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We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. It requires us to give you this document. Use the information contained herein to decide if our services are right for you.
James Hampden Insurance Brokers Limited, (Company No: 01445936) whose registered office is at Bury House, 31 Bury Street, London EC3R 5AR is an independent insurance broker. We are accredited to transact business at Lloyd’s of London. Our permitted business is:
· Advising customers on non-investment insurance contracts.
· Arranging deals in non-investment insurance contracts.
· Making arrangements with a view to transactions in non-investment insurance contracts.
· Dealing as agent in non-investment insurance contracts.
· Assisting in the administration and performance of a non-investment insurance contract.
Our FSA Register number is 306597. These details can be checked on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register 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 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 act with due care, skill and diligence when acting for a customer in relation to a claim, and avoid conflicts of interest.
- 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.
- A firm must maintain and keep up to date a list of the insurance undertakings it selects from and be able to provide a copy of this list in a durable medium to a customer on request.
- 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.
We specifically draw your attention to the following sections:
(a) Non-statutory trust
(b) Segregation of designated investments
(c) Interest on client money
Please contact us immediately if there is anything in these terms of business which you do not understand or with which you disagree.
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.
We are owned by JHIB Holdings Limited who own 100% of our share capital.
WORKING FOR YOU
We will seek terms either:
From a single insurer, or
From a limited number of insurers, (you may ask us for a list of these), or
From named insurers based upon a fair analysis of the market.
We will advise you as to the basis upon which terms are sought, and will either:
· Make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your needs, or
· Provide you with options from which you may choose, without, however, making a recommendation.
We will include the type of cover you seek together with the costs. Upon receipt of your instructions we will place insurance with insurers. We will advise you of any inability to place your insurance.
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.
POLICY DOCUMENTATION
We seek to ensure that policy documentation is issued by insurers in a timely manner.
Your policy documentation will confirm the basis of the cover and give details of the insurers. We will issue a invoice when cover is effected. The dates that the premium is due, together with any warranties or charges, will be clearly shown.
We will issue a summary of cover under the policy together with a statement of demands and needs. You should read these carefully. The statement of demands and needs will set out your demands and needs and confirm whether the contract has been personally recommended and, if so the reasons for making that recommendation. We will advise you if we are not making a personal recommendation.
We will take reasonable steps to provide you with renewal terms in a durable medium no less than 21 days before expiry of the policy, or notify you that renewal is not being invited. Attached to the renewal terms will be a statement of any changes to the terms of the policy and changes to directive-required information (information required under the EU Directives), statement of price and information about cancellation.
Mid-term changes to your policy will be processed in a timely manner.
It is our policy to retain documents for business effected on your behalf in electronic or paper format for up to 6 years. Claim files will be retained for three years from the date of settlement.
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.
CLAIMS
You must notify us as soon as possible of a claim or circumstance which may give rise to a claim.
In the event of a claim you should contact our claims department at our registered office address unless your policy document makes other stipulations in this regard.
We will remit claims payments to you as soon as possible after they have been received on your behalf, if received by us.
We will provide you with every assistance in submitting a claim and seeking to obtain reimbursement for you. However in the event that an insurer becomes insolvent or delays making settlement we do not accept liability for any unpaid amounts.
DUTY OF DISCLOSURE TO INSURERS
You must disclose to insurers, before the contract is concluded, any fact or circumstance which is known to you in the ordinary course of your affairs 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 insure the risk.
Should you not act with the utmost good faith or fail to disclose any material fact or circumstance to insurers, insurers may avoid the contract.
We would advise you that our telephone conversations with you may be recorded.
PREMIUM
You must provide the premium due in cleared funds in accordance with the amounts and payment dates specified in our invoice. Failure to meet the payment date may lead to Insurers cancelling your policy.
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.
You must be aware that if a Premium Payment Warranty has been imposed and you fail to pay the premium before the date specified (allowing time for us to receive and pass on the payment to the insurer) then your contract may be cancelled automatically back to inception.
REMUNERATION
Our remuneration is commission, which is a percentage of the insurance premium paid by you and allowed by the insurer with whom the insurance is placed. Commission is earned for the policy period and we will be entitled to retain all commission in respect of the full policy period stipulated at the outset in relation to policies placed by us.
In the event that we may seek to charge a fee for our services we will provide full details of the proposed fee in advance of any contract of insurance being effected. In addition to client fees and/or commission payments we may receive remuneration by way of administrative fees or commissions for services proved to underwriters. We may also act as reinsurance brokers to underwriters with whom we have placed insurance or reinsurance.
Commercial Customers are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding any commission which we may receive as a result of placing your insurance business. For Non-Commercial Customers, we will be happy to discuss with you, if requested to do so, the level of commission which we receive from underwriters, prior to the conclusion of each insurance contract, or upon renewal, on a case by case basis.
Our advice is driven primarily by our commitment to meet and satisfy your demands and needs as far as is possible. We believe your interests are best served by considering with equal importance the premium, the terms, conditions, exceptions and extent of cover in a particular policy. When making our recommendation we also take into consideration the level of service offered by an insurer as insurers differ widely in this respect.
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 (including you) or which we treat as client money in accordance with the client money rules.
Client money can be held in one of the following ways.
- a) It can be subject to a statutory trust.
- b) It can be subject to a non- statutory trust
The fact that we will hold money on trust gives rise to fiduciary duties which will be owed to you until the client money reaches the insurer
Non-Statutory Trust
We hold client money subject to a non-statutory trust. This means that we are entitled to and may use client money held on behalf of one client to pay another client’s premium before the premium is received from that other client, and to pay claims and premium refunds to another client before we receive payment from the insurer. However we are not entitled to use client money to pay commissions before we receive the relevant premium from the client.
You will be deemed to agree to us holding funds paid by you in a non—statutory trust unless you notify us to the contrary.
Segregation of Designated investments
We keep client money separate from our own money. We may do this by paying it into a 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 a client bank account. If we do this we will be responsible for meeting any shortfall in our client money resource which 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 for our own use.
Payment to Third Parties
We may transfer client money to another person such as another broker or settlement agent for the purpose of effecting a transaction on your behalf through that person.
Holding funds on behalf of insurers
Our agency agreements with insurer(s) may permit us to hold, in a separate trust account, monies paid to us as agent of the insurer(s). Where this situation applies it means that once the money is received by us in cleared funds it is deemed by the insurer(s) to have been received by them.
BANK ACCOUNTS
Client money will be deposited with one or more approved banks.
CANCELLATION CLAUSE
Your insurance contract may include a cancellation clause. 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 a pro rata premium to us.
Once our remuneration has been earned in the event that the insurance is cancelled after inception, our commission is not returnable.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The term ‘Conflict of Interest’, means any financial or other interest which conflicts with the service our company and its staff provide to you because it could:
- · Significantly impair our objectivity
- · Create an unfair competitive advantage
- · Promote bias in the placing of business
We have a general duty to act fairly and to act in our customer’s best interests. We will conduct our business with you honestly and in a transparent manner. We will engage in open and honest dialogue with you, act with integrity, and seek always to place your interests to the forefront.
We will avoid conflict between personal interests, or the interests of the company or any associated company, person or group of persons, and duties to our customers. We will avoid conflict between any competing interests of one or more customer. We will step aside if such conflicts cannot be resolved.
If we identify the existence of a potential conflict we will disclose it to you, and we will discuss with you the appropriate method of managing the conflict.
We do not offer or accept inducements.
Avoiding all potential conflicts of interest may not always be in your best interests. In such circumstances we will disclose the existence of any perceived conflict as above and allow you to choose whether or not you wish to continue to deal with us.
COMPLAINTS
We take all complaints seriously. If you wish to register a complaint then please write to Alison Royle, Operations Director at: James Hampden, Bezant House, 3 Bradgate Park View, Chellaston, Derby. DE73 5UH. We will acknowledge your complaint within five days. A copy of our complaints procedure is available upon request. If we are unable to settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR. Tel: 0845 080 1800.
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. Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £2000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim, without any upper limit. For compulsory classes of insurance, insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim without any upper limit. Full details and further information on the scheme are available from the FSCS at 7th Floor, Lloyd’s Chambers, Portsoken Street, London E18BN. Tel.: 020 7892 7300. Email: enquiries@fscs.org.uk.
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. We will advise you if this is the case. 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 certificate of incorporation, a list of directors, a list of share holders 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 payment will be made in favour of you. If you require a payment to be made to a third party then you must confirm the required payee name and details and provide a brief explanation for your request.
We will not, under any circumstances, accept payment in cash of amounts in excess of £1,000.00
DATA PROTECTION
We are registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and we undertake to comply with the Act in all 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.
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