TERMS OF BUSINESS
Accepting our Terms of Business this sets out the terms and conditions on which we agree to act for you and contains details of our respective responsibilities. By asking us to quote for, arrange or handle your insurance, you are providing your informed agreement to these Terms of Business. Please contact us immediately if there is anything in these Terms of Business which you do not understand or with which you disagree. References to “We” and “Us” means Portal Broking Group Limited and references to “you” means the insured and/or their appointed agent. Please read this document carefully.
The Financial Conduct Authority is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. Portal Broking Group Ltd is an Appointed Representative of Mark Richard (Brokers), we are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA Register number is 972761. You can check our status at https://register.fca.org.uk or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768. Our permitted business includes advising, arranging, dealing in and assisting with the placing & administration of General Insurance policies.
Use of Personal Data We are committed to protecting your personal information. We will use personal information about you fairly and lawfully, primarily in connection with the provision of insurance. We act as your agent in obtaining quotations and will treat all your personal information as private and confidential to us and anyone else involved in the normal course of arranging and administering your insurance. We will collect data, which will include personal information and risk details, solely to enable us to obtain and provide insurance quotations, arrange and administer your insurance. Data collected by us is contractual, for the legitimate business interest of effecting a contract of insurance and we will be unable to offer any quotation for insurance if you refuse to provide certain personal data, including health, financial and criminal records data where these would affect the provision of cover and/or performance of insurance contracts.
If you already hold a policy with us and have not chosen to opt out of e-marketing then you will be on our e-marketing list. You can choose to opt out at any time by contacting us to update your marketing preferences. Additionally, any e- marketing that you receive from us will include a clear opt out option.
Instructions to incept or renew a policy can only be taken for the policyholder. If you wish to nominate someone to give instructions on your behalf in respect of mid-term adjustments to an existing policy – we require prior notice in writing.
For security, training and audit purposes calls to and from our offices may be recorded.
Your information will be shared with insurers, which could include reputable providers in other countries, to enable them to provide accurate terms and they will also obtain data about you and your insurance history from various insurance anti-fraud databases, such as the Claims and Underwriting Exchange (CUE) as well as publicly available websites and credit referencing agencies. We will not give anyone else any personal information except on your instructions or authority, or where we are required to do so by law, or by virtue of our regulatory requirements. Information about you and your insurances will be held while you are a client and for three years after expiry of your policies. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 data subjects have the right to see personal information about them that we hold. Please write to our data protection officer at our usual office address.
Our service. We generally provide advice on the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market and can place business with a range of insurers. We act on your behalf in sourcing a suitable policy for you. For some specific cover types we may only deal with a single insurer or a limited number of insurers and do not advise on the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market. In these cases we will advise you of this and specify the insurers that we deal with for that type of cover. When providing advice in this way, we are not under a contractual obligation to conduct insurance distribution exclusively with these insurers.
We may at times act on behalf of the insurer under a delegated authority agreement whereby we are able to quote or issue policy documentation on their behalf. Where we recommend a policy with an insurer where we act under a delegated authority agreement we will advise you of this. If we use the services of another intermediary to place your insurance, we will advise you of the name of the intermediary we used and the name of the insurer.
Your specific circumstances will dictate which of these bases is the most appropriate for you. The approach which we adopt, will be based on our knowledge of the market, the quality of an insurer’s policy terms and claims service and the insurer’s ability to provide definitive contract terms at inception of insurance. We will provide you with a personal recommendation.
In some circumstances, a product may be offered to you on a non-advised basis with no personal recommendation. We will, however, provide sufficient information to enable you to make an informed decision as to whether the product is suitable for your needs. We will tell you if a sale is on a non-advised basis.
Requests for cover or changes to your insurance are not effective until they are confirmed by us.
Cancellation/Transfer of Policies We will advise you whether you have the right to cancel the policy and the conditions for exercising these rights prior to conclusion of any insurance policy. Full details of cancellation right, notice periods and premium implications can be found in your policy document. Notice of cancellation of any statutory cover for which a certificate has been delivered must be in accordance with the conditions stated in your policy document.
Where a policy is declared void by the insurer or cancelled, other than during any cooling off period, we will retain any fees and commission for the full policy period. Additionally, we reserve the right to recover any discounts allowed by us during the term of your policy after cancellation.
Should you transfer your policy to the control of another broker during the currency of the policy, we will retain and/or be entitled to demand any commission and/or fees charged/chargeable for the full policy period.
Reporting Claims In the event of an incident occurring which could give rise to a claim under your policy, you should notify us as soon as possible in accordance with your policy conditions. Failure to do so could prejudice your insurer’s position and lead to the claim being repudiated or not paid in full. When we receive notification of an incident that could give rise to a claim, we will respond promptly, explain how we will handle your claim and tell you what you need to do. We will give you reasonable guidance to help you make a claim under your policy.
You should be aware that insurers exchange information through various databases to help check the information provided and prevent fraudulent claims, in particular, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) which hosts the Claims Underwriting Exchange (CUE) and the Motor Insurance Anti- Fraud and Theft Register (MIAFTR). CUE holds records on claims, whereas MIAFTR holds records on vehicles that have been written off.
Our Remuneration Payment for our services is generally by way of any one or a combination of the following:
- We usually receive a commission from the insurer which is expressed as a percentage of the annual premium you pay. Commission will be taken by us on receipt of cleared funds from you or when the insurer has received the cleared funds from us depending on the arrangement in place with each insurer.
- We will also usually charge you a standard administration fee when taking out a policy with us and on mid-term adjustments and policy cancellations. Where we charge administration fees full details will be advised to you prior to inception of your policy. These charges are non-refundable.
| Consumer | Commercial | |
| New Business | £30 | £100 |
| Renewals | £30 | £100 |
| Mid-term Adjustments | £30 | £30 |
| Cancellation | £50 | £50 |
- We may also charge you a broking fee on all non-commission paying policies. We will advise you of any such fees before you take the policy out or before any mid-term adjustments.
- Where you pay your premiums by monthly instalments we receive a payment from the finance provider for introducing you, which is usually a percentage of the amount financed. Whilst we may recommend a provider to you, you remain free to make your own choice of premium finance provider.
- Some of our staff may be paid a bonus if they hit pre-agreed sales targets
You can ask us at any time for full details of the income earned by us in handling your insurance.
Payment of Premiums You must pay your premiums on or prior to inception of the policy or within the timescale specified in the debit note we send you. Failure to pay premiums by the date specified may lead to cancellation of your insurances by insurers. In addition, where a premium payment warranty applies failure to pay the premiums in accordance with the warranty will result in the automatic suspension of your policies until payment is made even if the insurer chooses not to issue notice of cancellation of your insurances. The insurer will not be liable for any loss suffered during any period of suspension. You may be able to spread your payment using a premium finance scheme through the relevant insurer or we can introduce you to a third party premium finance provider. Please note that credit is subject to status and is not guaranteed. A variable charge may apply for this and details will be provided before you make a decision to proceed with cover. You should refer to your credit agreement for full conditions, charges and consequences of default. We will always contact you in good time before renewal to provide renewal terms. It is important that if you do not wish to renew that you inform us as soon as possible, When the payment for the contract you have undertaken is by instalments (e.g. by direct debit), some policies may be renewed automatically if you have not contacted us to confirm that you no longer require such insurance.
Credit searches may be undertaken in connection with the provision of your insurance for example by Insurers when providing a quote and premium finance providers when seeking payment via direct debit. Any such credit search will appear on your credit report whether or not you take out or renew a contract with them.
Complaints It is our policy to promote the highest standard of service for our clients. We endeavour to ensure that all complaints are resolved satisfactorily and in a timely manner. If you have a complaint about our services, you may contact the member of our staff with whom you normally deal. Alternatively, please contact us at the address below:
Jason Munnelly, Portal Broking Group Limited, Unit 1 Portal Business Park, Tarporley CW6 9DL, or, by phone on 01829 706436 or, by email info@portalinsurance.co.uk
You may make your complaint either orally or in writing. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint promptly in writing and give you our response at the time, if we can. If following receipt of our final response or after eight weeks if we have not yet provided you with our final response, if you are an eligible complainant, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) at Exchange Tower, London. E14 9SR Tel: 0800 023 4567. Further information is available on their website (www.financial- ombudsman.org.uk).
Who is an Eligible Complainant?
- Any private individual
- A micro-enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and has a turnover or annual balance sheet that does not exceed €2 million.
- A small business which has an annual turnover of less than £6.5 million and employs fewer than 50 employees or has a balance sheet total of less than £5 million
- A charity which has an annual income of less than £6.5 million
- A trustee of a trust which has a net asset value of less than £5 million
- An individual who has given a guarantee or security in respect of an obligation or liability of a small business
If your policy is placed with a Lloyd’s Syndicate and you wish to ask Lloyd’s to investigate your complaint you may do so by contacting: Complaints Team at Lloyd’s, One Lime Street, London, EC3M 7HA; complaints@lloyds.com; 020 7327 5693; www.lloyds.com/complaints
Compensation We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. Insurance advising and arranging is covered by the FSCS for 100% of your claim if it relates to compulsory insurance. For other cases, it is covered for 90% of the claim, with no upper limit. The FSCS does not cover reinsurance, marine, aviation or transport business or credit insurance.
Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS, via their website, www.fscs.org.uk or calling them on 0800 678 1100.
Your Responsibilities It is your responsibility to ensure that any proposal forms or any other applications that we complete on your behalf are accurate and complete. You must also review confirmation of cover/policy documents supplied by us to you to ensure that they accurately reflect your requirements. If we have provided your documents electronically you can ask us for a paper copy. Particular attention should be paid to policy conditions, claims conditions and/or warranties (if applicable) as failure to comply may reduce or invalidate your cover. Should there be any discrepancies, you must notify us immediately. It is your responsibility to ensure that all sums insured and policy limits are adequate. Whilst we seek to assist in establishing and maintaining insured values and indemnity limits we cannot accept responsibility for their accuracy.
Duty of Disclosure – Consumers If you are a consumer insured (an individual buying insurance wholly or mainly for purposes unrelated to your trade, business or profession) you have a duty to take reasonable care to answer the insurer’s questions fully and accurately and to ensure that any information that you volunteer is not misleading.
This duty exists before your cover is placed, when it is renewed and any time that it is varied, and your policy wording may provide that it continues for the duration of the policy. If you do not do this, your insurer may be able to impose different terms on your cover, may charge you a higher premium or, in some circumstances, may be able to avoid your policy from inception and any claims under it would not be paid.
Fair Presentation – Commercial Customers If you are a business insured (i.e. an insured who has bought insurance wholly or mainly for purposes related to their trade, business or profession) the business has a duty to make a fair presentation of the risk to the insurer. This entails disclosing to the insurer every material circumstance which you know or ought to know. You should conduct a reasonable search to ascertain all material facts within your organisation, making enquiries of senior management and other relevant individuals where necessary. You must make accessible to us members of your senior management (or the most appropriate persons) to provide accurate, complete and timely information to enable us to fulfil our obligations to make a fair presentation of your risk to insurers.
The disclosure should be made in a clear and accessible way.
This duty to make a fair presentation applies before your cover is placed, when it is renewed and any time that it is varied. Your policy wording may also provide that this duty continues for the duration of the policy.
A circumstance is material if it would influence an insurer’s judgment in determining whether to accept the risk, or the terms of the insurance (including premium). If you are in any doubt whether a circumstance is material we recommend that it should be disclosed. Failure to disclose a material circumstance may entitle an insurer to impose different terms on your cover or proportionately reduce the amount of any claim payable. In some circumstances an insurer will be entitled to avoid the policy from inception and in this event any claims under the policy would not be paid.
Failure to Disclose a Material Fact Insurers have differing remedies depending upon the nature of the non-disclosure and what would have happened had you fairly presented the risk:
- Deliberate or reckless presentation of the risk: Insurers are entitled to avoid the policy and retain all premiums
- Failure to present the risk fairly but this was not deliberate or reckless: This depends on how the insurers would have dealt with the policy had the risk been fairly presented. If they can demonstrate that they would have not provided the policy they are entitled to avoid the policy and no claims would be payable. You would be entitled to a refund of the premium. If insurers would have provided the policy but on different terms, those terms will be applied to the policy from inception. If insurers would have provided the policy and charged an increased premium, claim settlements could be reduced by the proportion of the increased premium.
- Insurers will be entitled to terminate the policy from the date of the fraudulent claim or act, but must still cover claims arising from incidents occurring before the fraudulent act
Warranties and Conditions Precedent A warranty is a term in an insurance contract which must be strictly complied with. In the event that a warranty is breached, the insurer’s liability may be suspended until the breach is rectified. Cover is reinstated once the breach is rectified, however, insurers may have no liability to pay losses occurring or attributable to something happening during any such period of suspension. Where a warranty or other term has been breached insurers may still be liable to pay claims occurring during the breach period, provided the insured can prove that the breach did not increase the risk of the loss which actually occurred and the provision breached does not define the risk as a whole. Please also take particular note of any conditions precedent that appear in the policy. If a condition precedent to the validity of the policy or to the commencement of the risk is not complied with, the insurer will not come on risk. If a condition precedent to the Insurer’s liability under this policy is not complied with, the insurer may not be liable for the loss in question. A condition precedent may exist in the policy using other terminology and without reference to the words ‘conditions precedent’. It is very important that you read the full policy carefully and, if you are unsure of, or are unable to comply with, any provisions, please contact us immediately.
Governing law and language The relationship between us as broker and you as customer is governed by English law. If there is a dispute which cannot be resolved under our complaint’s procedure, it will only be dealt with in the courts of England and Wales.
These terms of business are supplied only in the English language and all communications for the duration of our appointment will be in the English language unless, if you are a customer in a European Economic Area state other than the United Kingdom, you require otherwise.
Severability If any provision of these Terms of Business is found to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, the
validity of the other provisions of these Terms of Business and the remainder of the provision in question will not be affected
Rights of third parties. No provision of these Terms of Business will be enforceable, by virtue of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, by any person other than you or us.
Termination of the Agreement This agreement may be terminated at any time by mutual consent or by the other party giving 14 days’ notice in writing. A charge will apply for any period of cover provided. In addition, we make an administration charge of £50 even where cover has not commenced. If you cancel a credit agreement you will need to repay any sums provided in full. If you cancel after the 14 days has elapsed, short-period cancellation rates apply. If you wish to cancel a policy you must advise us in writing, prior to expiry of the 14-day cancellation period, to our usual office address.