Below are our terms of business and important information which
provides details about your protection and what services are
provided by us. These terms apply on our income protection
insurance policies:
A hard copy can also be posted to you should you require it.
1. Terms of Business ("Terms")
In these Terms references to "we" or "us" relate to British
Insurance (a trading name of Towergate Underwriting Group Ltd.) We
recommend that for your own benefit and protection you should read
these Terms carefully. These Terms constitute our standard client
agreement upon which we intend to rely and will apply to our
appointment by you and the services that we will provide. If you do
not understand any point please ask for further information. IN
PARTICULAR we draw your attention to CLAUSE 10 and CLAUSE 14 of
these Terms which relate to the amount you will receive if you
cancel your policy, and the maximum amount we will be liable for in
the event of our negligence.
2. How to make a claim
If you wish to report a claim or potential claim, please follow
the instructions provided with your insurance company’s
documentation, quoting your policy number or other reference given
to you.
3. Who are we regulated by?
The Financial Services Authority ("FSA") is the independent
watchdog that regulates financial services. We are authorised and
regulated by them and you can check this by visiting the FSA's
website http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/register/
or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234. Our permitted activities
are recommending insurance policies (and in cases where we do not
give a recommendation we will tell you); arranging insurance cover;
dealing as agent and assisting with the administration and
performance of policies – all in connection with general
insurance.
4. Are we covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
("FSCS")?
Yes. You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we
cannot meet our obligations, depending on the circumstances of the
claim. For compulsory classes of insurance, insurance advising and
arranging is covered for 100% of any claim, without upper limit.
Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is
available from the FSCS.
5. Complaints
Our objective is to provide a high standard of service to you at
all times. However we recognise that things can go wrong
occasionally and if this occurs we are committed to resolving
matters promptly and fairly. If you wish to register a complaint
please contact us: in writing, to the Managing Director at British
Insurance, The Octagon, Middleborough, Colchester, CO1 1TG, and/or
by telephone on 0844 346 0140.
In all cases please quote your policy number or other reference
we have given you. If you cannot settle your complaint with us you
may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Our
Complaints Procedure is available upon request.
6. Which insurance companies do we use to select your
insurance?
For Accident, Sickness and/or Unemployment insurance(s), we only
offer you a policy/policies from one insurance company, dependant
on your age/cover selected.
7. Our Services
We are an insurance intermediary acting on your behalf as your
agent in arranging your insurance cover. Our services may include
advising you on your general insurance needs, arranging insurance
cover with insurers to meet your requirements, issuing policy
documentation to you in a timely manner and helping you with any
ongoing changes you wish to make to your insurance. We will explain
the main features of the products and services that we offer you
including details of the insurer, main details of cover and
benefits, any unusual restrictions or exclusions, any significant
conditions or obligations which you must meet and the period of
cover. If you need extra time to consider the products or services
we have offered you, we will endeavour to confirm how long you have
to accept the insurance on the terms we have offered. It is your
responsibility to regularly review your policy to ensure that it
suits your requirements.
8. The fees we charge for our services
We do not charge a fee for our services.
9. Your legal duty to disclose information to us and insurance
companies
It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate
information to us and insurers when you take out your insurance
policy, throughout the life of the policy and when you renew it. It
is important you ensure that all statements you make on the
proposal form, claim form and other documentation are full, frank
and accurate. If you are in any doubt as to the relevance of any
information you should disclose it.
Please note that if you fail to disclose any material
information or change of circumstances to us or your insurer, this
could invalidate your insurance cover and could mean that part or
all of a claim may not be paid. We strongly recommend that the
information provided is checked thoroughly prior to submission and
that you keep a record of all correspondence supplied in relation
to the arrangement of your insurance cover. Please also note that
any renewal of insurance will be made in reliance upon the
information provided by you in connection with your previous
insurance policy – we will assume that such information remains
correct unless you tell us otherwise.
10. Cancellation Rights and Mid-Term Adjustments
You will find full details of your cancellation rights, and any
related charges which may be levied by your insurer, in the terms
and conditions of the insurance policy produced by your insurance
company. Cancellation rights vary between insurers. Depending on
the type of insurance you will have either 14 or 30 days (the
"Cooling Off Period") to cancel your policy with effect from: (a)
the day you receive the full terms and conditions of the policy,
or; (b) the day the policy is sold - whichever is the later. Please
note that a Cooling Off Period does not usually apply to policies
of less than one month’s duration, or single-trip travel policies.
To exercise your right of cancellation, contact your insurance
company or contact us either by telephone or by letter in each case
in the manner and within the time limits set out in your policy
documentation. If you exercise your right to cancel your policy
within the Cooling Off Period you will be charged for the period
during which you were temporarily covered, and other charges may be
applied to cover the insurer’s costs in arranging the cancelled
policy.
YOUR ATTENTION IS SPECIFICALLY DRAWN TO THE
FOLLOWING:-
Where you cancel your policy AFTER the expiry of the Cooling Off
Period or where you request a mid-term adjustment which reduces the
cover provided under the policy, we reserve the right to charge you
for our time and costs. This will usually result in us reducing the
amount refunded to you by the FULL amount of the commission and
fees we would have received had you not cancelled. The reason for
this is that the majority of our costs are incurred either in
initially finding and setting up your policy or in the annual
renewal process when we might check the ongoing suitability of the
cover the policy offers. These costs are recovered through the
commission we earn. If you cancel, this does not give us an
opportunity to recover the costs we incurred and would often result
in us making a loss. However, any charge made will not exceed the
cost of the commission and fees we would have earned.
Where you are paying for your insurance by instalments (and an
instalment payment is not received by us or the relevant premium
finance provider on or before the date when it is due to be paid)
you agree that we may on your behalf instruct the insurer to cancel
the insurance (or where the first instalment payment has not been
received, notify the insurer that the policy has not been taken up)
and offset any refund of premium which may be received against any
money which you owe to us, the insurer and/or the premium finance
provider. In such circumstances you will remain liable for any time
on risk or other charge. You will also be responsible for putting
in place any alternative insurance.
11. Information on our remuneration
Other companies (including members of our group of companies)
may act as underwriting agents, intermediaries for insurers or
Lloyd’s/London Market placing brokers in connection with your
insurance. Where such companies are involved in placing or
servicing your business they may charge an administration fee or
other payment which will be passed on to you and disclosed
separately from the cost of your insurance. Such businesses earn
commission in respect of placing such business which is separate
from that which we receive. In addition to commission which is paid
to us by insurers we may earn a "profit-share", management or
administrative fees and other payments from insurers for
efficiently managing business transacted with them. These payments
may be calculated by reference to various criteria such as overall
annual profitability of the insurance business transacted, taking
into account the total amount of claims arising under policies we
place with them. "Profit-share" payments are not directly referable
to individual policies and consequently it is not possible to
calculate such payments on an individual policy basis, meaning that
we are unable to disclose to you how much your policy contributed
to any “profit-share” payment we might receive. Ordinarily, and if
such a "profit-share" payment is received (which is not guaranteed)
it represents a small proportion of the normal commission we
receive and will be retained by us. Depending on the services which
you have asked us to perform we may earn referral fees from third
parties which are incidental to the insurance arranged for you.
Such payments may be derived from a number of incidental activities
including arranging premium financing, risk management, legal
expenses cover and uninsured loss recovery services and will be
retained by us. In limited circumstances additional amounts may
also be paid to us by third parties where compensation for a
personal injury claim is obtained or where a hire car is arranged
following an accident. In each case we will retain these payments.
From time to time insurers may make loan facilities available to us
on commercially advantageous terms as an incentive for us to
efficiently and profitably manage business transacted with them.
This may involve (for example) reduced or nil interest rates and
extended repayment terms which apply to such loans provided we meet
or exceed efficiency and profitability targets set by the insurers
in respect of the business we have placed with them. For each
insurance contract, including any subsequent renewal, you have a
right to request information regarding any remuneration that we may
have received as a result of placing your insurance business.
12. Insurer Solvency
Whilst we will endeavour to place business with insurers who
demonstrate an adequate level of financial solvency, and although
their regulator requires them to maintain a minimum level of
capital, we cannot guarantee the solvency of any insurer. We do not
monitor insurer solvency on an ongoing basis, and shall not be
liable for losses suffered by you in the event of the insolvency of
an insurer.
13. Notification of incidents
It is essential that you notify your insurer
promptly after discovery of all incidents that may result in a
claim against your insurance policy. Any failure to do so may
result in your insurer refusing to accept a claim. Any information
required by insurers to process your claim should be provided
promptly to avoid delay in claim payments. Details of how to
contact your insurer or to make a claim can be found in your policy
documents.
14. Limitation/Exclusion of Liability
YOUR ATTENTION IS SPECIFICALLY DRAWN TO THIS CLAUSE
WHICH LIMITS OR EXCLUDES OUR LIABILITY TO YOU
Our liability for losses suffered by you as a direct consequence
of any negligent performance of our services shall be limited in
all circumstances to £5,000,000 per claim. In respect of any other
claim arising out of our performance or non-performance of the
services hereunder our liability shall be limited to the amount of
commission and fees which we have received for arranging your
insurance cover during the 12 months prior to such claim
arising.
We shall not be liable to you for any pure economic loss, loss
of profit or loss of business, in each case whether direct,
indirect or consequential, or any claims for consequential
compensation whatsoever (such as that listed above and howsoever
caused) which arise out of or in connection with our services or
this agreement. Nothing in this paragraph excludes or limits our
liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or
for loss caused by our fraud, wilful misrepresentation or breach of
regulatory obligations owed to you. You are welcome to contact us
to discuss increasing the limitations of our liability and/or
varying the exclusions set out above. Please note however that an
additional charge and other terms may apply should we agree to
amend this clause.
15. Terms of Payment
In the absence of any alternative terms which
we agree with you in writing our payment terms are as follows:
· monthly
direct debit, payable on the date specified in your policy
schedule
Time shall be of the essence, both as regards
times, dates and periods specified in this paragraph and as to any
times, dates or periods which we may agree can be substituted for
any of them. In the event that you fail to pay any premium and/or
fees when due your insurer may cancel your policy and reject any
claims thereunder.
16. Important Information Relating to Renewal of Policies
Prior to the expiry of your policy where we will be inviting a
renewal we (or your insurance company) will endeavour to send you
details of the cost and terms to renew your policy. On occasions
your renewal may be offered with a different insurer, however, we
will notify you if this is the case in writing before the renewal
date.
In order to protect your interests relating to the
risks/property you have insured, and in the event that we do not
receive your instructions and payment prior to the date of renewal,
we reserve the right (but shall have no obligation) to renew your
policy and (in the case of direct debit/instalment payments) to
continue to accept payment from you unless and until you
specifically notify us or your insurance company in writing that
you wish to cancel your policy. In circumstances where we have
assumed (in the absence of instructions to the contrary) that
renewal is required you may be liable to make payment to us and/or
your insurance company.
17. How we hold your money
We do not hold your money.
18. Confidentiality and Data Protection
All information about you of a sensitive or personal nature will
be treated as private and confidential. We will however use and
disclose the information we have about you in the course of
arranging, placing and administering your insurance. This may
involve passing information about you to insurers, other
intermediaries, risk management assessors, uninsured loss recovery
agencies and other third parties involved (directly or indirectly)
in your insurance.
We may also pass information about you to credit reference
agencies and premium finance providers in connection with the
assessment of your financial standing generally and, in particular,
where you have requested a premium instalment plan – this may
include details of your payment record with us.
We may also pass information about you to other companies which
are in or are associated with our group. We or they may also use
the information we hold about you to provide you with information
on other products and services we or they can offer and which we or
they feel may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive
marketing information from us or them, or for us to disclose
information about you to other parties for marketing purposes,
please contact us immediately.
In the interests of security and to improve our service,
telephone calls you make to us may be monitored and/or
recorded.
19. No Waiver/Our Right to Assign
A failure at any time by us to enforce any right or obligation
shall not be deemed to be a continuing waiver of such right or
obligation. We may freely assign or delegate all or any part of
these Terms and/or the services to any third party only where such
assignment or delegation ensures that your rights under these Terms
will not be prejudiced.
20. Prior Agreements and Acceptance
These Terms supersede all proposals, prior discussions and
representations (whether oral or written) between us relating to
our appointment as your agent in connection with the arranging and
administration of your insurance. These Terms constitute an offer
by us to act on your behalf in the arranging and administration of
your insurance – in the absence of any specific acceptance
communicated to us by you (whether verbal or written) you are
deemed to accept our offer to act for you on the basis of these
Terms by conduct upon your instructing us to arrange, renew or
otherwise act for you in connection with insurance matters.
21. Governing Law
These Terms and conditions are governed by English Law and we
both agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the
English courts.