Introduction
Harborough Portas Ltd is an insurance intermediary. Our address, and registered office, is 2 & 3 Duke of Windsor Suite, Burrough Court, Burrough on the Hill, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire LE14 2QS, Telephone 0116 260 0506. Our website is: www.harboroughportas.com and our e-mail is: mail@harboroughportas.com. The company is registered in England and Wales, number 1780746. This Terms of Business Agreement comes into force on the day you receive it from us and will remain in force until you are provided with revised terms.
Regulation
We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), number 303879. We are included in the Financial Services Register. This can be verified by contacting the FCA at 12 Endeavour Square, London, E20 1JN, telephone number 0800 111 6768, website
www.fca.org.ukOur permitted business is introducing, advising, arranging, dealing as agent and assisting in the administration and performance of general insurance contracts and Credit Broking.
Our service
As an insurance and credit intermediary our role is to advise you and, after we have assessed your needs, to make a suitable recommendation for your insurance and premium finance arrangements. Unless Premium Finance is arranged with your insurer, it will be arranged with a third party finance provider, Close Brothers Premium Finance Ltd, where we act as a Credit Broker and not as a Lender. We act on your behalf in selecting an appropriate policy to meet your needs, assisting you with claims matters and arranging premium finance. Upon receipt of your instructions, whether written or verbal, we will endeavour to satisfy your requirements in your best interests. However, we will not in any circumstances act as insurer nor will we guarantee or otherwise warrant the solvency of any insurer.
Providing information to your insurers
Your insurance is based upon the information provided to the insurance company. Unless otherwise indicated by the specific insurer underwriting your particular policy, the following circumstances apply. For Consumers (individuals buying insurance wholly or mainly for purposes unrelated to their trade, business, or profession) this means that you must take reasonable care to answer all questions fully and accurately. Once cover has been arranged, you must immediately notify us of any changes to the information that has been provided to your insurers. Failure to provide accurate and up to date information may invalidate your insurance cover and mean that a claim may not be paid. All other customers must present the risk (i.e. the subject matter of the proposed insurance) fairly. This means that you must disclose to insurers, before arranging or renewing your insurance policy, and throughout the policy period, anything that might influence the judgement of an insurer in fixing the premium, setting the terms or determining whether they would take the risk. If you are uncertain whether anything is material, you should disclose it. In order to identify what must be disclosed, you are obliged to carry out a reasonable search before presenting the risk to insurers. This includes (but is not limited to) consulting with all senior managers (anyone who plays a significant role in the making of decisions about how your activities are to be managed or organised, regardless of whether or not that individual is a member of your board or is formally in a management role). You must also consult with anyone who has particular knowledge about the risk to be insured. Failure to disclose material information may invalidate your insurance cover and could mean that a claim may not be paid or an additional premium may be incurred.
Credit referencing
In order to be able to offer premium finance and more favourable terms, insurers and credit providers may carry out credit checks using external credit agencies. Such checks will appear on your credit file regardless of whether or not your application for cover or finance proceeds. If you require clarification on this matter or would prefer such checks not to be carried out, please contact the office.
Documentation
We will issue documentation in a timely manner confirming the basis of the cover including commencement date, period of cover, certificates, policy documents, a statement of demands and needs and payment details. You should ensure that the cover meets your requirements and that documentation is kept safe and secure. We will aim to ensure that consumers receive details of renewal terms no less than 21 days before expiry of the policy. Any changes will be explained and, if you are a consumer, you have the right to request a new policy document at renewal.
Protecting your Personal Data (data)
We are the Data Controller for the data you provide to us. We need to use your data in order to arrange your insurance and associated products and for marketing purposes (please let us know if you would prefer not to receive marketing information from us). You are obliged to provide information without which we will be unable to provide a service to you. We may pass your data to other organisations, such as insurers, auditors, external consultants, credit providers, banks, financial transaction processors, crime and fraud prevention agencies and databases and regulators. We process all data in the UK but where we need to disclose data to parties outside the European Economic Area (EEA) we will take reasonable steps to ensure the privacy of your data. In order to protect our legal position, we will retain your data for a minimum of 7 years. We have a Data Protection regime in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your data. You can request copies of the data we hold, have it corrected, sent to a third party or deleted (subject to our need to hold data for legal reasons). If you wish to complain about how we have handled your data, you can contact us and we will investigate the matter. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your data incorrectly you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF Tel: 0303 123 1113
Settlement terms
We will be responsible for issuing invoices and/or arranging finance for all new, renewal or mid-term alterations within appropriate timescales and will make it clear when payment is due. You will be responsible for prompt payment of premiums due to enable us to make payments to insurers in accordance with the agreed Terms of Business. We normally accept payment by cash, cheque, or BACS transfer. Please note that, should you choose to pay using a third party premium finance provider, any default on your part may incur additional charges. Should the finance provider cancel the arrangement, following default, they may then invoice us for the outstanding premium. In these circumstances, we may cancel your policy, retain the return premium from the insurer and pursue you directly for any outstanding balance.
Handling money
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 whom your insurance is arranged. If Risk Transfer does not apply such monies will be held by us in a Non-Statutory Trust account, pending payment. The establishment of the Non-Statutory account follows FCA rules which protect money held by authorised intermediaries. However, you should be aware that, under the Non-Statutory Trust account rules, we are permitted to use such monies temporarily held to advance credit to clients generally. A copy of the Deed of Trust is available on request or may be inspected at our premises during normal office hours. If you object to your money being held in a Non-Statutory Trust account, you should advise us immediately. Otherwise, you agreement to pay the premium together with your acceptance of these Terms of Business will constitute your informed consent to our holding your money in a Non-Statutory Trust account. Interest earned on monies held in such a Non-Statutory Trust account will be retained by us.
Fees and charges
Remuneration for our services is normally in the form of commission (or brokerage) which is a percentage of your insurance premium or finance charge payable by the product provider, a fee, as agreed with and payable by you, or a combination of the two. We may also earn income from insurers based on the overall performance of our account with them and not directly related to your insurances. We will apply an FCA compliance fee to new business and renewal transactions which will be communicated to you before you purchase cover. If you cancel or adjust a policy we will charge a fee of £25.00. Any fees charged are non-refundable. On return premiums we have to repay commission to insurers, we will therefore deduct commission from any return premium due to you. We also draw your attention to the sections headed ‘Cancellation rights’ and ‘Ending your relationship with us.’ You may ask us to explain our earnings to you at any time.
Claims
If you need to make a claim, please contact us immediately. If you are unsure whether or not to make a claim, please contact us for advice. Failure to adhere to the notification requirements of insurers, as set out in their policy document, may entitle insurers to refuse settlement of a claim, in whole or in part. Except where otherwise agreed, we will provide claims handling services during the policy period. These services can be continued beyond our appointment as your broker, subject to a separate fee to be agreed at the time. Our services include notification of the claim to insurers in accordance with the policy.
Complaints and Compensation
We aim to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times but, if you are not satisfied, please contact our compliance officer on 0116 260 0506 or at the address above. When dealing with your complaint, we will follow our complaint handling procedures; a summary of these procedures is available on request. If you are still not satisfied, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Further information is available by calling the FOS on 0300 1239123 or at
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). 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. If you are eligible to claim from the FSCS, compensation is available as follows: - Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim, without any upper limit - For compulsory classes of insurance (such as Third Party Motor or Employers Liability), 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 on 0800 678 1100 or
www.fscs.org.uk.Cancellation rights
You may have a statutory right to cancel your policy within a short period. Please refer to your policy summary or your policy document or renewal notice for further details. If you wish to cancel outside this period cancellation rights will be as detailed in your policy document. You should make any request for the cancellation of a policy in writing and any relevant certificate of insurance must be returned to us or to the insurer concerned. In the event of cancellation, charges for our services will apply in accordance with the ‘Remuneration’ section of this Terms of Business. The terms of your policy may allow insurers to retain the premium in full or to charge short-period premiums in the event of cancellation before the policy expires.
Ending your relationship with us
Subject to your immediate settlement of any outstanding premiums and fees, you may instruct us to stop acting for you and we will not impose a penalty. Your instructions must be given in writing and will take effect from the date of receipt. In circumstances where we feel we cannot continue providing services to you, we will give you a minimum of 7 days notice. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, if our relationship ends, any transactions previously initiated will be completed according to these Terms of Business. You will be liable to pay for any transactions concluded prior to the end of our relationship and we will be entitled to retain commission received for conducting these transactions, together with all fees charged by us for services provided.
Conflict of interests
Occasions can arise where we, or one of our associated companies, clients, or product providers, may have a potential conflict of interest with business being transacted for you. If this happens, and we become aware that a potential conflict exists, we will write to you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions and we will detail the steps we will take to ensure fair treatment.
