Terms & Conditions of Membership

,These membership & accreditation terms and conditions, which, together with our Website Terms of Use, and Acceptable Use Policy, sets out the terms under which the Directors of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants Ltd, (“we”, “us”, “our”), allow you to use the site www.apva.org.uk(“Site”) as a visitor or registered Member or Accredited VA user. All enquiries should be directed to hello@apva.org.uk. Please read the terms of this policy carefully, as by using our Site you indicate that you agree to comply with and be bound by them.

“Applicant” shall mean any person completing our registration form in order to become a Member of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants Ltd.

“Accredited VA’ shall mean any successful applicant of Association of Professional Virtual Assistants Ltd accreditation.

“Member” shall mean any successful applicant of our membership.

“Directory” shall mean the private directory of members of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants Ltd.

APPLICATION OF MEMBERSHIP

Any person wishing to become an Accredited VA or Member of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants Ltd shall apply in accordance with our registration form as may be amended from time to time (“Application”).

Such Application shall be considered by us or our appointed representatives who shall determine admission or rejection of Membership.

We reserve the right to request further information, or to interview the Applicant by any means convenient including Skype, telephone or face to face, prior to acceptance of Membership or Accreditation..

Upon acceptance of any Application, the Applicant will be notified of such acceptance, and upon payment of the annual or monthly fee (“Membership Fee”) and acceptance of the terms and conditions of membership, shall become accepted into the membership & Directory and entitled to all privileges afforded to their approved Membership Package (“Membership”) or Accreditation Level (“Accreditation”).

We retain complete discretion as to whether to accept any person for Membership or Accreditation. We are not obliged to disclose reasons to an unsuccessful Applicant as to why their Application for membership was not accepted. We reserve the right to decline an application if we believe that the Applicant is not a good fit for the membership community.

QUALIFICATION OF MEMBERSHIP

Members & Accredited VAs will be UK & Europe based, registered self-employed freelancers.

Members & Accredited VAs will be registered with the ICO for data protection and hold valid professional indemnity insurance. They will be registered for AML if their skills offered require it. They will be professional businesses with a good social media presence, website with company address on, and at least 1 testimonial in place from a client.

Members & Accredited VAs will be entitled to choose from membership and accreditation levels advertised on www.apva.org.uk as may from time to time be amended (“Membership Packages”)

Lifetime Member status may be offered on an invitation only basis at our discretion, and shall be subject to the usual criteria for acceptance of Application.

We reserve the right to request interviews; carry out background checks; and/or request spot check skills tests on any of our members at any point during their membership on an ad hoc basis.

If any Member is found not to be proficient in any skills, technical or otherwise, listed on their profile, those skills will be requested to be removed from their profile.

We may request amendments to the contents of an Accredited VA or Member’s profile should we deem it untrue, unprofessional or inappropriate for the purposes of our Site. We reserve the right to terminate the Membership of any Member or Accredited VA refusing to carry out such requested amendments.

EXPIRY AND TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP

Upon expiry or termination of any Membership, the Member or Accredited VA shall be removed from the Directory and any online members’ community (including but not limited to any of our Association private Facebook groups), their details removed from the Site, and their access to Members’ only areas of the Site revoked (where applicable).

Membership of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants is for individual use and is not capable of being transferred or transmitted to another person or organisation.

We shall have the power to suspend or expel any member without refund of Membership Fees, if such member:

has committed any unlawful act;
wilfully refuses or neglects to comply with a provision of the Terms and Conditions of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants Ltd;
is found to no longer meet the Qualifications of Membership;
is found to have knowingly falsified any information submitted to us; or
is found guilty of conduct which in the opinion of the Directors is unbecoming of a Member or prejudicial to the interests of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants.

Members and Accredited VAs are able to cancel their Membership at any point during the Membership with 30 days notice, however, we cannot issue refund for any proportion of Membership remaining. Please note that we are unable to introduce members to any potential clients once notice has been given of cancellation.

MEMBERSHIP & ACCREDITATION FEES

All Memberships are prepaid through our Site, or from time to time as may be deemed necessary via an email link.

Memberships and Accreditations are granted to individuals, not to organisations.

Members can choose to pay on an annual or monthly payment basis.

Annual Membership, is for the period of 12 months from date of issue (“Membership Year”) and shall expire immediately should the renewal payment not be received by the due date.

Monthly memberships are on a monthly rolling basis and can be cancelled at any time, with 30 days written notice. Any payments taken or attempted within this 30 day notice period are not subject to refund.

Payment breaks are agreed at the discretion of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants and are under the condition that the member then returns for 2 full paying months before cancellation is possible.

Lifetime memberships are paid in advance and are a one-off fee. No affiliate commission can be made on Lifetime membership referrals.

Accreditation is paid in advance on an annual basis. No affiliate commission can be made on Accreditation referrals.

The fees applicable to each Membership Package shall be reviewed from time to time and we reserve the right to change these without prior notice.

For monthly payments, the Membership Fee determined at the date of issue of Membership, shall remain the same for entirety of that Membership Year.

MEMBERSHIP PACKAGES

The Membership Packages contain all of the benefits and privileges associated with the level of Membership. While every effort is made by us to maintain all of the benefits, we reserve the right to amend the Membership Package offerings during the Membership Year.

While we will endeavour to replace any benefit with a benefit of equivalent value, Members will not be entitled to any refund of any fee or portion of fees as a result of any change to the package.

ACCEPTANCE OF OUR POLICIES

Upon approval for Membership or Accreditation, you acknowledge that you have read the terms of the Privacy Policy.

Members & Accredited VAs agree that use of the Site is governed by the Website Terms of Use and the Acceptable Use Policy and you acknowledge that you have read all of those Terms.

You agree that in becoming a Member or Accredited VA, you will have access to Members’ only areas of the Site which will have security encryption to protect against external unauthorised access. While every effort will be made to ensure ongoing protection, we shall not be liable for any breach in security outside of our control.

As a condition of Membership and Accreditation, all Members agree to have their details published in the Directory which may be viewed by any Member with the appropriate level of access. The information published shall include but is not limited to:

name
company name
contact information
photo
video pitch
bio
skills list
areas of expertise
testimonials/ratings

We reserve the right to amend these requirements at any time without prior notice.

We may wish to publish information from time to time featuring a new Member or Accredited VA, profiling a Member or Accredited VA, providing a testimonial, or publishing an article on or by a Member or Accredited VA. We will not publish any information without the prior consent of the Member or Accredited VA.

Our entire Site, including Directory, is designed to be viewed only. Members and Accredited VAs are not permitted to extract any information from within the protected Members’ area for their own means, other than for the purpose of making contact with other Members or Accredited VAs. Anyone found so doing shall have their Membership terminated with immediate effect.

Whilst reasonable checks have been made as to the quality of affiliated products and linked sites, we cannot guarantee the performance or quality of these.

We reserve the right to make reasonable changes to the Site and/or Membership conditions and features without prior notice.

CONDUCT

Members & Accredited VAs agree to act in a manner becoming of a professional member based entity at any event of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants or in any interactions online as per our Code of Conduct.

Members & Accredited VAs shall be given their unique login details to gain access on the Site. Members agree not to share or disclose their password, with any other person, including another Member. Breach of this condition will be considered grounds for termination of Membership.

Members agree that while networking and collaboration is part of the core purposes for which the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants Ltd has been established, Members will not abuse or otherwise seek to take advantage of the access to other Members or Accredited VAs for the purposes of sales or marketing or other promotional activities for their own ends.

INTRODUCTION TO CLIENTS

We may look from time to time to introduce members of our accredited and membership community to Business Owners looking for a VA. This is a free service. We do not charge our Accredited or Member VAs for this and only charge a small administration fee to the Business Owners.

By opting into our free introduction service, Members & Accredited VAs agree to us sharing profile information with our Client Members.

The Association of Professional Virtual Assistants Ltd is not an employment agency and we cannot guarantee that any Member or Accredited VA will be successful and hold no responsibility for any relationship going forward.

Whilst we maintain every effort to ensure that all job profiles submitted are accurate and genuine, we cannot be held liable for any inaccuracy or for the legitimacy of any submission.

We shall not be involved with the relationship between any Member or Accredited VA and Client Member after introduction; nor shall we take any responsibility for the conduct of either party.

Should a Member or Accredited VA be successful in gaining a client from an introduction made, such Member or Accredited VA shall be responsible for the negotiation of services, contracts, payment and all other detail pertaining to the Member’s and Client Member’s ongoing relationship.

We shall not take any remuneration or commission from any successful introduction and the admin fee charged to the Client Members.

This is not a paid for service.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Each Member or Accredited VA of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants agrees and acknowledges that they are responsible for their own interactions with other Members and Accredited VAs.

In the event of a dispute arising regarding the conduct of another Member or Accredited VA, each Member and Accredited VA accepts that they should attempt to resolve the dispute between themselves, and if necessary, with the assistance of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants.

PAYMENT OF GOODS, REFUNDS AND WARRANTIES

An order placed for the purchase of any goods is binding on the purchaser upon completion of the online transaction.

It is not our policy to give refunds on any Membership Package, products or services purchased via our Site. Please choose carefully. Any refunds offered will be at the sole discretion of the Directors and Board of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants Ltd and their decision is final.