Please read this document carefully. It sets out the terms on which we agree to act for our clients and contains details of our regulatory and statutory responsibilities.
Authorisation
Confidas is a trading style of Smith Greenfield Services Ltd. Smith Greenfield Services Ltd. is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reference number 300546. The FCA is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services.
Smith Greenfield Services Ltd. is permitted by the FCA to advise on, arrange and assist in the administration and performance of general insurance contracts.
The above information is available to check on the FCA’s Register by visiting the FCA’s website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.
Ownership
Smith Greenfield Services Ltd. has no direct, or indirect, holding in any insurer and no insurer has any direct, or indirect, holding in Smith Greenfield Ltd.
Customer Classification
The FCA classifies customers as follows: A Retail customer is an individual who is acting for purposes which are outside their normal trade, business or profession, that is, arranging mainly personal insurances.
A Commercial customer is one who is not a Retail customer, that is, one who is effecting insurance to protect a business. These classifications impact on how certain aspects of FCA regulation affect your position and they are highlighted within these Terms of Business.
Level of Service and Products Offered
In relation to the general insurance products we offer, we can provide advice or information from a single insurer.
Insurer Solvency
Whilst we will take all reasonable steps to place your insurance with an insurer capable of meeting its future liabilities, we are unable to guarantee the continuing solvency of any company and do not accept liability for any losses arising or any additional costs in replacing the insurance with an alternative insurer.
Fair Treatment
We aim to treat you fairly at all times by ensuring that we provide you with insurance products, services and advice that are suitable and meet your needs and expectations.
It is never our intention to put ourselves in a position where our interests, or our duty to another party, prevent us from discharging our duty to you.
Conflicts of Interest
Occasions can arise where we, or one of our other customers, will have some form of interest in business that we are transacting for you. If this happens, or we become aware that our interest or that of one of our customers conflicts with your interest, we will inform you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions. As an example, a conflict of interest may arise where we have authority to settle claims on behalf of the insurer.
Remuneration
The remuneration we receive for our services is normally in the form of brokerage, which is a percentage of the insurance premium paid by you and allowed by the insurer with whom the insurance is placed. We remind Commercial customers of their right to be informed of the level of brokerage which we receive from an insurer, before conclusion of each insurance contract or upon renewal. At any time, Commercial customers may request information regarding any brokerage which we may have received resulting from placing their insurance business.
There may be occasions where we will charge you a fee for advice or services in addition to any insurance premiums. Where this is the case, we will fully explain the basis of our charging and agree with you what the fee is for and when the fee is payable before charging that fee. Any other fees relating to any particular insurance policy will be included in the quotation you receive. In addition to such brokerage or agreed fees basis of remuneration, we may also benefit from:
- Expense allowances or commissions from insurers for managing and administering certain covers, binding authorities and other similar facilities
- Earnings which we are able to generate due to the weight of our account placed with certain insurers and its underwriting performance, which is not identifiable to any specific account.
These arrangements do not affect the recommendations we make to you which remain wholly based on your demands and needs.
Premium Payment
Premiums must be paid in full prior to the inception date of the policy or by the due date in respect of renewal. Unless we have agreed alternative arrangements in writing, failure to do so may invalidate the cover and enable insurers to cancel the policy. Where insurers have specified that the premium must be received by a certain date by application of a Premium Payment Condition or Warranty and we have advised you of this, failure to comply may entitle them to cancel cover from inception.
Client Money (General)
Confidas is governed by strict rules pertaining to Client Money, set down by our Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority. We may earn interest on monies held in our Client Account, for which you consent to our retaining. Client Money will be deposited in an approved bank. The monies paid by you to us may be held on a Non Statutory Trust basis or held by us as agents of insurers as detailed below.
Client Money (Non Statutory Trust)
Confidas holds its Clients’ Monies on trust. This means that whilst we have legal ownership over Client Monies, such money remains in the beneficial ownership of our clients.
Client Money (Holding money as an agent)
Confidas acts as agents for a number of insurers for the collection of premiums and payment of claims and refunds of premiums. This means that premiums are treated as being received by these insurers when received in our bank account and that any claims money or premium refund is treated as received by you when it is actually paid over to you.
Payments to Third Parties
We may transfer Client Money to another person, such as another broker or settlement agent, for the purpose of effecting a transaction on your behalf. On occasions, Client Money may be passed to organisations outside the UK. The legal and regulatory regime applying outside the UK may be different from that of the UK and, in the event of failure of a third party outside the UK, this money may be treated in a different manner from that which would apply if the money were held by a third party organisation in the UK.
Retention of Documents
We reserve the right to retain certificates and other policy documents at this office until all payments due under the policy have been made in accordance with our invoice or statement. By accepting this agreement, you agree that delivery of any Certificate of Insurance to us shall constitute delivery to yourself in accordance with legal requirements. Should we withhold any documents, we will ensure that you are provided with full details of your insurance cover.
Claims
If you have occasion to claim or an incident arises that may give rise to a claim on your policy, you must advise us immediately so that we can ensure that your claim is passed to the insurer promptly. If we cannot deal with the notification we will advise you accordingly. You should not admit liability nor agree to any course of action, other than emergency measures carried out to minimize the loss, until you have agreement from your insurer.
We have the authority, in certain circumstances, to settle claims on behalf of UK Insurance Ltd.
Duty of Care and Confidentiality
We will keep records of all our business transactions for a minimum period of three years. We treat all our clients’ records as confidential even when they are no longer a client. Information provided to us by you will be used solely for the purposes of providing insurance broking and premium finance services to you, or to others where we are legally obliged to do so, or to meet our regulatory requirements. We cannot be held responsible for incorrect data held in the event of non-disclosure. Insurers pass information to the Claims and Underwriting Exchange run by Insurance Database Services Ltd and the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register run by the Association of British Insurers. The aim is to check information provided and also prevent fraudulent claims. Motor Insurance details are added to the Motor Insurance Database run by the Motor Insurers Information Centre that has been formed to help identify uninsured drivers and may be searched by the police to help confirm who is insured to drive. In the event of an accident the database may be used by insurers and the Motor Insurers Bureau to identify relevant policy information. Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have the right of access to your personal records held on our files. This may incur a small administration fee and we will tell you what the fee is if you ask for a copy of your information.
Should you require clarification of your rights under the Data Protection Act visit www.ico.gov.uk or telephone 08456 30 60 60.
Complaints and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
We will endeavour to act fairly and reasonably at all times and
provide you with a professional service. Should you have any
complaints about the service provided, please contact us in writing
to The Compliance Officer, Confidas, Stephenson House, 2 Cherry
Orchard Road, Croydon, CR0 6BA, or telephone us on 0208 603
7157. If you cannot resolve your complaint with us, you may be
entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to
which we subscribe. The contact details are as follows:
The Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh
Wall, London E14 9SR or email
complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk.
The telephone number is 0845 080 1800
The FOS is available to Retail customers and Commercial customers with a turnover of less than £1,000,000. We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and 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. Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £2,000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim, without any upper limit. For compulsory classes of insurance, 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.
Money Laundering/ Proceeds of Crime Act
Under UK Money Laundering regulations, we are obliged to report to the Serious Organised Crimes Agency any situation giving rise to a suspicion of money laundering and we are prohibited from disclosing any such report.
Policy Documents
Policy documents will be issued to you as quickly as possible after receipt from insurers. When a policy is issued you are strongly advised to read it carefully as it is this document, the schedule and any certificate of insurance which forms the basis of the insurance contract you have purchased. Particular attention should be paid to any policy conditions, exclusions, warranties and claims provisions as failure to comply may invalidate your cover. If you are in doubt about these, please seek our advice promptly. For certain types of insurance, for example Employers and Public Liability, it is possible that a claim may be made under a policy long after expiry date of the cover. It is therefore important that all policy documentation is kept safely, particularly that which may be called upon to provide protection beyond the expiry date of cover.
Contract Certainty
The insurance industry is often called upon at very short notice to provide protection for customers wishing to transfer a risk. However, quite often there is uncertainty, either by the customer as to exactly what level of protection was provided and for the insurer not knowing exactly what it is they are insuring. To help avoid disputes from uncertainty, the insurance industry has produced a code of good practice to help provide ‘Contract Certainty’ before protection starts. Confidas has agreed to abide by the code, which requires that the full wording be agreed by all parties before any insurer formally commits to the contract. The code also has service standards for issuing appropriate evidence of cover in a reasonable time. These are within 30 calendar days after inception or renewal date for Commercial customers or within 7 working days after inception or renewal date for Retail customers.
Corporate Entities
Where you are a Commercial customer and a corporation or entity which is not a natural person, unless we are specifically advised to the contrary in writing, we will be entitled to assume that everyone within your organisation (which term for this purpose includes any parent, subsidiary or associated company) who actually gives instructions to us which we accept and act upon, has the requisite authority to do so on behalf of the organisation.
Termination
Our services may be terminated either by us or you upon the giving of a minimum of fourteen days notice in writing to the other or as otherwise agreed.
In the event our services are terminated by you, we will be entitled to receive any and all fees and brokerage payable (whether or not the same have been received by us) in relation to the policies placed by us.
In the event that we no longer place insurances for you and if we continue to handle your claims, we may seek to agree a fee for future work.
Governing Law
These Terms of Business shall be governed by the laws of England
and Wales and the parties agree herewith that any dispute arising
out of it shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English
Courts.
