Terms Of Business

Definitions
Cover4insurance / Cover4students / Cover4tenants are trading styles of UK & Ireland Insurance Services (Online) Limited. In these terms and conditions, “We/us/our” refer to: UK & Ireland Insurance Services (Online) Limited, The Stables, Old Co-Op Yard, Warwick Street, Manchester, M25 3HB.

Status
We act as an Independent Insurance Intermediary and we are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA registration no. is 312248. You can check this on the FCA’s register by visiting their website www.fca.org.uk/register or by contacting the FCA on 0845 606 1234.

Complaints
If you wish to make a complaint, please contact the Complaints Manager at the above address, or our office on 0161 772 3382. If we cannot settle the complaint satisfactorily, you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Details of how will be provided to you in these circumstances.

For more information click here.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
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. Full details and further information on the scheme are available from the FSCS

Scope of Capacity and Services
We act as Independent Insurance Intermediary on behalf of our Clients and are subject to the Law of Agency which imposes duties on us.

We are acting as your agent when we are:

• Advising and arranging your insurance cover with insurers to meet your requirements.
• Helping you with any ongoing changes you make.
• Placing insurance on your behalf.

Products
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. We will endeavour to conduct a fair analysis of the market place when dealing with your insurance, in the event of us only using one carrier for a particular product, you will be advised at the time of negotiation.

Use of other intermediaries
Where we consider it to be appropriate and for your benefit, it may be necessary for us to request another broker or intermediary to act as our agent and assist in the placement of your insurance product. In such cases, we will provide specific instructions to such sub-agents so as to meet your insurance requirements.

Transparency
You will receive information about any fees we receive relating to the product you are being offered. Our remuneration will either be a fee as agreed with you or commission which is a percentage of the premium paid by you, or a combination of both where appropriate. This will include commission, fees, over-rider agreements, profit share arrangements and any volume business deals that your policy may contribute towards. Brokerage/fees are for the policy period, and we will retain all brokerage/fees in relation to policies we have placed.

We are committed to ensuring complete transparency of our remuneration and we will, at your request, fully disclose our remuneration.

Admin Charges
With our general commercial/business/property insurance policies, in addition to the premium charged by Insurers, we also, normally, make the following charges to cover administration costs, and for other services provided. You will be advised of these charges where they apply. There are other fees associated with our online insurance products and these will be shown at the point of purchase.

MID Disclaimer
If your policy requires you to populate & update the Motor Insurance Database, it is entirely your responsibility to ensure this is done even if you request us or your Insurer to do this on your behalf. We are unable to accept responsibility if you fail in your obligations to ensure the MID is correct as per current legislation.

Health & Safety
We cannot be held responsible for any client who fails to comply with current Health & Safety (or other relevant) legislation.

Payment of Premiums
We normally accept payment by guaranteed cheque or certain credit or debit cards & you should enquire which are available. You may be able to spread your payment through insurers’ instalment facilities or a finance arrangement. We will give you full information about your payment options when we discuss your insurance.

Duty to Disclose
You are obliged to ensure that the Insurer is provided with full and accurate material facts about your risk, now and throughout the lifetime of your policy. A material fact is anything that may influence an Insurers judgement in their assessment of your policy, and should include all incidents/losses that you have dealt with yourself without involving an Insurer. A material fact could include changes to your business activity, criminal convictions or any financial issues such a potential bankruptcies or CCJ’s. If you are unsure as to whether a fact is material, we recommend that it be disclosed. Failure to disclose may entitle the Insurers to refuse to pay part or all of any subsequent claims.

Misrepresentations Act (Consumers only)

Definition of a Consumer:
A policyholder acting for purposes outside his trade, business or profession.

Definition of a Non Consumer:
A policyholder acting for purposes within his/her trade, business or profession.

You are respectfully reminded of your duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation in any information that is provided by you to insurers and to answer all questions asked by insurers honestly. Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, a misrepresentation may amount to a failure to comply with a request from an insurer for confirmation, or amendment, of details previously provided by you. Please be aware that the duty to take care not to make a misrepresentation exists not just prior to any placement being effected but also at any subsequent renewal and any variation of the contract terms during the period of insurance.

In the event of a deliberate or reckless misrepresentation, insurers may avoid the contract. Under the Consumer Insurer (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, a deliberate or reckless misrepresentation is a misrepresentation where you know it to be untrue or misleading (or do not care either way) and that you know (or do not care) that the matter to which it relates is relevant to insurers. Insurers may also avoid the contract where a careless misrepresentation has been made. A careless misrepresentation is a misrepresentation that is neither deliberate nor reckless. In such instances, if insurers would not have entered into the contract had the careless misrepresentation not been made, then insurers may be entitled to avoid the contract. However, if insurers would have imposed different terms had the careless misrepresentation not been made, then insurers may be entitled to treat the contract as if those terms applied.

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.

Data protection
Information which you provide to us will not be used or disclosed by us to other parties, except in the normal course of handling a contract of insurance or a claim on your behalf and any related activities, unless we have obtained the necessary consent from you or where we are required to by law or a regulatory body that has authority over us. We will take appropriate steps to maintain the security of your confidential documents and information which are in our possession.

For more information click here.

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 the Motor Insurers’ Information Centre that has been formed to help identify uninsured drivers and may be secured 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.

Credit Checks
To make sure you get the best offer from Insurers or Third Parties involved in your insurance, i.e. finance providers, now or at any renewal or at any time and to protect their customers from fraud and to verify your identity, they may use publicly available data which they obtain from a variety of sources, including a credit reference agency and other external organisations. Their search will appear on your credit report whether or not your applications proceed. As well as these searches they or us may use a credit check to ascertain the most appropriate payment options for you. This credit check will also appear on your credit report whether or not your applications proceed. Unless you contact us to confirm you do not wish us to carry out these searches we will assume your consent has been given and proceed as above.

Claims
If you need to make a claim on your policy or need to report an incident that may result in a claim, then you should notify your insurance company as soon as possible even if you do not have all the details to hand as any delay may cause problems later on. Most insurers have claims telephone helpline’s details of which should be located in your policy documentation. If you are unable to locate this information: or you require advice then please contact us on 0161 772 3382.

For more information click here.

Client Money
Your premiums are held in a Trust account which has been set up in accordance with strict rules laid down by the FCA. We are the Agent of Insurers for the collection of premiums. We are required to inform you that we may use your premium to settle premiums due under other policies including those payable by other clients. Similarly, claims and premium refunds can also be paid to clients before receiving remittance of those monies from the insurer. In arranging your insurance we may employ the services of other intermediaries who are regulated by the FCA and your premium may be passed to these intermediaries for payment to insurers. We will retain any interest or investment returns derived from holding your money.

Payment to Third Parties
We may transfer client money to third person, such as another broker, for effecting a transaction on your behalf through that person. This may include brokers or agents outside the UK. The legal and regulatory regime applying that person outside the UK may be different from that of the UK and in the event of a failure of that firm; this money may be treated in a different manner from that which would apply if an agent in the UK held the money. You may notify us if you do not wish your money to be passed on to a person in a particular jurisdiction.

Cancellation Clause
Your insurance may include a cancellation clause. If you are a Consumer, this is mandatory. Full cancellation details will be explained to you during the negotiation process. In the event that you fail to pay your premium by the due date the insurance may be cancelled forthwith or by the insurers, giving notice of the cancellation. In the event of cancellation, insurers may return the pro rata premium to us, but you are advised to check your insurance policy for full details of your insurers’ cancellation clause. Once our remuneration has been earned in the event that the insurance is cancelled after inception, our fees or brokerage will not usually be returnable.

Money Laundering/Proceeds of Crime Act
The Serious Organised Crime Agency requires 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.

Termination
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.

Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms of Business shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. In relation to any legal action or proceedings arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Business, we both irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.