Terms Of Business for

General Insurance Clients

The Financial Services Authority

Internet Insurance Services (UK) Limited trading as UKinsurancenet and UKmortgageNET is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).  Our FSA Register number is 300859.

Our permitted business is advising on and arranging general insurance and mortgage contracts.

 

You may check this on the FSAs register by visiting the FSA website, www.fsa.gov.uk or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.

 

Please note, that if your enquiry is in respect of mortgage advice then you will be provided with a separate document titled Mortgage Terms of Business.

 

Our Service  

We act as independent Intermediaries on your behalf. Our role is to advise you and make a suitable recommendation after we have assessed your needs.  In situations where we are able to arrange insurance for you but do not offer advice, we shall confirm the position to you in writing.  

For certain types of insurance policies we are authorised to issue policy documentation on behalf of Underwriters.

We will not in any circumstances act as an insurer nor guarantee or warrant the solvency of any insurer.

 

Personal insurances:

We offer products from a range of insurers for the majority of non-investment household insurance products. The range available also includes, let property insurance, holiday home insurance, payment protection insurance, caravan, leisure and equine insurance, term life, critical illness and income protection insurance.

You may ask us for a list of the insurers we deal with for these products.

 

Commercial insurances:

We select commercial insurance products from a wide range of insurers but, for certain products, we may only deal with a single insurer or select from a limited number of insurers.

Customer Type

The FSA define customer type as follows. A retail customer is an individual acting outside his trade business or profession.

A commercial customer is anyone who is not a retail customer.

For the provision of our transactions and services, unless we are informed otherwise by yourself, then we will treat you as a retail customer.

 

Direct Offer

Some of the quotations and the supporting information we provide directly from the Internet sites are made on a direct offer basis.  This does not therefore constitute personalised advice. No recommendation is made as to whether the specified products are suitable and match your personal circumstances.

 

Quotations

Our quotations are based on the information provided on a given date, valid for acceptance at that time and for only the exact circumstances and criteria given by you. You should be aware that occasionally insurers change premium rates, terms and/or conditions without notice, which can invalidate a quotation. Insurers always reserve the right to decline any proposal or vary terms of acceptance. We must also reserve this right.

 

Methods of Payment and Charges for our Services

We normally accept payment by guaranteed cheque, credit card or debit card. You may be able to spread your payments, subject to an additional charge, either through an insurers instalment scheme, or a credit scheme that we have arranged with a specific premium finance provider.

Full information about payment options will be provided to you when arranging your insurance.

You will receive a quotation, which will normally include an element of commission that the insurer pays to us.

Occasionally fees may be charged in addition to or instead of commission.  UKinsurancenet will also occasionally earn commission on arranging credit agreements.

Your quotation will show you the total price to be paid, any fees, taxes and charges separately from the premium, before your insurance arrangements are concluded.

Where commission levels offered by insurers or underwriting agents are insufficient to allow the company to offer its services profitably we reserve the right to apply charges in respect of administration and brokerage costs. The specific charge and purpose of any additional charges will always be advised to you in advance in line with the FSA rules.

In addition to the premiums charged by insurers, we normally make the following charges to cover the administration of your insurance:

 

Cancellation of Insurances

You should make any request for the cancellation of a policy in writing and any relevant certificate of insurance should be returned to us or to the insurer concerned.  In the event of cancellation, charges for our services will apply in accordance with the Tariff of Fees (above).  The terms of your policy may allow insurers to retain the premium in full or to charge short-period premiums in the event of cancellation.  Please refer to your individual policy Terms and Conditions for further information.   

Policy cancellation rights and terms and conditions vary between insurers.  Your insurance contract may include a cancellation clause. If you are a retail customer, this is mandatory. Cancellation refunds are not normally given after a claim and are otherwise calculated on a short period scale weighted in favour of the insurers. Some insurers maintain that their costs are similar whether a policy has run for one day or a year. Please see scale below.

 

 

Where possible, refunds will be greater than shown in this scale; however, we reserve the right to use the above tariff.

 

Please note no refunds will be given until funds are returned to us from the insurer.

In the event of a policy being amended or cancelled we will deduct our commission from all premiums rebated by the insurers in addition to the above administration charges.

 

Premiums for some policy types (e.g. travel, liability etc.) are non-refundable.  In addition to the above scale, charges for credit card use and instalment fees are non refundable.

 

Premium Finance

Where payment of your premium is to be made over a period of months, the underwriters or third party credit companies may obtain credit references. You have the option to cancel your credit agreements at any time and the full balance of premium will become immediately payable. In the event of non-payment of an instalment, you will receive written confirmation of the outstanding balance, together with the date before which the outstanding premium must be paid. Failure to pay the balance of premium prior to the deadline will result in the immediate termination of the policy. Any return premium following the cancellation of the policy will be used to offset the unpaid balance. Under some circumstances, the refund will not meet the amount of the debit balance and you will be required to pay the difference.

Handling Client Money and/or Insurer Money

Our financial arrangements with most insurance companies are on a risk transfer basis, which means that we hold premiums and refunds due to clients on behalf of the insurance undertaking concerned and under a risk transfer arrangement.  Such monies are deemed to be held by the insurer(s) with which your insurance is arranged.

 

We hold client money collected for onward transmission to the insurance undertaking in a Client Bank Account, under a Non-statutory Trust in accordance with the authorisation we have from the Financial Services Authority to do so.  A copy of the Deed of Trust is available on request or may be inspected at our premises during normal office hours. If you object to your money being held in a non-statutory trust account you should advise us immediately. Otherwise your agreement to pay the premiums together with your acceptance of these Terms of Business will constitute your informed consent for the placing of all such monies in a non-statutory trust account. 

Please note that this client account is completely separate from our trading account.

For the purpose of some transactions, client money may pass through other authorised intermediaries before it is received by the insurance undertaking. 

Interest will not be paid to customers in respect of money held in client bank accounts.

 

Professional Indemnity Insurance

We conform to the FSA code in respect of Professional Indemnity Insurance. This type of insurance is mandatory under the FSA published rules.

Changes to Your Cover

We will normally try to deal with requests to increase or amend your insurance cover on the day we receive your instructions, or within three working days 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 with Underwriters, in writing. We will also advise you of any extra premium, fees, charges or additional conditions, terms or warranties required.

 

Please note that instructions sent by post, electronic mail or fax, are not deemed to be received until they reach the relevant personnel in our office. We cannot accept responsibility for failures in the postal, electronic or telecommunications systems.

 

Awareness of Policy Terms

When a policy is issued you are strongly advised to read it carefully, as it is that document, the schedule and any certificate of insurance that is the basis of the cover you have purchased. If you are in any doubt over the terms and conditions, please seek our advice promptly.

 

Renewal of Policy Cover

In all cases we will assume that you wish to receive a renewal notice from us in advance of the expiry of your Insurance (other than one-off contacts). If you do not wish to receive a renewal offer, please contact us. If an insurer does not offer renewal terms for whatever reason, we will try to give you reasonable notice and endeavour to obtain quotations with other underwriters.

Termination of Authority

You may terminate our authority to act on your behalf with one months notice or as otherwise agreed.  Notice of this termination must be given in writing and will take effect from the date of receipt.  Termination is without prejudice to any transactions already initiated which will be completed according to these terms of business unless otherwise agreed in writing. You will be liable to pay for any transactions or adjustments effective prior to termination and we will be entitled to retain any and all fees or brokerage payable in relation to policies placed by us prior to the date of termination.

Your Responsibilities

You are responsible for providing the complete and accurate information, which insurers require in connection with any proposal for insurance cover. This is particularly important before taking out a policy and at renewal, but it also applies throughout the life of a policy.  If you fail to disclose any material fact or other information material to the insurance this could invalidate the policy and mean that claims may not be paid.  You should check all details on any proposal form or Statement of Facts and pay particular attention to any declaration you may be asked to sign.

 

You should read all insurance documents issued to you and ensure that you are aware of the cover, limits and other terms that apply.  Particular attention should be paid to any warranties and conditions as failure to comply with them could invalidate your policy.

 

You should take note of the required procedures in the event of a claim, which will be stated in the policy documentation. Generally, insurers require immediate notification of a claim or circumstances that might lead to a claim.

 

You should inform us immediately of any changes in circumstances that may affect the services provided by us or the cover provided by your policy.

 

If you are unsure about any matter, please contact us for guidance.

 

Buildings Sums Insured

UKinsurancenet are unable to offer direct advice on rebuilding costs (reinstatement values) of properties, and we would always recommend that the services of a building surveyor, architect or similar are used to confirm property rebuilding costs. A current Mortgage Valuation Report carried out on behalf of a mortgage lender may also show the correct property rebuilding cost. UKinsurancenet may recommend that their clients consult the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyor's (RICS) website (www.bcis.co.uk) to help calculate the property rebuilding cost. Should we receive a request from any of our clients, policyholders, or potential policyholders, to visit the RICS website on their behalf for the purpose of calculating the rebuilding cost of a property, then UKinsurancenet will not be held responsible for any errors or inaccuracies resulting from this service. UKinsurancenet recommend that any rebuilding cost obtained by them on behalf of their clients, policyholders, or potential policyholders should be independently checked on the RICS website by the client, policyholder, or potential policyholder.

 

Money Laundering/Proceeds of Crime Act

Sales of certain products fall under the Money Laundering regulations, this requires us to obtain evidence of a clients identity at the start of a business relationship. We may ask for sight of your passport, utility bill or bank statements. For companies, evidence usually consists of a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation or we may check the Companies House register.

 

Cooling Off Period

Only applicable for retail clients, this meaning non-commercial policies.  If we have not supplied you with certain information you need in order to come to a decision to buy/not buy the insurance offered, you have a cooling off period of 14 days from the date we do supply that information to you.  You may cancel your cover within this period and get your money (excluding any set up charges) back, providing no claims have been made.

If you choose not to receive all the information required by the FSA code, we will keep a record of your agreement to this and there will be no cooling off period.

If you decide to cancel the policy or we enforce cancellation, then you will be liable to pay all monies due to us as earnings under the policy, which is in addition to any charge the insurer makes for the time you have been on cover.

 

Cooling off periods for (pure protection products) are 30 days from the time you receive the information. If you do not want to continue with the insurance, then you may cancel your cover within this period and get all your money back (providing you have not made any claim).

Conflict of Interests

Occasions can arise where we or one of our associated companies, clients or product providers will have a potential conflict of interest with business being transacted for you.  If this happens and we become aware that a potential conflict exists, we will write to you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions, and detail the steps we will take to ensure fair treatment.

Confidentiality of Personal Data

Any information we hold about you, whether on our computer system or on paper files will be treated as private and confidential. We will only use and disclose the information we have in the normal course of administering or arranging cover on your insurance policy. You agree that we may pass information about you to a credit reference agency for the purposes of arranging insurance premiums by instalments.  We may also pass them details of your payment record with us if required.  We must also draw your attention to the fact that most insurers share and exchange information for underwriting purposes. Sharing your information via various databases also helps claim settlements and helps to prevent fraud

We may, from time to time, use the information we hold about you to send you information on other products and services, which we offer, and which we feel may be appropriate. If you do not wish to receive any marketing information from us, please write to us at the address below 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 at the address below.

 

IMPORTANT

Insurers pass information to the Claims and Underwriting Exchange run by Insurance Database Services Ltd. and the Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register run by the Association of British Insurers. The aim is to check information provided and also prevent fraudulent claims. In the event of a claim the database may be used by Insurers to identify relevant policy information.

Complaints and compensation

It is always our intention to provide a first class service. Our aim is to provide this level of customer service at all times, but if you are not satisfied, contact us:

 

in writing...              Write to the Compliance Manager, at UKinsurancenet

by phone...              Telephone 0844 875 55 55

We have laid down internal procedures for dealing with complaints and should we receive any complaints then they are acknowledged within 5 business days.  This initial response will include a copy of our procedures, and copies of these procedures are available on request.

Should you not be satisfied with our final response, you may refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Access to the FOS is available for complainants coming within one of the following categories at the time we receive their complaint:

• Consumers (e.g. private individuals)
• Before 1st November 2009 - businesses with a group annual turnover of under £1 million
• From 1st November 2009 - businesses employing fewer than 10 persons and with a turnover or annual balance sheet total not exceeding £2 million
• Charities with an annual income of under £1 million
• Trustees of a trust with a net asset value of under £1 million

 

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations.  This depends on the type of insurance, size of the business (if a commercial customer) and the circumstances of the claim. Further information is available as follows:

• Until 31st December 2009 - Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £2,000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim without any upper limit.
• From 1st January 2010 - Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim, without any upper limit.

 

Governing Law

Our Terms of Business will be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law.

 

NOTE. Your acceptance of these Terms of Business does not affect your normal legal rights.