Terms of Business

34 Victoria St, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 1ET. Registering in England No. 4320605 Version date March 10 Tel: 0161 928 3991 Fax: 0161941 6195 email: insure@astevenson.co.uk

Directors: Ian P Stevenson ACII MSFA BSc(Eng) ARSM – Peter J Stevenson

Introduction 

The Alan Stevenson Partnership Ltd is an independent intermediary that offers transactional and/or advisory insurance services for general business excluding Life Pensions and Investments and any other business regulated under the Financial Services Act, in accordance with this Terms of Business Agreement (‘Agreement’).

Our Regulator

We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority for arranging General Insurance. Our FSA registration number is 305785. You can check this on the FSA register at www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting them on 0845 606 1234.

Our Service

We will advise and make a recommendation when we have assessed your insurance requirements. You will receive a statement of your demands and needs and reason for our recommendation.

Policies Offered

We offer policies from a wide range of insurers for –

• Business Property/Liabilities Management Risks

• Private Car

• Household

For other classes we may only be able to offer products from a single or limited range of companies. Ask us for a list of these insurers.

However, we will not in any circumstances act as an insurer and will not guarantee or otherwise the solvency of any insurer.

Quotations are usually valid for 30 days unless stated otherwise.

Unless otherwise agreed, we will send you documentation confirming the basis of cover secured on your behalf.

Payment

You are responsible for paying premiums by the due date. We have no obligation to fund premiums for you and have no responsibility for any loss you may suffer as a result of the insurer cancelling the policy due to non-payment.

You may pay your premium to us by –

- Debit Card

- Credit Card (subject to service charge of 2.5%)

- Direct Transfer (detailed on our invoice)

- Cash, Cheque

- Monthly Instalments – instalment charges will be advised to you before you proceed with the insurance.

- Direct debit facilities may be available with your insurers. Please ask for details.

If any payment or direct debit (under a credit agreement you enter into) to pay insurance premiums is not met when presented for payment or if you end a credit agreement and you do not make other arrangements with us to pay the insurance premiums you acknowledge and agree that we may: a) at any time after being so informed, instruct on your behalf the relevant insurer to cancel the insurance ( or, if this occurs shortly after the start or renewal of the insurance, to notify the insurer that the policy has not been taken up); b) where credit is arranged with a third party Premium Finance Company to collect any refund of premiums which may be made by the insurer and if any money is owed to the Premium Finance Company under your credit agreement pay it to the Premium Finance Company or if the Company have debited us with the amount outstanding use it to offset our costs.

You will be responsible for paying any time on risk charge and putting in place any alternative insurance and/or payment arrangements you need.

Your Money

Money we hold on your behalf will be kept in a Statutory Trust Bank Account under the FSA rules until it is passed to the insurer or returned to you. We will retain any interest earned on this account. Some insurers have appointed us as agents for receipt of money and where this applies, they specify the banking arrangements for their money. We will only use your money to pay insurers or other brokers for your insurance.

Your Cancellation Rights

Retail clients have the right to cancel their policies within 14 days of receiving it. If you exercise this right then the Insurer will charge you only for the cover you have had (although there may be a small charge for the administration costs involved as well).
Full details will be contained in the policy summary you will receive. This right is in addition to any other cancellation rights you may have after this 14 day period has expired. For commercial clients if there is any right to cancellation or refund this is detailed in your policy. You need to note also that our charges mentioned above are separate from the Insurers and if the policy is cancelled at anytime these will not be refunded.

Claims

Except where otherwise agreed, we will provide claims handling services during the policy period where policies are placed by us and a claim is notified to us by you. These services can be continued beyond our appointment as your broker or advisor subject to a separate fee to be agreed at the time. If you have a doubt about whether a matter constitutes a notifiable claim or circumstance contact us immediately, If you want to claim on your policy you should use your insurer claim line (details in your policy) or notify us immediately by telephone on 0161 928 3991.

Our Fees and Charges

Our remuneration will either be a fee as agreed with you &/or commission which is a percentage of the insurance premium paid by you but negotiated with and paid to us by the insurer with whom the contact is placed.

Commission and fees are earned for the policy period and we are entitled to retain all fees and commission in relation to policies placed by us in respect of the full policy period whether or not the policy is cancelled for any reason. Prior to the conclusion of each insurance contract for a commercial customer, or upon renewal, we will remind you of your right to be advised of the level of commission we receive from underwriters. 34 Victoria St, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 1ET. Registering in England No. 4320605 Version date Dec 07 Tel: 0161 928 3991 Fax: 0161941 6195 email: insure@astevenson.co.uk Directors: Ian P Stevenson ACII MSFA BSc(Eng) ARSM – Peter J Stevenson

You are entitled at any time to request information regarding commission we may have received as a result of placing your insurance business. Certain other charges or taxes sometimes apply to insurance contracts are outside our control and no payable through us – for example capital gains tax. If such charges apply they will be your responsibility.

Other Revenue

We may also receive revenue based upon volume and profitability of insurance placed with a given insurer over a specific period. These payments recognise the services we provide to the insurer over the given period and are not directly related to the services provided to you.

Your Responsibilities

You are responsible for providing us with sufficient information to meet your requirements. Also, you are responsible for the complete and accurate disclosure to insurers of all facts material to the risks being insured. A failure by you to make such disclosure allows insurers to avoid the coverage. There is no duty on insurers to make enquiries of you.

You should review the evidence of your insurance cover to confirm that it accurately reflects the cover, conditions, limits and other terms that you require. Particular attention should be paid to any policy warranties as failure to comply may invalidate your coverage.

You should settle your premium and other charges, if applicable, with cleared funds of all monies due by the date advised to you. This enables us to meet insurers’ advised payment terms and conditions.

To ensure full protection under your insurance cover you should familiarise yourself with coverage conditions or other procedures immediately, particularly those relating to claims. Generally, insurers require immediate notification of any claim or circumstance that may give rise to a claim. Failure to adhere to the notification requirements of insurers, as set out in their policy document, may entitle insurers to deny claims.

You will inform us as soon as reasonably practicable of any changes in your circumstances that may affect the services to be provided by us or the cover provided under your insurance policy.

All activities undertaken by us as outlined in this Agreement are provided by us for your exclusive use and all data, recommendations, proposals, reports and other information provided by us in connection with our services are for your sole use. You agree not to permit access by any third party to this information, without our express written permission.

Data Protection and Confidentiality

Any personal data obtained in the provision to you of our services under this Agreement will be held and processed by us in accordance with the relevant legislation. We will hold use and otherwise process only such of your personal data as is necessary to provide you with our services. We will treat your information in our possession as confidential. We will not pass your personal data to any other organisation unless it is necessary to do so to fulfil our obligations under this Agreement i.e. to certain underwriters, insurers and premium finance companies where such information is material to the risks being covered, or where required by any regulation or enactment, or with your consent.

You have the right to request access to your personal data held by us at any time and in writing. You may exercise your right by writing to our compliance officer at 34 Victoria St, Altrincham. WA14 1ET

Complaints

First speak to us – we make every effort to maintain high standards of service but if we let you down we will try to put things right immediately. If we are unable to do so, you can register a complaint formally by writing to Ian Stevenson or telephoning us on 0161 928 3991.

If we cannot settle your complaint you may be entitled to take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is in addition to your legal rights.

The Financial Ombudsman contact details are –

Address Financial Ombudsman Service

South Quay Plaza

183 Marsh Wall

London E14 9SR

Telephone 0845 080 1800

Email Enquiries@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Website www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

We are covered by the FSCS. You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. Non Compulsory Insurance is covered for 90% of the claim without any upper limit.

For Compulsory classes of 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.

Termination

In the event our services are terminated by you other than at the expiry of the policy period or at renewal we will be entitled to retain any and all fees or brokerage payable (whether or not the same have been received by us) in relation to policies placed by us prior to the date of termination. With effect from the date of termination and in the absence of express agreement to the contrary we will have no obligation to perform any further services (whether contained in this Agreement or otherwise) for you. Our responsibility for handling claims reported after the date of termination shall cease in the absence of express agreement.

Governing Law

This Agreement, which sets out the terms of our relationship with you, will be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law.