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FRIENDLY SOCIETIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970 - SECT 106

1969 c.19

106. This Act may be cited as the Friendly Societies Act (Northern Ireland)
1970.

The following are the purposes referred to in section 1(1)(a), that is to say,

1 branch, to
which all communications and notices may be addressed.

3. The whole of the objects for which the society or branch is to be
established, the purposes for which the funds thereof shall be applicable, the
terms of admission of members, the conditions under which any member may
become entitled to any benefit assured by the society or branch, and the fines
and forfeitures to be imposed on any member and the consequences of
non-payment of any subscription or fine.

4. The mode of holding meetings and right of voting, and the manner of making,
altering or rescinding rules.

5. The appointment and removal of a committee of management (by whatever
name), of a treasurer and other officers and of trustees and in addition

(a)in the case of a society with branches, the composition and powers of the
central body and the conditions under which a branch may secede from the
society; and

(b)in the case of a branch, the contribution to a fund under the control of
the central body, the control of the central body over the branch, and the
conditions under which the branch may secede from the society.

6. The investment of the funds, the keeping of the accounts and the audit of
the accounts at least once a year.

7. Annual returns to the registrar relating to the affairs and numbers of
members of the society or branch.

8. The inspection of the books of the society or branch by every person having
an interest in the funds of the society.

9. The manner in which disputes shall be settled.

10. In the case of a dividing society, a provision in the society's rules for
meeting all claims upon the society existing at the time of division before
any such division takes place, and in the case of a branch of such a society,
which allows division of the branch funds, provision in the rules of the
branch for meeting all claims upon the branch existing at the time of the
division before any division takes place.

11.(1) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that nothing in
paragraph 3 requires the rules of a society or branch to contain tables in
accordance with which obligations to provide benefits to members have been
undertaken if the rules of the society or branch provide that no further
obligations may be undertaken.

(2) Subject to sub-paragraph (1) and sub-paragraph (3), the tables which the
rules of a registered society or branch are required to contain by virtue of
paragraph 3 shall, in the case of a society or branch with proposes to carry
on long-term business within the meaning of the Insurance Companies Act
(Northern Ireland) 1968, be tables which, in so far as they relate to that
business, have been certified by a qualified actuary.

(3) Sub-paragraph (2) does not apply to

(a)a society or branch first registered before the passing of this Act;

(b)to a society formed by the amalgamation of two or more societies which were
first registered before the passing of this Act.

(4) Nothing in paragraph 3 requires that the rules of a
registered society or branch (including a collecting society) shall contain
tables relating to the benefits payable to or in respect of any member of the
society or branch in pursuance of approved group insurance business.

(5) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (4), "group insurance business" means
the business of providing, in accordance with the rules of a
registered society or branch, benefits for or in respect of such employees of
a particular employer or such other group of persons for the time being
approved for the purposes of that sub-paragraph by the registrar as are
members of the society or branch; and such business is approved
group insurance business if

(a)the policy of insurance or other contract under which the benefits are
provided for or in respect of each of the employees or other persons concerned
is in a form approved by the registrar; and

(b)such other requirements as may be prescribed by the registrar are
fulfilled.

12. The keeping of proper accounts in accordance with section 22 and the
keeping of a separate account of the expenses of management and of all
contributions and other moneys which may be applied to those expenses.

13. Except with respect to cattle insurance societies and branches, such
periodic valuation or valuations, if any, of the assets and liabilities of the
society or branch as a whole, or of the assets and liabilities of the society
or branch in respect of any particular business or businesses conducted by the
society or branch, as may from time to time be required by law in the case of
that society or branch.

14. The voluntary dissolution of the society or branch, by consent of
three-quarters in number of the members.

15. The right of one-tenth of the total number of members, or of 100 members
in the case of a society or branch of not less than 1,000 members and not more
than 10,000, or of 500 members in the case of a society or branch of more than
10,000 members, to apply to the registrar, for an investigation of the affairs
of the society or branch or for winding it up.

Know all men by these presents, that we, A.B. of

and C.D. of < (as surety on behalf ofthe said A.B.), are jointly and severally held and firmly bound to


, and I.K. of

day of

Whereas the above-bounden A.B. has been duly appointed to theoffice of < of the  Society [or ofthe < branch of the  Society]having its registered office situate as aforesaid, and he, together with the above-bounden C.D. as his surety, have entered into the above-written bond, subject to the condition hereinafter contained: Now therefore the condition of the above-written bond is such, that if the said A.B. do render a just and true account of all moneys received and paid by him on account of the said society [or branch], at such times as the rules thereof appoint, and do pay over all the moneys remaining in his hands, and assign and transfer or deliver all property (including books and papers) belonging to the said society [or branch] in his hands or custody to such person or persons as the said society [or branch], or the trustees or committee of management thereof, shall appoint, according to the rules of the said society [or branch], together with the proper and legal receipts or vouchers for such payments, then the above-written bond shall be void, otherwise shall remain in full force.


Sealed and delivered in the presence of

The trustees of the < Society [orthe < branch of the < Society] hereby acknowledge to have receivedall moneys intended to be secured by the within [or above] written deed.


1. A registered friendly society or a branch of such a society shall not, by
virtue of or in connection with any relevant insurance of money to be paid on
the death of a parent or grandparent of the person by whom the insurance was
taken out, pay to that person on the death any sum not excluded for the
purposes of subsection (2) of section 62 of this Act by subsection (3)
thereof, except upon production of a certificate of death for the purposes of
this Schedule stated therein to be issued to the person to whom the payment is
made, unless the death occurred outside Northern Ireland.

2. On so making payment of any such sum the society or branch shall cause to
be endorsed on the certificate a statement showing

(a)the name of the society or branch;

(b)the amount of any such sum paid;

(c)the date of the contract for the insurance;

3. Where a registered friendly society or a branch of such a society is
charged with a contravention of subsection (2) of section 62, in respect of
the payment by the society or branch of a sum which exceeded the limit of #30
imposed by paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) of that subsection in consequence of
the addition, as thereby required, of another sum paid by virtue of or in
connection with any other relevant insurance (within the meaning of
section 62), or of two or more other sums so paid, and which would not have
exceeded that limit apart from that addition, it shall be a defence for the
society or branch charged to prove

(a)that the sum in respect of which they are charged was paid in accordance
with paragraph 1 of this Schedule; and

(b)that the certificate produced disclosed no payment by any other
registered society or branch or by an industrial assurance company of any sum
or sums required by paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) of section 62(2) to be
added, or disclosed such a payment but only to an amount insufficient to cause
the sum in respect of which they are charged to exceed that limit;

4. Certificates of death for the purposes of this Schedule and of [Schedule 3
to the Industrial Assurance (Northern Ireland) Order 1979] (which makes
provision corresponding to this Schedule but in relation to industrial
assurance companies), and applications for the issue thereof, shall be in such
form as may from time to time be specified by the Registrar General for
Northern Ireland, including, in the case of such a certificate a statement
that it is issued for the purposes of this Schedule and of that Schedule, and
particulars of the name and address of the person to whom the certificate is
issued, and of his relationship (whether child, grandchild or stepchild) to
the deceased, as stated in the application.

5.(1) Regulations shall be made by the Ministry of Finance for securing that,
except as mentioned in sub-paragraph (2), more than one certificate of the
same death for the purposes of this Schedule and of [Schedule 3 to the
Industrial Assurance (Northern Ireland) Order 1979] shall not be issued to the
same person.

(2) Regulations under this paragraph shall provide for the issue to a person
to whom a certificate of a death for the purposes of this Schedule and of
[Schedule 3 to the Industrial Assurance (Northern Ireland) Order 1979] has
been issued of a duplicate thereof in the event of the loss or destruction of
the certificate which it replaces, subject to conditions for requiring

(a)the making by that person of a statutory declaration stating that the
certificate which the duplicate replaces has been lost or destroyed, and
stating whether any endorsement has been made on that certificate, and if so,
by what registered society or branch or industrial assurance company; and

(b)if it is so stated that an endorsement has been made on that certificate by
any registered society or branch or industrial assurance company, the
recording on the duplicate of a requirement that it is to be produced to that
society, branch or company for having the endorsement repeated on the
duplicate; and

(c)the surrender for destruction of the certificate which the duplicate
replaces in the event of its being recovered.

6. On production to a registered society or branch of a duplicate which
records a requirement for an endorsement made by the society or branch to be
repeated as mentioned in paragraph 5, the society or branch shall cause the
duplicate to be endorsed accordingly, and paragraph 3 shall not apply in the
case of a certificate which is a duplicate where such a requirement is
recorded unless the duplicate has been endorsed by the society or branch or
company in question.

The < Society is registered as a [friendlysociety, cattle insurance society, benevolent society, working men's club, old people's home society or specially authorised society].


The foregoing amendment of the rules of the

day of < 19.Signaturef registrar.CKNOWLEDGMENT OF REGISTRATION OF BRANCH4The < is registered as a branch of the< Society [and of the branch of the same] under the Friendly Societies Act (NorthernIreland) 1970, this  day of < 19.Signaturef registrar.CKNOWLEDGMENT OF REGISTRATION OF AMENDMENT OF BRANCH RULESBThe foregoing amendment of the branch rules of the


day of < 19.Signaturef registrar.SCHEDULE 74SAVINGS APPLICABLE WHERE ASSURED PERSONS ORDINARILY RESIDENT OUTSIDE UNITED KINGDOM AND ISLE OF MAN AND FOR CERTAIN INSURANCES EFFECTED BEFORE 5TH JULY 1949A1. Notwithstanding anything in Schedule 1, a society or branch is a friendly society or a branch thereof for the purposes of this Act (and may be registered as such) if it is a society or branch for the purpose of providing by voluntary subscriptions of the members thereof, with or without the aid of donations, for insuring money to be paid for the funeral expenses of a person who, at the time of the proposal is ordinarily resident outside the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man, and the society or branch would have been a friendly society or a branch thereof if this Act had not been passed, having regard to the provisions of paragraph (b) of section 8(1) of the Act of 1896 and section 1 of the Act of 1948.


2. Notwithstanding the repeal by this Act of any provision of section 1 of
the Act of 1948, the power to insure conferred on registered friendly
societies and branches by section 1 of the Act of 1929 shall continue to be
limited to cases where the life in question is that of a person who, at the
time of the proposal, is ordinarily resident outside the United Kingdom and
the Isle of Man.

3. Nothing in this Act shall prejudice any insurance effected before the 5th
July 1949 under or by virtue of paragraph (b) of section 8(1) of the Act of
1896 or section 3 of the Act of 1924 or section 1 of the Act of 1929.

4.(1) Nothing in this Act shall affect the continued operation of sections 62
to 67 of the Act of 1896 in relation to sums payable on the death of a child
under ten who, at the time of the proposal, is or was ordinarily resident
outside the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.

(2) The reference in sub-paragraph (1) to sections 62 to 67 of the Act of 1896
includes a reference

(a)to any other provision of that Act in so far as it applies to things done
or omitted under, or in pursuance of, or in contravention of, any of the
provisions of those sections; and

(b)to section 4 of the Act of 1924, section 2 of the Act of 1929, section 6(2)
of the Act of 1948, section 3(2) of the Act of 1957 and any other enactment
applying, modifying, amending or extending any of the provisions of
sections 62 to 67 of the Act of 1896.

[5. References in paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 to a person being ordinarily resident
outside the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man are subject to restriction by
an order under Article 52 of the Industrial Assurance (Northern Ireland) Order
1979.]

6. In this Schedule

(a)"the Act of 1924" means the Industrial Assurance Act (Northern Ireland)
1924;

(b)"the Act of 1929" means the Industrial Assurance and Friendly Societies Act
(Northern Ireland) 1929;

(c)"the Act of 1948" means the Industrial Assurance and Friendly Societies Act
(Northern Ireland) 1948; and

(d)"the Act of 1957" means the Friendly Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1957.

Schedule 8Amendments

1. Where, after the passing of this Act, the provisions of section 23 do not,
by virtue of subsection (9) of that section, apply in relation to any accounts
published by a registered society or branch, nothing in section 105(5) shall
affect the operation in relation to those accounts of section 26(1) of the Act
of 1896.

2.(1) Where, after the passing of this Act, neither section 24(1) nor
section 25(1) applies to a society or branch in respect of any
year of account, nothing in section 102(5) shall affect the operation in
relation to that society or branch in respect of that year of account of
section 26 of the Act of 1896 as amended by section 19 of the Industrial
Assurance and Friendly Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1948.

(2) For the purpose of the application to a registered society or branch, in
the circumstances mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) of the enactments mentioned
in that sub-paragraph, any person who is at the passing of this Act an
approved auditor appointed by the Ministry under section 30(1) of the Act of
1896 shall continue to be an approved auditor subject to the conditions
(including the conditions as to termination of his appointment) on which he
was appointed.

3. Where, after the passing of this Act, the provisions of sections 31 and 32
do not, by virtue of subsection (6) of section 31 and subsection (3) of
section 32, have effect so as to impose any duties or confer any rights upon
the auditors appointed in respect of any year of account of a
registered society or branch, then in respect of that year of account nothing
in section 105(5) shall affect the operation of section 26(2) of the Act of
1896 in relation to the rights and duties of those auditors.

4. Where, after the passing of this Act, the provisions of section 36 do not,
by virtue of subsection (6) of that section, have effect in relation to any
annual return of a registered society or branch, nothing in section 105(5)
shall affect the operation in relation to that annual return of section 27 of
the Act of 1896 and section 14 of the Industrial Assurance and
Friendly Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1948.

5. Subject to the following provisions of this Schedule, any document made,
served or issued before the passing of this Act or at any time thereafter and
containing a reference to an enactment repealed by this Act shall, except in
so far as a contrary intention appears, be construed as referring, or as the
context requires, as including a reference, to the corresponding provision of
this Act.

6. Where a period of time specified in an enactment repealed by this Act is
current at the passing of this Act, this Act shall have effect as if the
corresponding provision thereof had been in force when that period began to
run.

7. A conviction of an offence under an enactment repealed by this Act shall be
treated for the purposes of this Act as a conviction of an offence under the
corresponding provision of this Act.

8. If the rules of a registered society or branch in force at the passing of
this Act were in force on 1st January 1909 and provide for the admission as
members of persons from the minimum age authorised by the Act of 1896, the
rules shall be construed as providing for the admission as members of persons
from birth.

9. Nothing in section 56 or 57 shall affect the total amount payable by a
registered society or branch in pursuance of a nomination which was before
21st April 1967 delivered at or sent to the registered office of the society
or branch, and in the case of any such nomination, the said amount shall
continue to be limited to #100, or, where section 5(1) of the
Friendly Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1957 applied in relation to the
nomination, #200.

10. A special resolution, within the meaning of section 74 of the Act of 1896,
which was passed or confirmed in accordance with that section before the
passing of this Act shall for all the purposes of this Act be treated as a
special resolution passed in accordance with section 75 of this Act.

Schedule 10Repeals

Section 105(3).

1948 c.22

1957 c.1

© 1970 Crown Copyright

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