CAA and their fees
 

I own a G reg plane that's based in Ireland. I just renewed the ARC with an engineer who's licensed and authorized by CAA to do so. Now some week later CAA sent me an email saying that according to their records my ARC has expired and I either need to send them a photo copy of renewed ARC or tell them that the plane is not flying. Fair enough, I scanned the ARC and emailed it back to them. Now they're saying because it's a manual renewal I need to pay them 60 pounds to update their records.. excuse me - pay you for what?

What happens if I don't? In all seriousness, I did what hey asked me to do, they're the ones who are responsible to keep their records in order, how come I have to pay 60 pounds for some bloke to put a tick on a box?

......because they're a big money making machine........:{

Martin,


Sell your a/c and buy one that's on Permit ! Twice as much fun at half the price.

that is the long term plan indeed, but for now, this post was not meant as me venting a frustration, but a legitimate question - I have all my paperwork on hand, plane is deemed airworthy. EC regulation requires me to inform the CAA that the plane is airworthy, which I have done.. now what happens if I don't pay the fee? Are they going to cancel my CofA? On what grounds I wonder?

I have no issue with paying a fee if I'm actually getting a service - whether they issue me a Certificate of Registration or a Licence - they have done something that I guess earns them a fee. In this case however, they're not providing me a service yet I'm still required to pay.. it's ridiculous .. by the same merit you could introduce a fee that police can charge you every time they stop you and ask for a drivers licence..

Don't go giving them ideas like that! :eek:

Martin, if you think that there is some element of a scam and time permits then, ask the CAA for a justification.


If the 'justification' looks reasonably watertight, then you really have little option but to pay it.


If the 'justification' appears high on the oxometer scale accompanied by a strong whiff of BS, you could pay under protest, and then test the matter in the Small Claims Court. That could be interesting !