BAILY THOMAS PROVIDENT FUND GUIDANCE NOTES

PROVIDENT FUND GRANTS GUIDANCE NOTES

Please ensure that you read these notes carefully as some of the procedures for obtaining support from the trust have changed.

Download The Provident Fund Application Form and Guidance Notes

GENERAL

The beneficiaries of the Baily Thomas Provident Fund include any person formerly employed by Mansfield Brewery Company Limited (or any subsidiary
or other group company) and their dependants, namely any spouse or widow/widower of an employee or any children under the age of 18, unless they are in full time education.

In the normal course of events it will take at least 2/3 weeks to process your application and provide a response. You should not purchase any goods / services without the prior agreement of the trustees as it is unlikely that you will be reimbursed. Urgent applications must also be approved by the trustees. Providing all the necessary information is supplied, including costs, a decision can usually be made within three/four days.

The administration office is open Monday to Thursday 9.30a.m to 4.30p.m. For any urgent requests outside of office opening times please call 07872 518006. Applications are processed weekly, and any forms received after midday on a Wednesday, will not normally be submitted to the trustees until the following week.

Failure to provide all of the information requested will delay your application as it will not be submitted to the trustees until provided.

COMPLETING YOUR APPLICATION

• Ensure that you read the form carefully and supply all the information requested.

• The name at the top of the form should be the person requiring assistance. If you are a dependant of a former employee or pensioner and requiring assistance, you are the applicant, and the former employees’ details should be given in section 2.3. The application form should be signed by the applicant.

• Invoices can be paid direct to the supplier/hospital/consultant etc. in most instances, you do not have to pay the costs yourself and claim them back. In most cases, if you present the letter of approval you receive from Denise Wilson to the supplier/hospital etc., this is usually sufficient for the trust to be invoiced directly. In some circumstances, the trustees insist on payment direct to the supplier. This will be confirmed in the approval letter, if this is the case.

• Invoices/bills paid by the beneficiary must be receipted by the supplier / hospital etc. on official letterhead, it should include the suppliers name and date of issue, include your name and address and state the type of service and or goods provided. You must attach the original till/credit/debit card receipt obtained when you make your payment.
  Please note Photocopies will not be accepted.

MEDICAL

• The trustees’ current policy is to enable beneficiaries to receive private treatment where the alternative would be for the beneficiary not to get,
  or to wait for an unreasonable time for the necessary treatment. However, beneficiaries should be aware that the trustees provide assistance entirely at their discretion and the benefits provided should not be viewed as a form of private medical insurance.

• All applications for assistance for private medical treatment will first of all be passed to Dr Raian Sheikh, Orchard Medical Practice, based in Mansfield who is retained by the trustees to advise them on all medical applications. You may be required to visit Dr Sheikh before he reports on your application to the trust.

• To ensure that your application is processed you must have visited your G.P. and be referred to the NHS waiting list for either a consultation and/or investigative procedures.  Your application form will be returned to you if you do not obtain the signature of your G.P./Consultant and the surgery or hospital stamp.

• The trustees may ask you to obtain a second opinion where there is any doubt as to the appropriateness of treatment or cost.

• Urgent requests for medical treatment – Any urgent medical treatment required is usually provided very quickly by the NHS. However, the trustees will respond appropriately to any urgent request, but you must telephone the administration office with details of your situation and wait for approval before going ahead. If the office is closed, you can contact Denise Wilson on 07872 518006.

• Details of all costs must still be obtained and an indication of when the treatment would be available on the NHS will be required. A verbal decision can normally be obtained within 3-4 days.

HARDSHIP

• The trustees will consider requests for assistance where a beneficiary is suffering hardship through circumstances not of his or her own making.

• An income & assets form will be required together with full details and evidence of all household income and expenditure (copies of utilities bills, council tax, rent/mortgage payments, loan agreements, wage slips, benefits confirmation etc.) 

• Before the trustees make any decision an appointment will be made with a debt advisor who will investigate your situation and provide a report for the trustees.

• Requests for hardship can take much longer to process than other requests.

• You must, wherever possible, be specific about what assistance you are asking for, but you should note that it is not the trustees’ normal policy to supplement income or replace income lost through job loss etc.

RETRAINING & EDUCATION

• The trustees will consider supporting beneficiaries with the cost of obtaining degrees; professional qualifications; retraining and the acquisition of new skills.

• You should establish whether your current employer will fund the training in the first instance, where this is applicable, evidence of your employers policy on funding external training will be required.

• Full details of the course; qualification; training you wish to undertake, including the costs of obtaining them; an indication of why you wish to undertake the training and the benefits you will gain should be attached to your application form.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

• The trustees will consider requests for assistance in the cost of business development or start-up where it is not available from local enterprise agencies.

• You will need to provide the trustees with a credible business plan, details of other sources of finance, personal investment and an explanation as to why sufficient funding is not available from other sources.

Download The Provident Fund Application Form and Guidance Notes