Terms of Business Agreement
Applying to General Insurance customers. Please read this document carefully. It sets out the terms on which we agree to act for you, our client, and
contains details of our regulatory and legal responsibilities. If you are unsure about any aspect of our Terms of Business or have any questions regarding
our relationship with you, please contact us immediately. By doing business with us you agree to do so on the terms of this document, unless we both
agree otherwise.
Company Contact Details
Insure Smart Limited, 342 High Street, Kirkcaldy, KY1 1LD
Telephone: 01592 649786 Fax: 01592 649787 Email: [email protected]
1. Definitions
“Consumer” means anyone acting outside their trade or profession in respect of the insurance cover requested or arranged.
“Company”, “we”, “us” or “our” means Insure Smart Limited.
“You” or “your” means you (and/or your appointed agent).
2. About us
Insure Smart Limited is an Independent Insurance Intermediary. Insure Smart Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
and our permitted business is to advise on, arrange, deal in, make arrangements with a view, and assist in the administration and performance of general
insurance contracts. Our Firm Reference Number (FRN) is 311587. You can check this on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website
www.fca.org.uk or by telephoning the FCA on 0800 111 6768.
3. Our service
As an insurance intermediary, we generally act as the agent of our client. We are subject to the law of agency, which imposes various duties on us.
However, in certain circumstances we may act for and owe duties of care to other parties, including the insurer. We will advise you when these
circumstances occur, so you will be aware of any possible conflict of interest.
We offer a wide range of insurance products and services which may include:
• Offering you a single or range of products from which to choose a product that suits your insurance needs;
• Advising you on your insurance needs;
• Arranging suitable insurance cover with insurers to meet your requirements;
• Helping you with any subsequent changes to your insurance you have to make;
• Providing all reasonable assistance with any claim you have to make.
We offer a wide range of insurance products and have access to many leading insurance companies. Depending on the type of cover you require and
where we have provided advice based on a personal recommendation, we will advise you when we offer you a policy on the basis of a fair and personal
analysis. Where we have provided advice based on a personal recommendation but not on the basis of a fair and personal analysis, we will advise you:
• If we are under a contractual obligation to conduct insurance distribution exclusively with one or more insurers and will provide you with a list of
those insurers; or
• If we are not under a contractual obligation to conduct insurance distribution with one or more insurers and will provide you with a list of
insurers with which we may and do conduct business.
Before the insurance contract is concluded and after we have assessed your demands and needs, we will provide you with advice and make a personal
recommendation, unless we advise otherwise. This will include sufficient information such as the main features of the product’s cover, any unusual
restrictions or exclusions, any significant conditions or obligations and the period of cover to enable you to make an informed decision about the policy,
together with a quotation which will itemise any fees that are payable in addition to the premium. This will also include a statement of
your demands and needs which you should read carefully.
4. Important Information (consumer customers only)
If you are a Consumer (an individual buying insurance wholly or mainly for purposes unrelated to their trade, business or profession), under the Consumer
Insurance (Disclosure and Representation) Act 2012 it is your duty as a consumer to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to an insurer.
A failure by you to comply with the insurers request to confirm or amend particulars previously given is capable of being a misrepresentation for the
purpose of this Act. It is important that you ensure all statements you make on proposal forms, claim forms and other documents are full and accurate and
we recommend that you keep a copy of all correspondence in relation to the arrangement of your insurance. Under the Act, an insurer has a remedy
against a consumer in respect of qualifying misrepresentations in breach of the consumers’ duty of reasonable care where the insurer deems the
misrepresentation to be either deliberate, reckless, or careless.
If in doubt about any point in relation to your duty to take reasonable care and subsequent qualifying misrepresentations please contact us
immediately.
5. The Duty of Fair Presentation (non-consumer customers only)
If you are not a Consumer (an individual buying insurance wholly or mainly for purposes unrelated to their trade, business or profession), it is your
responsibility to provide a fair presentation of the insurance risk based on you conducting a reasonable search for information. This could require you to
obtain information from senior managers within your organisation or other parties to which the insurance relates or who carry out outsource functions for
your business. You must disclose every material circumstance which you know or ought to know, or failing that, disclose sufficient information to put your
insurer on notice that it needs to make further enquiries. You must ensure that any information you provide is correct to the best of your knowledge and
representations that you make in expectation or belief must be made in good faith. If you fail to make a fair presentation of the risk this may result in
additional terms or warranties being applied from inception of the policy or any claim payment being proportionately reduced. In some cases this could
result in your policy being declared void by an insurer and your premiums returned. Any deliberate or reckless breach of the duty of fair presentation
could result in your policy being declared void by an insurer with no refund of premium. If in doubt about any point in relation to material
circumstances and reasonable search please contact us immediately.
6. Financial Crime
Please be aware that current UK money laundering regulations require us to obtain adequate ‘Know Your Client’ information about you. We are also
required to cross check you against The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) HM Treasury consolidated list of Financial Sanctions Targets in
the UK as part of the information gathering process.
We are obliged to report to the National Crime Agency and/or Serious Fraud Office any evidence or suspicion of financial crime at the first opportunity
and we are prohibited from disclosing any such report. We will not permit our employees or other persons engaged by them to be either influenced or
influence others in respect of undue payments or privileges from or to insurers or clients.
7. Solvency of Insurers
We cannot guarantee the solvency of any insurer with which we place business. This means that you may still be liable for any premium due and not be
able to recover the premium paid, whether in full or in part, should an insurer become insolvent.
8. Terms of Payment
Our payment terms are as follows (unless specifically agreed by us in writing to the contrary):
• New policies: immediate payment on or before the inception date of the policy
• Alterations to existing policies: immediate payment on or before the effective date of the change
• Renewals: due in full before the renewal date
If payment is not received from you in accordance with the above terms, we, or your insurer may cancel or lapse the relevant policy/policies, which could
mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid. You may also be in breach of legally required insurance cover.
If you choose to pay for your insurance premium using a finance provider, your details will be passed onto them. We will provide you with a breakdown of
the costs of your monthly instalments and subsequently a document outlining key features of their credit agreement with you including any fees they
apply and the cost of default charges. It is important that you take time to read this document and must contact us if you do not receive this. If you have
any queries or questions, either about the service provided by the finance provider or their terms and conditions you should in the first instance contact
them. Where your policy is paid via the finance provider and you choose to renew your cover, we will again continue to pass your details to them. If any
direct debit or other payment due in respect of any credit agreement you enter into to pay insurance premiums is not met when presented for payment or
if you end the credit agreement, we will be informed of such events by the finance provider. In certain circumstances we may be contractually obliged by
the finance provider to notify your insurer to cancel the policy. Where we are not contractually obliged to do so by the finance provider, if you do not
make other arrangements with us to pay the insurance premiums you acknowledge and agree that we may, at any time after being informed of non
payment under the credit agreement, instruct on your behalf the relevant insurer to cancel the insurance and to collect any refund of premiums which may
be made by the insurer and use this refund to offset the amount levied by the finance provider on us. If this amount is not sufficient to cover all our costs
we reserve the right to pursue any additional debt owed to us through a due legal process. You will be responsible for paying any time on risk charge and
putting in place any alternative insurance and/or payment arrangements you need. Upon receiving your strict acceptance to pay for insurance premiums
through the finance provider, we will instruct them to proceed with your application for credit. This process will involve the provider searching public
information that a credit reference agency holds about you and any previous payment history you have with that provider. The credit reference agency will
add details of your search and your application to their record about you whether or not your application is successful. Please read carefully the pre-
contractual explanations and the information regarding the cost of credit (including any representative examples). Together they provide important
information in relation to the credit facility available from the finance provider. Credit is available subject to status.
9. How we hold Your Money
All client money is handled by us. Client money is money that we receive and hold on behalf of our clients during the course of our dealings such as
premium payments, premium refunds, and claim payments. This money will be held by us either as agent of the insurer or agent of the client, determined
by the agreement we have in place with each insurer. Where money is held as agent of the insurer, this means that when we have received your cleared
premium, it is deemed to have been paid to the insurer.
Our standard accounting practice is to take our commission upon receipt of your cleared funds prior to payment of the premium to the insurer.
The FCA requires all client monies, including yours, to be held in a trust account, the purpose of which is to protect you in the event of our financial failure
since, in such circumstances; our general creditors would not be able to make claims on client money as it will not form part of our assets. We hold all
client monies with one or more approved banks, as defined by the FCA, in a Statutory Trust bank account in accordance with the FCA client money rules.
Under these arrangements, we assume responsibility for such monies and are permitted to, and may:
• For the purpose of effecting a transaction on your behalf, pass your money to another intermediary, including those resident outside the UK
who would therefore be subject to different legal and regulatory regimes. In the event of a failure of the intermediary, this money may be
treated in a different manner from that which would apply if the money were held by an intermediary in the UK. Please inform us if you do not
agree to this.
Unless we receive your written instruction to the contrary, we shall treat receipt of payment from you and of any claim payment and/or refund of premium
which fall due to you, as being with your informed consent to the payment of those monies into the Statutory Trust bank account.
10. Quotations
Unless otherwise agreed, any quotation given will normally remain valid for a period of 30 days from the date it is provided to you. We reserve the right to
withdraw or amend a quotation in certain circumstances, for example, where the insurer has altered their premium/terms for the insurance since the
quotation was given, where there has been a change in the original risk information/material circumstances disclosed or if a claim/incident has occurred
since the terms were offered.
11. Renewals
You will be provided with renewal terms in good time before expiry of the policy, or notified that renewal is not being invited. Unless you advise otherwise,
renewals are invited on the basis that there have been no changes in the risk or cover required, other than those specifically notified to us or your insurers
(see ‘Important Information’ and ‘The Duty of Fair Presentation’ sections).
It is very important that you check the information provided at renewal to confirm it remains accurate and complete. If any of the information is incorrect
or if your circumstances have changed, you should contact us immediately so we can update your details.
12. Mid-term Transferred Business
When we are appointed to service insurance policies other than at their inception or renewal and which were originally arranged via another party, we shall
not be liable during the current insurance period for any loss arising from any errors or omissions or gaps in your insurance cover or advice not supplied
by us. Should you have any concerns in respect of a policy, which has been transferred to us, or if you require an immediate review of your insurance
arrangements, you must notify us immediately. Otherwise, we shall review your insurance arrangements and advise accordingly as each policy falls due for
renewal.
13. Notification of Incidents/Claims
Your policy documentation will provide you with details on who to contact to make a claim. It is essential to notify immediately all incidents that may result
in a claim against your insurance policy. You must do so whether you believe you are liable or not. Any letter or claim received by you must be passed on
immediately, without acknowledgement. Only by providing prompt notification of incidents can your insurance company take steps to protect your
interests. Claims payment will be made in favour of you. If you require a payment to be made to a third party, then you must confirm the required payee
name and details and provide a brief explanation for your request. Please contact us for guidance on claiming under your policy.
14. Cancellation
Customers acting outside their trade, business or profession are regarded as Consumers and usually have the legal right to cancel a policy within 14 days
from the day of purchase or renewal or the day on which you receive the full policy terms and conditions, whichever is the later, although this timescale
may vary depending on the type of policy purchased and this will be clarified in your policy document. The right to cancel also depends upon a claim not
having occurred and the performance of the policy not being complete.
Note that this right does not usually apply to policies of less than one month in
duration, such as short term travel insurance and you should presume as such unless informed in writing by us to the contrary.
You must contact us within the 14-day period where the Right to Cancel applies. The insurers may return a proportion of the premium to us, less any
reasonable cost incurred in providing the cover. We reserve the right to make a charge including administration charges in relation to the time policy
coverage was in place and to make reasonable charges for additional administration incurred. These charges will be notified to you prior to them being
levied. In the case of cancellation after the ‘Right to Cancel’ period for Consumers or for commercial customers where a ‘Right to Cancel’ period does not
usually apply (refer to your policy document for clarity) please note the following:
• Your contract may include a cancellation clause, please note: a number of insurers will only incept cover on a ‘minimum and deposit’ premium
basis and some polices may be non-refundable in the event of cancellation.
• Where this does not apply, insurers may only return a proportionate return of the premium and you may be charged an admin fee to cancel.
Please see the ‘Remuneration, Fees & Charges’ section. Please refer to your policy documents for more details or contact your Account
Executive.
In the event that you fail to pay your premium by the due date, the insurance may be cancelled forthwith, or by insurers giving notice of cancellation. If
you pay by instalments, there is the possibility that the amount paid prior to the cancellation date may not cover the overall amount due up to the date of
cancellation. In that situation you will remain liable to pay the difference between those amounts.
To enable your insurer to process the cancellation, you will need to return certificates and any official documents to our office within 30 days of your
notice to cancel.
15. Remuneration, Fees & Charges
In most cases we are paid by commission from the insurer, but in some circumstances, we may charge you a fee instead of commission or a combination
of both, in which case this will be confirmed to you in writing at the time of incepting or renewing your policy. Our fees will be confirmed to you clearly
and in writing at the time of incepting or renewing your policy and will always be disclosed to you before you commit to purchasing the product. There
may also be occasions when an additional fee is sought, for example changes to the risk that required significant further advice and placement of
additional coverage or substantial involvement in any large, difficult, or complex claims.
In addition, we also make charges as detailed below to cover the administration of your insurance. Any applicable insurance premium tax will be shown on
the documentation we provide to you.
These fees are non-refundable.
New Business less than £10,000 15% of the premium
Renewal less than £10,000 15% of the premium
Mid Term Adjustments £10.00
Lost Papers or Duplicate Documents £10.00
Temporary Change £10.00
Occasionally, and due to the nature and complexity of the work we undertake on certain types of insurance, we may need to charge you a fee in excess of
this scale. Where we propose to do this, we will disclose both the amount and the reason why clearly, before you become liable to pay it. Our fees are non-
refundable if you cancel your policy. Any fee charged will not cover any work we do in relation to insurance policies which have not yet incepted or which
we are not yet responsible for administering. Other companies may be involved in placing your insurance(s) and where such companies are involved they
may charge a fee for their services.
We may occasionally receive additional remuneration from insurers, claims management providers and others. Where you choose to pay your premium
by instalments, we may use a scheme operated by your insurer, or we may use a Finance Provider selected from a limited panel. Where we arrange
premium finance on your behalf, we are remunerated for our assistance in putting this financing in place by way of commission. We will advise you of any
commission payable by the finance provider in relation to a credit agreement where knowledge of the existence or amount of commission could affect our
impartiality in recommending a particular product or that may have a material impact on your transactional decision. You are entitled at any time to
request further information regarding the amount of any remuneration which we may have received as a result of placing or renewing your insurance
cover. To the extent that this is not possible for an amount to be given, we will provide the basis for its calculation.
Where a policy is cancelled before renewal, insurers charge to cover their costs, with the balance refunded to you, subject to no claim having been made.
Full details will be available in your policy. In the event of an adjustment giving rise to a return of premium the amount may be refunded or held to credit.
Your attention is specifically drawn to the following: Where you cancel your policy after the expiry of the cooling off period or where you request a
mid-term adjustment which results in a refund of premium,
we reserve the right to charge you for our time and costs. This will usually result in us
reducing the amount refunded to you by the FULL amount of the commission and fees we would have received had you not cancelled. However,
any charge made will not exceed the cost of the commission and fees we would have earned. For certain commercial insurance policies, insurers will only
provide cover where the premium is due in full on inception of the policy. This means that no refund will be paid if the policy is cancelled before renewal.
We will advise you if this affects you. Bank details may be retained for the purposes of refunds and claims payments that may be made by BACS.
16. Complaints
It is our intention to provide you with the highest possible level of customer service at all times. However we recognise that things can go wrong
occasionally and if this occurs we are committed to resolving matters promptly and fairly.
Should you wish to complain you may do so:
• In writing to the Complaints Manager Ian McCulloch
• By telephone on 01592 649786
• By Fax on 01592 649787
• By e-mail at [email protected]
• In person by visiting our office (see above for address)
Should you not be satisfied with our final response, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). More information
is available on request or on their website www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Further details will be supplied at the time of responding to your complaint.
We are a firm that sell products online and are required to inform you of the availability of the online dispute resolution (ODR) platform to assist you if we
are unable to resolve your complaint. This facility will direct you to the alternative disputes resolution (ADR) provider for the firm who in this case is the
Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and you may therefore wish to contact them direct.
More details are available on https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/odr
17. Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and you may be entitled to compensation from the scheme depending on the type of
business and circumstances of the claim if we cannot meet our obligations. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available
from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme at www.fscs.org.uk.
18. Confidentiality and Data Protection
We are a data controller for the information you provide to us including individual, identification and financial details, policy history and special category
data (such as medical or criminal history).
Details of our legal basis for processing your information, along with details of any third party recipient whom it may be necessary to share your personal
data with in order to fulfil the contract, retention period for data held, security of your data, your rights under the General Data Protection Regulations
(GDPR) including the right to complain can be found in our full ‘Privacy Notice’ attached to these terms of business and on our website at www.insure-
smart.co.uk/privacy
19. Communications/Documentation
We will issue all documentation to you in a timely manner. Documentation relating to your insurance will confirm the basis of the cover and provide details
of the relevant insurers. It is therefore important that the documentation is kept in a safe place, as you may need to refer to it or need it to make a claim. A
new policy/policy booklet is not necessarily provided each year, although a duplicate can be provided at any time upon request. You should always check
the documentation to ensure all the details are correct and if this is not the case you should contact us immediately. If documents are issued by electronic
means or via an internet portal, paper documents are available free of charge on request.
20. Termination of our authority to act on your behalf
You or we may terminate our authority to act on your behalf by providing at least 14 days notice in writing (or such other period we agree). Termination is
without prejudice to any transactions already initiated by you, which will be completed according to these terms of business unless we agree otherwise in
writing.
You will remain liable to pay for any transactions or adjustments effective prior to termination and we shall be entitled to retain any and all commission
and/or fees payable in relation to insurance cover placed by us prior to the date of written termination.
21. Third Party Rights
Unless otherwise agreed between us in writing, no term of this Terms of Business is enforceable under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
22. Limitation of Liability
The following provisions set out our entire financial liability to you.
You acknowledge and agree that you shall only be entitled to make a claim against us and not against any individual employee or consultant engaged by
us. Our liability for losses suffered by you arising under or in connection with the provision of our services, whether in contract, tort (including negligence),
breach of statutory duty, or otherwise (including our liability for the acts or omissions of our senior management, employees and any appointed
representatives) shall be limited to £5,000,000 per claim. Any claim or series of claims arising from one act, error, omission, incident, or original cause shall
be considered to be one claim. We shall not be liable to you for any loss of profit or loss of business whether directly or indirectly occurring and which
arises out of or in connection with the provision of our services. Nothing in this paragraph shall exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury
caused by our negligence or for loss by our fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation or breach of regulatory obligations owed to you. You are welcome to
contact us to discuss increasing the limitations of our liability and or varying the exclusions set out above.
23. General
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, the validity of the other provisions of these Terms and the
remainder of the provision in question will not be affected. These Terms shall be governed by the laws of Scotland and the parties agree herewith that any
dispute arising out of it shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the relevant court. These Terms supersede all proposals, prior discussions, and
representations (whether oral or written) between us relating to our appointment as your agent in connection with the arranging and administration of
your insurance. These Terms constitute an offer by us to act on your behalf in the arranging and administration of your insurance. In the absence of any
specific acceptance communicated to us by you (whether verbal or written) you are deemed to accept our offer to act for you on the basis of these Terms,
by conduct, upon you instructing us to arrange, renew or otherwise act for you in connection with insurance matters.