HOSPITAL
ACCOMMODATION
NURSING OR CARE
AT HOME
DOMESTIC HELP FOLLOWING
ILLNESS OR INJURY
CONVALESCENCE
COST EFFECTIVE HEALTH BENEFITS FOR OFFICERS' FAMILIES
Our benefits provide help in meeting the unexpected costs of illness for your dependants.
Knowing that financial support is readily available to help meet the additional costs of nursing, hospital care and domestic help when emergencies happen can mean working and home life does not have to stop whilst your family member recovers.
Since 1911, Lady Grover’s Fund has grown as a Friendly Society to meet the needs of officers’ families in times of illness and injury. By joining as a member, you are able to access critical financial support when you and your family need it the most – enabling you to provide additional nursing, hospital or domestic care you might otherwise be unable to afford.
Peace of mind starts from as little as £40 per annum. Join today.
Call us on 020 7808 4180. Lady Grover’s Fund operates under the following Memorandum and Rules.
MEMBERSHIP
WHO WE HELP
- Dependants of officers of all three services and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary whether serving or retired
- Widows or widowers of officers
- Divorced wives or husbands of officers, (for their own benefit or that of their children)
- Dependant parents or step-parents of officers
- Children are eligible for help until they are 18, or 21 if they are in full-time education
WHO MAY JOIN
- Anyone, serving or retired, who has served one week of commissioned service in the UK Armed Forces, Regulars or Reservists, or is a serving or retired officer in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
- Beneficiaries must be under the age of 65 when the member joins to be eligible to make a claim
- Widows and widowers of member officers can become members themselves at the same rates and with the same benefits
- Officer members may benefit directly if their spouse is also a member, since both are then covered
A GUIDE TO BENEFITS
After six months from joining, members are entitled to claim for nursing expenses incurred by the illness or injury of their dependants. Those who are members in their own right (widows and widowers, divorced spouses of officers) are equally entitled to claim the same nursing expenses incurred by their own illness or injury.
SCALE OF BENEFITS
Nursing Home or Hospital Accommodation
The expense of temporary residence (including food and nursing care) in a hospital or nursing home; Up to £1750 per week.
Home Nursing
The expense of the temporary employment of a qualified nurse or carer. Up to £350 per week.
Convalescence
The expense of convalescence (including travelling expenses) under medical advice in an accepted establishment. Up to £350 per week.
Home Help
The expense of the temporary employment of domestic help. Up to £210 per week.
Maximum Duration and Amount of Claims
A member is entitled to receive nursing benefits in respect of up to eight weeks of illness (whether consecutive or otherwise) in any period of twelve months.
In the case of Home Help, the maximum duration in a period of twelve months can be up to fifteen weeks, provided that the claim does not exceed a maximum of £2520.
The maximum settlement payable to a member cannot exceed £8,000 in any period of twelve months.
READY TO JOIN?
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
To apply for membership, please go to our JOIN THE FUND page.
The annual subscription starts from just £40 for those under the age of 50, and rises in stages to £70 for those aged 70+.
| Age of Oldest Beneficiary | 2021 Subscription* £p.a. | 2022 Subscription £p.a. |
| Under 50 | 50.75 | 40.00 |
| 50-59 | 60.90 | 50.00 |
| 60-69 | 60.90 | 60.00 |
| 70+ | 71.05 | 70.00 |
*2021 subscription includes 12% Insurance Premium Tax.
It is the serving or retired officer who joins the society as a member, entitling their dependants to receive benefits.
Please note that you will not be able to claim from the Fund until 6 months have elapsed from the date of your enrolment into the Fund.
CASE STUDIES
Read our beneficiaries' stories
MAKE A CLAIM
HOW TO MAKE A CLAIM
CORONAVIRUS
Due to the coronavirus outbreak your claims team will be following government advice and working at home. This may cause unforeseen delays in the settling of your claim as we adjust to this revised way of working.
It would therefore help us all if you could put your pre-claim questions to the team via email or telephone rather than by letter. This should enable us to respond more quickly to your questions. We would also encourage you to submit your claim by email – Lady Grover’s Fund rules now allow for this. However, if you are intending to put in a claim by letter, please phone us on 020 7808 4180 and let us know, so that we can know to look out for it. While we are working from home, our post will not be collected every day.
We ask for your forbearance during this challenging time. Please look after yourselves and your families. Stay well.
In order to make a claim, you will need to download a Claim Form.
This should be completed and signed by you and by a relevant doctor. We will also need your consent to hold and use the health care data you submit. Please complete the Data Consent section on the back of the Claim Form. We will be unable to pay your claim without it. When complete, please post or scan to the Secretary with receipts for expenses incurred.
We have included a form of receipt which you may find useful for recording Home Help or Home Nursing hours worked. If you use an agency for your Home Help or Home Nursing, then they will issue a formal invoice; in this case it is this invoice which you would need to include.
We aim to respond to your claims quickly and pay promptly. If we have a query about your claim, this may take a little longer. If you need further advice on your claim, please ring, email or write to the membership team, who are always happy to discuss your best course of action with you.
Although not mandatory, it is very helpful to both you and us if you can discuss your proposed care plan with us as early as you can so that we both have a good idea of what you will be claiming for. However, the lack of such a discussion won’t stop you making a successful claim within the Rules.
NEWS
The latest news and publications from Lady Grover's Fund.
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Member Distribution Payment Process
Following approval at the Special General Meeting (“SGM”) last October, the Society registered new Rules which took effect on 1 January 2022. These provide for future benefits to be paid on a discretionary basis rather than under a contract of insurance. Read more
New Rules
The new Memorandum and completely revised Rules were registered on 1st January 2022, and can be accessed here. The Old Rules will apply to claims starting in 2021, and which are submitted up to December 15th 2022.
Special General Meeting Minutes
The minutes of the SGM held on 26 October 2021 are available here. Following the approval of the SGM resolution by members, we have registered the new Rules and are planning to commence the distribution to members in March. More information on both of these will follow.
Corporate Governance Report
The Lady Grover’s Fund 2021 Corporate Governance Report is available to view here.
November 2021 Newsletter
The Lady Grover’s Fund November 2021 Newsletter is available to view here.
New Members
The Society is pleased to welcome new members and will be processing membership applications in the normal way. Membership will not commence until the new Rules take effect which is expected to be 1 January 2022. New members’ attention is drawn to the Society’s Discretionary Mutual Model which is extracted from its recent Prospectus.
SGM voting result
Over 30 members attended the SGM and will know that there was a substantial vote in favour of the Society’s proposal to incorporate and offer benefits on a discretionary basis. We undertook to count all votes posted prior to the SGM and allow a further 7 days for their receipt. We can now announce that 797 members voted FOR the SGM resolution and 29 AGAINST. Accordingly, the Society is proceeding to register the Memorandum and new Rules. We noted at the SGM that a few members had gained the impression that we might be intending to means test the benefits that we pay. We would assure our members that we have no such plans. A newsletter will follow in the coming weeks.
New Members
We will not be processing new applications to join the Society until after the SGM on 26 October 2021 and only then if the resolution to become a discretionary mutual is approved. If the resolution is approved, applications to become a member will be processed from 27 October 2021 and new members will be admitted and payment taken from 1 January 2022 when the new Rules take effect.
Special General Meeting – How to Vote
The Society will be holding an SGM via Zoom on October 26 at 2pm to decide on the future of Lady Grover’s Fund. You can find out more by referring to the Covering Letter, Prospectus and SGM Notice and Voting Form. Members will be asked to vote on whether to adopt the new Memorandum and Rules, as well as the proposed changes outlined in the Prospectus. You can vote by attending the SGM or you can e-mail or post your vote to us by Saturday 23 October. Details on how to do this can be found in the SGM Notice and Voting Form. Large print versions are available showing the texts of the Covering Letter and the Prospectus.
New Memorandum and Rules
Here are the new Memorandum and Rules proposed for Lady Grover’s Fund, a letter to members will follow.
96th AGM Minutes
Minutes from the Lady Grover’s Fund 96th Annual General Meeting are available to view here.
May 2021 Newsletter
The Lady Grover’s Fund May 2021 Newsletter is available to view here.
Questions and Answers – Transition to Discretionary Mutual
Introduction Lady Grover’s Fund (”LGF”) is a Friendly Society authorised to provide health insurance. As such it is regulated by the Prudential Regulatory Authority (“PRA”) and the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”). It is run by an elected Committee (all volunteers) and employs a paid Chief Executive. Member Services including claims administration are provided by a trading subsidiary of the Officers Association (“OA”). The OA is a Charity, but not its subsidiary. In December 2020, we wrote to members outlining our proposal to rewrite the constitution and rules of LGF – it would still be Friendly Society, but the provision of claim benefits would be subject to Committee discretion. Members would be asked to approve the new rules. LGF would then no longer be subject to insurance regulation. However, there is no intention to reduce the benefits in the foreseeable future. Members would be entitled to a cash distribution funded from our reserves – this would comprise around 25% of our funds. This distribution would recognise the change in the contractual relationship between the Society and its members, and the freedom from Solvency regulation as applied to insurers by the PRA. The Chief Executive would step down and his role would be assumed by an appointee of the OA. These changes would save costs and enable us to market LGF more effectively; in particular, we envisage a reduction in the contributions paid by younger members. It is only by attracting new members that we envisage a long-term future for the Society. The following Questions and Answers are prompted by some of the comments we have received from members. Q. Is LGF becoming a Charity? A. No. LGF will remain a Friendly Society. It will continue to be run by an elected Committee for the benefit of its paying members. Q. Do you have to distribute some of the reserves? I would rather not claim the cash. A. We are advised that it is both normal and fair to offer a distribution to members for a transformation of this nature. All members of the Committee have said that they will waive their entitlement; and any member is of course welcome to do so. We envisage asking members to provide payment details if they wish to claim the cash distribution – and we will offer the default option of paying into their normal bank account where we have those details (i.e. for direct debits). Q. Are you planning to means test benefits? A. No. There is no plan to reduce benefits, but we must reserve the right to do so to protect the long term viability of LGF. In particular, our reserves are there to help meet the claims from existing members in their later life when their demands on the fund are greatest. So we would be particular vigilant to monitor claim levels by age band, and we would also be concerned if there was a protracted fall in the value of our investments. If we did ever have to reduce benefits, this would not involve means testing. Q. Can you provide a financial update for LGF? A. Members will appreciate that 2020 was not a normal year. Whilst we are beginning to see claims from those recovering from Covid, the overwhelming effect of the pandemic is for certain treatments to be deferred and so claims levels are depressed at present. The following numbers are subject to audit. In 2020, claims totalled about £60,000 (down 41% on 2019). Contributions totalled about £155,000 (down 4%) out of which we had to pay Insurance Premium tax of £17,000 and expenses of £141,000 (up 3%). We drew on reserves (and the investment income thereon) to the extent of £60,000. Despite a poor start to the year, investments later recovered and our assets at year end were £2.22 million (up 1.5%).
Lady Grover’s Fund for Officers Corporate Governance Report
The Committee of Management (Board) is accountable to the members of Lady Grover’s Fund (LGF) and UK Regulators for the operation of LGF and regards good corporate governance as fundamental to this responsibility. The Board confirms that this report together with LGF’s annual report and financial statements (available from LGF on request) present a fair, balanced and understandable view of LGF, providing sufficient information for members to assess LGF’s performance, business model and strategy. LGF follows the AFM Corporate Governance Code issued in January 2019. This code, which focusses on culture within the organisation and stakeholder engagement, sets out Principles of Best Practice to be adopted on a comply and explain basis and provides guidance on how organisations might achieve each of the Principles in a manner appropriate to its size and complexity. The Principles of AFM Corporate Governance are: Purpose and LeadershipBoard CompositionDirector ResponsibilitiesOpportunity and RiskRemunerationStakeholder Relationships & Engagement The detailed definition of the Principles and how they have been applied by LGF are set out here.
Letter from the Chairman and Chief Executive on the future status of your Society
1 Dec 2020 Dear Lady Grover Member The SituationAs members will know, for several years now your Committee has been adjusting Lady Grover’s Fund subscriptions and Rules as well as our operating patterns and governance, to best protect our long-term ability to support our members. Lady Grover’s, like many other Societies, has an ageing membership and it has not recently been able to attract new members in sufficient numbers. Membership numbers have reduced by about 20% over the last 5 years from a peak of around 3,200. Administration costs are also an issue for the Society; the administration has been outsourced to the Officers’ Association (OA), but this proved insufficient to meet the progressively more stringent regulatory requirements for professionally qualified executives in insurance. This meant that on Mike Vickery’s retirement we needed to recruit an independent Chief Executive who is approved by our regulators. Obviously that skill set (met by Stuart Bell’s appointment) does not come for free. As a result, our net costs have risen, and we can only continue this for a limited period. Unless we address these issues, it is highly likely we would need to dissolve the Society in the short term to avoid an unplanned insolvency. This would leave our members without any cover (albeit there would be some residual financial compensation). The combined challenges of a declining membership, the uncertain investment climate and unavoidable cost increases, mean that the measures taken thus far are not sufficient to guarantee our long-term solvency and operation. With the need to best support our members foremost in our mind, we have not been idle in the COVID lockdowns and have been exploring ways in which we can best move forward. We have invested in specialist professional advice since January and have been considering the implications of that in the early autumn. We are nearly ready to advise members on the best future path. A SolutionThe specialist advice, endorsed by the Committee, is that we should seek a new status for the Society whilst remaining as a Friendly Society. Currently the benefits we offer are classed as insurance which requires us to be regulated by both the Prudential Regulation Authority and by the Financial Conduct Authority in much the same manner as sector giants like AVIVA and BUPA, albeit with a lighter touch. We will be seeking, with your ultimate consent through an extraordinary vote next year, to offer future benefits on a discretionary, non-insured basis under a different section of the Friendly Societies Act 1992, establishing Lady Grover’s as a Discretionary Mutual Society. Our professional body, the Association of Financial Mutuals, has published an introductory note on Discretionary Mutuals. This new status will enable us to dispense with the paid professional CEO and allow us to integrate with the OA more fully in due course. The OA would then be able, in turn, to provide us with full services including a Chief Executive for the Society and promoting our benefits to new members more effectively, and access to the much larger pool of membership of the OA itself. The OA, a registered charity, feels unable to do this while we remain a regulated provider of insurance. What This Would Likely Mean for Members, and for Lady GroverWe have no plans to alter the current schedule of benefits to existing members and would continue to review them from time to time taking inflation into account. Whilst the benefits would become discretionary, your Committee remains utterly confident we can meet the likely claims demand with no need nor intention to reduce benefits whilst our reserves remained sufficiently strong. We have projected this will be the case for at least 5 years. As part of a move to a Discretionary Mutual Society, and on the necessary vote of approval from members, we would make provision for a one-time distribution of a proportion of our reserves to existing members (those whose applications were accepted on or before today, 1st December 2020) in recognition that their benefits would no longer be guaranteed by law. Our current financial projections assume that this would amount to about 25% of our reserves. Those members of the Committee who are also Members of the Fund have agreed to waive their share of the distribution to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest. Our proposed change of status would lift the regulatory financial burden and would enable us to extend significantly and with greater confidence the period for which Lady Grover’s would remain able to offer the cover it currently provides to you all. As a Discretionary Mutual we are advised that our liability for Insurance Premium Tax would disappear which, particularly for the older age groups, would benefit the Society as it allows us to retain all of your subscriptions in the asset pool. In addition to this major change in the status of the Society, we are considering how we can further adjust our subscriptions to encourage more and younger members to join, thus strengthening the base of support for our older members. Members were supportive of our recent adoption of subscription rates linked to age and so we will be building on this by looking to reduce further the rates for the younger members that we need to attract. Whilst our annual claims total will remain a factor determining subscription levels, there is no plan in the near term to increase subscriptions for any member. We should stress that the future of the Society will continue to depend on us attracting new blood; and your Committee will need to monitor our success in this regard. We anticipate allowing a three-year period before the first review. The Immediate Way AheadWe have now informed the regulators of our intention to seek your approval for this change in status, and it is possible that our plans will evolve in response to their replies and resulting ongoing professional advice. We would also be mindful of any comments received from members in response to this newsletter, noting that this is not a formal presentation of the plans, but an early indication of them. We plan to bring a formal proposal to you in 2021, and then to ask you to vote on it. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact either of us via the Lady Grover’s email, or by post with comments and questions. We will not plan to answer them all individually but will undertake to sweep up the answers to your questions in the proposal. If there any unique queries not so swept up, we will of course get back to you directly after the proposal has been distributed. Stuart Bell MA FIA CEO, Lady Grover’s Fund John Gower CB OBE Chairman, Lady Grover’s Fund
December 2020 Newsletter
The Lady Grover’s Fund December 2020 Newsletter is available to view here.
2020 Claims Update
Lady Grover’s Fund provides financial help at the most difficult of times. Lady Grovers’ Fund assists with recovery after illness or injury, bridging the critical gap in healthcare provision which exists between long-term health insurance, the NHS and family support. Whilst there are many grant-giving charities providing support to officer’s dependants, there are few able to provide the level of assistance Lady Grover’s Fund offers. In the first 3 quarters of 2020, Lady Grovers’ Fund has met the claims of 33 members and paid out a total sum of £41K to provide additional nursing, hospital or domestic care to people when they need it most. Period No of Claims Value of Claims Paid to Members January – March 17 £22k April – June 8 £12k July – September 8 £7k To see the scale of benefits for members, please click here.
Interesting Times
Ancient Chinese Curse – “May you live in interesting times” I joined Lady Grover’s Fund in May, and it has certainly been a challenge working through lockdown. Like many this year, we have had to adapt to new ways of working. Getting to know your new colleagues is a slow process! Lady Grover looks to the staff of the Officers’ Association (OA) to administer the fund, handle membership queries and, in particular, to process claims. Fortunately, before Covid struck, the OA was already gearing up to enable its staff to work from home – ahead of its move to Reading. Staff have been able to provide their normal service and we are up to date on meeting members’ claims. One welcome change this year was our decision to hold the AGM in June – on time, but online! This enabled a number of members to participate – far more than we normally get. We hope to repeat this in future years. Looking to the future, the strategy of Lady Grover is to attract new, younger, members. Part of my role is to develop the Society to make this easier, and we are pursuing this directly with our professional advisers. Our next newsletter will report on our progress. Stuart Bell – Acting CEO
95th AGM Minutes
Minutes from the Lady Grover’s Fund 95th Annual General Meeting are available to view here.
May 2020 Newsletter
The Lady Grover’s Fund May 2020 Newsletter is available to view here.
Lady Grover in a COVID Climate
A Note from your Chairman. The Committee joins me in wishing you all the very best in these uncertain times. We are thinking of you wherever you are in the world and hope that you and your families are safe and well and remain so and we are mindful that most of our Members are within the group deemed most vulnerable. The Committee has already met using online technology and will continue to do so whilst social distancing is in force. I would like to reassure you that Lady Grover’s Fund is continuing to operate in these difficult times and existing members can make claims and eligible new people can continue to join the Fund. Please call or email us if you need advice or if you want to make a claim. For prospective members, I encourage you to consider joining; the benefits for your families far outweigh the cost. Just click on the Join tab. We will be sending all our members a newsletter shortly with more detail on these arrangements and normal Fund business; meanwhile, we wish you all the very best and hope that you and yours remain safe and healthy. John Gower Chairman
Special General Meeting
The Committee of Lady Grover’s Fund has called a Special General Meeting (SGM) on Tuesday 28 January 2020 at 1.30pm at Mountbarrow House, 6-20 Elizabeth Street, London SW1W 9RB. The business for discussion at the Meeting is to propose age-related subscriptions for members. Detailed proposals are set out in our newsletter. Members of Lady Grover’s Fund are invited to attend, or to comment by email to ceo@ladygrover.org.uk or by letter to CEO at the above address. If you wish to attend, please inform the CEO as above by 3 January 2020.
Newsletter 2019
The Lady Grover’s Fund 2019 Newsletter is available to view here.
Direct Debit service provider change
We have recently changed our direct debit service provider and all existing membership direct debits have been migrated across to the new provider. There is no need for you to take any action. For a short time you may see that there are two LGF direct debit mandates showing on your account. Please do not do anything to correct this or you may inadvertently cancel your subscription. No further payments will be taken using the old mandate. The first payment (for existing members) using the new mandate will be taken on 1st January 2020. We will be emailing or writing to every existing direct debit member shortly to inform you individually of this change. If you are not yet paying by direct debit please contact the membership administration team on secretary@ladygrover.org.uk or call us on 020 7808 4180
AGM 2019
Lady Grover’s Fund will hold their Annual General Meeting on 17 June 2019 at 2pm. The meeting will be held in Mountbarrow House, 6-20 Elizabeth Street, London SW1W 9RB. Members of the Fund are welcome to attend. If you wish to do so, please inform Mike Vickery, Lady Grover’s Fund CEO at ceo@ladygrover.org.uk in order to register your admittance to Mountbarrow House.
Newsletter 2018
The Lady Grover’s Fund 2018 Newsletter is available to view here.
AGM 2018 Minutes
Minutes of the Lady Grover’s Fund 2018 Annual General Meeting are available to view here.
AGM 2017 Minutes
Minutes of the Lady Grover’s Fund 2017 Annual General Meeting are available to view here.
Newsletter 2017
The Lady Grover’s Fund 2017 Newsletter is available to view here.
AGM 2016 Minutes
Minutes of the Lady Grover’s Fund 2016 Annual General Meeting are available to view here.
Newsletter 2016
The Lady Grover’s Fund 2016 Newsletter is available to view here.
AGM 2015 Minutes
Minutes of the Lady Grover’s Fund 2015 Annual General Meeting are available to view here.
All News items can be found here.
ABOUT LADY GROVER'S FUND
Lady Grover
Lady Grover’s Hospital Fund for Officers’ Families was established in 1911 by Lady Grover whilst living in India as an Army wife. She had been deeply impressed by the need for some sort of scheme to help officers, primarily of the Indian Army, with hospital and nursing expenses arising out of the illness of their dependants.
At Lady Grover’s death, in 1912, the Committee of the Fund, most of whom had helped her to start the scheme, renamed the Fund as it is today, as a memorial to a very gracious lady. General Sir Malcolm Grover made the Fund his main interest on his retirement in 1919, and was responsible for building up the resources and benefits and for enlarging the scope of the Fund to include Officers of the three Services, serving anywhere in the world.
This altruistic task he performed admirably, and to the Fund’s very great prestige, until his death in 1945.
Lady Grover’s Fund has continued to evolve to help officers of all three Services and their dependants to access critical financial support when they need it the most – helping you to provide additional nursing, hospital or domestic care to assist recovery.
Lady Grover’s Fund assists with recovery after illness or injury, bridging the critical gap in healthcare provision which still exists between long-term health insurance, the NHS and family support. These benefits are as valid now as they were when the fund was founded.
When illness or injury strike, you can rely on the comfort of knowing that Lady Grover’s Fund will help you pick up the pieces of everyday life by providing financial support to meet the costs of nursing, hospital and domestic help during recovery.
CONTACT US
GET IN TOUCH YOUR WAY
Our team is able to answer your enquiries by email, phone or post. We look forward to hearing from you.
Postal Address:
The Secretary, Lady Grover’s Fund,
40 Caversham Road, Reading, Berkshire RG1 7EB
Telephone: 020 7808 4180
Email: secretary@ladygrover.org.uk
Before you contact us you may wish to have a look at our Frequently Asked Questions to see whether they answer your query.
PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY
We recognise that when you give us personal information (which includes health information) you’re trusting us to take good care of it. Please see our Privacy Statement for more information about how we collect, use and protect your data.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
Lady Grover’s Fund (LGF) endeavours to treat its members in a courteous, fair and prompt manner and to provide an excellent service to members. If you have a complaint, feel you have been treated unfairly or are not satisfied with any aspect of LGF, its products or services, please refer to our Complaints Procedure. Complaints are taken very seriously and closely monitored by the Committee of Management.
