Our Terms of Business

Our Status and the Services provided

We are insurance brokers who arrange policies through a panel of leading insurers and intermediaries. Please note that for certain products we use only one insurance company. Our service includes advising you on your insurance needs, arranging your insurance cover and helping you with ongoing changes. We can also assist you with making a claim. We will not in any circumstances act as an insurer nor guarantee or warrant the solvency of any insurer.

Accepting our Terms of Business

By asking us to quote for, arrange or handle your insurances, you are providing your informed agreement to these Terms of Business.  If you are unsure about any aspect of our Terms of Business or have any questions regarding our relationship with you, please contact us using the above details.

Disclosure of Information

It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to your insurers when you take out your insurance policy, throughout the lifetime of the policy and when you renew your insurance. Any information, which might influence your insurer to accept, amend or decline your insurance proposal or renewal, must be disclosed. If you are unsure about disclosing any matter please contact us for guidance.  Failure to disclose any material information to your insurers or any inaccuracies in the information given could invalidate your insurance cover and mean that part or all of your claim may not be paid. Any advice we offer will be based on the details you provide. Always keep copies of correspondence sent or received concerning your insurance.

You are reminded that it is an offence under the Road Traffic Act to make any false statements or withhold any relevant information to obtain a Certificate of Motor Insurance.

Please note that under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 you are not required to disclose convictions regarded as ‘spent’.

Proposals Forms

It is important that you ensure that all statements that you make on a proposal form are full and accurate. All answers on proposal forms and statement made to your insurers, either in your handwriting or pre- printed, are your responsibility. When a policy is taken out, we will send you a copy of your proposal form or statement of fact, which shows the information you have supplied. If you ask us to amend any answer, or add additional information we will send you a copy of the revisions. You will have the opportunity to correct amendments. Sample policy wordings are available upon request.

Awareness of Policy Terms

You should read your policy carefully. The document, schedule and any Certificate of Insurance are the basis of the cover you have purchased. Please make sure that you understand them and are able to follow their requirements. Breach of any terms, conditions or warranties may able your insurer to terminate your policy or repudiate a claim under your policy.

Road Traffic Act

Customers are reminded that it is their personal responsibility under Road Traffic Act legislation to ensure that before using or permitting the use of a vehicle on the public highway, they are in possession of a current valid Certificate of Insurance or cover note. You must immediately notify the Company if your  Certificate of Insurance or cover note ‘ expires’ as no cover will exist until written or documentary confirmation has been received by you.

Data Protection Act and the Use of Personal Data

Any information we hold about you, whether on our computer system or on paper files will be treated as private and confidential. We will use and disclose the information we have in the normal course of administering or arranging cover on your insurance policy. We may also disclose details to relevant parties, as necessary, to comply with regulatory or legal requirements. We may also, on occasion, use the details we hold about you within our associated companies or pass them on to Third Parties so that we may tell you of our new products and services, which we think may interest you, by telephone, e-mail or post. If you do not wish to receive any marketing information please write to us and we will mark our records accordingly. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have rights of access to any personal information we hold about you in our records for which you will be charged a fee of £10. If you have any queries in respect of confidentiality and data protection please contact us.

Motor and Home Insurance Anti-Fraud Registers

Insurers share information with each other via the Claims and Underwriting Exchange Register and the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register, to aid the prevention of the fraudulent claims.  In the event of a claim, the information you supply on the claim form, together with any other information relating to the claim, will be out on the registers.

Motor Insurance Information Centre (MIIC)

Insurers are legally required to provide details of motor insurance policies to the MIIC.  The information describing your insurance cover will be added to the Motor Insurance Database, to which the police and other government agencies have access.  This helps the pursuance of claims following accidents and  aids  detection of those who are in contravention of the law by not taking out insurance.

No Claims Bonus

If you are unable to supply your previous insurer’s name, policy number and expiry date during the sale of your policy, you must provide written evidence within 14 days.  Failure to provide evidence within this period will result in the insurers issuing the policy at the gross premium (i.e. without benefit of the discount).  You will be immediately responsible for the balance of the premium payable and any subsequent cancellation will be calculated on the gross premium and subject to short period rates and charges detailed above.

Service Standards

It is our intention to provide you with high levels of service at all times.  In the unlikely event that you should have cause for complaint, you should write to the Managing Director at the address shown above.  We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint in writing, within 5 working days and provide you with a full written response within 20 working days, or explain the current position and provide you with a timescale for a full response.  We will endeavour to provide you with a final response within 8 weeks.

If you remain dissatisfied with our response to your complaint you may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.  To use their service you must be eligible and your complaint must be sent to them within 6 months of our final response letter.  Full details of our complaints handling procedures are available upon request.

Claims

We have no authority to handle claims on behalf of insurers.  In the event of an accident occurring, which may give rise to a claim under your policy, you should notify your insurer direct as soon as possible using the contact details in your policy schedule/document.

If there is any conflict of interest, we will only handle a claim on your behalf after we have disclosed to you all information you require, to enable you to decide whether to give your informed consent, and that you have given that consent.  We will forward any payments we receive from insurers in respect of any claim, without delay.

Administrative Charges

We do not refund any commission fee earnings as they were earned for arranging the policy.

You should also note that we will not be responsible for any fines or costs that you incur resulting from late delivery of, or incorrect information on, any documentation relating to your insurance.

Cancellation of Insurance Policies

1) Where cancellation rights exist

If you are an individual or sole trader (including a partnership in England and Wales) buying or renewing a policy which provides cover for you in both a private and business capacity, you have the right to cancel your policy during a period of 14 days either from the day of purchase of the contract or the day on which you receive your policy documentation, whichever the later.  When renewing an existing policy, the period applies from the date you renew the policy or the day on which you receive your policy documentation, whichever the later.  If you exercise this right and the cover has not yet commenced, you will be entitled to a full refund of the premium paid.  If the insurance has commenced and provided that you have not made a claim, you will be entitled to a refund of the premium paid, subject to deduction for the time that you have been on cover (calculated as a proportion of the annual premium) and a deduction of a proportion of the arrangement charge sufficient to cover our costs.

To exercise your right to cancel, please contact this office at the address shown.  You will be required to return any Certificates of Motor Insurance, immediately.

2) When cancellation rights do not exist

Unless otherwise stated, insurance policies are arranged for a period of 12 months and you are required to pay the full amount stated.  If you cancel the insurance before expiry date, (other than in accordance with paragraph (1) above) and there have been no claims, you may be charged short period rates in accordance with the scale of charges detailed by insurers terms and conditions, shown in your policy document.  We do not refund fee earnings as this was earned for arranging the policy.  Policyholders may cancel annual policies on return of the policy and/or Certificate of Insurance.  The cost of add-on products that you purchase (e.g. Legal Expenses) will be non-refundable (other than in accordance with paragraph (1) above).  If there are any unpaid monies when the policy is cancelled, we may withhold documents such as any No Claims Bonus to which you are entitled, until full payment is made.  If you paid the premium by instalments the credit charges made by the premium finance provider will not be refunded.

Quotations

Quotations provided by the company do not constitute offers.  All proposals and requests for insurance are subject to acceptance by insurers.  Premiums and terms are quoted subject to confirmation and agreement by insurers.  Your insurer has the right to decline your risk, increase the premium or restrict the policy if any errors or omissions are found on the proposal or statement of fact.

Payments of Premiums and Refunds

Unless otherwise agreed and formalised by a premium instalment plan, all premiums are due on the day cover is arranged, the date the policy is due for renewal or the date of any mid-term adjustment.

We may keep certain documents such as your insurance policy documents or Certificate whilst we await full payment of the premiums.  In these circumstances, we will ensure that you receive full details of your insurer’s cover and we will provide you with any document you are required to have by law.

We will not accept responsibility for cancellation of insurance by insurers due to late or non-payment of premium by customers.  Instalment deposits, legal expenses and breakdown or associated policies are non-refundable.  All refunded premiums will be made by cheque, payable to the policyholder.

For the avoidance of doubt, the premiums due for policies that Castle Grove Insurance Services Ltd arrange on behalf of clients are due to be paid in full to Castle Grove Insurance Services Ltd unless otherwise advised. We will pursue our legal rights to recover any unpaid premiums for policies that we arrange on behalf of clients. This may mean recovery action which leads to court action which may affect your ability to obtain credit in the future.

Withholding Documents

We reserve the right to retain certain documents until all payments due have been made and any cheques cleared.  We will provide any documents you are required to have by law.

Risk Transfer

Our financial arrangements with most insurance companies are on a ‘Risk Transfer’ basis.  This means that we act as agents of the insurer in collecting premiums and handling refunds due to clients. In these circumstances such monies are deemed to be held by the insurer(s) with which your insurance is arranged.  However, if Risk Transfer does not apply, such monies will be held by us in a Statutory Trust account set up in accordance with FSA rules. 

Earning Interest on Customer Premiums

We hold premiums that you pay us in a Client Money Bank Account.  Under FSA Regulations we have to inform you that we may earn interest from money held in our Client Money Bank Account, which may exceed £20.00 for any one transaction that you make with us.  Interest earned will not be held for the benefit of customers.  By accepting these Terms of Business, you are giving you consent for us to act in the manner described above.

Customer Money Passed to Another Person

In accordance with FSA Regulations we have to inform you that in managing and/or arranging your insurance requirements, we may transfer money that you have paid us in payment of an insurance premium, to another insurance intermediary.  By accepting these Terms of Business, you are giving your consent for us to act in the manner described above.

Customer Money Passed to Another Person Outside the UK

In managing and/or arranging your insurance requirements, we may transfer money that you have paid us in payment of an insurance premium, to another insurance intermediary operating outside of the United Kingdom.  Unless you notify us that you do not wish your premiums to be transferred in the manner outlined, by accepting these Terms of Business you are giving your consent for us to act in the manner described.  You should note that legal and regulatory regime applying to the insurance intermediary may differ from that in the United Kingdom and consequently, if the intermediary fails, the premium may be treated in a different manner from that which would apply if the premium was held by an insurance intermediary in the United Kingdom.

Segregation of Investments

We hold premiums that you pay to us in a Client Money Bank Account.  We may invest these premiums in a range of permitted designated investments as prescribed by FSA Regulations.  In the event that there is any shortfall in our client money resource attributable to falls in the market value of any of these permitted designated investments, we shall make provision for, and bear the cost of, any such shortfall.  By accepting these Terms of Business, you are giving your consent for us to act in the manner described above.

Other Taxes or Costs

 Please note that there is a possibility that other taxes and/or costs may exist in respect of products and services offered by us, which are not paid through or imposed by us.

Governing Law

This agreement shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales and the parties agree herewith that any dispute arising out of it shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

Variations

No variations to these Terms are held to be valid unless in writing and signed by an authorised officer of the Company.  The Company’s staff are not authorised to agree to any variations of these Terms but they may be varied by the Company from time to time.

Commission

Prior to the conclusion of each insurance contract, or upon renewal, we will remind you of your right to be advised of the level of commission which we receive from underwriters. You are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding any commission which we may have received as a result of placing your insurance business. 

Statutory Rights

Agreement to our terms of Business does not affect your normal statutory rights.

Schedule of fees

Version 3 – February 2010