The following Terms of Business Agreement sets out the basis on which H J Roelofs (UK) Limited t/as BGi.uk (referred to as ‘We’, ‘Us’, ‘Our’) will provide business services to you as a consumer or commercial client of the firm.
Please contact us immediately if there is anything in these terms of business which you do not understand or with which you disagree. We are happy to answer any questions and willing to explain these terms and the reasons for them.
YOU ARE DEEMED TO HAVE ACCEPTED THESE TERMS OF BUSINESS UNLESS YOU ADVISE US OTHERWISE WITHIN 7 DAYS OF RECEIPT.
Ways to contact us
Telephone: 01367 246130
Email: info@bgi.uk
Website: bgi.uk
Address: Portwell House, 26 Market Place, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 7HU
Business Hours: Monday to Thursday 8:45am to 5:15pm
Friday 8:45am to 5:00pm
About us
We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as an insurance intermediary. Our Firm Reference Number is 307129. Our permitted business is introducing, advising, arranging, dealing as an agent, and assisting in the administration and performance of general insurance contracts. You can check these details online using the Financial Services Register or by contacting the Financial Conduct Authority Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768.
We are also authorised by the FCA for credit broking, debt administration, entering into regulated credit agreements as Lender and Exercising/having right to exercise lender’s rights and duties under regulated credit agreements. We act for a number of lenders.
Our scope of service
We offer a wide range of insurance products and have access to leading insurers in the marketplace. When we arrange your insurance, we’ll inform you of the nature of the service we provide. This will usually be one of the following:
(a) a personal recommendation to buy the policy, on the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market
(b) a personal recommendation to buy a policy we select from one or more insurance undertakings (not on the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market) in which case we will provide the names of those insurance undertakings
(c) information only about a policy from one or more insurance undertakings without giving you advice or a personal recommendation, in which case we will provide the names of those insurance undertakings
(d) advice only, with or without a personal recommendation
We generally act on your behalf in arranging your insurance, but we’ll make clear at the outset whether we are acting for you or for the insurer in particular circumstances.
Your duty of disclosure
Consumers: You must take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer. This means that all the answers you give and statements you make as part of your insurance application, including at renewal and when an amendment to your policy is required, should be honest and accurate. If you deliberately or carelessly misinform the insurers, this could mean that part of or all of a claim may not be paid.
Non-consumer customers: Where we arrange insurance wholly or mainly for purposes related to your trade, business or profession, you have a duty under The Insurance Act 2015 to make a fair presentation of the risk. This means that you must disclose every material circumstance which you and/or your senior management and/or anyone responsible for arranging your insurance know or ought to know. Alternatively, you must disclose sufficient information which would put the insurer on notice that it needs to make further enquiries for the purpose of revealing those material circumstances. You are expected to carry out a reasonable search in order to make a fair presentation of the risk and will be deemed to know what should reasonably have been revealed by the search.
Your duty of fair presentation applies at the start of the policy, at renewal and when any variation of the policy is arranged. If you fail to make a fair presentation, the insurer may refuse to pay your claim or reduce the settlement amount, depending on the circumstances.
Credit checks
To make sure you get our best deal, to ascertain the most appropriate payment options for you and to help prevent fraud, we and some insurers or premium finance companies may use public and personal data from a variety of sources, including credit reference agencies and other organisations. The search will appear on your credit report whether or not your application proceeds. If you have any questions about this or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.
How to cancel
Please contact us immediately if you wish to cancel any insurance policy, we have arranged for you. You may have a right to cancel a policy without penalty within the first 14 days (or, in some cases, longer). Please refer to your policy documentation for further details. If you cancel within this initial cancellation period (where this applies) you will receive a proportionate refund of premium from the insurer. However, insurers are entitled to make an administrative charge. In addition, we may charge an amount which reflects the administrative costs of arranging and cancelling the policy. Details of the amount we charge are detailed below under Fees and Charges.
If you choose to cancel other than within an initial cancellation period, you may not receive a pro-rata refund of premium. In addition, we may charge an amount that reflects the administrative costs of arranging and cancelling the policy (see Fees and Charges below).
Protecting your information
We take your privacy extremely seriously and we will only use your personal details in line with our Privacy Policy. Please read this carefully and contact us immediately if you have any queries. Where necessary, for example where we would like to use your data for some marketing purposes, we shall ask for your specific consent to do so. Your personal information includes all of the details you have given us to process your insurance policy (we will not ask for more information than is necessary). We may share your data with Third Parties for the provision and ongoing performance of your insurance policy. Your data may be transferred outside the UK. We will not sell, rent or trade your data under any circumstances. All of the personal information you supply to us will be handled strictly in accordance with the applicable Data Protection regulations and legislation.
How to claim
Please refer to your policy documentation if you need to notify a claim. You should contact us or the insurer direct as soon as you become aware of any incident which could give rise to a claim. If in doubt about whom you should contact, or if you require our assistance in relation to a claim or potential claim, please contact us.
Our earnings
In return for placing business with insurers and/or underwriters and/or other product providers, we generally receive a commission from them which is a percentage of the annual premium that you are charged. If the type of policy we sell reaches specific profit targets the insurer may also pay us an additional bonus.
For arranging premium instalment facilities, we earn [a variable amount of] commission from our premium finance provider(s) which is usually a percentage of the individual loan. This means that the amount you pay for credit and the overall cost of arranging your insurance will vary according to the interest charged by the lender and the amount of commission we earn.
Using premium finance makes the overall cost of the insurance more expensive.
A full breakdown of the cost of your insurance and the cost of credit will be provided as part of your new business or renewal quotation before you make a decision whether to proceed.
You are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding any commission which we may have received as a result of placing your insurance business or arranging premium finance.
Please be assured that at no time will the way in which we are remunerated conflict with our responsibilities to meet your needs and treat you fairly.
Fees and charges
In addition to the commissions we are paid by insurers we may, depending on the level of work involved, charge you for the work incurred in handling your insurances. Such charges may apply when you instruct us to arrange insurance, process a mid-term adjustment, renew/cancel your policy or carry out any other work on your behalf. Such charges, where applicable, will always be disclosed to you before conclusion of the contract and prior to any payments becoming due.
If you pay your premium by instalments we shall inform you of any additional fees, charges or interest as part of your credit arrangements.
Block transfers
In respect of some classes of insurance we may operate block insurance arrangements in order to provide competitive terms. This is where we place all insurances of a certain type with one insurer who can provide particularly competitive terms for all our customers. On occasions it will be necessary for us to transfer such blocks from one insurer to another where this is beneficial for our clients. This Terms of Business Agreement constitutes both your acceptance that we may do this and your prior request for us so to do.
Protecting your money
Prior to your premium being forwarded to the insurer (or forwarded to you in the event of a premium refund) we generally hold your money as an agent of the insurer with which we arrange your insurance. Where we hold premium as the agent of the insurer it is regarded as received by the insurer. If we are not acting as an agent of the insurer when we receive your premium, we shall hold it as client money in trust for you within a client bank account with an approved bank. Our client bank account(s) may contain other clients’ money and money we hold as an agent of insurers. In line with strict FCA rules, our client bank account(s) is/are rigorously monitored in order to segregate and safeguard client money. We reserve the right to retain interest earned on our client bank accounts.
We may transfer your premiums to the insurer through another party, such as a broker or underwriting agent for the purposes of effecting a transaction.
By accepting this Terms of Business Agreement, you are giving your consent for us to treat your money in this way. Please notify us immediately if you have any objection or query.
Complaints
It is our intention to provide a high level of service at all times. However, if you have reason to make a complaint about our service you should contact us immediately using the contact details on the first page of this document. You may be entitled to refer the matter subsequently to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service by telephone on 0800 023 4567 or online and further information is available at http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/. If you do decide to refer any matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service your legal rights will not be affected. We will provide a summary of our complaints handling procedures should you make a complaint which we cannot resolve informally and at any other time, upon your request.
Compensation arrangements
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. 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 90% of the claim, without any upper limit. For compulsory classes of insurance, insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim, also without any upper limit. The compensation scheme does not apply to consumer credit. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS on 0800 678 1100 or 020 7741 4100 or by visiting their website.
Money laundering/Proceeds of crime
We are obliged to report to the National Crime Agency any suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing activity and we are prohibited from disclosing any such report.
The Bribery Act
BGi.uk has an Anti-Bribery & Corruption Policy outlining (amongst other things) our responsibilities under The Bribery Act, and hereby confirms that it has drawn the policy to the attention of all employees and obtained confirmation of their understanding. A copy of the policy is available on request.
Adequacy of insurance values
It is the responsibility of the insured to ensure that all sums insured, and policy limits are adequate. It is strongly recommended that the appropriate Professional (e.g., Surveyor/Accountant) be consulted to ensure that the sums insured and limits under the policy are suitable.
Conflicts of interest/Customers’ best interests
As insurance brokers we generally act as your agent in advising you, arranging your insurance and assisting you in the event of a claim; we will always act honestly, fairly and professionally ensuring your best interests are our priority. In certain circumstances we may act for and owe duties of care to insurers and/or other parties. Where we become aware of any actual or potential conflict of interest with our duty to you, we will inform you of the situation and the options available to you before we proceed.
Insurer security
The insurers we use are regulated and are required to have adequate capital resources. However, we cannot guarantee the solvency of any insurer we place business with. An insolvent insurer may be unable to pay claims or may be unable to pay them in full and you may have to pay a further premium to pay for alternative insurance cover.
Termination
You or we may terminate authority to act in connection with your insurance arrangements at any time. Notice of termination must be given in writing and will be without prejudice to the completion of any transactions already commenced. Any business currently in progress will be completed unless we receive instructions to the contrary. Any premiums or fees outstanding will become payable immediately. In circumstances where we feel we cannot continue providing services to you, we will give you a minimum of 7 days’ notice.
Trading Conditions
Where relevant, you grant BGi.uk the worldwide right to use and depict your business name, trademarks and logos on our website and in our mobile and web applications for the purpose of displaying information about your business and its products and services.
Law and jurisdiction
This Terms of Business Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
