It has concerned me for a while that NCC Ltd which is a trade body and as a private company, appears to promote its self as an authority of some kind. The declared prime purpose of the company is to promote its members interests and to generate funds to enable ongoing lobbying on behalf of its members. The purpose of lobbying is to influence government (a perfectly legal activity, of course). CRIS, an NCC Ltd owned company until fairly recently, changed ownership to another company, the directors of which are those of NCC Ltd. Statutory registration has been debated by our government in recent years, and it seemed to me that CRIS was a contender in waiting. Recently there have been examples described on forums of Insurance companies demanding CRIS registration and documentation before settling claims, even though there is no statutory requirement for ownership registration. Is our hobby becoming dominated by one commercial company and its associates taking what appears to be an authoritative role? To me, it appears so.
The role of NCC Ltd.
- Thread starter Ern
- Start date
The NCC does not I believe have my interests at heart, as I have commented before.
Their purpose is as defined by their own commitment\purpose statement as contained in the initial part of the following link.
NCC
Their purpose is as defined by their own commitment\purpose statement as contained in the initial part of the following link.
NCC
Damian
Moderator
The NCC is , just as it says in its description, a TRADE body.
Nothing to do with customers, just their paid up members to support them (supposedly)and to make everything about caravans and associated services as difficult as possible, all at a large cost to its members.
The last amount of money I had access to had them at a £6 BILLION turnover, but I cannot find anything on which that amount of money has been spent.
Am I disillusioned with them, you bet !
Nothing to do with customers, just their paid up members to support them (supposedly)and to make everything about caravans and associated services as difficult as possible, all at a large cost to its members.
The last amount of money I had access to had them at a £6 BILLION turnover, but I cannot find anything on which that amount of money has been spent.
Am I disillusioned with them, you bet !
NCC - "A Not For Profit Trade Organisation" !!!!
NCC NotForProfit
Perhaps a look at their published accounts might make interesting reading.
NCC NotForProfit
Perhaps a look at their published accounts might make interesting reading.
I followed up some of the claims made in the following article, I found that what the article said was correct in regard to all of the batteries that I compared.
It is interesting and encouraging to note that a CAMC topic (perhaps unknowingly) gave credence to some of the content within the article.
IS THE NCC VERIFIED BATTERY SCHEME FLAWED?
It is interesting and encouraging to note that a CAMC topic (perhaps unknowingly) gave credence to some of the content within the article.
IS THE NCC VERIFIED BATTERY SCHEME FLAWED?
I will leave it to others as to how they see the following article fits with the NCC verified battery scheme.
It is worth noting the prominent 'Platinum Batteries' advertisement in the article header.
Battery Tests
It is worth noting the prominent 'Platinum Batteries' advertisement in the article header.
Battery Tests
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It would be very telling to know whom, if any, which "test house" has been contracted for accrediting these performance-based classifications to the candidate batteries in the NCC's battery scheme?
I am assuming here they are not technically up to the job, in equipment and or expertise, themselves?
Or if they simply ask suppliers to accredit a classification, themselves?
Based on the classification of some of the entries, I am pretty confident I can guess correctly!
I am assuming here they are not technically up to the job, in equipment and or expertise, themselves?
Or if they simply ask suppliers to accredit a classification, themselves?
Based on the classification of some of the entries, I am pretty confident I can guess correctly!
According to this:
About the NCC
The NCC is the UK trade body for the tourer, motorhome, caravan holiday home and residential park home industries. We represent the collective interests of our membership base, which spans the entire supply chain: Caravan manufacturers, motorhome manufacturers, caravan holiday home...
www.thencc.org.uk
" Whilst the roots of the industry lie in the early half of the nineteenth century it has developed significantly and now makes a more than £6 billion per year contribution to the UK economy,"
I can see how this might be mis interpreted, but the "it" refers to the industry as a whole not the NCC
The company has a board of directors (naturally) but such eminence requires a Directorate too. The Director General of both is of course the same person. From NCC Ltd web site "Furthermore, the NCC is recognised by relevant government departments and regulatory bodies. For example, we are acknowledged by the DVLA as the lead body for motorhome registrations".
There is a dispute resolution scheme for customers who may have an unresolved dispute with an NCC member. But in my time on the Forum I cannot recall ever reading of it being used and often these trade related body schemes have no teeth.
So, anything it says or promotes needs accepting in the knowledge it is motivated by the vested interests of its members, is not "independent", not likely verified and not foremost with your interests in mind.
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I do recall at least one thread where the customer tried to use the NCC scheme and it didn't support him. But I can't remember circumstances, so its difficult to categorically say the scheme was ineffective.
But from my professional work, I do recall there was quite a rumpus in the industry in the last century when a major caravan company ruffled the feathers of the NCC board. Sanctions were called for, but the member threatened to leave the NCC and start an alternative trade body, with the support of several other manufacturers. The NCC would lose its biggest sources of funding. I'm not exactly sure what the compromise was, but the NCC must have revised its position.
The NCC has assumed the role of being the spokes person for the industry, but it has no legal teeth. I should also point out that the CAMHC and CACC are represented on the NCC committee but with such a minority position they cannot force changes to NCC policies.
The CAMC and CACC clubs may be represented on the NCC committee but their primary interest is as a major site provider and financial service provider, not to represent the interests of members.
Parksy
Moderator
Unfortunately there is no organisation that truly represents the interests of touring caravan owners, we have the CRA which is ultimately dependent for it's effectiveness on the buyer being prepared to take legal action against vendors, but surely there is a gap in the market for a 'Which' style consumers champion that specialises in all aspects of touring caravan and motorhome ownership?
The two main clubs go so far, and they provide good information for caravan and motorhome owners, but when things go wrong we're on our own.
Anecdotal evidence from various caravan related internet forums suggests that the overall standards of build quality and customer service is unlikely to improve significantly while the legal onus is on caravan dealerships to supply goods and services that fully meet 21st century expectations.
The NCC was never meant to fully represent the interests of caravan owners, it's primarily a trade body.
The two main clubs go so far, and they provide good information for caravan and motorhome owners, but when things go wrong we're on our own.
Anecdotal evidence from various caravan related internet forums suggests that the overall standards of build quality and customer service is unlikely to improve significantly while the legal onus is on caravan dealerships to supply goods and services that fully meet 21st century expectations.
The NCC was never meant to fully represent the interests of caravan owners, it's primarily a trade body.
Damian
Moderator
I have previously attended vans with problems on site, one of which was regarding the fridge which would not fire up on gas.
Upon inspecting the fridge I found the sealing sponge to prevent CO entering the van was stuck to, and rusted in place at the top of the fridge flue, also the "spinner" inside the flue was not hanging from where it should have been and was resting on the burner , providing a direct short circuit from the igniter.
There was no way the fridge would ever have fired up, (fortunately).
The van had been serviced by a large dealership only the week before, and the van owners showed me the service report and damp report.
The service report stated that the fridge was working normally !!!!!!!!!
I took photos of the situation and raised a complaint wit the NCC, as did the owners.
What was the result,,,,,,,,,,,,,,NOTHING>
There have been several other incidents which required reports going to the NCC , and nothing was ever done about them.
The one starring bit of "technical "advice from the NCC was that we should charge batteries in a SEALED container !!!!!!!!
Upon inspecting the fridge I found the sealing sponge to prevent CO entering the van was stuck to, and rusted in place at the top of the fridge flue, also the "spinner" inside the flue was not hanging from where it should have been and was resting on the burner , providing a direct short circuit from the igniter.
There was no way the fridge would ever have fired up, (fortunately).
The van had been serviced by a large dealership only the week before, and the van owners showed me the service report and damp report.
The service report stated that the fridge was working normally !!!!!!!!!
I took photos of the situation and raised a complaint wit the NCC, as did the owners.
What was the result,,,,,,,,,,,,,,NOTHING>
There have been several other incidents which required reports going to the NCC , and nothing was ever done about them.
The one starring bit of "technical "advice from the NCC was that we should charge batteries in a SEALED container !!!!!!!!
The NCC is the sponsor of the Approved Workshops Scheme - in it's original form it was toothless with no minimum standards - fortunately, the scheme was revamped with higher standards.
Damian
Moderator
The two AWS mobiles I've used recently can at least meet my basic minimum of being better than a DIY enthusiast - back in the beginning they couldn't!
The annual service as we know it today was created by the caravan manufacturers (Bailey first with their bolted construction which required annual checking and torque testing. After some time they realised the torque issue was not a problem, so the checks were dropped). The compulsory annual inspection was required to support the extended warranty, which was more or less forced upon the manufacturers by dissatisfied retailers and customers. Discovering the water ingress before it had done too much damage would reduce the manufacturer's warranty liability, but the cost? The answer was to get the customer to pay for it. The damp test became part of a service which is a padded out list of rather simplistic checks, most of which we all do every time we use the caravan. Today, the damp test as we call it isn't even done on some caravans, and reduced on others. The service technician training and AWS scheme is a nice little earner for its creator and the content of the service list, and much more is controlled by NCC Ltd. Preventive Maintenance is a good thing and for anything on the road a safety matter to be taken seriously, but most of the content of the annual service is nothing to do with that.
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Then you have that bit of kit that by design drops rust flakes down the flue onto the burner, to cause combustion issues, monoxide and ignition difficulties, and that in a standard service is all but ignored. The fridge, if run on LPG.
If you think about it ALL standards are minimums! - And especially those that have been derived by a committee charged with unifying several different approaches to the same subject.
You guys have really opened a can of worms.According to the Beta Companies House register there are 7 directors of the NCC. 5 of the directors are major shareholders in 5 main caravan dealers one of which is a “paper “ company for one of the main Midland area dealers. I have not named them here to be Forum rule compliant. I have to conclude the NCCis nothing short of the old pals act or in a nutshell an absolute sham!!
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