Terms of Business
The purpose of this document is to disclose our status and to set out the basis of the agreement under which we conduct our business and offer our services to you. Please read this document carefully as it sets out the terms on which we agree to act for our personal customers and commercial clients and it contains details of our regulatory and statutory responsibilities. If you are unsure about any aspects of these Terms of Business, please contact us. If you would like a paper copy of this document or any of your insurance documents, please contact us on mail@lwood.co.uk
INTRODUCTION
L Wood & Co Ltd are independent Insurance Brokers acting on your behalf as your agent on an advised basis. We have operated since 1960. Our success is based upon building long term customer/client relationships and the provision of the highest standards of professional service. On the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market, we offer products from a range of Insurers for the policies we arrange and have access to a wide selection of insurance companies, the Lloyds market and a number of specialist schemes. We act on your behalf in arranging your insurance. This includes the initial arrangement of cover, mid-term alterations (where required), claims resolution and renewal processing, and all other aspects of insurance including consumer broking. We are members of the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA).
We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our Registration Number is 306091. These details can be checked by visiting the FCA’s Financial Services Register https://register.fca.org.uk/s
OUR SERVICES
We seek to treat our customers and clients fairly. Our services include assessing your insurance requirements, advising you on the merits of individual policies, making personal recommendations for your insurance cover, arranging cover with Insurers to meet your requirements, and helping you with any ongoing changes you wish to make. We will make sure, as far as we are able, that the products and services we offer match your requirements. If we cannot match your requirements, we will explain the differences in the product or service we can offer. If it is not practical to match all your requirements, we will give you enough information so that you can make an informed decision about your insurance. We will explain the main features of the products and services that we can offer.
REPRESENTATION OF FAIR RISK AND DUTY OF DISCLOSURE
The Insurance Act 2015 requires COMMERCIAL CLIENTS to provide complete and accurate information and instructions in a timely manner, so that we can assist you fully. You are under a duty to make disclosure of all material circumstances so that we may give a fair representation of risk to insurers. This duty applies equally at placement, renewals and alterations. Failure to discharge this duty may allow insurers to cancel or void the policy, i.e. treat it as if it had never existed, or amend the terms that apply which may lead to a claim being refused. If you purchase insurance as a PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL, you are legally obliged to take reasonable care not to make any misrepresentations to the insurer and disclose all material facts.
It is important that you ensure all statements you make on Proposal Forms, Statement of Facts, Claim Forms and other documents are full and accurate. If a Form is completed on your behalf, you should check that the answers shown to any questions are true and accurate before signing the document. If you are in any doubt about whether information is material, please discuss this with us. Please be aware that Insurers may undertake credit checks.
PREMIUM WARRANTIES
Where underwriters have specified a premium payment warranty e.g. payment by a specific date, we will advise you as soon as possible as the premium must be paid to insurers by that date. We will require premium payment at least two working days prior to this to ensure timely processing. If you do not think you will be able to comply with the premium warranty, please contact us immediately. Failure to comply can result in the Insurer automatically terminating your policy.
WARRANTIES/SUBJECTIVITIES
You must comply with any warranties (whether express or implied) contained within the insurance we have arranged, as failure to comply can result in the Insurer refusing to pay your claim. Further, where the insurance has been placed with subjectivity, it may be invalidated or coverage prejudiced whilst the subjectivity is outstanding.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
We will only be liable for claims first made within the Jurisdiction of the English Courts.
FINANCIAL CRIME
We and you must comply with any applicable financial crime and international economic financial or trade sanctions laws and regulations.
INFORMATION ON COSTS
We will provide you with details of the costs of each insurance product or service we are offering. In addition to the premiums charged by Insurers, we may also make charges to cover the administration of your insurance. Any specific charge and its purpose will always be advised to you in advance. The Insurer with whom we arrange your insurance normally pays us a commission based on a percentage of the total premium. Alternatively, we may charge a fee for our services. We may also receive remuneration from Insurers with whom we place volume business and from Premium Finance companies where we arrange credit on your behalf. We will always disclose our commission earnings to you on request. In addition, we will disclose the basis of the calculation to you on request for other forms of remuneration that cannot be apportioned to any particular risk. Unless by prior arrangement, any premium return due to you as a result of a mid-term alteration or cancellation, will be paid net of commission. We reserve the right to charge an administration fee in respect of new business, at renewal or following a mid-term alteration in cover to a policy.
PAYMENT TERMS
We will be responsible for issuing invoices for all new and renewal premiums and mid-term alterations as soon as is practicable after inception or renewal of your policy. We will remit premiums to our insurers in accordance with their agreed terms of trade. You will be responsible for paying promptly all of our invoices for premiums, to enable us to make the necessary payments to insurers. We normally accept payment by cheque, bank transfer, bank card, online through our website or by instalments (full details are available on request).
You may be able to spread your payments through an insurer’s instalment scheme or a credit scheme that we have arranged with a third-party finance provider. We will give you full information about your payment options when we discuss your insurance in detail.
We may keep certain documents, such as your insurance policy documents or Certificate, whilst we are waiting for full payment of premiums. In these circumstances, we will ensure that you receive full details of your insurance cover and will provide you with any documents that you are required to have by law. Any money received under risk transfer arrangements will be held by us as agent of the Insurer. We will hold monies received from you in an interest bearing designated non-statutory trust bank account. We will remit such monies to Insurers in line with our agreements with them. Payment of any invoice issued to you should be settled within 30 days, unless a longer period for payment has been agreed with you, or credit arrangements have been made.
SECURITY
It is always our intent that business is placed with Insurers who are of a financial standing and reputation to support the policy being underwritten. L Wood & Co Ltd cannot and does not guarantee the solvency of any Insurer it uses, nor does it rate, assess or approve security. You should be aware that we have no obligation to fund any premiums on your behalf, and have no responsibility for any loss that you might suffer as a result of the insurer cancelling the policy or taking any other prejudicial steps as a result of late payment of such sums if such delay is attributable to you.
CANCELLATION OF COVER
If you wish to cancel your policy you should advise us in writing and return any documents we request including your insurance certificate within the time limits set by the insurer. Unless otherwise agreed, we only arrange annual contracts, and Insurance Contracts do not usually allow a proportionate refund if the policy is cancelled. When a claim has been submitted, it is possible no refund of premium will be allowed. As a consumer, you have the right to an initial 14 day cooling off period, we will provide details in writing.
CLAIMS
Private Customers
Your policy document will generally give you details on whom to contact in order to make a claim. If this information is not provided, or you require assistance, please contact us. We will then advise you as to what action is required and by whom.
Commercial Clients
When we receive notification of an incident that might give rise to a claim under your policy, we will inform Insurers without delay. 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. We will notify you of any request for information we receive from your Insurers. We will forward any payments received from Insurers in respect of any claim to you without delay.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION
All personal information about our customers and clients is treated as Private and Confidential. L Wood & Co Ltd is registered under the Data Protection Act 2018 and undertakes to comply with all relevant and current data protection legislation. We take your privacy extremely seriously and we will only use your personal data in line with our Privacy Policy. Please read our Privacy Policy carefully. We will only ask you for personal information that is strictly necessary to process your contract of insurance. We may share your data with third parties for the purposes of arranging insurance for you. We do not sell, rent or trade your data with any other organisation.
FRAUD PREVENTION
In order to help Insurers check the information provided and to prevent fraudulent claims, they pass information to the Claims and Underwriting Exchange Register and the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud Theft Register. When your claim is dealt with, these Registers may be searched. When you provide information about an incident this may be included in the Registers.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
It is our intention to provide you with a high level of customer/client service at all times. However, if you have a complaint, in the first instance, you should discuss this with the member of staff you have been dealing with. You may make your complaint either orally or in writing. If you are not satisfied with the response you should contact the Managing Director of L Wood & Co Ltd. We take all complaints we receive seriously and will handle any complaint promptly and fairly. Your complaint will be acknowledged in writing promptly. We will tell you who will be dealing with your complaint and when you can expect to receive an answer. Most concerns can be resolved quickly but occasionally the complaint may be sufficiently complicated to warrant longer investigation. In this event we will contact you with an update and give you an expected date of response. If we find that your complaint is valid, we will agree with you a mutually acceptable form of redress.
You may also wish to contact your Insurer. Your policy document provides details of your Insurer’s Complaints Procedure. Should you feel the problem has still not been resolved, then you may wish to seek referral within a time limit of six months to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), telephone: 0800 023 4567 www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ We are also covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the Scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS https://www.fscs.org.uk/what-we-cover/
TERMINATION
This agreement can be terminated by either party giving 30 days’ written notice. Either party may be entitled to remuneration in relation to the services provided.