terms and conditions 

The FSA is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. Please use this information to decide if our services are right for you. 

 

W H Adams & Co (Brokers) Ltd, 16 East Street, South Molton, Devon, EX36 3BU, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. 

Our FSA Register number is 300192. You can check this at www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234. 

 

We are an Independent Insurance Intermediary and we will act on your behalf in: 

a) Arranging your insurance to meet your requirements or where requirements cannot be fully 

met provide you with enough information to enable you to make an informed decision. 

b) Effecting any changes that you need to make to your insurance; 

c) Assisting with the renewal of your insurance policy. 

We offer products from a number of insurers for most insurances and will provide a list of these insurers on request. However where we have decided it is in the client’s and our best interest, we have arranged blanket cover or other restricted panel quotes on Legal Protection products, Directors & Officers and Breakdown cover. For internet insurance our quotation engine links exclusively to a specific provider for an instant quotation. 

 

In addition to the premiums charged by insurers, we may charge a professional fee to cover the placing and ongoing handling of your insurance. We normally make the following standard charges to cover the administration of your insurance: 

From time to time depending on the work and risk involved it may be necessary to charge greater fees. The specific amount and purpose of any professional fee and administration charge will always be advised to you in advance. We earn the entirety of our commission and/or fees when your risk is successfully placed and take our commission and/or fees upon settling our insurer account. 

 

You are entitled at any time to request information regarding earnings that we or any other intermediary we have used receive as a result of placing your business. In addition to commission from insurers we may also receive payments based on volumes of business or profitability of the account placed with them. These payments can vary from year to year. Such remuneration is only earned on the basis that it does not detract from our obligation to act in our client’s best interest at all times. 

 

We normally accept payment by cheque, cash or most credit/debit cards. A 3% charge will be 

levied for payment by credit card or £1 for payments by debit card. We require full payment of the premium prior to cover being effected. You may be able to spread your payments through a credit scheme either run by your insurer or by a finance provider and we will advise you further if these options are available. 

 

Our Statutory Trust Account has been set up in accordance with strict rules laid down by the Financial Services Authority. We are the Agent of Insurers for the collection of certain premiums. In arranging your insurance we may employ the services of other intermediaries who are regulated by the FSA and your premium may be passed to these intermediaries for payment to insurers. Any interest, or investment returns, earned on your money whilst in our possession will be retained by us. In order to be able to offer you credit facilities, we are registered under the Consumer Credit Act and our Licence Number is 029566. 

 

In the event of an adjustment that results in a return or premium or cancellation mid-term we will refund the premium due net of our full commission and any charge made by insurers. Where the premium is being paid by instalments we will claim our full commission along with any charge made by the insurers in the calculation of any outstanding monies. 

 

Persons operating outside their business trade or profession have 14 days to cancel the insurance policy without penalty. The cancellation period begins the later of the day of the conclusion of the contract or when the contractual terms and conditions are received. Exercising the right to cancel means that you have withdrawn from the contract and that cover is terminated. When exercising the right to cancel, costs may be incurred for the service provided. 

 

If any credit agreement payment is not met you acknowledge and agree that we may instruct on your behalf the relevant insurer to cancel the insurance and to collect any refund or premiums which may be made by the insurer and use it to o!set any outstanding costs. 

 

Whilst we take every care to check the financial stability of any firm with which we place business, we cannot be held responsible if that firm subsequently ceases to trade. 

It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to insurers when you take out your insurance policy, throughout the life of your policy, and when you renew your insurance. It is important that all statements you make on proposal forms claim forms and other documents are full and accurate. If a form is completed on your behalf, you should check that the answers shown to any questions are true and accurate before signing the document. 

 

Failure to disclose any material information to your insurers could invalidate your insurance cover and mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid. 

 

It is essential that you notify us immediately of all incidents which may result in a claim under your insurance policy whether you believe you are liable or not. Any letter or claim received by you must be passed to us immediately. 

When we receive notification of an incident that might give rise to a claim under your policy, we will inform the insurers without delay and, in any event, within three working days. We will advise you promptly of insurers’ requirements concerning claims, including the provision, as soon as possible, of information required to establish the nature and extent of loss. You should not admit liability or agree to any course of action, other than emergency measures to minimise your loss, until you have agreement from your insurer. We will forward any payments received from insurers, in respect of any claim, to you without delay. We will notify you of any request for information we receive from your insurers. 

 

It is our intention at all times to treat customers fairly. If at any time you feel that you have not been treated fairly please contact us in order that the matter may be addressed. 

 

It is our intention to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times. If you should wish to make a complaint about our service we have a formal complaints procedure. In the first instance you should address your complaint to Richard Bushnell. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and advise you who is conducting the investigation into the matters that you have raised. 

We will provide a formal response within 20 working days from initial receipt of the complaint. If the complaint cannot be resolved within this timescale we will explain why and specify the likely timescale for resolution. If we cannot settle your complaint, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. We will advise you if you are able to refer any complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. 

 

We are covered by the FSCS. 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. General insurance advice and arrangement is covered for 90% of the claim with no upper limit. Compulsory classes of insurance are protected in full. 

Further information about the compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS. 

 

All personal information about our customers is treated as private and confidential. 

We will only use and disclose the information we have about you in the normal course of arranging and administering your insurance. We may pass information about you to premium finance companies and credit reference agencies for the purpose of arranging payments via instalments and may also pass to them details of your payment record with us. We will not disclose any information to any other parties without your consent, unless required to do so by the FSA, it is in the public interest, or we have to by law. We may however use the information we hold about you to provide information to you about other products and services which we feel may be appropriate to you. Under the Data Protection Act 1988 you have a right to see the personal information about you that we hold in our records. If you have any queries in this regard please write to us. 

If you do not wish to receive marketing information from us please let us know by contacting us at the above address. 

 

Insurers pass information to the Claims and Underwriting exchange register operated by Database Services Ltd and the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud Register compiled by the Association of British Insurers. The objective is to check information provided and to prevent fraudulent claims. Motor insurance details are also added to the Motor Insurance Database operated by the Motor Insurers’ Information Centre (MIIC), which has been formed to help identify uninsured drivers and may be accessed by the police to help confirm who is insured to drive. In the event of an accident, this database may be used by insurers, MIIC and your motor insurer to identify relevant policy information. Other insurance related databases might also be added in the future. 

 

This Terms of Business document is subject to English Law and the jurisdiction of English Courts.