Terms of Business

MPW Insurance Brokers Limited

Terms Of Business Agreement

The following Terms of Business Agreement sets out the basis on which MPW Insurance Brokers Limited (MPW) will provide business services to you as a private or corporate client of the firm.

It is important to remember that we must be able to identify customer type and be able to distinguish between:


• Consumer Customers - individuals acting outside their trade, business or profession, and
• Commercial Customers - customers who are not consumer customers.


Regulations differ between these two customer types; if we are in any doubt about whether you are a consumer or commercial customer, we will treat you as a consumer customer.

These terms will remain in force and shall apply to any business product provided to you now or at a future date. Should the firm change any of its business terms at a future date, these terms will be reflected in our Terms Of Business.

Information About Our Regulatory Status

MPW is an independent general insurance brokerage. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Our permitted business is advising on, arranging (bringing about) making arrangements, dealing in, and assisting in the administration and performance of non-investment insurance contracts. Our FSA Register number is 304188. These details can be checked on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.

We are required to comply with the FSA Regulations relevant to an insurance intermediary. These include the following:

• A firm must conduct its business with integrity, and pay due regard to the interests of its customers and treat them fairly.
• A firm must conduct its business with due skill, care and diligence.
• A firm must act with due skill, care and diligence when acting for a customer in relation to a claim.
• A firm must pay due regard to the information needs of its clients and communicate information to them in a way which is clear, fair and not misleading.
• A firm must manage conflicts of interests fairly, both between itself and its customers and between a customer and another client.
• A firm which holds client money has to meet certain specified conditions.
• A firm must take reasonable care to establish and maintain such systems and controls as are appropriate to its business.

Please read this document carefully. It sets out the terms on which we agree to act for our clients and contains details of our regulatory and statutory responsibilities.

Please contact us immediately if there is anything in these terms of business which you do not understand or with which you disagree. We will be happy to answer any questions and will be willing to explain these terms and the reasons for them.

Relationships

As independent insurance intermediaries we act as the agent of our client. We are subject to the law of agency, which imposes various duties on us. However, in certain circumstances we may act for and owe duties of care to other parties. We will advise you when these circumstances occur so you will be aware of any possible conflict of interest.

MPW places business with a number of Insurers which are chosen by us as being of a reputable standing, providing a quality level of service and policy cover and not on pricing issues alone.

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.

Upon receipt of your instructions we will place the insurance with insurers and keep you informed of the progress of our negotiations.

We will advise you of any inability to place the insurance.

Security

We do not guarantee the solvency of any insurer with whom we place business. You may, therefore, become liable for the premium, whether in full or pro rata, where a participating insurer becomes insolvent.

Policy Documentation

We aim to issue policy documentation in a timely manner. This will normally be within fifteen business days of the contract of insurance being concluded but can be subject to longer periods depending on when the documents are received from insurers.

Your policy documentation will confirm the basis of the cover, give details of the insurers and be accompanied by an invoice. The dates that the premium is due, together with any penalties, will be clearly shown.

Prior to the conclusion of the contract we will provide you with a statement of your ‘demands and needs’. You should read this carefully. It will set out our understanding of your ‘demands and needs’ and confirm whether the contract has been recommended by us and, if so, the reasons for making that recommendation.

We will endeavour to provide you with renewal terms in a durable medium no less than 21 days before expiry of the policy. Attached to the renewal terms will be a statement of any changes to the terms of the policy and changes to directive-required information, statement of price and information about cancellation. Depending on the complexity of your insurance contract, renewal terms may be subject to delays outside of our control.

You will be given where necessary and in good time an explanation of any changes which may appear in your policy.

If renewal is not being offered you will be notified no less than 21 days before the expiry of the policy, or as soon as we are advised by your insurer, whichever is the longer.

Mid-term changes to the basis of your policy will be notified prior to the change taking effect wherever possible.

For some types of insurance cover it is possible that a claim may be made under a policy long after its expiry date and it is therefore important you keep such documents safely.

Duty Of Disclosure To Insurers

You must disclose to insurers, before the contract is concluded, any fact or circumstance which is known to you (or which ought to be known to you) in the ordinary course of your business and which is material to the risk. A fact or circumstance is material if it would influence the judgement of a prudent insurer in fixing the premium or determining whether he would take the risk.

Should you not act with the utmost good faith, or fail to disclose any material fact or circumstance to insurers, your insurer may avoid the contract and leave you without insurance cover.

Premium

You must provide the premium due in cleared funds in accordance with the amounts and payment dates specified on our invoice. Failure to meet the payment date may lead to insurers cancelling your policy thus leaving you without insurance cover.

Where insurers have specified that the premium must be received by a certain date, failure to comply can result in the automatic termination of your insurance contract.

Remuneration

Our remuneration will be either a fee as agreed with you or commission which is a percentage of the insurance premium paid by you and given to us by the insurer with whom the insurance is placed, or by a combination of both. Commission and fees are earned for the policy period and we will be entitled to retain all fees and commission in respect of the full policy period in relation to policies placed by us.

In addition to client fees and/or commission payments we may receive remuneration by way of administrative fees or commissions for services provided to underwriters. We may also receive revenue based upon the volume and profitability of insurance business placed with a given insurer over a specific period. These payments recognise the services that we provide to the insurer over the given period and are not directly related to the services provided to you. We may also act as reinsurance brokers to underwriters with whom we have placed insurance, or reinsurance.

You are entitled at any time to request information regarding any commission which we may have received as a result of placing your insurance cover.

Client Money

Client money is money of any currency that we receive and hold in the course of carrying on insurance mediation on behalf of our clients or which we treat as client money in accordance with the client money rules. A copy of these rules is available on request.

Statutory Trust:
We will provide protection for client money by holding all client money in a statutory trust bank account. This is completely segregated from our own money and there are strict regulatory controls on us to maintain solvency of the statutory trust account and to conduct a regular reconciliation of the account.

The aim of a statutory trust account is to protect the client in the event of the failure of the firm, or the failure of the bank or a third party by whom the money may be held. In such a circumstance, the firm’s general creditors should not be able to make claims on client money, as it will not form part of this firm’s property.

Risk Transfer:
Under FSA client money rules we may agree to act as agent for insurers in the handling of premiums, return premiums or claims. This is subject to risk transfer whereby insurers assume the credit risk so that payment by you of your premium to us will be deemed payment to insurers. Claims and return premiums paid by insurers through us will be similarly protected and not be deemed to have been paid by the insurer until received by you.

Segregation Of Designated Investments

We keep client money separate from our own money. As explained above, we may do this by paying it into the designated client bank account. However, we may also do this by arranging to hold separately permitted designated investments with a value at least equivalent to the money that would otherwise have been paid into the client bank account. If we do this we will be responsible for meeting any shortfall in our client money resource that is attributable to falls in the market value of a segregated investment.

Interest On Client Money

Any interest earned on client money held by us and any investment returns on any segregated designated investments will be retained by us.

Payment To Third Parties

We may transfer client money to another person, such as another FSA Authorised Intermediary (broker) or settlement agent, for the purpose of effecting a transaction on your behalf through that person.

This may include brokers and settlement agents outside the UK. The legal and regulatory regime applying to a broker or settlement agent outside the UK may be different from that of the UK .In the event of a failure of the broker or settlement agent, this money may be treated in a different manner from that which would apply if the money were held by a broker or settlement agent in the UK.

You may notify us if you do not wish your money to be passed to a person in a particular jurisdiction.

Cancellation Clause

Your insurance contract may include a cancellation clause. A cancellation clause is mandatory for all consumer customers. In the event that you fail to pay your premium by the due date the insurance may be cancelled forthwith, or by insurers giving notice of the cancellation. In the event of cancellation of the insurance contract, insurers may return any pro rata premium to us.

Once our remuneration has been earned, our fees or brokerage will not usually be returnable in the event that the insurance is cancelled after inception.

Cancellation Of This Agreement

Our agreement may be terminated by one of us giving 30 days’ notice in writing to the other. In the event that you terminate our services we will be entitled to receive any fees or brokerage payable.

Claims

You must notify us as soon as possible of a claim or circumstances that may give rise to a claim.

In the event of a claim you should contact us immediately with as much information as possible about the event for which you wish to claim.

We will remit claims payments to you as soon as possible after they have been received on your behalf.

We will provide you with as much assistance as we can in submitting a claim to your insurer, including interpretation of your policy wording. However in the event that an insurer becomes insolvent, or delays in making a settlement, we do not accept liability for any unpaid amounts.

MPW takes no responsibility for fraudulent claims submitted by you and any action taken by the insurer against you.

Complaints Procedure

Our aim is to provide a first class standard of service to all our Clients and to do everything we can to ensure that you are satisfied. However if you ever feel that we have fallen short of this standard and that you have cause for complaint, please contact Stephen McMurdo, either:

• In writing at: MPW Insurance Brokers Limited, Tolherst Court, Turkey Mill, Ashford Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 5SF

or

• By telephone at 01622 683913 or by facsimile at 01622 690958

Upon receipt of a complaint we will:

• Deal with all complaints in the manner prescribed by the FSA.
* Treat all complaints seriously and investigate the matter fully.

All complaints will be advised to the appropriate Director who will allocate an employee of sufficient competence to deal with the complaint and advise you of their name and status.

The timescales for dealing with a complaint are as follows:
 * If the complaint cannot be dealt with by the end of the next working day we will provide a written acknowledgement within 5 working days. 
* If we believe that the complaint should be redirected to another organisation, we will advise you within 5 working days and endeavour to provide details to whom the complaint should be redirected. 
* In complicated cases we will endeavour to complete all investigations within 20 working days. If we are unable to resolve the matter at that point we will advise you of the position and give our best estimate of when we anticipate conclusion.
* Within 8 weeks we will either send a final response or explain why we remain unable to conclude the matter.

At that stage eligible complainants as defined by the FSA may refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service if unsatisfied as to progress. We will advise you if you are an eligible complainant and the address of the Ombudsman. You may also check directly with the FSA.

When a final response is sent an eligible complainant may also refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if dissatisfied with the outcome.

Compensation

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

Money Laundering / Proceeds Of Crime Act

UK money laundering regulations may require us to obtain evidence of the identity of clients for whom we act at the start of a business relationship. This might, for example, be evidenced by sight of a current signed passport and two utility bills/bank statements. For companies (other than listed ones) evidence of identity will usually comprise a copy of the certificate of incorporation, a list of directors, a list of shareholders and the registered address.

We are obliged to report to the National Criminal Intelligence Service any evidence or suspicion of money laundering at the first opportunity and we are prohibited from disclosing any such report.

Claims payments where appropriate will be made in your favour. If you require a payment to be made to a third party then you must confirm the required payee name and details and provide an explanation for your request.

Data Protection

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.

Your personal information will be kept secure.

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 non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Contact Addresses

MPW Insurance Brokers Limited
7/8 Tolherst Court
Turkey Mill
Ashford Road
Maidstone
Kent ME14 5SF

Tel: 01622 683913
Fax: 01622 690958
Web: www.mpwbrokers.com

Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SR

Tel: 0845 080 1800
Fax: 020 7904 1001
Web: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Financial Services Authority
25 The North Colonade
Canary Wharf
London E14 5HS

Tel: 020 7066 1000
Fax: 020 7066 1099
Web: www.fsa.gov.uk

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