User Guide - Covering the costs of removals for a new (or departing) chaplain/assistant chaplain
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This User Guide sets out how the costs of removals for a new (or departing) Chaplain (including Assistant Chaplains) are to be covered by the Chaplaincy. Some of the requirements are mandatory and where this is so this is clearly stated. For simplicity, where reference is made in the user Guide to ‘Chaplains’ it includes ‘Assistant Chaplains’ throughout.
You can find guidance on what constitutes appropriate accommodation for a Chaplain and their family in a separate User Guide Chaplaincy accommodation and transport.
Removal costs for a chaplain who is moving from outside of the diocese
The costs of moving a chaplain's possessions to the chaplaincy (including the cost of insurance during removal) are to be covered as follows:
- Where the Chaplaincy Council provides fully furnished accommodation: The Chaplaincy Council must pay for the transport (and insurance in transit) of the chaplain's (and their family’s) personal effects (clothes, books, etc.). A chaplain who chooses to bring extra furniture is responsible for the removal costs of such items.
- Where the Chaplaincy Council does not provide fully furnished accommodation: The Chaplaincy Council must pay for the total cost of the removal (and insurance in transit), of the chaplain and their family’s furniture and personal effects.
In applying these requirements the following apply:
- In determining what are ‘reasonable’ removal costs, before accepting a quotation from a removal company, the chaplain must seek authorisation from the churchwardens or Chaplaincy Council. Chaplains are advised to seek a minimum of three quotations for removal in order to ensure that costs are reasonable.
- When a chaplain moves within the Diocese, the cost of the removal, and insurance, is to be divided between the two chaplaincy councils concerned.
Removal costs for a chaplain who is moving within the diocese
When a chaplain moves within the Diocese, the cost of the removal, and insurance (of either the chaplain’s (and their family’s) personal effects or furniture and personal effects (dependent on the nature of the accommodation provided)), is to be divided between the two chaplaincy councils concerned. Where the nature of the accommodation (ie furnished or unfurnished) is materially different between the two Chaplaincies then the allocation of costs must be agreed by the respective Chaplaincy Councils/Chaplaincy Wardens in consultation with the Chaplain and the Archdeacon
Removal costs for a chaplain departing from the diocese
- Where the Chaplain has been in post for a minimum of three years and either resigns or retires from the Chaplaincy, the costs of removing a Chaplains possessions from the Chaplaincy (including the cost of insurance during removal) are covered as follows:
- Where the Chaplaincy Council has provided fully furnished accommodation: The Chaplaincy Council must pay for the transport of the chaplain's (and their family’s) personal effects (clothes, books, etc.) to the port of entry of the country of residence immediately prior to joining the Diocese. A chaplain who chose to bring extra furniture is responsible for the removal costs of such items.
- Where the Chaplaincy Council has not provided fully furnished accommodation: The Chaplaincy Council must pay for the total cost of the removal of the chaplain’s and their family’s furniture and personal effects to the port of entry of the country of residence immediately prior to joining the Diocese.
- Where the Chaplain has been in post for less than three years and either resigns or retires from the Chaplaincy: The reimbursement of costs of removing a Chaplain’s (and their family’s) possessions from the Chaplaincy (including the cost of insurance during removal) will be determined by the Chaplaincy Council/Chaplaincy Wardens in consultation with the Archdeacon.
- Where the Chaplain has been required by the Diocese to leave the Diocese: the reimbursement of costs of removing a Chaplains possessions from the Chaplaincy (including the cost of insurance during removal) will be determined by the Diocesan Secretary in consultation with the Archdeacon and the Chaplaincy Council/Chaplaincy Wardens.
Special circumstances
In applying the above requirements, Chaplains and Chaplaincy Councils/Chaplaincy wardens must have regard to the following matters
- If a chaplain remains in post for more than five years, it is likely that additional personal effects will have been accumulated and, as a result, the cost of the return removal will be more than the original even taking into account any rise in the cost of living.
- When the accommodation is unfurnished, a Chaplaincy Council should consider making a grant to a new chaplain to cover such things as carpets and curtains which may need to be altered or replaced. Such an arrangement must be included in the Conditions of Service.
- Chaplaincy councils and chaplains are each responsible for the insurance of their own property in a chaplaincy house.
- Any requests to vary this policy must be made in writing by the churchwardens to the diocesan secretary. Reasons must be given. If approval is given, the variation must be written into the Conditions of Service at the beginning the appointment. Please note that resettlement grants are not normally available from the Diocese
Updated 10 October 2022