OUR SERVICE
We offer a wide range of insurance products and have access to many rated Insurers in the marketplace which we have selected as offering security, value for money and quality service.
For some types of insurance we may deal with a single or limited number of Insurers. We do not deal with unrated Insurers which means that the terms offered may not be the least expensive available.
We will give you details of these arrangements before you make any commitment on any product we offer you and a list of the Insurers used in these cases will be available on request.
We will explain the main features of the products and services that we offer you including details of the provider, main details of cover and benefits, any unusual restrictions or exclusions, any significant conditions or obligations and the period of cover.
We will make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your needs or advise you if we are unable to place your insurance. In some circumstances we provide information only and do not therefore make a personal recommendation. The documentation we provide will make it clear whether the sale is provided on an advised or non-advised basis.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION – YOUR DUTY TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION
CONSUMER CUSTOMERS ONLY
Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representation) Act 2012 it is your duty as a consumer to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to an Insurer.
Under the Act a consumer is defined as an individual who enters into an insurance contract wholly or mainly for purposes unrelated to the individual’s trade, business or profession.
A failure by the consumer to comply with the Insurer’s request to confirm or amend particulars previously given is capable of being a misrepresentation for the purpose of this act.
It is important that you ensure all statements you make on proposal forms, claim forms and other documents are full and accurate and we recommend that you keep a copy of all correspondence in relation to the arrangement of your insurance.
Under the act an Insurer has a remedy against a consumer in respect of qualifying misrepresentations in breach of the consumers’ duty of reasonable care where the Insurer deems the misrepresentation to be either deliberate, reckless or careless.
If in doubt about any point in relation to your duty to take reasonable care and subsequent qualifying misrepresentations please contact us immediately.
COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS ONLY
It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to Insurers when you take out an insurance policy, throughout the life of the policy, and when you renew your insurance.
It is important that you ensure all statements you make on proposal forms, claim forms and other documents are full and accurate and we recommend that you keep a copy of all correspondence in relation to the arrangement of your insurance.
Please also note that any renewal of insurance will be made in reliance upon the information provided by you in connection with your previous insurance policy – we will assume that such information remains correct unless you tell us otherwise.
Please note that if you fail to disclose any material information to us and your Insurers, this could invalidate your insurance cover and could mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid. You should take particular care to check the accuracy of all information you provide.
If in doubt about any point in relation to material facts please contact us immediately.
FINANCIAL CRIME
Please be aware that current UK money laundering regulations require us to obtain adequate ‘Know Your Client’ information about you. We are also required to cross check you against the HM Financial Sanctions List as part of the information gathering process.
We are obliged to report to the Serious Organised Crime Agency any evidence or suspicion of financial crime at the first opportunity and we are prohibited from disclosing any such report.
We will not permit our employees or other persons engaged by them to be either influenced or influence others in respect of undue payments or privileges from or to Insurers or clients.
TERMS OF PAYMENT
Our payment terms are as follows (unless specifically agreed by us in writing to the contrary):-
New policies: immediate payment on or before the inception date of the policy
Alterations to existing policies: immediate payment on or before the effective date of the change
Renewals: due in full by the renewal date
If payment is not received from you in accordance with the above terms, we, or your Insurer may be forced to cancel or lapse the relevant policy/policies, which could mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid. You may also be in breach of legally required insurance cover.
When renewal is invited and the policy is paid by monthly direct debit we will issue a renewal reminder notice to you. Where the premium is paid by monthly direct debit by you directly to the Insurer to ensure you are not left without cover the absence of a response to this renewal reminder notice will be deemed as your consent to cover being renewed automatically.
If any direct debit or other payment due in respect of any credit agreement you enter into to pay insurance premiums is not met when presented for payment or if you end the credit agreement we will be informed of such events by the credit provider.
If you do not rectify the situation or make other arrangements with us to pay the insurance premiums you acknowledge and agree that we may at any time after being so informed instruct on your behalf the 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 under your credit agreement pay it to the credit provider or if we have already been debited with the amount outstanding use it to offset our costs. You will be responsible for paying any time on risk charge and putting in place any alternative insurance and/or payment arrangements you need.
Any payment we receive from you will be held by us in a Statutory Client Trust Bank Account held with the Yorkshire Bank and will be held on behalf of the provider with whom we arrange your policy as their agent. This means that any payment you make to us will be regarded as having been paid to the provider, this is known as risk transfer.
By instructing us to place insurance on your behalf you give your informed consent to these Client Money procedures. If there are any matters which you do not understand or do not accept you should discuss them with us before proceeding.
No interest will be payable to customers in respect of the monies held in the client account. Any interest earned will remain in the ownership of Royton Insurance Services.
We accept payments by cheque, cash, postal order or debit card. Alternatively, you may be able to spread the payment by the Insurer’s direct debit instalment scheme or a direct debit credit scheme which we can arrange with a Premium Finance Company.
Please note that where you are paying the premium by monthly direct debit you are not paying for a month’s insurance – you are paying the annual premium spread out over the respective number of instalments – cancellation of a policy may mean that you have not paid a sufficient amount to cover the time on risk charge made by the Insurance Company as at the date of cancellation and any shortfall will still have to be paid by you. Cancellation of a direct debit mandate/authority does not automatically cancel the policy. Where a claim has been made in the current period of insurance then the full annual premium will still have to be paid – the Insurance Company may deduct any outstanding instalment payments from the claim settlement.
NOTIFICATION OF INCIDENTS/CLAIMS
It is essential to notify us immediately of all incidents that may result in a claim against your insurance policy. You must do so whether you believe you are liable or not. Any letter or claim received by you must be passed to us immediately, without acknowledgement.
Only by providing prompt notification of incidents can your insurance company take steps to protect your interests.
Your policy summary and/or policy document will provide you with details on who to contact to make a claim.
Please contact us if you require any guidance on claiming under your policy.
CANCELLATION
Your policy document will detail 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 of either conclusion of the contract or receiving your policy documentation whichever occurs later. This is referred to as a cooling off period.
Where you cancel a policy before renewal you will be responsible for paying a charge to meet the cost of cover provided and administration expenses. Please see the refunds section.
To enable your Insurer to process the cancellation, you will need to return the certificate of insurance to us within 7 days of your notice to cancel.
Note that upon cancellation of a motor insurance policy any legal expenses/claims assistance or Keep Motoring Car Hire policy will also be cancelled on the same date.
CHARGES/FEES
In addition to the amount charged by Insurers we also make charges to cover the processing/administration of your insurance.
A fee of:-
£5 for each new or renewal of a travel insurance policy with a premium up to £49.99
£10 for each new or renewal of a travel insurance policy with a premium between £50.00 and £499.99
£25 for each new or renewal of a travel insurance policy with a premium over £499.99
£5 for each new or renewal of an insurance policy for a consumer customer with a premium up to £49.99 other than for a travel insurance policy
£10 for each new or renewal of an insurance policy for a consumer customer with a premium over £49.99 other than for a travel insurance policy
£5 for each new or renewal of an insurance policy for a commercial customer with a premium up to £49.99
£10 for each new or renewal of an insurance policy for a commercial customer with a premium from £50.00 up to £99.99
£25 for each new or renewal of an insurance policy for a commercial customer with a premium from £100.00 up to £999.99
£35 for each new or renewal of an insurance policy for a commercial customer with a premium over £999.99
£5 for each adjustment to a policy
£5 for the issue of any duplicate documents
£3 for a policy or a duplicate policy document to be posted to you (no charge for emailed documents)
£25 for a new policy or renewal of a policy where a policy is issued to us on a net rated basis
£25 will be deducted from any return premium allowed following the cancellation of a policy
£21 where a cheque is paid to us and the issuing Bank advise us that the cheque has been represented
£31 if a cheque is stopped by you or is returned by your Bank unpaid refer to drawer
Where we arrange a non-commission paying policy we will charge an arrangement fee and will advise you of the actual amount at the time of quotation or renewal.
Where we arrange a non-commission paying policy we will charge an arrangement fee and will advise you of the actual amount at the time of quotation or renewal.
These fees may be subject to change and where there are any changes we will confirm this and the actual amount which will always be disclosed to you before you commit to purchasing the product.
As insurance brokers our remuneration may be as a fee agreed with you and/or from commission paid to us by Insurers. You are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding any commission which we may have received as a result of placing or renewing your insurance cover.
We take any commission once we receive your payment as cleared funds and prior to payment of the premium to the Insurer.
We may occasionally receive additional remuneration from certain Insurers for insurance policies we place with them, finance providers, claims management services and others.
Where you choose to pay your premium by instalments, we may use a scheme operated by your Insurer or we may use a single finance provider and we may receive a commission from them. We will advise the customer of any commission payable by the lender in relation to a credit agreement where knowledge of the existence or amount of commission could affect the impartiality of the firm in recommending a particular product or have a material impact on the customers transactional decision.
Any applicable HM Government Insurance Premium Tax and/or Value Added Tax will be shown on the documentation we provide to you.
REFUNDS
Where a policy is cancelled before renewal, Insurers charge to cover their costs with the balance refunded to you, subject to no claim having been made. Full details will be available in your policy. In the event of an adjustment giving rise to a return of premium the amount may be refunded or held to credit.
Your attention is specifically drawn to the following:-
Where you cancel your policy after the expiry of the cooling off period or where you request a mid-term adjustment which results in a refund of premium, we reserve the right to charge you an administration/processing charge. This will usually result in us reducing the amount refunded to you by the full amount of the commission and fees we would have received had you not cancelled or made an adjustment. For certain commercial insurance policies, Insurers will only provide cover where the premium is due in full on inception of the policy. This means that no refund will be paid if the policy is cancelled before renewal.
In view of the cost involved in making changes to your policy, we will not issue refunds of less than £25.
COMPLAINTS
It is always our intention to provide you with a high level of service at all times. However if you should wish to complain about our service(including information or documentation we have issued to you) in the first instance if you wish to register a complaint please contact us in writing – to our Mr Michael Taylor at Royton Insurance Services, 120 Rochdale Road, Royton, Oldham OL2 6QF
by phone on 0161 652 0225
by fax on 0161 652 6234 by email to roytoninsurance@hotmail.com
Your complaint will be acknowledged within 5 business days of receipt, you will be advised of the name of the person dealing with the complaint, you will be advised when you can expect to receive a response and will be given the latest position of the complaint within 20 business days. If your complaint cannot be settled with us you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Services Ombudsman Service. This complaints procedure does not affect your statutory rights.
SOLVENCY OF INSURERS
Whilst we only deal with reputable Insurers who are members of the Association of British Insurers and who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Prudent Authority we cannot guarantee the solvency of any Insurer with which we
place business. This means that you may still be liable for any premium due and not be able to recover the premium paid, whether in full or in part should an Insurer become insolvent.
FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPENSATION SCHEME (FSCS)
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and you may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme at www.fscs.org.uk
CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION
We are registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and we undertake to comply with the Act in all our dealings with your personal data.
All information about you of a sensitive or personal nature will be treated as private and confidential. We will however use and disclose the information we have about you in the course of arranging, placing and administering your insurance. This may involve passing information about you to Insurers, other intermediaries, risk management assessors, uninsured loss recovery agencies and other third parties involved (directly or indirectly) in your insurance.
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 use public and personal data from a variety of sources, including credit reference agencies and other organisations. Our search will appear on your credit report and will be visible to other credit providers whether or not your application proceeds. If you do not proceed it will be clear the search was for quotation purposes. By agreeing to the terms and conditions you agree to these uses of your information.
We may also pass information about you to credit reference agencies and premium finance providers in connection with the assessment of your financial standing generally and, in particular, where you have requested a premium instalment plan – this may include details of your payment record with us.
We may also pass information about you to other companies with which we are associated. We or they may also use the information we hold about you to provide you with information on other products and services we or they can offer and which we or they feel may be of interest to you. Please notify us promptly in writing if you do not wish your details to be used for any of these purposes otherwise we shall treat the issue of these Terms as evidence of your informed consent.
COMMUNICATIONS/DOCUMENTATION
We will issue all documentation to you in a timely manner. Documentation relating to your insurance will confirm the basis of the cover and provide details of the relevant Insurers. It is therefore important that the documentation is kept in a safe place, as you may need to refer to it or need it to make a claim.
A new policy/policy booklet is not necessarily provided each year, although a duplicate can be provided at any time upon request.
You should always check the documentation to ensure all the details are correct and if this is not the case you should contact us immediately.
DOCUMENTS
We may keep certain documents such as your policy documents and/or certificate of motor insurance while we are awaiting for full payment of premiums. In these circumstances we will ensure that you receive full details of your insurance cover and will provide you with any documents which you are required to have by law.
GENERAL
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, the validity of the other provisions of these Terms and the remainder of the provision in question will not be affected.
These Terms shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales or Scotland and the parties agree herewith that any dispute arising out of it shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the relevant court.
These Terms supersede all proposals, prior discussions and representations (whether oral or written) between us relating to our appointment as your agent in connection with the arranging and administration of your insurance. These Terms constitute an offer by us to act on your behalf in the arranging and administration of your insurance. In the absence of any specific acceptance communicated to us by you (whether verbal or written) you are deemed to accept our offer to act for you on the basis of these Terms, by conduct, upon your instructing us to arrange, renew or otherwise act for you in connection with insurance matters.
CONTACT DETAILS
Royton Insurance Services
120 Rochdale Road
Royton
Oldham
OL2 6QF
Tel: 0161 652 0225
Fax: 0161 652 6234
email roytoninsurance@hotmail.com
Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9SR
Tel : 0800 023 4567
email : enquiries@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
10th Floor
Beaufort House
St Botolph Street
London EC3A 7QU
Tel : 0800 678 1100
email : enquiries@fscs.org.uk
Website: www.fcs.org.uk