Terms & Conditions of Business Agreement

This document is important and sets out the basis upon which we will carry on our business with you. We are committed to providing a high standard of professional service that meets both industry standards and the requirements of the Financial Services Authority.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA)

Brown & Quinn Insurance Services Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), our firm reference number is 456214. We are permitted to arrange, advise on, deal as an agent of insurers and assist in claims handling with respect to non-investment insurance policies. You can check that we are authorised and regulated by visiting the FSA website at www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234

Who We Are

Our service includes advising you on your insurance needs, arranging your insurance cover with insurers to meet your requirements, and helping you with any ongoing changes you have to make. As part of our service, we can also assist you with any claim you need to make.

We provide advice that has been based on a fair analysis of a sufficient number of similar contracts available in the market.  This applies in all cases unless we advise you to the contrary.  However, for motor, household, legal expenses policies and travel insurance we only deal with a limited number of providers. You may ask us for a list of these providers.

Disclosure

Your insurance is based upon the information provided to the insurance company and you must ensure that all such information is complete and accurate, and that any facts which may influence the insurer's decision to accept the risk or the terms offered have been disclosed. The duty to disclose information continues during the life of the policy, and at renewal you must make sure you inform your insurer of any changes affecting your insurance.

You are responsible for all answers or statements on proposal forms, claim forms or other material documents. It is important that you ensure all statements you make on any proposal form, claim form, and other documents, are full and accurate. If a Statement of Fact has been completed on your behalf, you should check that the answers shown to any questions are true and accurate before signing the document.

Failure to disclose material information at the start of the policy or advise the insurer of changes to the risk during the period of insurance may invalidate your insurance cover and could mean that part, or all, of a claim may not be paid.

If you are in any doubt whether the information is material you should disclose the information.

Awareness of Policy Terms

When a Policy is issued, you are strongly advised to read it carefully, as it is that document, the schedule and any certificate of insurance that is the basis of the insurance contract you have purchased.

If you do not understand them or cannot follow their requirements, please advise us immediately, as a breach of any terms, conditions or warranties may enable your insurer to terminate your policy from the date of that breach, and/or repudiate a claim under your policy.If you are in any doubt over any of the policy terms and conditions, please seek our advice promptly.

Please also take account of the terms of any premium payment warranty requiring payment of the premium within a particular period of time.

Confidentiality

All personal and sensitive information about our customers is treated as private and confidential, except where the disclosure is made at your request, with your consent, in relation to arranging your insurance or where we are required to by law. Also as part of the FSA's duties, we may be asked to provide them with access to our customer records in order that they may carry out a review of our activities.

Some or all of the information you supply to us in connection with your insurance proposal will be held on computer and may be passed to other insurance companies for underwriting and claims purposes.

We may pass information about you to credit reference agencies for the purpose of arranging payments by instalments, and may also pass to them records of your payment history with us.

In addition, we may use some of the information to advise you of other products and services offered by insurance companies and we may pass details to other carefully selected companies whose products and services we feel may be of interest. If you do not wish to receive such details, please contact us.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, individuals have a right to see personal information about them that we hold in our records.  A charge may be made for this service.  If you wish to exercise this right, or have any other related queries, you should write to us at the above address.

Claims

It is essential that we are notified immediately of any claims, or circumstances, which could give rise to a claim. When you notify us, you must include all material facts concerning the claim. Your policy will describe in detail the procedures and conditions in connection with making a claim and you must comply with any conditions imposed by your insurer.

When we receive notification of an incident that might give rise to a claim under your policy, we will inform the insurer without delay, or direct you to any insurer's claims reporting facility, as appropriate.

Where we handle claims on your behalf we will use our best endeavours when acting on your behalf in relation to a claim, to handle all elements of the claim with due care, skill and diligence.

Where we handle claims on your behalf  we will advise you promptly of insurers' requirements concerning claims, including the provision, as soon as possible, of information required to establish the nature and extent of a loss.

Settlement of claims may be dependent upon collection of claims monies from insurers. Part payments may be made during the collection process, but we cannot be responsible for the wrongful non-payment or delay by insurers in paying any claim.

Costs, Fees and Commissions

When we arrange your insurance we usually receive commission from the Insurer with whom that insurance is placed unless we have entered into an arrangement where our services are provided for an agreed fee. This commission varies by both insurer and type of policy.

Where we decide to forgo such commission as is offered and agree a fee with you instead that covers our costs and expenses, we will always advise you of the amount before we put your insurance arrangements into force and before you incur a liability to pay such fees. They will also be shown on our invoices to you.

With certain Insurers and products, the commission obtainable is insufficient to cover our costs and expenses. Where this occurs, we may charge a fee in addition to the commission that we will receive from the Insurer. When we charge fees as outlined in this paragraph we will always advise you of the fee amount before we put your insurance arrangements into force, and before you incur a liability to pay such fees. Fees will be shown as such on our invoices to you.

We may make a "document charge" that will be shown on our invoice to you, of up to £25.00 per transaction, per policy, in respect of document handling relating to your insurance. This charge will be applied for new business; renewals; any change to your policy involving an amendment to your premium; and cancellation of any policy (other than at the policy renewal date).

We may also receive remuneration from premium finance and credit reference agencies and from some Insurers with whom we have profit sharing arrangements. Such amounts will solely be for our account.

In the event of cancellation of any insurance contract after inception, Insurers may return a pro rata premium to us. Once our remuneration has been earned at the commencement of the contract, our commission or fees will not usually be returnable. We therefore reserve the right to retain our brokerage or fees in full from any return due to you in such circumstances.

Client Money

Prior to your premium being forwarded to the insurer, and for your protection, we either hold your money as an agent of the insurer (in which case your insurance is treated as being paid for), or we hold client money separate from our own money with an approved bank, segregated in a client bank account designated as subject to a Statutory Trust.  We act as Trustees of our clients’ monies and must meet certain legal and regulatory conditions. We also reserve the right to retain interest earned on this account.

Customer Protection Information

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 Sean Quinn either verbally or in writing at Brown & Quinn Insurance Services Ltd, Riverview House, Friarton Road, Perth. PH2 8DF, who will take details of your concerns.

We will acknowledge in writing, advising you of who is dealing with your concerns and attempt to address your concerns within 5 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 response. If we cannot satisfy your complaint you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

We are covered by the 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. You can get more information about compensation arrangements from the FSCS.

Insurance advising 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 (Employers Liability and Third Party Motor insurance), insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim, without any upper limit.