The IHBC’s concessionary rate for 2012-13 has been revised to respond to current economic pressures on the sector, so members with a salary below £17,500 can now access membership benefits for just £51 in 2012-13.
The new rates represent a more balanced subsidy for professional (Full) and non-professional (Associate and Affiliate) members of the IHBC. For 2012-13, anyone with an annual salary of less than £17,500 – 2/3rds of our estimated long-term average annual salary – can now access the new concessionary rate when they submit suitable proof of earnings.
Now, instead of heavily subsidising payments from the lowest earners automatically, IHBC’s trustees have agreed to a more evenly balanced subsidy that can be applied to a wider constituency of low earners. Given that there will be more qualifying members than previously, the rate itself has had to be raised to £51, still remarkable value for the services received!
Crucially, too, to make sure that the most deserving members can access our services regardless of their income, our support for hardship cases is being refined to encourage applications from those most in need – which the IHBC anticipates will include many students and early-career professionals. There are no formal restrictions on circumstances for applicants for hardship support, just as there is no guaranteed right of access to it. For more detail please monitor the IHBC’s home page and NewsBlog features and email alerts.
For more background on this and related matters see the IHBC’s membership eletter No 10, December 2011, at: LINK
