Terms of Business

Terms of Business Agreement – Direct Retail Customers

Alarminsure

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. Please contact us immediately if there is anything in these Terms of Business which you do not understand or with which you disagree. We specifically draw your attention to:

  • “Client Money” (Non-Statutory Trust and Interest on Client Money);
  • Your duty of disclosure concerning the business we handle for you
  1. Information about us

Alarminsure is a brand name of BLW Insurance Brokers Ltd, BLW Insurance Brokers Limited. Registered in England: 01022249. 12 Station Court, Station Approach, Wickford, Essex, SS11 7AT.  BLW Insurance Brokers Limited is directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority No: 307379. Our Permitted business is arranging general insurance contracts. These details can be checked on the FCA’s register by visiting the website http://www.FCA.gov.uk or by contacting the FCA on (0845) 606 1234.

As an intermediary, the FCA regulations require us to:

  • Conduct our business with integrity, due skill, care and diligence, and pay due regard to the interests of our customers and treat them fairly.
  • Pay due regard to the information needs of our clients and communicate information to them in a way which is clear, fair and not misleading.
  • Act with due care, skill and diligence in relation to a claim, and avoid conflicts of interest.
  • Meet certain specific conditions in respect of client money.
  • Take reasonable care to establish and maintain systems and controls that are appropriate to our business.
  • Maintain and keep up to date, a list of insurance organisations we select from and to provide a copy of this on request.
  1. Our relationship with you and the service we offer

In our business relationship, we act as your agent. We are subject to the law of the agency, which imposes various duties on us. However, in certain circumstances we may act for and owe duties to other parties, such as insurers. We will inform you when these circumstances occur so you will be aware of any possible conflict of interest.

We have access to a range of insurers, who offer different products to meet client requirements. We do not provide advice or a recommendation, although we may ask you for information to narrow down the selection of products that we can provide information about. Depending on your insurance demands and needs, we will offer a product that is suitable for you, from the range available. You will need to make a decision about how to proceed. If circumstances arise where it is necessary to give you advice, we will let you know the basis of our recommendation.

  1. Duty of Disclosure

As a consumer insured (i.e. a person buying insurance wholly or mainly for personal purposes unrelated to your employment), you have a duty to take reasonable care to answer questions fully and accurately, and that any information you volunteer is not misleading. This duty exists before the cover is placed, when renewed, or altered at any time throughout the duration of the policy. If you do not do so, your Insurer may be able to void your policy from inception or refuse a claim.

If you are a business insured (i.e. not a consumer insured) you have a duty to disclose all facts that are material to the risk insured, before the cover is placed, when renewed, or altered at any time throughout the duration of the policy. A material fact is a fact which may influence an Insurers assessment of a risk, including its terms and pricing. If you are in any doubt whether a fact is material, it should be disclosed, as failure to disclose such a fact may entitle your Insurer to void your policy from inception.

  1. Policy Documentation

Policy information will be issued in a timely manner. This will normally be within 30 days of the contract of insurance being concluded where you are a commercial entity, or 7 days where you are a retail consumer. Your policy documentation will confirm the basis of cover, give details of the insurer, and be accompanied by a policy summary. Please pay particular attention to any policy conditions/ exclusions or warranties that may affect the validity of the insurance which in turn may affect any claims payments.

We retain documents for a minimum period of 6 years in accordance with our retention of documents policy. For some types of insurance cover it is possible that the claim may be made under a policy long after its expiry date and it is therefore important you keep such documents safely.

  1. Security (your insurer)

We monitor the financial soundness of insurers that we use. We will do this by relying on information provided by rating agencies and other information in the public domain. If you have particular concerns or requirements regarding the security that we use, we will be happy to discuss your needs with you. We do not guarantee the solvency of any insurer we place business with. You may not be able to collect claims from an insurer that becomes insolvent.

  1. Renewal

Assuming all necessary renewal information has been received, you will be provided with the renewal terms in good time before expiry of the policy, or notified that the renewal is not being invited. Attached to the renewal terms of the policy will be changes to the EU directive-required information, statement of price and information about cancellation.

  1. Claims

Your insurance policy includes a claims procedure, which tells you what steps you should take if you wish to make a claim.

You will be responsible for notifying, as soon as possible a claim or circumstance which may give rise to a claim. Please ensure that you provide full information in accordance with the procedures set out in the policy. This may include providing the information within a particular timeframe. Failure to do so may affect the validity of the claim. You will be provided with every assistance in submitting a claim and seeking reimbursement. However, in the event that the insurer becomes insolvent or delays making settlement we do not accept liability for any unpaid amounts.

  1. Premium

Your premium must be paid at the time of purchase of your policy. Failure to pay your premium can result in the automatic termination of your insurance contract.

  1. Our Remuneration (what we are paid for the services we provide)

Our remuneration may be as a fee, or as commission or brokerage, which is a percentage of the insurance premium paid by you and allowed by the insurer with whom the insurance is placed. Brokerage and fees are earned for the policy period and we will be entitled to retain all fees and brokerage in respect of the full policy period in relation to policies placed by us.

In addition to the Clients fees and/or brokerage payments, we may receive remuneration by way of administration fees or commissions, which is dependent on the profitability of the account, or a volume overrider which is based on the amount of premium paid to insurers over a period. We may also act as reinsurance brokers to underwriters with whom we have placed insurance and reinsurance.

  1. Cancellation Clause

Your insurance contract may include a cancellation clause. In the event that you fail to pay your premium by the due date the insurance may be cancelled forthwith or by insurers giving notice of the cancellation. In the event of cancellation of the insurance contract, insurers may or may not return a pro rata premium. Please refer to your policy document for details

Once our remuneration has been earned, in the event that the insurance is cancelled after inception, our fees or brokerage will not usually be returnable.

  1. Cancellation of This Agreement

Our agreement may be terminated by one of us giving 60 days’ notice in writing to the other. In the event that our services are terminated by you, we will be entitled to receive any fees or brokerage payable in relation to the policy placed by us.

  1. Client Money

Client money is money of any currency that we receive and hold in the course of carrying on insurance mediation on behalf of our clients (including you) or which we treat as client money in accordance with FCA rules. We keep client money separate from our own money in a non-statutory trust. Client money will be deposited with one or more FCA approved banks. Please tell us if you do not wish us to use a particular bank.

  1. Interest on Client Money

Any interest earned on client money held by us and any investment returns, on any segregated designated investments, will be retained by us for our own use.

  1. Non Statutory Trust

We hold client money subject to a non-statutory trust. This means that we are entitled to and may use client money held on behalf of one client to pay another client’s premium before the premium is received from that other client, and to pay claims and premium refunds to another client before we receive payment from the insurer. However, we are not entitled to use client money to pay commissions before we receive the relevant premium from the client.

The aim of the trust is to protect the client in the event of the failure of the firm, or the failure of the bank or a third party at which the money may be held. In such circumstances, the firm’s general creditors should not be able to make claims on client money as it will not form part of the firm’s property.

The fact that we will hold money on trust gives rise to fiduciary duties, which will be owed to you until the client money reaches the insurer or product provider.

  1. Segregation of Designated Investments

We keep client money separate from our own money. We may do this by paying it into a client bank account. However, we may also do this by arranging to hold separately permitted designated investments with the value at least equivalent to the money that would otherwise have been paid into a client bank account. If we do this we will be responsible for meeting any shortfall in our client money resource which is attributable to falls in the market value of a segregated investment.

  1. Payment 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 through that person. This may include brokers or settlement agents outside the UK. The legal and regulatory regime applying to a broker or settlement agent outside the UK may be different from that of the UK and, in the event of a failure of the broker or settlement agent, this money may be treated in a different manner from that which would apply if the money were held by a broker or settlement agent in the UK. You may notify us if you do not wish your money to be passed to a person in a particular jurisdiction.

  1. Complaints

We take all complaints seriously. If you wish to register a complaint about our service, then please contact The Complaints Department, either:

In writing at: BLW Insurance Brokers Ltd, Market Square Chambers, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1AL

Or by Telephone: 0800 071 0999

We will acknowledge your complaint within 7 working days.

If your insurance is underwritten at Lloyd’s and you are not satisfied with the outcome and wish to take the matter further, you can do so at any time by referring the matter to:

Complaints Dept

Lloyd’s Market Services

One Lime Street

London, EC3M 7HA

Tel: +44 (0)20 7327 5693 E-mail: complaints@Lloyds.com

If we are unable to settle your complaint with us, you may, if eligible, refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service either:

In writing at: Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, Harbour Exchange Square, London, E14 9SR or via https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ or by telephone: 0845 080 1800

If you are a consumer, as defined by your local regulator, and you are domiciled in the EU you may also be able to submit your complaint via the EU ODR (online dispute resolution) platform. This allows consumers to submit complaints to a trader based in their or another EU member state and is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/odr

Please note that if you are domiciled outside the United Kingdom, different countries have differing definitions of complaints and eligible complainants and differing complaints procedures and dispute resolution bodies. The relevant procedure is available in your certificate schedule but if you have not received it and wish to make a complaint please contact us and we shall provide you with the details.

  1. Compensation

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.

Full details and further information on the scheme are available from the FSCS via www.fscs.org.uk or by telephone on 020 7892 7300.

  1. Data Protection

In accordance with Data Protection legislation, including General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), we are advising you that any personal and/or sensitive data requested from you will be stored securely and will only be used in order to manage the contract of business, including insurance requirements, we are arranging for you where we have a legal obligation in handling your data. We may also have a legitimate interest in handling your data when dealing with third parties, such as your insurers. This information will only be made available to third parties, such as insurers or their claims handling agents, in order to further manage and service your insurance policy.

We will retain your information for a period of time which is necessary to ensure no further liability, such as any insurance claims, exists. This period will normally be 7 years from expiry of the policy but may be extended for certain types of business.

The types of data vary but typically include name, address, email address, telephone number and date of birth. Other details may be needed depending on the type of insurance required.

For certain types of business we may require sensitive information from you in order to arrange your insurance requirements or service any claims, for example, medical records, which may involve passing such information to insurers or their claims handling agents. If required we will seek your consent to this.

We will not transfer your data outside the EU. Your insurers and/or their third party agents may pass data outside the EU and if so, we will seek their confirmation that this is adequately protected.

You have the right to:-

  • See a copy of the personal information we hold about you, free of charge
  • Ask us to delete any of your personal data where there is no legitimate reason for continuing to hold it.
  • To have any inaccurate or misleading data corrected or deleted
  • Restrict the processing of your data
  • Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office if you are unhappy with the manner in which we store or handle your data.

If you provide data to us about other people you must provide this notice to them before you pass their data to us. You must obtain their consent if this includes sensitive data such as health or criminal record data.

If at any time you wish to know what information we hold on you, or have any queries relating to the above, please contact us at:-

Telephone: 0800 071 0999

Email: info@alarminsure.com

Or write to:

BLW Insurance Brokers Ltd, Market Square Chambers, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1AL

  1. Anti-Money Laundering / Proceeds Of Crime Act/Sanctions/Bribery/Tax evasion

UK anti-money laundering and Sanctions regulations require us to obtain evidence of the identity of clients for whom we act at the start of a business relationship. For companies (other than listed ones), evidence of identity will usually comprise a copy of certificate of incorporation, a list of directors, a list of shareholders and the registered address. For consumers, a validated copy of your driving licence, passport or other evidence of identity is likely, together with a recent utility bill.

We are obligated to report to the Serious Organised Crime Agency any evidence or suspicion of money laundering at the first opportunity and we are prohibited from disclosing any such report to you.

Claims payment will be made in favour of the insured. If you require a payment to be made to a third party then you must confirm the required payee name and details and provide a brief explanation for you request.

Each party to this agreement confirms it has adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery and corruption which may arise in the course of its business and not commit, authorise or permit any action which would contravene any bribery or other anti-corruption laws or regulations in force. Any suspicion that any improper activity has, or may take place must be reported to the other party immediately.

It is a condition of this agreement that the parties will not knowingly facilitate in any activity which may be construed as tax evasion. It is further agreed that the parties will have adequate and proportionate

procedures in place to identify suspicious circumstances which could be construed as tax evasion, either by themselves or those they do business with (termed ‘Associated Persons’).

  1. Law And Jurisdiction

These terms of business shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law.

In relation to any legal action or proceedings arising out of or in connection with these terms of business we both irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

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