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Terms of Business
Welcome to M.E French & Co. We thank you for instructing us to arrange your insurance on your behalf.
Our aim is to provide a first class service for all our clients on every aspect of general insurance, so for your car, van, home or business insurances please contact us for a free quotation, without obligation. To meet our expectations on service standards we set out below our TERMS OF BUSINESS. Any queries should be addressed to the Manager at 8 Liverpool Road, Penwortham, Preston PR1 0AD.
Service
M.E. French & Co. will ensure as far as possible that the policy proposed is suitable to your needs and resources. We will treat all information supplied as completely confidential to ourselves and the insurance company or companies to which the insurance is offered. We are able to provide both commercial and retail products direct with Insurers or via specialist companies.
Our service includes:
In order to ensure that the product offered to you is the most suitable we will ask a number of questions and identify the risks to which you are exposed. If we are not able to match these risks precisely, we will confirm the differences in the products.
We offer products from a range of insurers, however you will be advised if your product is offered from a limited market or single insurer. A list of insurers is available on request. We will advise and make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your needs. This will include the type of cover you seek together with the costs.
When recommending an insurance contract, this will be on the basis of a fair analysis of the market.
Our Status
M.E. French & Co. are independent insurance intermediaries who act as your agent and accept responsibility for the advice given and for arranging your insurance. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Our register number is 303888. You can check this by calling 0845 606 1234 or on www.fsa.gov.uk/register.
Duty of disclosure
It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information when you take out your insurance policy, now, throughout your policy, and when you renew your insurance. It is important all statements you make at quotation stage, on proposal forms, claim forms and other documents are full and accurate. A fact or circumstance is material if it would influence the judgement of a prudent insurer in fixing the premium or determining whether they should take the risk. Please note that failure to disclose material information could invalidate your insurance cover, and part of or all of a claim may not be paid or the contract voided. Please keep copies of documentation sent/received from us. Please contact us if you are in any doubt on any aspect.
All warranties, clauses and conditions contained within your insurance policies must be complied with at all times. Failure to comply with these warranties, clauses or conditions could result in invalidation of your insurance cover or termination of the insurance policy.
Cancellation
If a policy is cancelled during the term of the contract, it is common practice for insurers to make a short period charge to reflect the costs of setting up the policy at inception. Full details will be found in the policy document. In such circumstances M.E. French & Co. will deduct from any refund a sum equal to the commission we would have earned, had the policy run its full course. If a claim has been made during the period of cover, there may be no refund allowable from the insurance company. For new retail policies a 14 day 'cooling off period' at inception of the policy is mandatory.
Our services may be terminated without cause or penalty by giving one months notice in writing. In the event that our services are terminated by you other than at the expiry of the policy, we will be entitled to retain any fees and all of the brokerage payable. The responsibility for handling claims reported after the date of termination shall in the absence of an express agreement be the responsibility of the party taking over the role.
Payment of Premiums
We are happy to accept payment of premiums by cheque, bankers draft, credit / debit card (charges may apply), insurers direct debit, or arranged through a finance company. However we regret that we cannot accept cash payments above £500.00.
We will provide clients with a detailed debit note or credit note in relation to each transaction processed on their behalf for any insurance service or product provided.
Our remuneration is obtained by means of a commission paid by insurers and we will not take additional revenue without prior agreement from our client. Any additional fee for products or services provided will be clearly identified in debit notes issued.
From time to time, certain underwriters or companies with whom we transact business on our clients behalf, may deem it appropriate to pay us overriding commission reflecting the size and/or profitability of our account with them.
Our normal terms of credit are 14 days from the date the insurance was effected. Where external finance is provided to spread insurance premiums, any additional charge made will be disclosed to the customer. Certain underwriters or insurers may impose premium payment warranties, which mean that our usual 14 days of credit cannot be offered and where this is the case, this will be clearly identified to our customers.
Fees
You will receive a quotation which will tell you about any fees relating to the particular product you are being offered.
For mid-term adjustments M.E. French & Co. charge an administration fee of £5. No fee is charged for negotiating settlements with your own insurers but we may, at our discretion, charge a fee for recovery of uninsured losses if no legal expenses cover is taken. In certain circumstances we may place cover for you on a non- or low-remunerative contract and a fee will be charged to replace the commission.
Our remuneration will be either a fee as agreed with you or commission which is a percentage of the premium paid by you and a combination of both where appropriate. Brokerage/fees are for the policy period and we will be entitled to retain all brokerage/fees in relation to policies placed with us.
Client Money
Client money is held in a non-statutory trust in accordance with the Financial Services Authority client assets sourcebook (CASS). Copies of these rules are available on request. We are entitled to and may use, client money held on behalf of one client to pay another clients premium before the premium is received from that other client, and to pay claims and premium refunds to another client before we receive payment from the insurer. Any interest we earn on client money will be retained for our own use.
Money Laundering/ Proceeds of Crime Act
Money Laundering regulations require us to obtain evidence of clients identity at the start of a business relationship. We may ask for sight of your passport, utility bill or bank statements. For companies evidence usually consists of a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation or we may check the Companies House register.
Complaints
It is our intention to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times. However, if you are unhappy with your insurance or the advice given, please write to Mrs. A.O. Clark, or ring 01772 745204. Your complaint will be dealt with promptly in accordance with the procedures laid down by the Financial Services Authority. If we cannot settle the complaint satisfactorily, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR. Tel: 0845 080 1800. E-mail complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk.
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. 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.
Claims
You must notify us as soon as possible of a claim or circumstances which may give rise to a claim. In the event of a claim you should contact this office and we will promptly advise you and if appropriate, issue you with a claim form and pass all details to your insurer. You should not admit liability or agree to any course of action, other than emergency measures carried out to minimise the loss, until you have agreement from your insurer. We will remit claims payments to you as soon as possible after they have been received on your behalf. In the event that an insurer becomes insolvent or delays making settlement we do not accept liability for any unpaid amounts.
Underwriters do reserve the right to amend terms/conditions in the event of any deterioration in the claims experience at any time.
Data Protection
Unless required by law, public interest, regulators, or you give your consent, all information you supply will be kept confidential to us and parties involved in the normal course of arranging your insurance without your prior consent. We may provide you with information about other products and services, which we feel may be appropriate to you. We may pass information about you to credit reference agencies for the purpose of arranging payments by instalments and may also pass to them details of your payment record with us. If you do not wish to receive marketing information, or to allow us to disclose information about you to other parties, please notify us in writing. We are registered under the Data protection Act 1998 and we undertake to comply with the Act in all our dealings with your personal data, which will be kept secure. You are entitled to see personal information we hold about you in our records.
Security
We do not guarantee the solvency of any insurer we place business with. A liability for the premium whether in full or pro rata, may arise under policies where a participating insurer becomes insolvent.
IMPORTANT
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 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. Other insurance related databases may also be added in the future.
Governing Law
Our TERMS OF BUSINESS will be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law. |
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ME French & Co are independent intermediaries who act as your agent and accept responsibility for the advice given and for arranging your insurance. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (reference 303888)
