InFocus Opticians Insurance Terms of Business

Introduction Infocusopticiansinsurance is a trading style of The Alan Stevenson Partnership Ltd, 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 Conduct Authority for arranging General Insurance. Our FCA registration number is 305785. You can check this on the FCA register at www.fca.org.uk/register or by contacting them on 0845 606 1234.

Our Service The arrangement of Opticians Insurance on-line is a non-advised sale. This means that no advice has been provided by Infocusopticiansinsurance and that information provided, the suitability and correctness any insurance cover ordered online is entirely the responsibility of you the buyer.

Policies Offered The policies offered for Opticians is from a panel of insurers available through our I-Prism online insurance facility only. This may not include all insurers available to infocusopticiansinsurance on the open market nor will it include all publicly available insurers offering similar insurance products.

We will not in any circumstances act as an insurer and will not guarantee or otherwise the services or solvency of any insurer.

Quotations are usually valid for 30 days unless stated otherwise.

When you purchase a policy on-line you will not be covered until written confirmation is received by you form the selected insurer. The preferred method of communicating cover with policy documentation is by e-mail. You will be emailed to the address provided upon completion of the on-line purchase process. Policy documents will be emailed to you within seven working days of the policy start date. A service charge will be levied should a paper copy in the post be required.

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 must pay your premium to us online by –

• Debit Card
• Credit Card

Your Money Money we hold on your behalf will be kept in a Statutory Trust Bank Account under the FCA 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 You may cancel the policy within 14 days of the start date of the policy (the ‘cooling-off’ period) without providing a reason and without penalty. After the ‘cooling-off’ period you or insurers may cancel the policy by giving 30 day’s written notice. Insurer’s will give a refund of premium for the remaining period. This will be repaid to you within seven days or the return being paid to The Alan Stevenson Partnership Ltd.
If insurers have agreed that you can pay the premium by instalments and insurers have not received an instalment 14 days after the due date, insurers may cancel the policy. In this event, the period of insurance will equate to the period for which premium instalments have been paid to insurers. We will confirm the cancellation and amended period of insurance to you in writing. You need to note that our charges are separate from insurers and if the policy is cancelled at any time these will not be refunded.

Claims Except where otherwise agreed, we will provide claims assistance 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 0844 8118056.

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.

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 not 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 Contract of Insurance – Information and changes we need to know about You must take reasonable care to provide complete and accurate answers to questions we ask when you take out, make changes to or renew your policy. If you are in doubt please contact us. If the information provided by you is not complete and accurate:

• The insurer may cancel your policy and refuse to pay claims
• The insurer may not pay claims in full or
• Your premium may be revised and/or change the compulsory excess or
• The extent of cover may be affected

In addition, if you are taking out insurance related to your business, you must also disclose all material facts. A material fact is anything the insurer needs to know about the risk they are accepting. If in doubt please ask and we will give you examples of what you must tell an insurer.

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 0844 8118056.

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

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

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.