Dear WCPGW,

I’ve just realised that I forgot to renew my ArchiTeam membership and insurance, last May! What do I do?

Yours,

Uninsured :/

_

Dear Uninsured,

Each year, your ArchiTeam membership and insurance renewals are due by 4pm, 31 May. ArchiTeam sends out a renewal email to you that includes a link to your renewal form. This form is auto-filled, so all you have to do is click through your information - like your name and address, only if this information has changed or is incorrect in the form do you have to re-enter this.

From there you must provide up-to-date information on your previous year's income and your projected year’s income, as well as the type of work you are currently undertaking. Once the form is complete, you press ‘submit’ and the information goes directly to the ArchiTeam office and Austbrokers Countrywide. In most cases, your application will be automatically approved, but for a few of you, you may receive an email from the Brokers to say that your application has been ‘Referred’ this usually means that some of the information you have entered will need to be reviewed by the Brokers. This review can take up to a couple of weeks depending on the information. They may also want to call you to discuss your application.

In the case of you forgetting to submit a form and renew, there are a few risks involved, primarily that you will not be insured, which is a requirement to retain your registration to practice Architecture, nor will you receive your Certificate of Currency (as proof of valid insurance) that you need to upload to your state’s Registration Board each year.

The other more problematic consequence is that the Insurer, may decide that you are too higher risk and refuse your application to join the ArchiTeam Group Insurance facility and advise you to seek insurance elsewhere – the team at Austbrokers Countrywide can, on your behalf, go out to market and seek some alternative quotes, but this can be a VERY expensive result of being absent minded and not renewing on time.

Alternatively, you may be allowed to rejoin, months after 31 May, but you will be required to sign a No Claims Declaration form, which means that you will have a gap in your coverage, so if any claims arise during the time to you forgot to renew, you will not have any insurance.

So our advice to you is to get your house in order, mark the 31 May in your calendars, when you receive the email to renew in early May, complete the form as soon as you can and pay your invoice by 4pm, 31 May, so you have your insurance in place, and a Certificate of Currency on hand when your Registration Board request you to upload it.

 

Disclaimer – ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ is not an advice column, it is only general comment from ArchiTeam who are not aware of your circumstances with any issue that you may have. You cannot rely on these general comments, each member must make their own decisions about any action they should take and seek independent advice of their own if they are unsure.