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TERMS AND CONDITIONS / TERMS OF BUSINESS
Terms of business,
TERMS OF BUSINESS J Illingworth & Company Ltd
(Incorporating Custom Insurance Brokers) 32 Walmgate, York, North Yorkshire, YO1 9TJ
These Terms of Business were correct as at 1st April 2008. They are subject to change without notice. Further copies are available on request.
1. OUR SERVICES
In arranging insurance for our customers we act as an independent intermediary. Our Service includes advising you on your insurance needs, arranging your insurance cover with insurers to meet your needs and helping you with any ongoing changes you have to make. We can also assist you with making a claim.
Please note that our Uninsured Loss Recovery Scheme is not an insurance product and is not covered by Financial Services Authority (FSA) Regulations. We will give you full details of any such arrangements before you make any commitment on any product we offer you.
This document together with our “Key Facts About Our Insurance Services” document explains how our services work.
2. DATA PROTECTION
All personal and sensitive information about our customers is treated as private and confidential.
We will use and disclose the information we have about customers in the normal course of arranging and administering their insurance, and will not disclose any information to any other parties without their written consent. Unless we are notified of any changes, we shall assume the personal and sensitive data we hold about our customers is correct, and shall use it to provide quotations when policies fall due for renewal.
We may pass information about you to credit reference agencies for the purposes of arranging payments by instalments, and may also pass to them details of your payment record with us.
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, individuals have a right to see personal information about them that we hold in our records. A charge may be made for this service. If you wish to exercise this right, or have any other related queries, you should write to us at the above address.
You have the right to inspect any documentation we hold in respect of our dealing with you. We will keep copies of your records only for the duration of the selected product(s) as suitable for your requirement. They will be kept confidential and in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
Circumstances may arise which warrant the disclosure of more than your basic details to a third party in arranging your insurance. On these occasions such as processing business, obtaining compliance and regulatory advice and complaints resolution you agree that personal information held by us may be disclosed on a confidential basis, and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, to such third parties. You agree that this information may be transferred electronically, e.g. e-mail.
3. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to insurers when you take out your insurance policy, throughout the life of your policy, and when you renew your insurance. Failure to disclose information pertaining to your insurance, or any inaccuracies in information given, could result in your insurance policy being invalid or cover not operating fully.
It is important that you ensure all statements you make on proposal forms, claim forms and other documents are full and accurate. If a form is completed on your behalf, you should check that the answers shown to any questions are true and accurate before signing the document.
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‟.
You are advised to keep copies of any correspondence you send to us or direct to your insurer.
If you are in any doubt about whether information is material, you should disclose it.
4. MOTOR AND HOME 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.
5. MOTOR INSURER INFORMATION CENTRE (MIIC)
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 (MID), to which the police and other government agencies have access. This helps the pursuance of claims following accidents and assists in the detection of people who drive uninsured.
6. USE FOR MARKETING PURPOSES
We may use information held about you, to provide you with information about other products and services which we offer, and which we feel may be appropriate to you, by email, telephone, post or other means.
You may exercise your right to give notice to stop data being processed for marketing purposes by contacting us at any time. You also agree that any such company or we may contact you in the future by any means of communication, which we consider appropriate at the time. Should you not wish this to happen please contact us on the above telephone number or write to us at the above address.
7. CLAIMS
We have no authority to handle claims on behalf of insurers. In the event of an incident occurring which may give rise to a claim under your policy, you should notify the insurer direct as soon as possible using the contact details in your policy document.
When we receive notification of an incident that might give rise to a claim under your policy, we will inform the insurer without delay and, in any event, within 5 working days,( depending on the type of contract.
We shall use our best endeavours when acting on your behalf in relation to a claim, to handle all elements of the claim with due care, skill and diligence.
We shall advise you promptly of insurers‟ requirements concerning claims, including the provision, as soon as possible, of information required to establish the nature and extent of a loss.
If there is any conflict of interest, we shall 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 you have given that consent for us to handle the claim.
We shall forward any payments received from insurers in respect of any claim, to you, without delay.
We shall notify you of any request for information we receive from your insurers.
8. CANCELLATION RIGHTS (THE MEDIATION CONTRACT)
The Mediation Contract is the agreement between you and us for the insurance mediation services that we provide to you in respect of your insurance requirements.
Once you have entered into the Mediation Contract with us, you are entitled to a period of reflection during which you may decide whether to proceed with the purchase of the Mediation Contract. The duration of this cancellation period is 14 days for non investment contracts and 30 days for pure protection contracts and commences from either:
the day of conclusion of the Mediation Contract; or
the day on which you receive the full terms of the Mediation Contract detailing the full contractual terms, conditions and information of the contract;
whichever is later.
To cancel this Mediation Contract within the cancellation period, please write to us at the above address. If you do cancel this Mediation Contract within the cancellation period, you may be charged a proportion of any of our fees that we have incurred.
This Mediation Contract can be cancelled at any time by either party in writing by giving 14 days notice. If you wish to give notice of cancellation, please write to us at the above address. If we wish to cancel this Mediation Contract we shall write to you at the last known address we have for you on our records.
If you decide to cancel the Mediation Contract with us at any time other than during the cancellation period, we will refund all fees that you have paid.
9. PREMIUMS AND FINANCIAL ASPECTS
In order to be able to offer you credit facilities, we are registered under the Consumer Credit Act and our License Number is 030471.
You may be able to spread your payments through insurers‟ instalment schemes, a credit scheme with a third party finance provider, or a facility we have arranged ourselves. We shall give you full information about your payment options when we discuss your insurance in detail.
We may keep certain documents, such as your insurance policy documents or Certificate, while we are waiting for full payment of premiums. In these circumstances, we shall ensure that you receive full details of your insurance cover and will provide you with any documents that you are required to have by law.
Risk Transfer
Premiums that we collect from you are held in an insurance broking bank account specifically used for the purpose of holding client premiums. By virtue of agreements we hold with insurers, we collect premiums as agent of the insurer. Therefore, once we have collected premiums from you, under the terms of our agreements with insurers, those premiums are treated as having been paid to the insurer. We will remit the premiums to insurers, after deduction of our commission, in accordance with the terms of our agreements with insurers.
Client Money Segregation (Statutory Trust)
Premiums that we collect from you will be segregated into and held in a Client Money Bank Account. The client money will be held by us as trustee on your behalf. The Client Money Bank Account is set up as a trust governed by FSA rules. This means that once the client money is segregated into the Client Money Bank Account, it falls into our legal ownership but remains in the beneficial ownership of customers whose premiums are deposited in the Account. If we become insolvent, the terms of the trust dictate that customers will have a prior claim on the client money in the Account according to their respective interests in the client money. The costs relating to the distribution of client money may have to be borne by the trust.
10. RETURN PREMIUMS
Return premiums usually arise if an insurance risk is reduced or a policy cancelled.
On a return premium, we repay commission on the amount to your insurer and this will be deducted from the final amount due to you.
In view of the costs involved, we shall not issue any return premium that is less than £10 (after deducting reclaimed commission).
If a policy is cancelled, we shall refund any return premium due (after deduction of the commission and our charge).
11. QUOTATIONS
All quotations are subject to change in respect of the amount of premium indicated, and/or the terms and conditions that are applied.
12. POLICY TERMS, CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES
You should read through all policy terms, conditions and warranties shown on your policy documentation. Please ensure you understand them and are able to follow their requirements exactly. If not, please advise us immediately, as a breach of any terms, conditions or warranties may enable your insurer to terminate your policy from the date of that breach, and/or repudiate a claim under your policy.
13. RENEWAL PREMIUMS PAID BY INSTALMENTS
In good time before the renewal of your policy, we shall contact you with the renewal premium and terms for the coming year.
If you have not contacted us before the renewal date, we shall renew the policy automatically on your behalf. If you do not wish to renew the policy, please let us know as soon as possible. We should also advise you to cancel your direct debiting instruction with your bank prior to renewal date.
If it is your intention to renew the policy, no action is required by you, and the policy will renew automatically. We shall send your new certificate of insurance to you.
14. EARNING INTEREST ON CUSTOMER PREMIUMS
We hold premiums that you pay to us in a Client Money Bank Account. Under FSA Regulations we have to inform you that we may earn interest from the money held in our Client Money Bank Account which may exceed £20 for any one transaction that you make with us. Our policy for the payment of interest is to retain any interest. By accepting these Terms of Business, you are giving your consent for us to act in the manner described in this Section.
15. CUSTOMER MONEY PASSED ONTO ANOTHER PERSON
In accordance with FSA 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 in this Section.
16. 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 FSA 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 in this Section.
17. 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.
18. OTHER TAXES OR COSTS
Other taxes or costs, or both, may exist in relation to the products and services offered by us which are not paid through, nor imposed, by us.
19. COMMISSION WITHDRAWAL
We receive commission from the premiums that you pay to us. We shall only withdraw commission after we have received the premium from you, and in accordance with FSA regulations and agreements that we hold with insurers.
20. CHANGES TO YOUR COVER
We will normally deal with a request to increase or amend your insurance cover on the day your instructions are received, or the next working day if a weekend or public holiday. Sometimes changes cannot be processed without obtaining additional information. If additional information is required we will contact you as quickly as possible.
We will confirm changes to your policy, once agreed in writing. We will also advise you of any extra premiums you must pay or premiums we must return to you.
Please note instructions sent by post, electronic mail or fax are not deemed to be received until they reach the relevant personnel in our offices; we cannot accept responsibility for failures in the postal, electronic or telecommunications systems.
21. TRANSFERRED BUSINESS
If we take over the servicing of insurance policies which were originally arranged through another insurance broker or intermediary we do not accept liability for any claim arising out of the advice given by that broker or intermediary, nor for any errors omissions or gaps in your current insurance protection.
We would ask you to contact us without delay should any aspect of a policy which has been transferred to us cause you concern or if you need an immediate review. Otherwise we will endeavour to review all transferred policies as they fall due for renewal.
By receiving this, and your “Key Facts about our insurance services” documents I /We agree to conducting business within the above terms with Illingworths.
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