Terms of Business
Accepting our Terms of Business
By asking us to quote for, arrange or handle your insurances, you are providing your informed agreement to these Terms of Business. We draw your attention to:
The section headed ‘The processing of your personal data’, specifically the sub-section titled ‘Credit checks’
For your own benefit and protection, you should read these terms carefully. If you are unsure about any aspect of our Terms of Business or have any questions regarding our relationship with you, please contact us at the above address.
The Financial Conduct Authority
Regency Financial & Insurance Services is a trading style of Regency FIC Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our Financial Services Register number is 301926.
Our permitted business is introducing, advising, arranging, dealing as agent, assisting in the administration and performance of general insurance contracts and credit broking in relation to insurance instalment facilities.
You may check this on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website, www.fsa.gov.uk/register/ or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.
Our service
Helping you to decide
Typically, our role is to advise you and, after we have assessed your needs, to provide you with a personal recommendation explaining why the insurance product recommended best meets your requirement. Where we can offer the availability of an instalment facility in order to pay the insurance premium by regular payments, we do not offer advice or make personal recommendations in relation to this, but we may ask some questions to narrow down the selection of options available; you will then need to make your own choice about how to proceed.
The capacity in which we act for you
We act as an insurance intermediary, not an insurer. We will usually act on your behalf when arranging your insurances, when helping you make any changes to your policy, when you renew your insurance and in the event of a claim. If there are any circumstances where we act as an agent of the insurer, we will let you know the capacity in which we act before we finalise your insurance arrangements.
Scope of service including our product range and the range of insurers used
We select motor insurance, commercial vehicle insurance, home insurance, commercial and residential landlord insurance and business insurance products from a fair and personal analysis of the market.
We are not under a contractual obligation, but we only select non-standard commercial property, certain business insurances and private/public hire taxi insurance (stand alone and fleet) products
from a limited number of insurers, rather than on the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market. Please see a full list of insurers we deal with below.
JMI, Collingwood, Bollington, TFP Schemes, Lloyds Market, Vasek, Plum, Aqua, inet3 and USURE, Chapman & Stacey.
We will not in any circumstance guarantee the solvency of any insurer.
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 us:
in writing… Regency FIC Ltd, 317 Stanstead Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 1JB
by phone… Telephone 020 8690 8667
by email… info@regency4insurance.co.uk
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). For further information you can visit the FOS website www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.
Access to the FOS is available for complainants coming within one of the following categories at the time we receive their complaint:
Consumers (private individuals acting for purposes which are wholly or mainly outside that individual’s trade, business, craft, or profession)
Businesses employing fewer than 10 persons and with a turnover or annual balance sheet total not exceeding €2 million
Charities with an annual income of under £1 million
Trustees of a trust with a net asset value of under £1 million
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for our insurance mediation activities. 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 in relation to insurance advising and arranging as follows:
90% of the claim, without any upper limit;
100% of the claim without any upper limit for
– compulsory classes of insurance (such as Third-Party Motor or Employers Liability); and
– ‘pure protection’ contracts, professional indemnity insurance, and general insurance claims arising from the death or incapacity of the policyholder owing to injury, sickness or infirmity, all where the insurance intermediary has failed to pay money to an insurer, pay away money it has received from an insurer, or has failed to take steps to allow the insurer to effect the contract of insurance.
Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS on 0800 678 1100 (freephone) or 020 7741 4100 or www.fscs.org.uk.
Payment for our services
We normally receive commission from insurers, product providers and, where applicable, finance providers
Any commission we receive will be paid by the insurer or product provider from the insurance premium.
Any commission we receive from the premium finance provider will be paid from the finance repayment.
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We do not charge any additional fees (payable by you) for handling your insurance or arranging premium finance unless we have agreed these with you in advance. Any fees we do charge are set out below: Consumer Charge |
Commercial Customer Charge |
|
|
New business |
£20 |
% of Premium |
|
Renewal |
£20 |
% of Premium |
|
Mid Term Adjustments |
£20 |
£25 |
|
Lost papers or documents |
£20 |
£0 |
|
Temporary change |
£20 |
£20 |
|
Cancellation within Cooling Off Period |
£25 |
£50 |
|
Cancellation After Cooling Off Period |
£50 |
% of Premium |
You will receive a quotation which will tell you the total price to be paid, and which identifies any fees, taxes and charges separately from the premium, before your insurance arrangements are concluded.
Full payment of premium and fees is due before cover commences, or as otherwise stated under terms of credit, or in the debit note, invoice or statement issued to you. Failure to pay the premium due will mean that your insurance policy might not commence or that it will be cancelled.
We also draw your attention to the sections headed ‘Cancellation of insurances’ and ‘Ending your relationship with us’.
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 which your insurance is arranged. However, if Risk Transfer does not apply, such monies will be held by us in a Statutory Trust account set up in accordance with FCA rules. Interest earned on monies held in such a Statutory Trust account will be retained by us.
Cancellation of insurances
You should make any request for the cancellation of a policy to the contact details included within this Terms of Business, either by letter, email or phone and where requested 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 ‘Payment for our services’ section above / our Tariff of Fees (attached/enclosed).
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. Valid reasons may include but are not limited to non-payment of premium or fees, commission clawback by insurers where instructions are given to another party to handle the customer’s insurance(s), failure to provide requested documentation or information, deliberate failure to comply with terms set out within the ToB or insurer’s documentation, deliberate misrepresentation or non-disclosure
or attempted fraud, use of threatening or abusive behaviour or language, or intimidation or bullying of our staff or suppliers.
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.
Your responsibilities
You are responsible for answering any questions in relation to any proposal for insurance cover honestly and to the best of your knowledge, providing complete and accurate information which insurers will require. This also applies to your responses in relation to any assumptions you may agree to in the process of applying for insurance cover. This is particularly important before taking out a policy but also at renewal or of if you make a mid-term amendment to your policy.
If you fail to disclose information or misrepresent any fact which may influence the insurer’s decision to accept the risk or the terms offered, this could invalidate the policy and mean that claims may not be paid.
You must check all details on any proposal form or Statement of Facts and pay attention to any declaration you may be asked to sign. It is important that you read all insurance documents issued to you and ensure that you are aware of the cover, limits and other terms that apply. Particular attention must be paid to any warranties and conditions as failure to comply with them could invalidate your policy or mean that claims may not be paid.
You must inform us immediately of any changes in circumstances which may affect the services provided by us or the cover provided by your policy.
If you are unsure about any matter, please contact us for guidance.
The processing of your personal data
In your dealings with us you may provide us with information that may include data that is known as personal data. Where we process personal data, we comply with statutory data processing requirements as set out by the Data Protection Act 2018. The personal data we will collect will include information relating to your name, address, date of birth (and) contact details.
We will process your personal data to allow us to provide you with our services as your insurance broker in quoting for, arranging and administering your insurances (and in arranging insurance premium finance where applicable). Your personal data will also be used to manage future communications between ourselves.
In processing personal data for insurance purposes about health or criminal offences, we will only do so to enable us to provide our service to you and on the basis of it being in the public interest.
We will only use your data for the purpose for which it was collected. We will only grant access to or share your data within our firm or other firms associated with us, with other authorised third parties and product and service providers such as insurers and premium finance providers where we are entitled to do so by law under lawful data processing.
The Data Protection Act 2018 provides you with Access Rights that allow you to gain an understanding on the data being processed, who we share it with, for what purpose, why we need to retain it and retention periods, to object to the processing and to place restrictions on the processing, to request copies of your data and to request the deletion of your data.
If you require further information on how we process your data or you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us by emailing [andrew.dartford@regency4insurance.co.uk] or by writing [Regency FIC Ltd, 317 Stanstead Road, SE23 1JB] or by telephoning [02086908667]. How we process your personal data is detailed further within our Privacy Notice. 5/5
Credit checks
We, and premium finance companies may use public and personal data from a variety of sources including credit reference agencies and other organisations. The information is used to help tailor a price, to ascertain the most appropriate payment options for you and to help prevent fraud. Any credit reference search will appear on your credit report whether or not your application proceeds. If you have any questions about this or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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.
Claims handling arrangements
You should take note of the required procedures in the event of a claim, which will be explained in the policy documentation. Generally, insurers require immediate notification of a claim or circumstances which might lead to a claim. We will employ due care and skill if we act on your behalf in respect of a claim.
