Terms of Business

Accepting our Terms of Business - By asking us to quote for, arrange or handle your insurances, you are providing your informed agreement to these Terms of Business. We draw your particular attention to:- The section headed ‘Use of personal data’, specifically the paragraph explaining how ‘sensitive personal data’ will be used and the sub-section titled ‘Credit checks’and - The section headed ‘Handling money’, which explains our terms for handling client money in a Non-Statutory Trust account. For your own benefit and protection, you should read these terms carefully. If you are unsure about any aspect of our Terms of Business or have any questions regarding our relationship with you, please contact us at the address shown above.

The Financial Conduct Authority – Peter Hoare & Company (Insurance Brokers) Ltd is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our Financial Services Register number is 114638. Our permitted business is advising, arranging, dealing as agent assisting in the administration and performance of general insurance contracts, making arrangements with a view to transactions. You may check this on the FCA register by visiting the FCA website: www.fca.org.uk/register or by contacting the FCA directly.

The capacity in which we act for you – In providing our service, we may sometimes act as an agent of the insurer. We will confirm the capacity in which we will act for you before undertaking any relevant transactions on your behalf.

Product provider’s personal and commercial insurances – We select personal and commercial insurances from a range of insurers, but for certain products, we may only deal with a single insurer or select from a limited number of insurers. We will give you further information about this before we finalise your insurance arrangements. This range of products and providers is regularly reviewed and occasionally revised. A list of insurers we deal with for these products is available on request at any time. If we propose using another intermediary to help place your business, we will confirm this to you in good time before any arrangements are finalised

Our service – 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. We will not in any circumstances act as an insurer nor guarantee or warrant the solvency of any insurer. A liability for the premium whether in full or pro rata, may arise under policies where a participating insurer becomes insolvent and you may be liable to pay such premium, whether full or pro-rata, under a policy even where the insurer has become insolvent.

Complaints and compensation – We aim to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times but, if you are not satisfied, please contact Mrs H L Clewes, Compliance Officer, at the address shown above. The matter will be dealt with in line with our internal complaints procedure (written details are available on request). If you are still not satisfied, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Access to the FOS is available for complainants coming within one of the following categories at the time we receive the complaint:

Consumers (e.g. private individuals)
Businesses employing fewer than 10 persons and with a turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding 2 million Euros
Charities with an annual turnover of under £1 million
Trustees of a trust with a net asset value of under £1 million

Further information about the Financial Ombudsman Service is available on 0800 023 4567 or www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for our insurance mediation activities. 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. If you are eligible to claim from the FSCS, compensation is available in relation to insurance advising and arranging as follows:

90% of the claim, without any upper limit;
100% of the claim without any upper limit for

- compulsory classes of insurance (such as Third Party Motor or Employers Liability); and

- ‘pure protection’ contracts, professional indemnity insurance and general insurance claims arising from the death or incapacity of the policyholder owing to injury, sickness or infirmity, or where an insurance intermediary has failed to pay money to an insurer, pay away money it has received from an insurer, or has failed to take reasonable steps to allow the insurer to effect the contract of insurance.

Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS on 0800 678 1100 (Freephone) or 020 7741 4100 or www.fscs.org.uk.

Professional Indemnity insurance – Peter Hoare & Company (Insurance Brokers) Ltd at all times hold Professional Indemnity cover in accordance with the requirements of the FCA. Full details of the limits, insurers etc are available on request.

Payment for our services – We normally receive commission from insurers or product providers when placing business with them. We may charge a separate fee for the arrangement and administration of your policies and where we do so these amounts are always agreed with you before your insurance arrangements are concluded. Full payment of premium and fees is due before cover commences, or as otherwise stated under terms of credit, or in the debit note, invoice or statement issued to you. In the event of mid-term adjustments on a policy we may charge a separate fee of £15.00 to cover the additional administration costs of processing the change. In addition should the insurance be terminated for whatever reason part way through its term, our fees or brokerage would not usually be returnable and in any event we may charge a minimum fee of £25 which will be deducted from any return premium rebate given by insurers. You will receive a quotation, which will tell you the total price paid and which identifies any fees, taxes and charges separately from the premium, before your insurance arrangements are concluded.

Failure to meet the payment date may lead to insurers cancelling your policy. Please note this shall not apply in respect of ‘cooling-off – cancellation rights’, afforded to consumers and some commercial customers.

For commercial customers, in good time before the conclusion of each insurance contract, or upon renewal, you will be reminded of your right to be informed of the level of commission and other income, which we receive from underwriters. You are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding any commission, which we may have received as a result of placing your insurance

Cancellation rights – You should make any request for the cancellation of a policy in writing and relevant certificate of insurance (where applicable) should be returned to us or the insurer concerned.

In the event of cancellation, charges for our services will only apply as outlined above.

Please note 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.

Handling Money – We are authorised by the FCA to hold client money in compliance with the client money rules. Client money will be held in a Non-Statutory Trust Account which means that we are entitled and may use client money held on behalf of one client to pay another client’s premium before the premium is received from that other client, and to pay premium refunds to another client before we receive payment from the insurer. However, we are not entitled to use client money to pay commissions before we receive the relevant premium from the client. This is to protect the client in the event of the failure of the firm or the failure of the bank or a third party at which the money may be held. Your agreement to pay the premium together with your acceptance of these Terms of Business will constitute your informed consent to our holding your money in the Non-Statutory Trust Account. Any interest earned on monies held in the Non-Statutory Trust Account will be retained by us.

Conflicts of interest – Occasions can arise where we or one of our 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 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.

Ending your relationship with us – Subject to immediate settlement of any outstanding premiums, fees or charges you may terminate our authority to act on your behalf with 7 days’ notice or as otherwise agreed without penalty. 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 and you will be liable to pay for any transactions concluded prior to the end of our relationship and we will be entitled to retain commission received for conducting these transactions, together with any and all fees charged by us for services provided. In circumstances where we feel we cannot continue providing services to you, we will give you a minimum 7 days’ notice in writing.

Your responsibilities – If you are a consumer (an individual buying insurance wholly or mainly for purposes unrelated to their trade, business or profession), you are responsible for answering any questions in relation to any proposal for insurance honestly and to the best of your knowledge, providing complete and accurate information which insurers will require. This also applies to your responses in relation to any assumptions you may agree to in the process of applying for insurance cover. This is particularly important before taking out a policy but also at renewal or if you make a mid-term amendment to your policy.

If you fail to disclose information, or misrepresent any fact which may influence the insurer’s decision to accept the risk or the terms offered, this could invalidate the policy and mean that claims may not be paid.

If you are a commercial customer you have a duty to give a fair presentation of risk to the insurer. This means that you should disclose every material circumstance relevant to the risk being insured following a reasonable search within your business to identify and verify such information. This should include information which you and where applicable your senior management, persons responsible for arranging your insurance or other relevant third parties know or ought to know and should include all information that would influence the judgement of the insurer or that would put the insurer on notice that it needs to make further enquiries.

Examples of material circumstances are:

Special or unusual circumstances relating to the risk;
Any particular concerns which led you to seek insurance cover for the risk; and
Anything which those concerned with the class of insurance and field of activity in question would generally understand as being something that would be dealt with in a fair presentation of risks for this type of insurance

The information must be presented in a way which would be reasonably clear and accessible to a prudent insurer. If you are unsure whether to disclose any information you should speak to us. You need to take into account the size and complexity of your business, and allow yourself sufficient time before your renewal date to consider and/or assess your insurance requirements.

Failure to provide a ‘fair representation’ may result in a number of remedies by the insurer. If the breach was deliberate or reckless the insurer can void the contract and keep the premium. If the breach was not deliberate or reckless the insurer can void the contract, proportionately reduce a claim settlement or amend the insurance policy terms and conditions then review the merits of a claim on this basis.

You should therefore always provide complete and accurate information to us when we ask you about the insurance risks your business faces before taking out a policy, at renewal and throughout the life of the policy. This also applies to your responses in relation to any assumptions you may agree to in the process of applying for insurance cover. You must check all details on any proposal form or Statement of Facts and pay particular attention to any declaration you may be asked to sign. It is important that you read all insurance documents issued to you and ensure that you are aware of the cover, limits and other terms that apply. Particularly attention must be paid to any warranties and conditions as failure to comply with them could invalidate your policy or mean that claims may not be paid.

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

Claims handling procedures – You should take note of the required procedures in the event of a claim explained within the policy document. Generally, insurers require immediate notification of a claim or circumstances, which might lead to a claim. We will employ due care and skill if we act on your behalf in respect of a claim.

Quotation validity period – Quotations provided are normally valid for a period of 14 days unless otherwise stated. All quotations are however, subject to the agreement of the product providers and the satisfactory completion and acceptance of proposal forms and the production of other documentation as required.

Retention of documents on the client’s behalf – Under normal circumstances all policy documents, certificates, schedules and endorsements are sent to our clients as soon as possible, however, we will where possible retain those documents on behalf of the client if requested to do so verbally or in writing.

Use of personal and corporate data- We will process any personal or corporate information we obtain in the course of providing our services to you in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and in line with our Data Protection Policy. In administering your insurances it will be necessary for us to pass such information to insurers and other product or service providers which may also provide us with business or compliance support. We may also disclose details to relevant parties, as necessary to comply with regulatory or legal requirements

We may contact you or pass your details to other companies associated with us in order to promote products or services which may be of interest to you. We will not otherwise use or disclose the personal or corporate information we hold without your consent. Some of the details you may be asked to give us, such as information about offences or medical conditions, are defined by the Act as sensitive personal data. By giving us such information you signify your consent to its being processed by us in arranging and administering your insurances.

Confidentiality - We agree to keep all information provided by you to us confidential, save that you authorise us to:

a. disclose such information to insurers and their agents for the purposes of obtaining insurance quotations for you, placing insurance on your behalf and all other matters relating to your insurances, including the making of claims;

b. share such information with our own insurers and professional advisors on terms that preserve confidentiality or where we are required by law or by order of the court to disclose such confidential information.

However, we will not be bound to keep any information confidential where it is or becomes in the public domain, it was already known to us or becomes known to us independently of you, or if you authorise us to disclose such information.

Subject to certain exceptions, you will be entitled to have access to your personal and sensitive personal data for which you will be charged a fee of £10. If at any time you wish us, or any company associated with us, to cease processing any of the personal or sensitive personal data we hold, or to cease contacting you about products and services, please write to Mrs H L Clewes, Compliance Officer at the address shown above.

Credit Checks - To make sure you get our best deal and to ascertain the most appropriate payment options for you and to protect you from fraud, we or the insurers asked to quote may use public and personal data from a variety of sources, including a credit reference agency and other organisations. Such a search will appear on your credit report whether or not your application proceeds. By Agreeing to these terms of business you agree to these uses of your information. If you have any questions about this or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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