Central Insurance Services Limited
TERMS OF BUSINESS AND STATUS DISCLOSURE
Please read this document carefully. It sets out the terms on which we agree to act for our clients and contains details of our regulatory and statutory responsibilities
Authorisation
Central Insurance Services Limited of 7-17 Albert Street, Aberdeen AB25 1XX is an Independent Insurance Intermediary (Broker). We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. Our FSA Reference number is 308762.
We are permitted under the FSA to advise on, arrange and assist in the administration and performance of general insurance contracts.
The above information is available to check on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.
Ownership
Central Insurance Services Ltd has no direct, or indirect, holding in any insurer and no insurer has any direct, or indirect, holding in Central Insurance Services Ltd.
Level of Service and Products Offered
In relation to the general insurance products we offer, we can provide advice, or information:
- on the basis of a fair analysis of the market; or
- from a limited number of Insurers; or
- from a single Insurer.
Where we offer advice or information from a limited number of Insurers, or a single Insurer, we will advise you and, if you ask us to do so, we will provide you with a list of the Insurer/s.
Before your insurance contract is concluded, you will be provided with a statement setting out your demands and needs, which will confirm whether we have made a personal recommendation and, if so, explaining the reasons for our recommendation. This statement may be incorporated within other insurance documentation.
If you request it, or if you require immediate insurance cover, we will give you this information orally but, in any event, we will still provide you with the statement immediately after conclusion of the insurance contract.
Unless otherwise agreed, any quotation given will remain valid for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of issue of the quotation.
Insurer Solvency
We subscribe to a rating agency, Standard & Poors, who update us regularly regarding insurer solvency.
Whilst we will take all reasonable steps to place your insurance with an insurer capable of meeting its future liabilities, we are unable to guarantee the continuing solvency of any company and do not accept liability for any losses arising or any additional costs in replacing the insurance with an alternative insurer.
Money Laundering/ Proceeds of Crime Act
Under UK Money Laundering regulations, we are obliged to report to the National Criminal Intelligence Services any situation giving rise to a suspicion of money laundering and we are prohibited from disclosing any such report.
Your duty to disclose material information
It is important that you understand that any information, statements or answers made by you to your insurer or us are your responsibility and must be correct. Your attention is particularly drawn to the importance of the declaration and signature on any insurers’ Proposal Forms as any failure to disclose facts material to the insurance or any inaccuracies in your answers may invalidate your insurance cover in part or in whole. Facts material to the insurance are matters or information which may influence your Insurer as to the acceptability or otherwise of your Proposal or Renewal (for example, a conviction or claims history) and must be disclosed at the earliest opportunity and certainly at each renewal. You are advised to keep copies of documentation sent to or received from us for your own protection. Please consult us if you are in doubt on any aspect.
Remuneration
The remuneration we receive for our services is normally in the form of brokerage, which is a percentage of the insurance premium paid by you and allowed by the insurer with whom the insurance is placed. However, there may be occasions where we will charge you a fee for advice or services in addition to any insurance premiums. Where this is the case, we will fully explain the basis of our charging and agree with you what the fee is for and when the fee is payable before charging that fee. Any other fees relating to any particular insurance policy will be included in the quotation you receive.
In addition to such brokerage or agreed fees basis of remuneration, we may also benefit from:
- Earnings which we are able to generate due to the weight of our account placed with certain insurers and its underwriting performance, which is not identifiable to any specific account.
- Earnings which are receivable from premium finance companies calculated by reference to the total volume of premiums financed, delinquency ratios and average financing rates applied
Premium Payment
Premiums must be paid in full prior to either the inception date of the policy or by the due date in respect of renewal. Unless we have agreed alternative arrangements in writing, failure to do so may invalidate the cover and enable insurers to cancel the policy.
Where insurers have specified that the premium must be received by a certain date by application of a Premium Payment Condition or Warranty and we have advised you of this, failure to comply may entitle them to cancel cover from inception.
Client Money (General)
Central Insurance Services Ltd is governed by strict rules pertaining to Client Money, set down by our Regulator the Financial Services Authority. We may earn interest on monies held in our Client Account, for which you consent to our retaining. Client Money will be deposited in an approved bank. The monies paid by you to us may be held on a Statutory Trust basis or held by us as agents of Insurers as detailed below.
Client Money (Statutory Trust)
Central Insurance Services Ltd holds its Clients’ Monies on trust. This means that whilst we have legal ownership over Client Monies, such money remains in the beneficial ownership of our clients. We are not permitted to, and do not, use Client Money balances to provide credit for clients, or potential clients.
Payments to Third Parties
We may transfer Client Money to another person, such as another broker or settlement agent, for the purpose of effecting a transaction on your behalf. On occasions, Client Money may be passed to organizations outside the UK. The legal and regulatory regime applying outside the UK may be different from that of the UK and, in the event of failure of a third party outside the UK, this money may be treated in a different manner from that which would apply if the money were held by a third party organization in the UK.
Client Money (Holding money as an agent)
Central Insurance Services Ltd acts as agents for a number of Insurers for the collection of premiums and payment of claims and refunds of premiums. This means that premiums are treated as being received by these Insurers when received in our bank account and that any claims money or premium refund is treated as received by you when it is actually paid over to you.
Renewal and Cancellation of Insurance
Where payment for the contract you have undertaken is by regular instalment, for example by direct debit, you give your consent to the contract being automatically renewed, without further reference to you, at the renewal date. This means that insurance will continue to be provided to you, and you will be obliged to continue to pay for such insurance, unless you specifically contact us at renewal to notify us that you no longer require such insurance.
Your insurance policy may contain a right to cancel within a specified period of time of taking up the policy. You will be informed upon inception or renewal of your contract what cancellation rights apply to your policy and, if so, how and when you should exercise any such rights.
Claims
If you have occasion to claim or an incident arises that may give rise to a claim on your policy, you must advise us immediately so that we can ensure that your claim is passed to the insurer promptly or inform you that we cannot deal with the notification. You should not admit liability nor agree to any course of action, other than emergency measures carried out to minimize the loss, until you have agreement from your insurer.
We have the authority, in certain circumstances, to settle claims on behalf of Norwich Union Insurance and Royal & SunAlliance Insurance.
Conflicts of Interest
Occasions can arise where we, or one of our other customers, will have some form of interest in business that we are transacting for you. If this happens, or we become aware that our interest or those of one of our customers conflicts with your interests, we will inform you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions. As an example, a conflict of interests may arise where we have authority to settle claims on behalf of the insurer.
Duty of Care and Confidentiality
We will keep records of all our business transactions for a minimum period of three years. We treat all our clients’ records as confidential even when they are no longer a client. No information will be passed to another party without your prior consent unless we are legally obliged to do so, or to meet our regulatory requirements. We cannot be held responsible for incorrect data held in the event of non-disclosure.
Insurers pass information to the Claims and Underwriting Exchange run by Insurance Database Services Ltd and the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register run by the Association of British Insurers. The aim is to check information provided and also prevent fraudulent claims.
Motor Insurance details are added to the Motor Insurance Database run by the Motor Insurers Information Centre that has been formed to help identify uninsured drivers and may be searched by the police to help confirm who is insured to drive. In the event of an accident the database may be used by insurers and the Motor Insurers Bureau to identify relevant policy information.
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have the right of access to your personal records held on our files. This may incur a small administration fee and we will tell you what the fee is if you ask for a copy of your information.
Previous Insurances
In circumstances where you appoint us to act as your Insurance Intermediary (Broker) and administer policies arranged by another intermediary or intermediaries, we will not be liable for any loss resulting from the advice or possible negligence of your previous intermediary or intermediaries howsoever caused. Unless instructed otherwise we will not undertake to review any of your previous insurance contracts other than contracts in force at the time of our appointment.
Complaints and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
We will endeavour to act fairly and reasonably at all times and provide you with a professional service. Should you have any complaints about the service provided, please contact us in writing to The Compliance Director, Central Insurance Services Ltd, 7 – 17 Albert Street, Aberdeen AB25 1XX, or telephone us on 01224 656656.
If you cannot resolve your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to which we subscribe. The contact details are as follows:
The Financial Ombudsman Services, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR or e-mail financial-ombudsman.org.uk. The telephone number is 0207 964 1000
The FOS is available to Retail (private) customers and Commercial customers with a turnover of less than £1,000,000.
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and 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 100% of the first £2,000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim, without any upper limit. For compulsory classes of insurance, insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim, without any upper limit.
Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.
Policy Documents
Policy documents will be issued to you as quickly as possible after receipt from insurers.
When a policy is issued you are strongly advised to read it carefully as it is this document, the schedule and any certificate of insurance which forms the basis of the insurance contract you have purchased. If you are in doubt over any of the policy terms or conditions, please seek our advice promptly.
For certain types of insurance, for example Employers and Public Liability, it is possible that a claim may be made under a policy long after expiry date of the cover. It is therefore important that all policy documentation is kept safely, particularly that which may be called upon to provide protection beyond the expiry date of cover.
Retention of Documents
We reserve the right to retain certificates and other policy documents at this office until all payments due under the policy have been made in accordance with our invoice or statement. By accepting this agreement, you agree that delivery of any Certificate of Insurance to us shall constitute delivery to yourself in accordance with legal requirements. Should we withhold any documents, we will ensure that you are provided with full details of your insurance cover.
Adequacy of Sums Insured and Limits
At all times it is the responsibility of you, the insured, to ensure that insured values and policy limits are adequate and property sums insured properly reflect current reinstatement / replacement costs. Whilst we seek to assist in establishing and maintaining insured values 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 under the policy are correct.
Note
Your acceptance of these Terms of Business does not affect your normal rights.
If you have further enquires or want further details,
please use our information request form, or contact us on:
Services available to UK residents and businesses
and introductions from overseas only
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