Using your club points now

This page contains information first for members and affiliates on using bpoints. Additional details are then provided in relation to discretionary grants and deals.

Please read the rules of this scheme if in any doubt as to the use of points or any aspect of it.

Members using your Bpoints

To use the bpoints you have first to check that you have sufficient for the use you propose, and watch particularly that none have evaporated. Evaporation of points occurs 4 years after they are issued (3 years in relation to affiliates). If you are unsure how many Bpoints you currently have request a statement of points from Maximum Coverage Ltd. They will not be able to discuss this on the telephone with you. The statement may come from NAISC, so a delay of a few days may occur.

Next make sure that your membership is up to date, no subscription overdue. Only current, non suspended members with up to date subscriptions can apply to use Bpoints.

You can use a form or send an email or letter, covering what grant or benefit you require and how many Bpoints you propose to use for this, plus a cheque (payable to Maximum Coverage Ltd) for any cash element. This is sent to Maximum Coverage Ltd, who will send you a confirmation of the request received. If you get a confirmation and have not made a request you should contact Maximum Coverage immediately. Providing you are confident what you are doing qualifies, multiple steps can be completed at the same time, so for example a conversion to a certificate for a part membership cost, and the membership operation can be done at the same time, as can a request for a certificate for wine and the receipt for the qualifying payments so that you get the refund straight away.

Maximum Coverage will then pass on the request to NAISC, and on approval and no problem being shown by you, will arrange for the grant or deal to be processed.

In the case of memberships, changes etc this will take place immediately and you will receive confirmation that it has occurred.

In the case of large grants towards a house or land, you will receive a grant certificate and funds will be available to exchange this certificate for a cheque when a suitable property or land is found. When you need to cash the certificate you ask your consultant to confirm that the deal is to go ahead and you send the certificate to Maximum Coverage Ltd and they send you a cheque. Consultants have a  fast track way of doing this so that should the need arise, they can get a cheque raised to the buyer directly or to either parties solicitor within 24 hours of you and your club consultant  requesting it, or can arrange bank transfers of funds. You may get a phone call checking the authenticity of the request. The property payment grant certificate is valid for 12 months but will be replaced by a later one providing your membership is in good standing and it is sent in for replacement within a month of expiry. These grants can only be used for the purpose they are intended for. 

In relation to deals, in some cases you will receive a certificate and will then go and make your purchase sending in the receipt and certificate to get reimbursed, while in other cases you will get the item directly. Details are at the bottom of this page, on specific items.

If you do not understand any aspect, please contact Maximum Coverage or your consultant.

Do not let points or certificates go out of date. Send any certificates through the post by recorded delivery so they do not get lost, and the date of posting is recorded. If making a postal request near the date points will evaporate make the request by recorded delivery.

Affiliates using Bpoints

To use bpoints you will have to be a current affiliate and have sufficient points or add cash to the points as defined in the current rate card.

Watch that points do not evaporate, they do this 3 years from the date they are issued, if unused.

Affiliates can only use bpoints for becoming a member or for deals. Just email or write to us and explain what you want to do, sending your letter to Maximum Coverage Ltd.

If it involves becoming a member this will be processed at once and any points remaining transferred to your member points account, with evaporation dates extended to 4 years from the date points remaining were issued.

In the case of a deal, we have to contact you to confirm that it is your instructions we are following. Arrangements in relation to individual deals are covered below.

Do not let points or certificates go out of date. Send any certificates through the post by recorded delivery so they do not get lost, and the date of posting is recorded. If making a postal request near thedate points will evaporate make the request by recorded delivery.

If you have any problems understanding what to do discuss it with the member or consultant that you are affiliated to, or contact Maximum Coverage Ltd.

Arrangements in relation to discretionary grants

As the name implies there is no right to these grants and each case will be looked at individually. There are two areas where discretionary grants will most often apply; recovering promotional expenses involved in recruiting members and in one off larger requirements. 

Discretionary grants are not means tested so are not related to your ability to pay, but based on the merit of the topic. Besides recovering promotional costs, other valid uses might be to help out with school fees or university costs, to cover the costs of a wedding, or some unexpected large need. 

Members who become involved in putting on a series of presentations and other larger promotions to recruit members and earn large numbers of points will find that discretionary grants will be made available to allow them to use some of their points to recover costs and to obtain other equipment such as video projectors, laptop computers, PA systems, display stands and the like. 

The first step is to ask NAISC, through Maximum Coverage Ltd, if they will consider a discretionary grant for the topic you have in mind, and give an estimate of the cost involved. They will then tell us if it is considered a valid claim in your case and the number of points that will be required. An approximate guide is table 7, but in some cases a lower number of points may be needed. We will also find out what supporting documentation is required and how, if you wish to go ahead, the grant will be implemented. 

NAISC may also put in one or more qualifications in addition to needing to have your membership current and up to date, for example they might say that you are limited to using half of any point you earn for this purpose or that only points over a minimum number may be used for the discretionary grant. These conditions allow them to approve a larger number of discretionary grants than would other wise be felt to qualify. 

In cases other than the recovery of larger promotional costs, they will frequently set a condition that only points that you hold over 100 points can be used for discretionary grants. NAISC has also said that the more points that you get, the more flexible they will be in interpreting discretionary grant applications. They don't see discretionary grants being a means of bypassing the rest of the scheme, but a way of extending it for those that earn larger numbers of points and need a more flexible application of their use.

The arrangements to make discretionary grants practical to use, will allow you a fair degree of freedom as to how goods in particular are obtained, so you could for example having obtained approval get it by buying it on ebay.

Arrangements in relation to deals.

Wine. -  to take up a wine offer, request a certificate for this and on receipt of this you can go to any supermarket or off license and make your purchase of the wine that you want, and that is valid under the certificate. You then send in your receipt and the certificate to get a full refund of the amount that you spent. The certificate has a space in which to enter the amount and this should be the same as the receipt. If you are confident of what you are doing you can combine the two steps and request a certificate and enclose a receipt so as to get an immediate refund. You will most likely we contacted to confirm that the request has come from you.

Digital camera kits. - You request the kit that you require, and we will make arrangements to obtain it for you and ship it directly to you, get the consultant to deliver it, or for you to collect it. If it comes to you by carrier from outside the UK, and there is any duty or VAT  payable by you, we will refund this to you. These outfits will be either new or as new, with no sign of use or damage, for example shop demonstration models. In most cases where we have them supplied to a consultant in the UK to give to you, we will ask him to test them before they are sent on to you, so the battery will usually be charged and ready to go. If not in the manufacturers sealed box when it arrives, we will arrange for it to be fully tested before being given to you. We will know the history of every outfit and it will either have been acquired from a dealer or mail order supplier or from a member where we are aware of the source of a legal supply to them. Manuals will be in English and suitable for the UK market.  Most will be new and come direct to us or you from a dealer. Delivery is usually within two weeks in many cases faster. We will need to contact you before arranging this to confirm that the instruction came from you.

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Self Build Homes Club is an international club and trading title of Self Build Homes Club llc. Local services
 to serve members are commissioned for the club by New Atlantis International Services Corporation.
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