Information on this page:

Membership Year

The membership year for Full, Affiliate and Associate Members runs from 1 March to 28 February each year (29th February when leap year)

The BDA does not offer a part yearly membership and all categories of membership are for a minimum of one year, except when a member first joins  they can then join at any one of 4 points in that year, 1 March, 1 June, 1 September or 1 December.  Members joining part way through the membership year can opt to either back date their membership to the previous joining date or forward to the next available joining date. Members are charged a pro-rata amount during their first year to take them from their joining date until the end of that membership year, i.e. 28 February.

Any requests for change of categories must be done prior to the 1 March and members cannot change category part way through a membership year.  The only exception to this is where a member has been paying the reduced non-practising category of membership and wishes to return to work part way through the membership year, then a pro-rata payment will need to be made in addition to the subscription paid on 1 March. 

Direct Debit Payments

If a member sets up a Direct Debit for payment, this will continue to be taken each year unless it is cancelled by the member or we are advised of the member’s intention to resign prior to the 1 March. The BDA as a general rule does not offer refunds on subscriptions, therefore it is important that if a member is not going to continue with their membership they advise us accordingly before their subscription is taken from their account.  Also the facility for paying by monthly instalments is not a monthly or part yearly membership, but is intended to be for the whole year.  If a payment is missed for whatever reason, we would normally request the outstanding balance in full by cheque.

Deadlines will be announced each year in the Dietetics Today for members to return Direct Debits for their subscription payments.  These deadlines will be final and if not met the BDA will not be able to set up payment by direct debit for that year.

Leaving the BDA

Once a member joins the BDA it is assumed that they wish to continue with that membership each year unless we are advised in writing prior to the 1 March that they wish to resign.  We will continue to cover them for insurance, employment relations issues and forward publications to them even if they are late in paying.  Therefore, if the member doesn’t advise us before the start of the membership year (1 March) that they do not wish to continue with their membership, they will be charged for services we have continued to supply should they either advise us after this date or not pay their subscription by the deadline for payment which results in us having to cancel their membership for non-payment.

General

It is important that members read their Dietetics Today as this is sometimes the only way we can advise members of important dates etc.  This is also the way that we advise members of their subscription rates each year.  In January Dietetics Today each year there is a subscription form for those members paying by cheque to use for sending in their subscription plus an advance notice of the amounts that will be debited from their accounts for those members paying by Direct Debit.

The members section of the web site contains further information regarding Branches and Groups of the BDA along with past subscription rates, your insurance cover and other information that you may find useful.

BDA On-Line Services

There are two websites to which only BDA members have access: the BDA Members’ website and the BDA OLS (On-Line Services).

You can access the BDA Members web using your membership number and date of birth. This website contains lots of information about the BDA and resources for dietitians, including an archive of Dietetics Today issues.

The OLS gives you access to parts of our membership database, so you can check your details on-line and also make some payments on-line. Members joining the BDA after June 2009 will need to apply on-line for access to the OLS. You can do this at www.bda.uk.com/login .