Frequently Asked Questions

Membership

• Is my organisation eligible for CTA membership?

  To be eligible for CTA membership, your organisation must be: 

  1) A not-for-profit organisation that provides transport, constituted as either: 

  1.1 A charity and/or a company limited by guarantee without share capital. 

  1.2 A Community Interest Company without share capital. 

  1.3 Another not-for-profit organisation listed with a regulator such as an Industrial and Provident Society. 

  1.4 If none of the above apply, the organisation’s aims, objectives and methods of working should be stated in a document that is available for public inspection. 

  1.5 A primary, secondary school or sixth form college. 

  1.6 A public sector body. 

  2) Your organisation must be based within England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. 

  You can click here to find out more about becoming a CTA member. 

• Do we have to become a member to access CTA’s services?

  No, some of our services are available to non-members. However, there are significant products and services that are member only benefits.

  You can click here to find out more about becoming a CTA member or contact our membership team on 0161 351 1475 or membership@ctauk.org.

• How long does it take to process a new membership application?

  We approve and process new membership applications regularly throughout the week. Once processed, membership packs are usually mailed out within 3 working days. If we have a query on an application, one of our team will get in touch with you to check details which can sometimes lead to a short delay in processing the application; our memberships team will keep you fully informed of timescales if this is the case. 

  Membership passwords, to access the Members’ Area on the website, are emailed out as soon as a membership application is processed, meaning you can access things like online copies of Together, permit application forms and book onto member events before you even receive your membership pack in the post! 

  If you are renewing your membership see the FAQ ‘What happens when my membership is due for renewal?’ 

• Do we have to provide any documentation to support our membership application?

  If you are a registered charity or a registered company, you do not need to provide any documentation. We check the appropriate Regulator website(s) for your organisation’s full details. 

  Where we are unable to check an appropriate Regulator website(s), we’ll ask for your latest set of accounts. 

  Public bodies and state funded primary, secondary schools or sixth form colleges may not need to provide any documentation. 

• How much does membership cost?

  For voluntary organisations who are registered charities or companies, membership fees are based on your organisations most recently published gross annual income, within seven bands. Gross annual income is for the organisation as a whole, not just the transport services.  There are separate bands for public bodies and state funded primary, secondary schools or sixth form colleges. You can see the fees on our Membership Fees table at ctauk.org/join-now/. For further information contact the Membership Team on 0161 351 1475 or email membership@ctauk.org. 

• When will our membership start and end?

  When membership is approved, we will send a confirmation letter and advise the membership start date. It will run for one year to the end of the calendar month e.g. if we approve membership on 19 January it will expire on 31 January the following year.

• Can we cancel our membership and receive a refund?

  If membership is no longer required, it must be cancelled in writing (via email to membership@ctauk.org) at any time, however; we are unable to offer refunds. Please include your membership number in such emails.  You may find you still receive communications from us for a short while after your notification. 

• What happens when my membership is due for renewal?

  You’ll be notified no later than 10 working days before your membership is due to expire. A written invitation to re-join will be sent to the address that you have given to us. If you miss this invitation we also write to you the month after your membership has lapsed with a reminder. 

  Once you have re-joined your membership password which gives you access to the Members’ Area will remain. Your CTA Membership Certificate has both your username (which is the main email address that you registered with us), and your password printed on it. 

• Do you store my credit card details?

  No, we do not store your credit card details or have access to them. These are only used during the payment process and all of your data is processed in accordance with the latest guidance on GDPR. 

• How do I get a VAT invoice?

  We are unable to offer this as our membership fees no longer include VAT. 

• How is our membership band calculated?

  We determine the membership band based on the gross annual income of your whole organisation (not just the transport service) at the point that your membership is due for renewal. We will use your most recently published accounts to see this or we will request your latest set of accounts. We review membership bands on an annual basis at the point of renewal. To view our membership costs, just head over to ctauk.org/join-now/

• How do we log in to the Members’ Area?

  In order to have access to our member benefits such as booking onto member only events, our publications and permit application forms you will need to log in to our website. To do this, click the Members’ Area’ button at the top right of the page or under the ‘Membership’ tab, then on the screen that appears, type in your username which is the main email address that you registered with us, followed by your password as shown on your membership certificate, then click the blue ‘Log In’ button. 

  There is the option to tick the ‘Remember me on this computer until I log out’ box, this will save you having to go through the steps to log in each time you visit. 

  You can access the members’ area via ctauk.org/members-area/ 

  If you’re having difficulties logging into the Members’ Area, you can call the team on 0161 351 1475 or email membership@ctauk.org. 

• What details can we access online?

  You can view your organisation’s registered name, address and primary contact details, as well as links to our publications, advice resources and important CTA communications. 

  You can also add additional users to your account so more people from your organisation can use their individual email addresses to access the exclusive member only resources. 

• How do we unsubscribe from emails?

  Each email we send includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Clicking this will update our records and we will no longer send you email newsletters. 

• Can we update our organisation’s contact details online?

  Yes, you need to log in to the Members’ Area. Updating your organisations details online will inform our team who will then update them on our database. Click here to access the relevant page. 

• How can we read ‘Together’ or advice resources online?

  You can find the current issue of Together, the Journal of the CTA and previous issues along with advice resources in the Members’ Area.

  We do not recommend printing and storing advice leaflets as they are updated online if and when changes in legislation or best practice occur. The most up to date information can always be found in the Members’ Area of the CTA website. 

• Can we obtain a section 19 or 10B permit from you without becoming a member?

  Unfortunately not – CTA are a designated permit issuing body meaning that we can only issue permits to our members. This also means that for your permit to remain valid you need to ensure continuity of your membership with the CTA. 

  Please be aware that membership of CTA does not guarantee you will be issued with a permit these are considered separately to membership and have additional criteria.