them under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
14.8 These terms and conditions are governed by English law, and both VMG and you hereby irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

VMG events, CPD, training courses and qualifications are subject to separate terms and conditions. Please check these at the time of registration.

Queries and Comments
Telephone 07000 782324
Email office@vetmg.com

Post: VMG, Lychetts House, 13 Freeland Park, Wareham Road, Poole BH16 6FH