Terms of Business Agreement
The Financial Conduct Authority
The Financial Conduct Authority is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. Simmons Gainsford Insurance Solutions Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA register number is 308487 and you can check our status at www.fca.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FCA on 0845 606 1234.
Our permitted business includes advising, arranging, dealing in and assisting with the placing and administration of all types of General Insurance policies.
Privacy Policy & General Data Protection Regulations
We have a Privacy Policy which can be viewed within our Compliance and Important Information Pack and also on our Website at www.sginsurance.co.uk
Our Service
We are an independent insurance intermediary, who acts on our customers’ behalf in arranging insurance. We will advise you separately prior to the commencement of each contract if this alters. Our services include: advising you on your insurance needs; arranging your insurance cover with insurers to meet your requirements; and helping you with any ongoing changes you need to make. As part of the service, we will assist you with any claim you need to make and tell you what your responsibilities are in relation to making claims. If you mislay your policy at any time, we will issue a replacement policy document, if you request it.
Whose products we offer
We usually offer advice from a range of insurers, representing a fair analysis of the market, however, under certain circumstances we may only deal with a limited panel, or single insurer. There may also be occasions where we recommend a product from an insurer with whom we hold a Delegated Underwriting Authority. In these cases we act as agent of the insurer and in all cases we will confirm, for each individual policy we provide you with, the basis of our advice. In certain circumstances we will use the services of another intermediary to place your insurance and in these circumstances we will advise you of this fact together with confirmation of the name of the risk carrier in the form of “underwritten by”.
The service we will provide you with
We will advise and make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your demands and needs. Our advice will be confirmed in a demands & needs and suitability statement, giving reasons for our recommendation. In respect of Legal Expenses/Motor Breakdown policies you will not receive advice or a recommendation from us and you will then need to make your own choice about how to proceed. When a policy falls due for renewal, we will review the terms offered by your current insurer and if in our opinion and experience, these terms remain competitive, we will not automatically carry out a full market review of your policy. If a full market review is carried out, this will be confirmed to you in writing.
What you will pay for our services
We usually receive a commission from the insurer with whom we place your business. We also receive commission for arranging finance agreements for the payment of premiums and we may also receive commission or fees for passing introductions to other professionals. In addition, we normally make the following charges to cover the administration of your insurance:
Arranging new policies/renewal/mid term adjustment £ 00
Mid term cancellations and other refunds are refunded NET of commission. We may, in addition, charge a £ 00 administration fee.
Replacement/duplicate certificates or cover notes £ 10
Payment by Credit Cards £ 00 (We do not accept American Express)
Personal lines/Retail policies cancelled during the ‘Right to Cancel’ period will be subject to an administration charge of £25, in addition to the premium charged by the insurer for the period of cover provided.
Occasionally we may arrange a policy on which we earn no commission (a ‘net-premium policy’) and in these cases we will advise you of the arrangement fee before you take the policy out. Specific charges, which apply to individual policies will be advised to you prior to the commencement of each contract applicable to that policy. The specific charge and purpose of any additional charges will always be advised to you in advance.
What to do if you have a complaint
Our aim is to provide a first class service, however, if you wish to register a complaint, please contact us by writing to Carin Johnson, Complaints Manager, Simmons Gainsford Insurance Solutions Ltd , Unit 4 Maxwell Road, Borehamwood, WD6 1JN or, by phone Telephone 0203 096 2830..
We will provide you with a copy of our full complaints procedure and respond to you promptly. We will keep you informed of the progress of your complaint and aim to make a final response to you within eight weeks, or keep you informed as to why this is not possible. In the event that your complaint relates to activities or services provided by another party, we will ensure that your complaint is appropriately forwarded in writing, and will track the progress of the complaint and responses of that party.
After our final response has been issued, if you still cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, for an independent assessment and opinion.
The FOS Consumer Helpline is on 0845 080 1800 and their address is:
Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR
Your Right to Cancel (Applicable to Consumer customers only)
You have a legal right to cancel your policy for any reason, subject to no claims having occurred, within 14 days of receiving the full terms & conditions. You will always be advised where this Right applies. A charge will apply for the period of cover provided and, in addition, we make an administration charge as detailed above.
If you wish to cancel a policy you must advise us in writing, prior to expiry of the 14-day cancellation period, to our usual office address.
Are we covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?
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 are available from the FSCS.. The FSCS is the UK’s statutory fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms, like ourselves. The FSCS can pay compensation if an authorised firm is unable or likely to be unable to pay claims against it, usually because it has gone out of business or is insolvent.
Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim without an upper limit. For compulsory insurances (for example, motor insurance and employers’ liability insurance), insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim, without an upper limit. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.
Payment Options
We normally accept payment by guaranteed cheque or the following credit/debit cards – Visa, MasterCard, Maestro. You may be able to spread your payments through insurers’ instalment schemes or a credit scheme, which we have arranged with an established insurance premium finance provider. We will give you full information about your payment options and the appropriate finance agreement when we discuss your insurance in detail.
Please Note: Your policy cover will cease if you fail to keep up payments on an instalment agreement or premium finance facility related to it.
Language Used
The English language will be used for all communications, the contractual terms and conditions, and any information we are required to supply to you, before and during the duration of the contract.
Information on how we treat Payments You make to Us
Under the terms of our agreements with the Insurance companies with whom we place business, we normally receive premiums you pay to us as Agent of the Insurer, where you have the additional protection of insurance companies accepting that monies paid to us are treated as being received by them (Risk Transfer) This premium is paid into a Non Statutory Insurer Money Account.. All other insurance premiums you pay to us are protected in a Statutory Trust Client Account until we pay insurers. We do not pay any interest on premiums held by us in the course of arranging and administering your insurance.
Your Duty to Give Information (Fair Presentation of Risk)
It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to insurers when you take out your insurance policy, throughout the life of your policy, and when you renew your insurance. It is important that you ensure that all statements you make on proposal forms, statements of fact, claim forms and other documents are full and accurate.Please note that if you fail to disclose any information or change in circumstances to your insurers which could influence the cost, or their decision to accept your insurance, this could invalidate your insurance cover, and could mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid.
