OUR AIM
Our aim is to provide our clients with a fast and efficient service whilst offering value for money. As a true independent intermediary we are committed to providing you with all the information necessary to enable you to make an informed judgement of the product that you are buying. Our Terms & Conditions as set out below and show what our responsibilities are to you. Also, as you are buying a contract that may extend over a period of time, it highlights certain issues that you must accept responsibility for. We hope that you find this information interesting and should you have any comments please do not hesitate to contact us. Also as independent insurance intermediaries we act as the agent of our client. We are subject to the law of agency, which imposes various duties on us. However, in certain circumstances we may act for and owe duties of care to other parties and where we become aware of any actual or potential conflict of interest, we will inform you of the situation.
STATUS
BNF Insurance Services are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our registration number is 304003. Our permitted business is advising, arranging, dealing as an agent and assisting in the administration of general insurance contracts. It now also covers the arrangement of consumer credit for which we are authorised. You may check our permissions by visiting the Financial Conduct Authority website at www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by telephoning the FCA on 08001116768.
SERVICE
Our service includes advising you on your insurance needs, after we have assessed your needs; arranging your insurance cover with insurers that are licensed to trade in the United Kingdom. This includes both the company market and insurers at Lloyds of London. We will also help you with any ongoing changes that you have to make. We will also assist you, ensuring that any claim you may have is settled smoothly and as quickly as possible. In many instances, you will be given a free-phone number to report your claim and the insurance company concerned will deal with most of the claim handling. In the case of motor insurance, we will always offer Uninsured Loss Recovery Services, which is chargeable. In the event of non-fault claims, where ULR services have not been purchased, we will be unable to act for you.
PRODUCTS AVAILABLE
We offer a wide range of both commercial and personal insurance products from a selection of insurers. We cannot guarantee that we have obtained quotations for you from every insurer possible. We are required to make a fair market analysis of each risk and inform you accordingly which we will do..
INSURERS
We may conduct a full market analysis of potential insurers depending on the risk presented. We are not tied to any particular insurer, but depending on your needs we may only consider a specific product or products from a small section of insurers. We can if requested provide you with a complete list of insurers that we have used. We only use insurers that are rated by the normal credit rating agencies, but cannot guarantee the financial status of any insurer. As a guide. our Home & Motor Legal Expenses scheme is solely provided by ALPs Legal Protection and our Courtesy Car Scheme is provided by Aim Core Protect. Our stand alone Commercial Legal Expenses is normally provided by DAS. Our fashion scheme is provided in the main by Chubb Insurance
NON DISCLOSURE and POLICY DOCUMENTATION
We are obliged to stress the importance of you providing us with full and accurate information in order for us to advise you on the best contract for you. Any inaccurate, misleading, or omitted information may affect your policy cover and could result in no cover being granted in the event of a claim. Should you ever be in any doubt about what facts are considered relevant please contact us. It is also your responsibility to give Insurer’s details of any material changes to your circumstance that occur during the policy year.
If you are a consumer defined as an individual buying insurance wholly or mainly for purposes unrelated to your trade, business or profession, you must ensure you answer all questions put to you about your proposed insurance fully, honestly and to the best of your knowledge. If you do not understand the meaning of any question, or if you do not know the answer, it is vital that you tell us. Once cover has been arranged, you must immediately notify us or your insurer of any change to the information that has been previously provided. Should you withhold relevant information, incorrectly inform or lie about your circumstances before, during and at the renewal period of insurance, there could be a possibility of the claim being rejected.
If you are a commercial customer, or someone buying insurance mainly for purposes related to your trade, business or profession, you must disclose all ‘Material Facts’ to us or your insurers both at the outset and throughout the period of insurance cover. Material Facts are all the items of information that may influence the insurer’s decision over cover or the terms of your insurance. Once cover has been arranged, you must immediately notify us or your insurer of any change to the information that has been previously provided. Should you withhold relevant information, incorrectly inform or lie about your circumstances before, during and at the renewal period of insurance, there could be a possibility of the claim being rejected.
At all times it is your responsibility to ensure that the insured value is adequate and reflects current reinstatement/ replacement values. If you have any doubt about the insured value we recommend that you consult an appropriate professional (e.g. surveyor/accountant).
We will send you the policy documentation as soon as is practicable and this will include all conditions, warranties and specific exclusions. It is your responsibility to check the policy and check with us if you feel anything is not clear or incorrect.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
It is our intention to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times. If there are occasions when we do not meet your standards, please contact Mr Barry Burns, the Business Principal, either verbally or in writing, who will take details of your concerns. We will acknowledge this in writing, advising you of who is dealing with your concerns and attempt to address your concerns within five working days. If our investigations take longer we will provide a full response within 20 working days or explain our position and provide timescales for a full response. If you are still not satisfied you may refer this matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR. 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 and the circumstances of the claim. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS. Consumer credit is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
DOCUMENTS
We reserve the right to retain polices and certificates at this office until all payments due under the policy have been made and any cheques have cleared through our bank account. Any agreed facilities for payment of premiums by instalments will include our right to hold certificates of insurance until all such payments have been made. By accepting this agreement you agree that delivery of any motor certificates to BNF will constitute delivery to yourself in accordance with statute law.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY
Our maximum aggregate limit of liability in respect of any Professional Indemnity claims caused by our negligence made by you against us in a personal or professional capacity shall be limited to the level of insurance we hold under our Professional Indemnity Insurance which is currently £2,000,000.
Our maximum aggregate liability in respect of any and all claims made by you (under contract, tort, statute, negligence or otherwise) arising out of or in connection with our engagement to act in connection with any individual matter, shall be limited in aggregate to the sum of £2,000,000 in respect of each such matter (including interest and costs). Provided that this clause shall not exclude or limit our liability for: –
a) Death or personal injury caused by our negligence; or
b) Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation
Subject to a) and b) above, we shall under no circumstances whatever be liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, for any loss of profit, or any indirect or consequential loss arising under or in connection with the agreement.
Except as expressly provided in the agreement, all conditions, warranties, terms and undertakings, express or implied, statutory or otherwise in respect of the Services under this agreement are excluded to the fullest extent permissible by law.
DATA PROTECTION
Insurers pass information to the claims and underwriting exchange register, run by Insurance Database Services Ltd, and the motor insurance anti fraud and anti theft register, which is run by the Association of British Insurers. The aim of these databases is to help them check information provided and to prevent fraudulent claims. It also helps detect people who break the law by not taking out insurance.
Your personal details given to us are held on our computer system. They will not be made available to anyone except the insurer that you are entering into a contract with. In the case of a dispute, in order to comply with the FCA, information about you may be made available to them. If required by a court of law, we will be bound to provide information to them. We would like to use the information that we have about you to be able to provide you with other products that BNF can arrange. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have rights of access to any personal information we hold about you in our records.
CREDIT CHECKS
To ensure the best offer from insurers is made available now or at renewal, and also to protect their customers from fraud or to verify your identity, they may use publicly available data from a variety of sources including a credit check reference agency and other organisations. This search will appear on your credit report whether or not the application proceeds. They may also use a credit check to ascertain the most appropriate payment options for you. You will have been asked at the time of your initial quotation whether or not you agree to this check. Acceptance at the inception of the original policy assumes that you permit the same procedure at renewal without prior approval. Should you wish us to not use credit searches to facilitate the best premium please notify us in writing.
CREDIT TERMS, POLICY FEES & CHARGES AND CANCELLATIONS
We receive commission from most of the insurers or product providers however we may make the following charges to cover the administration of your policy. We also receive in most instances a small amount of commission for the arrangement of premium finance.
When you decide to take out a policy that has been arranged by us, by accepting the premium, you agree to the following scale of charges. A renewal is considered the same as a new policy as it is a new annual contract, although it may well be with the same insurer.
These fees are in addition to any charges levied by the insurers.
New and Renewal Business Fee – £30.00
Mid Term Adjustments – £17.50
Payments by credit card – 2% of premium paid by card
Debit Cards – No charge
In the event of cancellation of the insurance contract, Insurers may still require a proportion of the premium to be paid. In these circumstances our fees or brokerage will not normally be refundable. However, we will return any premiums net of commission refunded by insurers and a £30 cancellation fee Some policies, when cancelled, do not attract a refund. Typically these are Professional Indemnity, Travel and Legal Expenses. In the case of any cancelled policy, any extra fee charged for administration of your policy as per the scale above is non-refundable.
Where we receive no or minimal commission from the insurer we will charge an arrangement fee which will be disclosed before you commit to buying the product.
We use Premium Credit as our preferred Finance provider and act as a credit broker on their behalf. They are used as a new mandate is not required to add additional policies or if you change Insurers.
NEW QUOTATIONS
When we give you a quotation for insurance we will tell you the total price to be paid showing any fees and charges separately from the premium, before your insurance arrangements are concluded. If it is not possible to provide you with this information at the conclusion of the contract, we undertake to provide you with this information as soon as is practicable. The current rate of Insurance premium tax from 1st May 2017 is 12% and for travel policies 20%.
HANDLING YOUR MONEY
We hold all money collected for onward transmission to the insurance undertaking and return premiums and credits due to clients in a client bank account under a statutory trust in accordance with the authorisation we have from the Financial Conduct Authority. For the purpose of some transactions client money may pass through other authorised intermediaries before the insurer receives it. Where we collect money or hold money as agent of the insurance undertaking you will be notified accordingly. Should you wish to pay by instalments, please pay the deposit amount on or before the start date of the policy and we will send you a direct debit application form. Premium Credit is our preferred supplier of finance for insurance premiums. We use this method as it enables us to offer you an alternative insurance company at renewal without the need to pay a deposit or complete a new direct debit.
LAW AND JURISDICTION
All of our polices are issued by UK trading companies and as such any legal action against BNF Insurance Services or insurers will be dealt with in accordance with English Law and in English Courts.
EXTRA CONDITIONS
1. Payments of instalments or additional premiums must be paid by the due date. We are unable to pay insurers on your behalf and failure to pay a premium when due could result in your policy being cancelled and non payment by you will be deemed as an authority to BNF to cancel your policy with your insurer
2. In the event of cancellation of any motor policy, you undertake to comply with the conditions of the Road Traffic Act and surrender any current cover note or insurance certificate that may be in your possession. Sometimes there will be a balance to pay following cancellation by you, and this amount will become immediately due to the insurer
3. In the event of a claim and subsequent cancellation by you of your finance agreement, there may be a balance of premium due. This amount will become due immediately and must be paid to us.
4. If you have paid your deposit for insurance by credit/ debit card, we reserve the right to collect from that card any outstanding amounts following cancellation of the policy.
