Terms of Business

Terms of Business
 

The Financial Services Authority (FSA)

The FSA is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. It requires us to give you the following information. Please use this information to decide if our services are right for you.

Who regulates us?

Chris Semmens Commercial Insurance Broker is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Our FSA number is 140929. We are permitted to advise on, arrange, transact and administer non-investment insurance contracts. You can check this on the FSA’s Register which can be found on the FSA’s website: www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.

Our Service

We are an Independent Insurance Intermediary and we will act on your behalf in:
a) Arranging your insurance cover with insurers to meet with your requirements or where requirements cannot be fully met, provide you with enough information to enable you to make an informed decision;
b) Helping you with any changes that you need to make to your insurance during the policy period;
c) Telling you when you need to renew your policy in time to allow you to consider and arrange any continuing cover.

Information on Costs

In addition to the premiums charged by insurers, we may charge a professional fee or administration charge to cover the placing and ongoing handling of your insurance. The specific amount and purpose of any professional fee and administration charges will always be advised to you in advance. We earn the entirety of our commission and/or fees and/or charges when your insurance is successfully placed and this is taken immediately upon receipt of payment unless agreed otherwise with your insurer.
In the event of an adjustment that results in a return of premium or a mid-term cancellation we will refund the premium due net of our full commission and any charge made by insurers. Where the premium is being paid by instalments we will claim our full commission along with any charge made by the insurers in the calculation of any outstanding monies.

Payment Terms

We can normally accept payment by cash, cheque, debit or credit cards and certain charge cards. We can also accept payment by the bankers automated clearing system (BACS). We normally require full payment of the premium upon inception of cover. However, you may be able to spread your payments through a credit scheme and we will give you full information about your payment options and details of the interest payable at the time we provide you with a quotation.
How we will handle your money
Your premium will be held in a client bank account which is operated in accordance with strict rules laid down by the FSA. In arranging your insurance we may employ the services of other intermediaries who are regulated by the FSA and your premium may be passed to these intermediaries for payment to insurers.
Your duty to disclose 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. It is important that 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 of the questions are true and accurate before signing the document. Failure to disclose any material information to your insurers could invalidate your insurance cover and mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid.
If you are in any doubt as to whether information is material, you should disclose it.

Complaints

It is our intention to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times. If you should wish to make a complaint about our service we have a formal complaints procedure. In the first instance you should contact us at the address given overleaf, addressing your complaint to the Complaints Officer. We shall supply you with a copy of our complaints procedure upon receipt of a complaint or at any time upon request. You will be advised of any redress available to you, should you believe the matter has not been resolved to your satisfaction. If you cannot settle your complaint with us you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. We will advise you if you are able to refer any complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
We are covered by the 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% of the first £2,000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim, without any upper limit. For compulsory classes of insurance this increases to 100% of the claim, without any upper limit. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.

Data Protection Statement

The information you have provided is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 (the “Act”). We will from time to time process, both manually and by electronic means, your personal data for the purposes of providing advice, administration and management.
“Processing” includes obtaining, recording or holding information or data, transferring it to other companies associated with us, product providers, the FSA or any other statutory, governmental or regulatory body for legitimate purposes including, where relevant, to solicitors and/or other debt collection agencies for debt collection purposes and carrying out operations on the information or data.
We may also contact you or pass your details to other companies associated with us to contact you (including by telephone) with details of any other similar products, promotions, or for related marketing purposes in which we think you may be interested.
The information provided may also contain sensitive personal data for the purposes of the Act, being information as to your physical or mental health or condition; the commission or alleged commission of any offence by you; any proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed by you, including the outcome or sentence in such proceedings; your political opinions, religious or similar beliefs, sexual life; or your membership of a Trade Union.
If you do not wish us to process any such personal / sensitive personal data or contact you for marketing purposes by e-mail, telephone, post or SMS, or at any time subsequently you wish us to cease processing your personal / sensitive personal data, or contacting you for marketing purposes, please contact us immediately on 01462 490490 or in writing to:
 The General Manager, Chris Semmens Commercial Insurance Broker, October House, London Road Industrial Estate, Baldock. Herts. SG7 6NG.
You may be assured that we and any company associated with us will treat all personal and sensitive personal data as confidential and will not process it other than for a legitimate purpose. Steps will be taken to ensure that the information is accurate, kept up to date and not kept for longer than is necessary. Measures will also be taken to safeguard against unauthorised or unlawful processing and accidental loss or destruction or damage to the data.
Subject to certain exceptions, you are entitled to have access to your personal and sensitive personal data held by us. You may be charged a fee (subject to the statutory maximum) for supplying you with such data.

Claims

As part of our service we can assist you with any claim you need to make. When you first become a customer we will give you details of how you can make a claim and tell you what your responsibilities are in relation to making claims. If you are ever in any doubt as to what action to take in the event of a claim, please contact us at the address given.

Claims & Underwriting Exchange Register, Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud Register and Motor Insurance Database

Insurers pass information to the Claims and Underwriting exchange register operated by Database Services Limited and the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud Register compiled by the Association of British Insurers. The objective is to check information provided and to prevent fraudulent claims. Motor insurance details are also added to the Motor Insurance Database operated by the Motor Insurers’ Information Centre (MIIC), which has been formed to help identify uninsured drivers and may be accessed by the police to help confirm who is insured to drive. In the event of an accident, this database may be used by insurers, MIIC and your motor insurer to identify relevant policy information. Other insurance related databases may also be added in the future.

Applicable Law

This Terms of Business document is subject to English Law.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries with regards to any points mentioned in our Terms of Business.