INSURANCE RISK SOLUTIONS LIMITED - TERMS OF BUSINESS & DISCLOSURE INFORMATION 

Terms of Business - Contents

• Status Disclosure
• Our Capacity and Explanation of our Service
• Claims Service
• Scope of Regulation
• Our Remuneration
• Insurer Security
• Instructions - Out of Office Hours
• Your legal duty to disclose information to us and your insurer
• Under Insurance
• Data Protection - Confidentiality of Information
• Payments to us
• Our right to off set monies you owe us
• Cancellation Rights
• Law applying to your insurance
• Your views and Complaints Handling
• Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
  

You have arranged or are arranging general insurance policies with us and we request that you read the following document carefully as it provides details of the terms that will apply to our appointment by you together with important information regarding our statutory regulatory status.

In these Terms references to "we" or "us" are to the Company whose details appear at the top of this document.

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Status Disclosure 

• Insurance Risk Solutions Limited (IRS) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) under Firm Registration Number 460667. You may check our authorisation by visiting the FSA website http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting them on 0845 606 1234

• IRS is a subsidiary of Insurance Risk Solutions Holdings Limited.

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Our Capacity and Explanation of our Service

We are a general insurance intermediary acting as agent for you in the identification, negotiation and placement of your general insurance cover(s).  Our service and aim is to ensure that the products or services we recommend meet your needs which will be based upon information that you provide us. If our recommended product doesn't meet your exact requirements, we will explain the differences in the product or service that we can offer you. At all times, we will provide you with enough information so that you can make an informed decision about the product we are recommending. Where we act as agent of the insurer, we will advise you prior to the cover incepting or renewing.

For individual consumer clients, if you require extra time to consider the products or services we have offered, we will either advise you how long you have to accept the insurance on the terms we have offered, or; provide you with a written quote if you request one and a copy of the policy wording that is to apply. 

• In arranging your insurance we may deal with a number of insurers, details of these will be advised to you when we discuss your individual requirements prior to your commitment to proceed. We detail below, the basis of our marketing analysis for the covers proposed, being incepted or renewed. Where covers are placed through a placing broker, we will confirm to you the details of these arrangements prior to cover incepting or renewing.

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Claims Service

As part of our service, we shall assist you in the handling of any claim you need to make acing as your agent.

It is important that you notify us of all incidents or circumstances that may lead to a claim against your insurance policy. Any undue delay or failure to do so could result in a declinature of your claim by your insurer.

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Scope of Regulation

Some of the products we advise on or some of our services may not fall under the rules of the FSA. When this is the case we will give you details before you make a commitment on any product we offer you. 

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Our Remuneration

We are remunerated for our services to you either in the form of commissions paid to us by Insurers

when placing your covers with them or by a fee agreed between you and us before concluding the placement of covers with Insurers on your behalf.

In certain circumstances with your prior agreement a combination of commission and fee maybe

negotiated between us.

Our commercial clients have a right to request of us details of our earnings from the placement of your

insurances. Where such a request is made this shall be provided to you in writing in accordance with our regulatory requirements.

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Insurer Security

We will endeavour to place your covers with insurers are able to demonstrate an acceptable level of security. Their regulator requires them to maintain a minimum level of capital however, we cannot guarantee the solvency of any insurer.

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Instructions - Out of Office Hours

You may wish to advise us of changes to your cover or additional covers outside of our normal business hours by methods including Email, Fax, Voice Mail, Messaging and Text. Where we are instructed by these methods outside of our business hours we will confirm to you once cover has been amended or placed as requested. Until that time you must not assume that cover is in force.

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Your legal duty to disclose information to us and your insurer

Your insurance is based upon the information provided by you to us and this is then provided to the Insurance Company. You must ensure that such information is complete and accurate. Any facts that may influence the Insurer's decision to accept your risk or the terms offered must be disclosed. If you are in doubt, please advise us. The duty to disclose information continues during the life of the policy and at renewal.

You are responsible for all answers or statements on proposal forms, claims forms or other material documents and you should ensure these are full and accurate.

Failure to disclose material information at the start of the policy, at renewal or advise the insurer of changes to the risk during the period of insurance may invalidate your insurance cover and could mean that part, or all, of a claim may not be paid. Unless advised by you otherwise, we shall assume that your information remains the same and correct.

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Under Insurance

Some non-motor insurance contracts contain an "average condition" and we request that all sums insured be kept at adequate levels to avoid the application of this condition. In the event of a claim, the "average condition" would have the effect of reducing claims payments proportionate to the extent of under-insurance.

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Data Protection - Confidentiality of Information

• All personal information about you will be treated as private and confidential (even when you are no longer a client) except where the disclosure is made at your request, with your consent in relation to arranging, placing and administering your insurance. This may involve passing information about you to insurers, other intermediaries, risk management assessors, uninsured loss recovery agencies and other third parties involved (directly or indirectly) in your insurance or where required to by law.
• As part of FSA regulation, we may be asked to provide them with access to our client records in order that they may carry out a review of our activities.
• Some or all of the information you supply to us in connection with your insurance proposal will be held on computer and may be passed to other insurance companies for underwriting and claims purposes. In addition we may also pass information about you to other companies which are in or associated with our group. We or they may also use the information we hold about you to provide you with information on other products and services we or they can offer and which we feel may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive marketing information from us or them, or for us to disclose information about you to other parties for marketing purposes, please contact us immediately.
• We may also pass information about you to credit reference agencies and premium finance providers in connection with the assessment of your financial standing generally and, in particular, where you have requested a premium instalment plan - this may include details of your payment record with us.
• Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have a right of access to see personal information about you. If you have any queries please write to us.
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Payments to us

Premiums paid by you to us are held in accordance with the strict client money rules of our regulatory

body in a non-statutory trust account or held on behalf of the insurer as agent.

We may use funds held in this account to fund another clients premium before we receive it from that

client or to allow a refund to a client before the insurer processes the refund onto our account.

We may earn interest on amounts paid by you to us and held in our non-statutory trust account until

such time as we are required to settle premiums to insurers. We will retain and keep any interest earned.

For some specialist markets, we may pay your premiums to a placing broker who will also be required

to hold your money in trust until it is received by the ultimate insurer.

Unless otherwise stated on our invoice, our terms are full payment of premium and any fees on or

before the inception or renewal date of the policy.

By reading these terms you are providing your consent for us to handle and hold your premiums as described above.

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Our right to off set monies you owe us

We may without your prior agreement off set off any amounts due to us from you against any amounts which we may receive on your behalf for example, claims monies and refunded premiums.

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Cancellation Rights

You will find full details of your cancellation rights, and any related charges which may be charged by your insurer, in the policy wording provided by your insurance company.

For Individual Consumer Clients (as defined by FSA) you have 14 days to cancel your policy either from the day you receive the full terms and conditions of your policy or, the day the policy is sold to you.  To exercise your right of cancellation, you should contact the insurance company which underwrites your policy, or contact us either by telephone or by letter. Insurers reserve the right to charge you for the period on risk.

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Law applying to your insurance

Unless otherwise stated, these terms and those of your insurers are subject to the Laws of England and Wales.

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Your views and Complaints Handling

We pride ourselves on the service we provide to you at all times. In the event that we fail to achieve these standards, and meet your expectations, we are committed to resolving matters. If you wish to record a complaint please contact us:

in writing, to your normal point of contact with us or alternatively to Paul Wisbey our Operations Director at Dettingen House, Dettingen Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3TU.

• by telephone on 01284 777555
• In person, at the address shown above.

We take complaints about our service very seriously. We have a documented complaints handling procedure and a copy of this policy is available upon request.

If you are not satisfied with the way we have dealt with your complaint, please write to our Managing Director, Paul Chubbuck at the address stated above.

For Individual Consumer clients and Commercial clients employing fewer than 10 persons and with a turnover or balance sheet that does not exceed €2M, the Financial Ombudsman Service may be prepared to review your complaint. You can find out more at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or call them on 0845 080 1800 

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Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

IRS is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of client you are and, in the case of a commercial business, the size of the business and the type and circumstance of the claim.

For compulsory classes of insurance, insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of any claim, without upper limit.

For all other classes of insurance, 90% compensation will be applied without any upper limit.

Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS at www.fscs.org.uk.

IRSIDDV50110.doc

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