The following Terms of Business Agreement sets out the basis on which Professional Indemnity Insurance Brokers Ltd (aka Professionalindemnity.co.uk) will provide business services to you as a consumer client of the firm.
Please contact us immediately if there is anything in these terms of business which you do not understand or with which you disagree. We are happy to answer any questions and willing to explain these terms and the reasons for them.
Professional Indemnity Insurance Brokers is an appointed representative of TEn Insurance Services Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our Firms Registration Number is 314593. TEn Insurance Services Ltd is permitted to deal as an agent of insurers and clients with respect to non-investment insurance policies. They are also authorised by the FCA for consumer credit broking/lending/debt management. They act for several lenders and are part of the same group as TEn Premium Finance Ltd. You can check these details online using the Financial Services Register accessible from www.fca.org.uk or by contacting the Financial Conduct Authority helpline on 0800 111 6768.
We offer insurance products from a range of insurers but where we use a single insurer or our choice has been restricted to a limited number of insurers we will advise you at the time we provide the quotation prior to the conclusion of the contract. A list of insurers is available on request.
In providing our services, we act as your agent in arranging insurance, although we may sometimes act as an agent of the insurer. If we are acting on behalf of the insurer, we will inform you about this in writing in good time prior to the conclusion of the contract.
Your duty of disclosure
Consumers: You must take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer. This means that all the answers you give and statements you make as part of your insurance application, including at renewal and when an amendment to your policy is required, should be honest and accurate. If you deliberately or carelessly misinform the insurers, this could mean that part of or all a claim may not be paid.
Commercial customers: Where we arrange insurance wholly or mainly for purposes related to your trade, business or profession, you have a duty under The Insurance Act 2015 to make a fair presentation of the risk. This means that you must disclose every material circumstance which you and/or your senior management and/or anyone responsible for arranging your insurance know or ought to know.
Alternatively, you must disclose sufficient information which would put the insurer on notice that it needs to make further enquiries for revealing those material circumstances. You are expected to carry out a reasonable search to make a fair presentation of the risk and will be deemed to know what should reasonably have been revealed by the search.
Your duty of fair presentation applies at the start of the policy, at renewal and when any variation of the policy is arranged. If you fail to make a fair presentation, the insurer may refuse to pay your claim or reduce the settlement amount, depending on the circumstances.
How to cancel
Please contact us immediately if you wish to cancel any insurance policy we have arranged for you. You may have a right to cancel a policy without penalty within the first 14 days (or, in some cases, longer). Please refer to your policy summary or your policy document for further details. If you cancel within this initial cancellation period (where this applies) you will receive a pro rata refund of premium from the insurer. However, insurers are entitled to make an administrative charge. In addition, we may charge an amount which reflects the administrative costs of arranging and cancelling the policy. Details of the amount we charge are given in our tariff of administration charges.
If you choose to cancel other than within an initial cancellation period you may not receive a pro-rata refund of premium. In addition, we may charge an amount that reflects the administrative costs of arranging and cancelling the policy (see our tariff of administration charges).
Protecting your information
We take your privacy extremely seriously and we will only use your personal details in line with our Privacy Notice. Please read our Privacy Notice carefully which can be found on our website at www.professionalindemnity.co.uk and contact us immediately if you have any queries. Where necessary, for example where we would like to use your data for some marketing purposes, we shall ask for your specific consent to do so. Your personal information includes all the details you have given us to process your insurance policy (we will not ask for more information than is necessary).
We may share your data with Third Parties for the provision and ongoing performance of your insurance policy. Your data may be transferred outside the UK. We will not sell, rent or trade your data under any circumstances. All the personal information you supply to us will be handled strictly in accordance with the applicable Data Protection regulations and legislation.
We and/or the insurers and/or credit providers may use publicly available data from a variety of sources, including credit reference agencies and other external organisations to verify your identity or creditworthiness, to avoid fraud, and to obtain beneficial quotes and payment options on your behalf. Each of the searches may appear on your credit report whether or not your application proceeds.
By accepting these terms and conditions you agree to these uses of your information.
If we have asked you for driving licence numbers when arranging motor insurance, we will obtain your explicit consent to their use by asking you to complete a Fair Obtaining Notice.
How to claim
Please refer to your policy summary or your policy document if you need to notify a claim. You should contact us or the insurer direct as soon as you become aware of any incident which could give rise to a claim. If in doubt about whom you should contact, or if you require our assistance in relation to a claim or potential claim please contact us.
If we are acting as agent of the insurer in handling your claim we will inform you in good time prior to your acceptance of the terms and conditions of the insurance contract and at the time you notify us of your intention to make a claim.
Fees and charges
We may charge a professional fee to cover the placing and ongoing handling of your insurances.
Where applicable, the specific amount and purpose of any of these fees and charges will always be advised to you in advance and before you agree to accept the policy. These charges may apply if you instruct us to arrange insurance, carry out a mid-term adjustment, renewal, cancellation or other work on your behalf.
If you pay your premium by instalments we shall inform you of any additional fees, charges or interest as part of your credit arrangements.
Our earnings
You are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding any commission which we may have received because of placing your insurance business or arranging premium finance. If you are a commercial customer please refer to your quotation or confirmation of cover documents.
Block transfers
In respect of some classes of insurance we may operate block insurance arrangements to provide competitive terms. This is where we place all insurances of a certain type with one insurer who can provide particularly competitive terms for all our customers. On occasions it will be necessary for us to transfer such blocks from one insurer to another where this is beneficial for our clients. This Terms of Business Agreement constitutes both your acceptance that we may do this and your prior request for us so to do.
Protecting your money
Prior to your premium being forwarded to the insurer (or forwarded to you in the event of a premium refund) we generally hold your money as an agent of the insurer with which we arrange your insurance. Where we hold premium as the agent of the insurer it is regarded as received by the insurer.
If we are not acting as an agent of the insurer when we receive your premium, we shall hold it as client money in trust for you within a client bank account with an approved bank. Our client bank account(s) may contain other clients’ money and money we hold as an agent of insurers. In line with strict FCA rules, our client bank account(s) is/are rigorously monitored to segregate and safeguard client money. We reserve the right to retain interest earned on our client bank accounts.
We may transfer/pay your premiums to the insurer through another party, such as a broker or underwriting agent for the purposes of effecting the transaction.
By accepting this Terms of Business Agreement, you are giving your consent for us to treat your money in this way. Please notify us immediately if you have any objection or query.
Complaints
It is our intention to provide a high level of service always. However, if you have reason to make a complaint about our service you should contact us immediately using the contact details on the first page of this document or the contact details at our Principal Firm, Ten Insurance Services Ltd in the complaints procedure document. You may be entitled to refer the matter subsequently to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service by telephone on 0800 0 234 567 and further information is available at 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. We will provide a summary of our complaints handling procedures should you make a complaint which we cannot resolve informally and at any other time, upon your request.
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, also without any upper limit. The compensation scheme does not apply to consumer credit.
Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS on 0800 678 1100 or 0207 741 4100 or by visiting www.fscs.org.uk
Money laundering/Proceeds of crime
We are obliged to report to the National Crime Agency any suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing activity and we are prohibited from disclosing any such report.
Adequacy of insurance values
It is the responsibility of the insured/policyholder to ensure that all sums insured and policy limits are adequate. Whilst we seek to assist in establishing and maintaining insured values and indemnity limits we cannot accept responsibility for their accuracy. It is strongly recommended that the appropriate Professional (e.g. Surveyor/Accountant) be consulted to ensure that the sums insured and limits under the policy are suitable.
Conflicts of interest
As insurance brokers we generally act as your agent in advising you, arranging your insurance and assisting you in the event of a claim. In certain circumstances we may act for and owe duties of care to insurers and/or other parties. Where we become aware of any actual or potential conflict of interest, we will inform you of the situation, the options available to you and obtain your consent before we proceed.
Insurer security
The insurers we use are regulated and are required to have adequate capital resources. However, we cannot guarantee the solvency of any insurer we place business with. An insolvent insurer may be unable to pay claims or may be unable to pay them in full and you may have to pay a further premium to pay for alternative insurance cover.
Termination
You or we may terminate authority to act in connection with your insurance arrangements at any time. Notice of termination must be given in writing and will be without prejudice to the completion of any transactions already commenced. Any business currently in progress will be completed unless we receive instructions to the contrary. Any premiums or fees outstanding will become payable immediately. In circumstances where we feel we cannot continue providing services to you, we will give you a minimum of 7 days’ notice.
Law and jurisdiction
These Terms of Business shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.