Terms of Insurance Business

Definitions

We/us/our means D Barnett (Brokers) Ltd, Barnett House, Viking Street, Bolton, Lancashire, BL3 2RR

About us

We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). We are permitted to arrange, advise on, deal as an agent of insurers, assist in claims handling with respect to this type of insurance. We provide advice to customers based upon a fair analysis of the insurance market with respect to this type of insurance. The following insurances are treated as non advised sales - Motor Breakdown, Guaranteed Hire Vehicle, Family Legal Protection, Motor Legal Protection and Loss Recovery insurance. We will provide you with information regarding the level of cover provided by these optional products. The service provided by Action Claims in relation to uninsured loss recovery is not an FSA regulated product. For certain types of cover we may use a specialist panel of Insurers/Brokers or a single Insurer/Broker scheme. You will be notified if such circumstances arise. You can check this on the FSA's Register by visiting the website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234. Our Firm Reference number is 306234.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

We satisfy and exceed the minimum requirements in respect of Professional Indemnity insurance as laid down by the FSA.

Your duty of disclosure

Your insurance is based upon the information provided to the insurance company and you must ensure that all such information is complete and accurate, and that any facts that may influence the insurer's decision to accept and pay a valid claim are disclosed.

Failure to disclose material information may invalidate your insurance cover and could mean that part, or all, of a claim may not be paid.

Protecting your information

All personal information about you will be treated as private and confidential (even when you are no longer a customer), except where the disclosure is made at your request, with your consent, in relation to administering your insurance or where law requires us. As part of the FSA's duties, we may be asked to provide them with access to our customer records in order that they may carry out a review of our activities.

Some or all of the information you supply to us in connection with your insurance proposal will be held on computer and may be passed to other insurance companies for underwriting and claims purposes. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have a right of access to see personal information about you that is held in our records, whether electronically or manually. If you have any queries, please write to the managing director at the above address.

Underwriting Authority

In certain cases Insurers authorise us to underwrite on their behalf within agreed guidelines. Accordingly, in placing your insurances, we may act as agent for Insurers as well as for you. This will not prevent us from advising you independently on the insurance policy with the Insurer most appropriate for your requirements.

Block Transfers

In respect of some classes of insurance we may operate block insurance arrangements in order to provide competitive terms. On occasions it will be necessary for us to transfer such blocks from one Insurer to another where it is beneficial for our clients. This Terms of Insurance Business document constitutes both your acceptance that we may do this and your prior request for us so to do.

Fees and charges

In common with most brokers we are remunerated in the main by commission although we may also charge additional fees where commission levels are inadequate or no commission is given to meet the costs of service providers or to meet the costs of other services that we may provide from time to time. Our commitment to you is that all prices which we quote and/or debit to you will be fully inclusive of our remuneration. You are entitled at any time to request information regarding any commission which we may have received as a result of placing your insurance business. We require payment of the premium by the due date as detailed on the invoice or supporting documentation. Payment is acceptable by either cash, cheque, credit card or bank transfer. Payment is also acceptable using either an insurance company's own direct debit facility, where available, or a premium finance provider. Such payments by direct debit normally incur a credit charge.

If you elect to pay for your insurance premium using our third party supplier Close Premium Finance Ltd (CPF), your details will be passed on to them. They will send you a welcome pack detailing full terms and conditions. Any queries or questions about the service provided by CPF should in the first instance be directed to them. Where your policy is paid via CPF and you elect to renew your cover, we will again continue to pass your details to CPF. If any direct debit or other payment due in respect of the credit agreement you enter into with CPF to pay premiums is not met when presented for payment, or if you end the agreement with CPF, or if you do not enter into a credit agreement with CPF we will be informed of this by CPF. If you do not make other arrangements with us to pay your insurance premiums you acknowledge and agree that we may instruct on your behalf any relevant Insurer to cancel the insurance and to collect any refund of premiums which may be made by the Insurer, and if any money is owed to CPF under your credit agreement to pay it to CPF or if CPF have debited us with the amount outstanding, to use it to offset our costs.

We will write to give you 7 days notice in the event that we are forced to cancel any contract that we have arranged on your behalf.

Insurer Solvency

Whilst we endeavour to place business with insurers who have adequate levels of financial solvency, we cannot guarantee the solvency of any insurer.

How to cancel

You may have a statutory right to cancel this policy within a short period. Please refer to your policy summary or your policy document for further details. If you cancel you will receive a pro rata refund of premium from the insurer. Insurers are also entitled to make an administration charge.

If you wish to cancel outside this period you may not receive a pro rata refund of premium.

Refund of Premiums

In certain circumstances your Insurer may repay part of your insurance premium(s) to us. This can occur where, for example, the risk covered by your policy is reduced or the policy itself is cancelled. Where the amount of the refunded premium is less than £10 (per policy), we will retain such amount, but where a mid-term adjustment or cancellation charge is made (see paragraph re Fees and Charges) we will set it off against such charge. For any refunded premium in excess of £10 (per policy) the amount due to you will be paid net of any commission claimed back by the Insurer(s) from us. Where applicable this amount will be offset against any mid-term adjustment charge we may make. This paragraph does not affect any cancellation/refund rights which Consumers may have pursuant to paragraph "How to Cancel".

How to claim

Please refer to your policy summary or your policy document if you need to notify a claim. It is imperative you contact either the insurer direct as soon as possible using the contact details provided or ourselves on 01204 394080.

Protecting your money

Prior to your premium being forwarded to the insurer, and for your protection, we either hold your money as an agent of the insurer (in which case your policy is treated as being paid for), or we hold it in a client bank account on trust for you. We may need to transfer your money to another intermediary in some cases. However your money will be protected at all times because of the requirements of FSA rules. We also reserve the right to retain interest earned on this account.

By accepting this Terms of Business document, you are giving your consent for us to operate in this way.

Complaints

It is our intention to provide a high level of service at all times. However, if you have reason to make a complaint about our service you should contact the managing director at the above address, telephone number 01204 394080 You may be entitled to refer the matter subsequently to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service by telephone on 0845 080 1800 and further information is available at http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ . If you do decide to refer any matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service your legal rights will not be affected.

Compensation Arrangements

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. 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 90% of the claim, without any 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 compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS on 020 7892 7301 or by visiting http://www.fscs.org.uk

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D Barnett (Brokers) Ltd.