OUR STATUS AND THE SERVICES PROVIDED
We are an insurance broker who arranges policies through a panel of leading insurers
and intermediaries. Please note that for certain products we use only one insurance
company. Our service includes advising you on your insurance needs, arranging your
insurance cover and helping you with ongoing changes. We can also assist you with
making a claim.
DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to your insurer
when you take out your insurance policy, throughout the lifetime of the policy and
when you renew your insurance. Any information which might influence your insurer
to accept, amend or decline your insurance proposal or renewal, must be disclosed.
If you are unsure about disclosing any matter please contact us for guidance. Failure
to disclose any material information to your insurers or any inaccuracies in the
information provided could invalidate your insurance cover and mean that part or
all of your claim may not be paid. Any advice we offer will be based on the details
you provide. Always keep copies of correspondence sent or received concerning your
insurance. You are reminded that it is an offence under the Road Traffic Act to
make any false statements or withhold any relevant information to obtain a Certificate
of Motor Insurance. Please note that under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
you are not required to disclose convictions regarded as “spent”.
PROPOSAL FORMS
It is important that you ensure that all statements that you make on a proposal
form are full and accurate. All answers on proposal forms and statements made to
your insurers, either in your handwriting or pre-printed, are your responsibility.
When a policy is taken out we will send you a copy of your proposal form or statement
of fact, which shows the information you have supplied. If you ask us to amend any
answers, or add additional information we will send you a copy of the revisions.
You will have the opportunity to correct amendments. Sample policy wordings are
available upon request.
AWARENESS OF POLICY TERMS
You should read your policy carefully. The document, schedule and any Certificate
of Insurance are the basis of the cover you have purchased. Please make sure that
you understand them and are able to follow their requirements. Breach of any terms,
conditions or warranties may enable your insurer to terminate your policy or repudiate
a claim.
ROAD TRAFFIC ACT
Customers are reminded that it is their personal responsibility under Road Traffic
Act legislation to ensure that before using or permitting the use of a vehicle on
the public highway, they are in possession of a current valid Certificate of Insurance
or cover note. You must immediately notify the Company if your Certificate of Insurance
or cover note expires as no cover will exist until written or documentary confirmation
has been received by you.
DATA PROTECTION ACT
Any information we hold about you, whether on our computer system or on paper files,
will be treated as private and confidential. We will use and disclose the information
we have in the normal course of administering or arranging cover on your insurance
policy. We may also, on occasion, use the details we hold about you within our associated
companies or pass them to Third Parties so that we may tell you of new products
and services, which we think may interest you, by telephone, e-mail or post. If
you do not wish to receive any marketing information please write to us and we will
mark our records accordingly. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have rights
of access to any personal information we hold about you in our records. If you have
any queries in respect of confidentiality and data protection please contact us.
MOTOR AND HOME INSURANCE ANTI-FRAUD REGISTERS
Insurers share information with each other via the Claims and Underwriting Exchange
Register and the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register, to aid the prevention
of fraudulent claims. In the event of a claim, the information you supply on the
claim form, together with any other information relating to the claim, will be put
on the registers.
MOTOR INSURANCE INFORMATION CENTRE
Insurers are legally required to provide details of motor insurance policies to
the MIIC. The information describing your insurance cover will be added to the Motor
Insurance Database, to which the police and other government agencies have access.
This helps the pursuance of claims following accidents and aids detection of those
who are in contravention of the law by not taking out insurance.
SERVICE STANDARDS
It is our intention to provide you with high levels of service at all times. In
the unlikely event that you should have cause for complaint, you should write to
the Operations Director at the address on the back page of this document. We will
acknowledge receipt of your complaint in writing within 5 working days and provide
you with a full written response within 20 working days, or explain the current
position and provide you with a timescale for a full response. We will endeavour
to provide you with a final response within 8 weeks. If you remain dissatisfied
with our response to your complaint you may be able to refer the matter to the Financial
Ombudsman Service. To use their service you must be eligible and your complaint
must be sent to them within 6 months of our final response letter. Full details
of our complaints handling procedures are available upon request.
CLAIMS
We have no authority to handle claims on behalf of insurers. In the event of an
accident occurring, which may give rise to a claim under your policy, you should
notify the Claims Helpline as soon as possible using the telephone number below:
Claims Helpline: 0845 219 0512 If there is any conflict of interest, we will only
handle a claim on your behalf after we have disclosed to you all information you
require, to enable you to decide whether to give your informed consent, and that
you have given that consent. We will forward any payments we receive from insurers
in respect of any claims, without delay.
ADMINISTRATIVE CHARGES
In addition to the premiums charged by insurers, we make charges to cover the administration
of your insurance:
- Mid-term alterations & duplicate documents Up to £50 per policy change.
- Annual policy arrangement charges Max 25%.
A £20.00 administration charge is levied against all cancellations in addition
to a 15% cancellation fee. Furthermore we do not refund any initial charges after
the 14 day cooling off period as they were earned for arranging the policy.
We reserve the right to amend the level of charges at any time. You should also
note that we will not be responsible for any fines or costs that you incur relating
from late delivery of, or incorrect information on, any documentation relating to
your insurance.
CANCELLATION OF INSURANCE POLICIES
- Where cancellation rights exist If you are a consumer buying or renewing a policy
which provides cover for you in both a private and business capacity, you have the
right to cancel your policy during a period of 14 days either from the day of purchase
of the contract or the day on which you receive your policy documentation, whichever
is the later. If you exercise this right and the cover had not yet commenced, you
will be entitled to a full refund of the premium paid. If the insurance has commenced
and provided that you have not made a claim, you will be entitled to a refund of
the premium paid, subject to a deduction for the time that you have been on cover
(calculated as a proportion of the annual premium) and a deduction of a proportion
of the arrangement charge sufficient to cover our costs. To exercise your right
to cancel, please contact this office at the address shown. You will be required
to return any Certificate of Motor Insurance immediately.
- When cancellation rights do not exist Unless otherwise stated, insurance policies
are arranged for a period of 12 months and you are required to pay the full amount
stated. If you cancel the insurance before expiry date, (other than in accordance
with paragraph (1) above) and there have been no claims, you may be charged short
period rates in accordance with the scale of charges detailed by insurers terms
and conditions, as shown in your policy
- documents. We do not refund any initial charges as this was earned for arranging
the policy. Policyholders may cancel annual policies on return of the policy and/or
Certificate of Insurance. Please note, no refund of premium applies after the 14
day cancellation period in respect of Part F of this policy. The cost of addon products
that you purchase (e.g. key cover) will be non-refundable (other than in accordance
with paragraph (1) above), although you will receive a full refund of the key cover
premium within the first 14 days of the policy. If there are any unpaid monies when
the policy is cancelled, we may withhold documents such as No Claims Bonus to which
you are entitled, until full payment is made. If you paid the premium by instalments
the credit charges made by the premium finance provider will not be refunded.
NO CLAIMS BONUS
If you are unable to supply your previous insurer’s name, policy number and expiry
date during the sale of your policy, you must provide written evidence within 14
days. Failure to provide evidence within this period will result in the insurers
issuing the policy as gross premium (i.e. without benefit of the discount) or cancellation
of the policy. You will be immediately responsible for the balance of premium payable
and any subsequent cancellation will be calculated on the gross premium and subject
to short period rates and charges detailed above.
PAYMENT OF PREMIUMS AND REFUNDS
Unless otherwise agreed and formalised by a premium instalment plan, all premiums
are due on the day cover is arranged, the date the policy is due for renewal or
the date of any midterm adjustment. If we arrange an instalment plan for you an
administration charge will apply as follows:
- £25.00 if 10 monthly payment option is selected
- £30.00 if 2 monthly payment option is selected
We will pay the premium to the insurer and you will be responsible for paying the
instalments as they fall due. In the event of any due payment not being made, you
will be sent a 7-day cancellation letter by recorded delivery. If the monies are
not received in this timescale the policy will be cancelled and all cover will cease.
Any refund provided by the insurer, after deduction of the charges shown above,
will be used against any outstanding balance on your instalment plan. We will not
accept responsibility for cancellation of your insurance policy by insurers due
to late or non-payment of premium by customers. Instalment deposits, key cover or
associated policies are non-refundable. All premiums will be made by cheque, payable
to the policyholder.
QUOTATIONS
When a quotation is provided the premium is valid for 30 days. Quotations provided
by the company do not constitute offers. All proposals and requests for insurance
are subject to acceptance by insurers. Premiums and terms are quoted subject to
confirmation and agreement by insurers. Your insurer has the right to decline your
risk, increase the premium, or restrict the policy, if any errors or omissions are
found on the proposal or statement of fact.
WITHHOLDING DOCUMENTS
We reserve the right to retain certain documents until all payments due have been
made and any cheques cleared. We will provide any documents you are required to
have by law.
RISK TRANSFER
Premiums that we collect from you are held in an insurance broking bank account
specifically for the purpose of holding client money. By virtue of agreements held
with insurers, we collect premiums as agents of the insurer. Therefore, once we
have collected the premium from you, under the terms of our agreements with insurers,
those premiums are treated as having been paid to the insurer. We will remit premiums
to insurers in accordance with the terms of our agreements with insurers.
CLIENT MONEY SEGREGATION (STATUTORY OR NON-STATUTORY)
Premiums that we collect from you will be segregated into and held either in a Statutory
or Non-Statutory Insurance Broking Trust Bank Account. We will hold the money as
trustee for the insurer. The Client Money Bank Account is set up as a trust governed
by our agreements with our insurers. This means that once client money is segregated
into the trust account it falls into our legal ownership but remains for the beneficial
ownership of insurers. If we become insolvent, the terms of the trust dictate that
insurers will have a prior claim on the money in the account according to their
respective interests. Where insurers permit use of a Non-Statutory Trust we may
agree to extend credit to other customers using money from the Client Money Bank
Account. We will have in place and maintain systems and controls to ensure that
we are able to monitor and manage client money transactions and any credit risk
arising from the operation of this trust arrangement.
EARNING INTEREST ON CUSTOMER PREMIUMS
We hold premiums that you pay us in a Client Money Bank Account. Under Financial
Services Authority Regulations we have to inform you that we may earn interest from
money held in our Client Money Bank Account, which may exceed £20 for any
one transaction that you make with us. Interest earned will not be held for the
benefit of customers. By accepting these Terms of Business, you are giving your
consent for us to act in the manner described above.
CUSTOMER MONEY PASSED TO ANOTHER PERSON
In accordance with Financial Services Authority Regulations we have to inform you
that in managing and/or arranging your insurance requirements, we may transfer money
that you have paid us in payment of an insurance premium, to another insurance intermediary.
By accepting these Terms of Business, you are giving your consent for us to act
in the manner described above.
CUSTOMER MONEY PASSED TO ANOTHER PERSON OUTSIDE THE UK
In managing and/or arranging your insurance requirements, we may transfer money
that you have paid us in payment of an insurance premium, to another insurance intermediary
operating outside of the United Kingdom. Unless you notify us that you do not wish
your premiums to be transferred in the manner outlined, by accepting these Terms
of Business you are giving your consent for us to act in the manner described. You
should note that the legal and regulatory regime applying to the insurance intermediary
may differ from that in the United Kingdom and consequently, if the intermediary
fails, the premium may be treated in a different manner from which would apply if
the premium was held by an insurance intermediary in the United Kingdom.
SEGREGATION OF INVESTMENTS
We hold premiums that you pay to us in a Client Money Bank Account. We may invest
these premiums in a range of permitted designated investments as prescribed by Financial
Services Authority Regulations. In the event that there is any shortfall in our
client money resource attributable to falls in the market value of any of these
permitted designated investments, we shall make provision for, and bear the cost
of, any such shortfall. By accepting these Terms of Business you are giving your
consent for us to act in the manner described above.
OTHER TAXES OR COSTS
Please note that there is a possibility that other taxes and/or costs may exist
in respect of products and services offered by us, which are not paid through or
imposed by us.
GOVERNING LAW
This agreement shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales and the parties
agree herewith that any dispute arising out of it shall be subject to the exclusive
jurisdiction of the English Courts.
VARIATIONS
No variations of these Terms are held to be valid unless in writing and signed by
an authorised officer of the Company. The Company’s staff are not authorised to
agree to any variation of these terms but they may be varied by the Company from
time to time.
STATUTORY RIGHTS
Agreement to our Terms of Business does not affect your normal statutory rights.
