TERMS OF BUSINESS
Client Agreement – How we are regulated
Advised
FSB Insurance Service, 5th Floor, Interchange, 81-85 Station Road, Croydon, CR0 2RD. Contactable on 020 3883 7976 or [email protected]
The Regulator
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent watchdog that regulates financial services.
Our Financial Services Register number is 788654 and you can check our status and permissions at https://register.fca.org.uk/ or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.
Our Activities
The FCA has authorised us to advise, arrange, deal in and assist with the placing and administration of all types of General Insurance policies.
We are also authorised to undertake the following Consumer Credit Activities; Credit Broking
Our Service
We can act both as agent of insurer, and on behalf of you, the customer. We have in place management controls to deal with any conflicts of interest that might arise. Unless we advise you otherwise, we are acting on your behalf.
We also act on behalf of insurers when collecting premiums under risk transfer (See “Money” section)
You will be asked questions to enable you to assess reasonably your insurance requirements.
We will provide you with information only; including generic comparisons between different insurers, you will need to make your own choice as we will not provide you with any advice or specific recommendations.
If at any time, advice or a recommendation is required this quotation will change to an advised sale. Where we will provide you with advice and guidance, after assessing what you want and need and recommend a suitable policy based on our experience of dealing with similar risks.
Whose products we offer
In respect of products purchased via our website, these will be from a panel of insurers, who will be clearly identified in the quotation.
The service we will provide you with
In respect of policies purchased through our website you will not receive advice or a recommendation from us and you will then need to make your own choice regarding the suitability of products offered and about how to proceed. Guidance on the circumstances in which any policy is likely to meet customer’s needs, will be confirmed in a demands & needs statement with the quotation. If advice or a recommendation is required, as per the above this will amend the policy to an advised sale
Confidentiality and Data Protection
We will exchange the information that you provide to us with insurance companies and other brokers or agents for the purposes of obtaining quotations and arranging cover, this may result in a credit check to confirm your identity and minimise the risk of fraud. We will treat all information as private and confidential, and in strict accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), even when you are no longer a customer and only share information if we are required to do so by law, or regulation.
Under the DPA, you have a right to a copy of any personally identifiable information about you that we hold in our records, you can obtain details by writing to us at the usual address. A nominal charge might apply in providing the information to you.
We will, in addition use information for marketing similar products or services by us and carefully selected companies. Contact may include SMS text, post, telephone or e-mail. If you do not want us to use your information in this way, please let us know.
Money
We will hold money that you pay to us in accordance with the regulators rules or under a risk transfer agreement with insurers. This will include holding your money in the following way.
A statutory trust client bank account that only allows us to use the money held in trust on behalf of a customer for paying that customers’ premium to an insurance company and to pay premium refunds or claims we receive from that insurance company to the customer, once the premium has been received from that insurance company. We cannot use that customer’s money to pay another customers premium or refund. We do not pay any interest on premiums held by us in the course of arranging and administering your insurance, unless, in the case of consumer transactions we receive more than £20 per transaction, and then we will ask for your permission to retain the interest. Unless you tell us otherwise, you are consenting to us holding your money in this way.
Holding your money in this way, means that in the event that this firm becomes insolvent your money remains protected.
In arranging your insurance we may employ the services of other intermediaries who are regulated by the FCA and your premium may be passed to these intermediaries for payment to insurers. These firms are also required to hold clients’ money in a separate trust account. We will also inform you if at any time we are required to pass your premium to firms that operate outside the UK where the protection may be different. Should you not wish us to pass premiums to a firm outside of the UK, please inform us.
Our Remuneration
We usually receive a commission from the insurance provider with whom we place your business, and in such a case, the commission will be paid to us either when we are in receipt of cleared funds from you (or the premium finance company, if one has been used) or, when the insurer has received cleared funds from us in respect of the premium due under your policy. The individual agreements we have with each insurer will determine which of the two methods above is used to make this transfer of commission. We may also receive a commission or fee for passing introductions to other professional firms.
In addition, we may also charge you a fee for any transaction relating to your insurance and full details will be provided to you at outset.
Payment Options
We normally accept payment by the following credit/debit cards – Visa, MasterCard, and Maestro. In addition to card payments there is the option of a payment instalment facility available through Premium Credit.
Your Right to Cancel (Applicable to Consumers only)
Please contact us if you wish to cancel any policy that we have arranged for you. Customers acting outside their trade or profession (Consumers) will usually have a legal right to cancel policies for any reason, subject to no claims having occurred, within 14 days of receiving the full terms & conditions. You will always be advised where this Right applies. A premium charge may apply for the period of cover provided and an administration charge will apply in the event of a cancellation. The cancellation under this right must be in writing, prior to expiry of the cancellation period, to our usual office address, or via email. In addition to this, some insurers may also charge a cancellation fee, which will be in your policy documentation.
Complaints
Our aim is always to provide our customers with a first-class service; however we are aware that, occasionally, it is possible that we may fail to meet your expectations. If for any reason we have not met your expectations, let us know as soon as possible, by calling our main office telephone 020 3883 7976, or write to Mr David Perry, FSB Insurance Service, 5th Floor, Interchange, 81-85 Station Road, Croydon, CR0 2RD or email [email protected]
If we are unable to resolve the issue to your satisfaction by the end of the next business day, we will formally investigate the matter. You will receive an acknowledgement of the matter together with a copy of our complaints process promptly and certainly within 5 working days. We will then aim to investigate and provide a resolution as quickly as possible, informing you of a final response no later than 8 weeks.
If you are not happy with our response, or the position after a period of 8 weeks, you may be eligible to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for an independent assessment and opinion.
The FOS Consumer Helpline is on 0800 023 4567 (free for people phoning from a “fixed line” (for example, a landline at home) or 0300 123 9123 (free for mobile-phone users paying monthly charge for calls to No’s starting 01 or 02). Alternatively you can contact them at Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, Harbour Exchange Square, London, E14 9SR. www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
If we are unable to meet our obligations, you may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS. If we have advised or arranged insurance for you this will be covered for 90% of a claim, without any upper limit, however claims under compulsory insurance, professional indemnity insurance and certain claims for injury, sickness or infirmity of the policyholder are protected at 100%. Further information is available from the FSCS helpline on 0800 678 1100 or 020 7741 4100 and www.fscs.org.uk.
The FSCS is the UK’s statutory fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms. Compensation is usually payable if an authorised firm is unable or unlikely to pay claims usually because it has ceased trading or become insolvent