General Terms & Conditions
- Our Status and the Services We Provide
- Disclosure of Information
- Proposal Forms
- Awareness of Policy Terms
- Road Traffic Act
- Data Protection Act
- Motor and Home Insurance Anti-Fraud Registers
- Motor Insurance Information Centre (MIIC)
- Service Standards
- Claims
- Administration Charges
- Cancellation of Insurance Policies
- No Claims Bonus
- Payment of Premiums and Refunds
- Quotations
- Withholding Documents
- Risk Transfer
- Client Money Segregation (Statutory and Non-Statutory)
- Earning Interest on Customer Premiums
- Customer Money Passed to Another Person
- Customer Money Passed to Another Person Outside the UK
- Segregation of Investments
- Other Taxes or Costs
- Governing Law
- Variations
- Who Regulates Us
- Statutory Rights
- Financial Services Compensation Scheme
- Our Status and the Services We Provide
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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
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It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to your insurers 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 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 given 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
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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 own 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
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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 under your policy.
- Road Traffic Act
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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
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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 our 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 the 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
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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 (MIIC)
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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 policy and other government agencies have access. This helps the pursuance of claims following accidents and aid detection of those who are in contravention of the law by not taking out insurance.
- Service Standards
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Complaints should be directed to the following, quoting your policy/reference number:
The Compliance Officer Motor and Home Direct Insurance Services Ltd Petitor House Riviera Park Nicholson Road Torquay TQ25 7TD
It is our intention to provide you with a high level of service at all times. In the unlikely event that you should have cause for complaint, you should write to the Compliance Officer at the address shown above. 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's Service (FOS). To use their service you must be eligible and your complaint must be sent to them within 6 months of our final response letter to the address below. In general terms you are eligible if you are a private individual (someone acting outside their trade, profession or business) or a commercial customer (including charities and trusts) with a group annual turnover of less than £1million. The FOS will only consider complaints after we have provided you with written confirmation that our complaints procedure has been exhausted.
Financial Ombudsman Service South Quay Plaza 183 Marsh Wall London E14 9SR Tel: 0845 080 1800 Fax: 020 7964 1001 Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
- Claims
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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 your insurer directly as soon as possible using the contact details in your policy schedule/document. 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 you give your informed consent, and that you have given that consent. We will forward any payments we receive from insurers in respect of any claim, without delay.
- Administration Charges
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In addition to the premiums charged by insurers, we make charges to cover the administration of your insurance: Annual policy arrangement charge of up to 20% will apply.
Mid term alterations £20.00
Duplicate documents £20.00
Cancellations - see below
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 may incur resulting from late delivery of, or incorrect information on, any documentation relating to your insurance.
- Cancellation of Insurance Policies
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(1) Where cancellation rights exist
If you are an individual or sole trader (including a partnership in England and Wales) 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 later. When renewing an existing policy, the period applies from the date you renew the policy or the day on which you receive your policy documentation, whichever is later. If you exercise this right and the cover has 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 above. You will be required to return any certificate of motor insurance, immediately.
(2) When cancellation rights 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, shown in your policy document. We do not refund commission or charges as this was earned for arranging the policy. Policyholders may cancel annual policies on return of the policy and/or Certificate of Insurance. The cost of add-on products that you purchase (e.g. Legal Expenses) will be non-refundable (other than in accordance with paragraph (1) above). If there are any unpaid monies when the policy is cancelled, we may withhold documents such as any 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
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If you are unable to supply your previous Insurers 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 insurers issuing the policy at the gross premium (i.e. without benefit of the discount) or the policy being cancelled. You will be immediately responsible for the balance of premium payable and any subsequent cancellation will be calculated on the gross premium subject to period rates and charges detailed above.
- Payment of Premiums and Refunds
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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 mid-term adjustment.
If we arrange an instalment plan for you, an administration charge of £20.00 will apply.
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 may keep certain documents such as your insurance policy documents or certificate whilst we await full payment of the premiums. In these circumstances, we will ensure that you receive full details of your insurers cover and we will provide you with any document you are required to have by law.
We will not accept responsibility for cancellation of insurance by Insurers due to late or non-payment of premium by customers. Instalment deposits, legal expenses and breakdown or associated policies are non-refundable. All refunded premiums will be made by cheque, payable to the policyholder.
- Quotations
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When a quotation is provided the premium is only valid for the period advised to you. 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
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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
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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 insurer. We will remit premiums to insurers in accordance with the terms of our agreements with insurers.
- Client Money Segregation (Statutory and Non-Statutory)
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Premiums that we collect from you will be segregated into and held in either 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
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We hold premiums that you pay us in a Client Money Bank Account. Under Financial Services Authority (FSA) Regulations we have to inform you that we may earn interest from money held in our Client Money Bank Account, which may exceed £20.00 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
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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 above.
- Customer Money Passed to Another Person Outside the UK
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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 that which would apply if the premium was held by an insurance intermediary in the United Kingdom.
- Segregation of Investments
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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 above.
- Other Taxes or Costs
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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
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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
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No variations to 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.
- Who Regulates Us
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Motor and Home Direct Insurance Services Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. You can check this on the FSA's Register by visiting the FSA's website http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/register/ or by contacting the FSA directly on 0845 6061234.
- Statutory Rights
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Agreement to our Terms of Business does not affect your normal statutory rights.
- Financial Services Compensation Scheme
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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 business and the circumstances of the claim.
Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% for the first £2,000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim, without an upper limit.
For compulsory classes of insurance, insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim, without any upper limit.
Further information about the compensation scheme is available from the FSCS on www.fscs.org.uk or write to:
Financial Services Compensation Scheme 7th Floor Portsoken Street London E1 8BN