Terms and Conditions
General Insurance Business
CUSTOMER INFORMATION - TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Please read this document carefully. The information below will enable you to create effective insurance policies. The document also includes terms of business, which create legally binding rights and obligations.
Our Company Details
A1 Insurance Services Ltd
28 High Street, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, LS22 6LT
Tel: 01937 581417
A1 Insurance Services Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Our Firm Reference Number (FRN) is 302052. You can check this on the FSA register by visiting the FSA’s website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or telephone the FSA on 0845 606 1234.
Our service
We offer a wide range of insurance products and have access to leading Insurers in the marketplace.
For some types of insurance we deal predominately with a single or limited number of Insurers, which we have selected as offering value for money and quality service. We will give you
- a list of the insurers used in these cases, on request; and
- details of our arrangements with such insurers before you make any commitment to take out any insurance we offer you.
After we have assessed your insurance needs, we will either
- make a recommendation for you, or
- advise you if we are unable to place your insurance.
Confidentiality and Data Protection
We will use and disclose the information we have about you for all purposes connected with providing insurance services, including
- passing information about you (including details of your payment record) to credit reference agencies for the purposes of arranging payments by instalments;
- using the data we hold about you to provide you with information on other products and services we can offer which we feel may be appropriate to you;
- contacting you in the year after your policy is cancelled or lapses, to provide a quotation;
We may also send you marketing information or provide your data to third parties for marketing purposes. If you do not wish to receive marketing information from us, or for us to disclose information about you to others for marketing purposes please write to us at the above address.
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have rights of access to any personal information we hold about you in our records. If you have any queries in this regard please contact us.
Solvency of Insurers
We cannot guarantee the solvency of any insurers with which we place business.
Should any insurance company become insolvent, you may still be liable for any unpaid premium even if you no longer have insurance cover, and you may not be able to recover the premium you have paid whether in full or in part.
Your Duty to Disclose Information
You are responsible for providing complete and accurate information to insurers when you take out or renew any insurance policy.
You are also required to tell the insurers about anything, which might affect the premium payable on your policy. Please note that this obligation continues throughout the insurance contract.
If you are unsure whether the premium might be affected by any particular event, you should provide your insurers with the facts so that they can decide.
We cannot accept liability for the contents of your proposal, or for supplying information to your insurers at any time. Even if your proposal form is completed in our office and with our help, the sole responsibility for its completeness and accuracy remains with you.
Please note that if you fail to disclose any material information to your insurers, your insurance policy could be invalidated and all or part of a claim may not be paid. Therefore you should carefully check for accuracy all the information you submit when applying for insurance and re-check at intervals during the period of insurance.
Notification of Incidents/Claims
To ensure that your insurance company can effectively protect your interests, you must tell us about any incident that may result in a claim against your insurance policy. You must do so straight away and whether you believe you are liable or not.
Any claim you receive from a third party must (a) not be answered and (b) be passed to us immediately.
Please refer to your policy summary and policy document for details as to whom to contact to make a claim.
Payment of claims will be made by cheque drawn in your favour. If you require payment to be made to someone else, please tell us in writing, explaining briefly why the payment is not to be made to you and giving the name and address of the person who is to receive the payment
If you need any help in claiming under your policy, please contact us at this office.
Cancellation
Your policy document will explain your rights to cancel your insurance once you have taken it out. Depending on the type of policy you have purchased you may be entitled to cancel within 14 or 30 days of either the date the insurance is agreed or the date you receive your policy documentation, whichever occurs later.
Any cancellation of a policy must be by notice in writing. If you cancel a policy after the permitted cancellation period and before the next renewal date, you will be required to pay a charge for the cost of cover provided and administration expenses. Please refer to the Charges section below.
To cancel the policy, you will need to return your insurance certificate and any other official documents to our office within 30 days of your notice to cancel.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
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 insurance you have, and the circumstances of the claim.
FSCS will pay
- 100% of a claim for loss incurred where we have advised about and arranged compulsory classes of insurance, with no upper limit.
- 100% of the first £2,000 and 90% of the remainder of a claim for loss incurred where we have been advised about and arranged other types of insurance, with no upper limit.
Further information about the compensation scheme arrangements is available from FSCS.
Complaints
It is our intention to provide you with the highest possible level of customer service at all times. Should we not meet your expectations, we have a complaints procedure, which is explained below.
Should you wish to complain you may do so:
- In writing to the Complaints Manager – Ian Darnbrook at the above address
- By telephoning on 01937 581417
- By fax on 01937 544788
- By e-mail at – ian@a1insurance.co.uk, or
- In person by visiting our office (see above for address)
Should you not be satisfied with our final response, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). We will supply further details when we respond to your complaint.
Charges
In addition to the premium charged by Insurers we also make charges to cover the administration of your insurance, as follows -
Retail Customers
Non refundable arrangement fee - as disclosed on quotation
Renewals - as disclosed on quotation
Mid Term Adjustments - £10
Lost papers/documents - £10
Temporary change - £10
Commercial Customers
Non-refundable arrangement fee for new policies - as disclosed on quotation
Mid Term Major Revisions - as disclosed on quotation
Renewal of Policy - as disclosed on quotation
Mid Term Adjustments - up to £25
Lost papers/documents - up to £25
Temporary change - up to £25
Where we arrange a low-commission or non-commission paying insurance policy, we will charge you an arrangement fee, the actual amount of which will be disclosed to you before you commit to the policy.
Refunds
- If you cancel a policy during the insurance period
the insurers will make a charge to cover their costs. The balance of the premium will be refunded to you, provided you have not made a claim. Full details are provided in your policy.
- the insurers reclaim any commission they have paid to us The amount reclaimed reflects the number of days in the policy period for which cover will no longer be provided. As a consequence, we will deduct the value of the reclaimed commission from any returned premium before we send it to you.
- and (for some commercial policies) the insurers required the premium to be paid in full on inception of the policy, no premium will be refunded.
- we will not issue refunds of less than £5.00, in view of the administrative costs we incur on cancellation.
Terms of Payment
Unless we have agreed otherwise in writing, our payment terms are as follows -
- New policies: payment on or before the inception date of the policy
- Alterations to existing policies: payment on or before the effective date of the change
- Renewals: payment in full before the renewal date
If our payment terms are not met, we, or your insurers, may cancel the relevant policy/policies, which would leave you uninsured.
Payments we receive from you will be held in a separate statutory trust clients account. We may make payments to other customers using cleared funds from the client bank account.
No interest will be payable to customers in respect of the client account. Any interest earned will remain in the ownership of A1 Insurance Services Ltd.
Payments to intermediaries
We may pass the money you pay us to another intermediary. We will only do this where it is a necessary part of the process of arranging cover for you.
Where this includes intermediaries outside the UK, the legal and regulatory regime may be different from that of the UK. Compared to a UK intermediary, your money may be treated differently where the intermediary is outside the UK fails to pay, from intermediary in the UK held it. You may notify us if you do not wish your money to be passed to a person in a particular jurisdiction.
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