This document sets out our commitment to you as our client and sets out the principles we follow in doing business with you. Martinez & Partners International Insurance Intermediary is a trading style of Martinez & Partners Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Our FSA Register number is 306320 and registered office is Insurance House, Berrington Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG24 8GT. Registered in England No. 3068242
Our permitted business is advising, arranging, dealing as agent and assisting in the administration and performance of general insurance contracts. You may check this on the FSA’s register by visiting the FSA website at www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.
Our service includes advising you on your insurance needs, arranging your insurance cover with insurers to meet your requirements and helping you with any ongoing changes you may need to make. We only select Personal lines and Commercial insurances from a limited number of Insurers. You may request a list of the Insurers that we deal with for these products. For certain products we may only deal with a single Insurer and we will provide further information before we finalise your insurance arrangements. We will not in any circumstances act as an insurer nor guarantee or warrant the solvency of any insurer. Whilst we will usually act independently as an intermediary on your behalf, there may be occasions when facilities or arrangements that we may have with a particular insurer or group of insurers are proposed to meet your requirements. We will make it clear to you where our proposals include these facilities or arrangements and where we have not investigated alternatives on your behalf.
1 Instructions
To avoid any misunderstandings, please provide your instructions to us in writing (by letter or facsimile 01256 346561). In urgent cases, we will of course accept verbal instructions, but request that they are confirmed in writing as soon as possible.
2 Proposal Forms
For certain classes of insurance, we will ask you to complete a proposal form. As your insurance broker, we are happy to provide you with advice on completing the form, but we cannot complete it on your behalf. Please pay particular attention to your duties of disclosure (see below), as it is essential that we and the insurers are informed of all material facts before placing any cover on your behalf.
3 Duty of Disclosure (What you must tell us)
- As a proposed insured, it is your responsibility to disclose all material information to insurers when obtaining cover, whether or not proposal forms are applicable or completed.
- Information is material if it would affect the insurer’s estimate of the risk involved, or if the misrepresentation/non-disclosure induces the insurer to enter into the contract of insurance on particular terms.
- The insurer is not required to make enquiries; the onus falls upon you as the insured.
- If any material information is omitted or misrepresented, insurers have the right to void the policy and return the premium. This means there is no longer an insurance policy and no claims will be paid. It is therefore extremely important that you take care when providing information to enable the insurers to consider the risk, regarding the accuracy and completeness of that information.
- The duty of disclosure arises when the insurance is first taken out and also every time you renew or amend it. The policy may also include a requirement to advise the insurer of changes throughout the term of the policy.
- Please contact us immediately if you need to make mid-term changes to your policy so that we can obtain approval of the changes from the insurers and any further information required.
- g) If you are unsure whether a fact is material or not, it should be disclosed.
4 Information about the Proposed Insurance
We will endeavour to ensure that:
- We provide you with comprehensive information early enough for you to make an informed decision about the insurance being proposed.
- We explain to you the differences in and the relative costs of the types of insurance that we think will suit your needs.
- We explain the key features of the insurance proposed including:
- The essential cover and benefits
- Any significant or unusual restrictions, exclusions, conditions or obligations
- The period of the cover
- If we are unable to match your requirements, we explain the differences between those requirements and the insurance that we are proposing.
5 Confirmation of Cover
We will provide you with cover notes and / or written confirmation that cover has been put in place, including the terms of the insurance(s) and the insurers involved. These will normally be sent to you within seven days of the date when cover began.
We expect you to review all information upon receipt and to let us know immediately if the details of the cover or the participating insurers do not meet with your approval, or do not reflect the instructions previously given to us, and particularly if any cover you require is excluded.
Where a full policy wording is required, this will be forwarded as soon as possible and normally within 7 working days of when cover started and commercial clients within 30 calendar days, unless you request us to hold them on file for you which we will do at no extra cost to you.
6 Payment of Premium
We will notify you of premiums due to insurers by sending you a cover/debit note once we have finished arranging your insurance. This will normally be sent to you within fourteen days from the start of cover. Premiums are due from the moment the insurance comes into force. So that we can settle with insurers promptly, we ask that you pay the premiums due within 30 days of inception of the policy.
In certain circumstances, insurers may impose a specific premium term requiring payment of the premium by a certain date sooner than 30 days from the date of inception of the policy. Please be aware that if you do not make payment by this date, insurers may cancel the policy from the date when cover originally came into force. It is your responsibility to pay premiums on time and as required by any policy conditions.
7 Costs and Remuneration
We will:
- Provide details of the premium costs of each of the policies offered.
- Be paid for arranging the insurance in the form of commission or brokerage paid to us by the insurers underwriting the insurance, unless we have an arrangement with you that our services are provided for an agreed fee.
- In addition to any commission or brokerage earned, we reserve the right to charge an additional administration fee for the placement and handling of your policies. You will receive a quotation which will tell you the total price to be paid, and which identifies any fees, taxes and charges separately from the premium, before your insurance arrangements are concluded. On request we will be pleased to provide information about any commission received by us in the handling of your insurance.
- As well as any brokerage, commission or fee, we will be entitled to benefit from:
- Any earnings we are able to generate due to the amount of business placed with certain insurers and their underwriting performance, which are not identifiable to any specific client; and
- Any earnings we are able to generate through management of cash balances held on behalf of insurers and clients which are not identifiable to any individual client.
- In the event of the cancellation of a policy or part thereof, a return premium maybe due but will be made subject to the prior deduction of our brokerage and or fees.
- Please note that our fees and / or commission is due upon the acceptance of our proposed quotation which is signified by the clients verbal or written confirmation to proceed with cover and usually in the form of the signature of a quotation acceptance form however any other written or verbal form of communication will be treated as binding. If the policy is cancelled or not incepted, our remuneration remains due from the client.
- As international insurance brokers, we sometimes ask other brokers to assist us in responding to your instructions where we believe this is to your benefit. Unless a fee arrangement has been agreed, these brokers will usually be paid by brokerage which will be included in the premiums charged.
- We also draw your attention to the sections headed ‘Cancellation of insurances’ and ‘Ending your relationship with us’.
8 Claims
It is essential that we are notified immediately of any claims, or circumstances which could give rise to a claim. When you notify us, you must include all material facts concerning the claim. Your policy wordings will describe in detail the procedures and conditions in connection with making a claim.
We will provide a claims handling service for as long as you remain a client of Martinez and Partners and we will:
- Give you guidance on pursuing a claim under the policy, if required;
- Handle claims fairly and promptly and keep you informed of their progress;
- Inform you in writing if we are unable to deal with any part of a claim;
- Account to you, without avoidable delay, once a claim has been agreed and settled.
Settlement of claims will be dependent upon collection from insurers. Part payments may be made during the collection process, but we cannot be responsible for the wrongful non-payment or delay by insurers in paying any claim.
9 Retention of Documentation
We will maintain records of the insurance contract(s) we arrange on your behalf. It is our policy to keep placing and claims records in accordance with best practice within the insurance industry. We will automatically destroy records after these periods unless you ask us to do otherwise. We are happy to provide this service free of charge for as long as you are our client however, should you wish us to retain your documentation after you cease to be a client and in excess of the statutory time frame then we may ask you to meet these storage charges.
10 Market Security
As an international broker, we use both UK and overseas insurers to obtain the best terms and conditions available for our clients.
However, the levels of regulation differ in each jurisdiction and if non-EU or non-UK insurers participate in insurance contracts, your future ability as an insured to issue legal proceedings and/or execute judgement may also vary.
In selecting security, a wide variety of factors are taken into account including the financial statements of the insurer in question. Even so, we cannot guarantee the future ability of any Insurer to meet policyholder obligations and therefore the final decision on the suitability of any insurer rests with you. If you have any concerns about the security offered, please contact us immediately.
11 Handling Client Money and/or Insurer Money
Our financial arrangements with most insurance companies are on a ‘Risk Transfer’ basis. This means that we act as agents of the insurer in collecting premiums and handling refunds due to clients. In these circumstances such monies are deemed to be held by the insurer(s) with which your insurance is arranged. However, if Risk Transfer does not apply, such monies will be considered by us as client monies and held in a Statutory Trust account set up in accordance with FSA rules. Interest earned on monies held in such a Statutory Trust account will be retained by us. For the purpose of some transactions, client money may pass through other authorised intermediaries before being paid to the insurer
12 Conflicts of interest policy
Where comparable quotations are obtained we will not recommend products which earn higher rates of remuneration where to do so would be against the best interests of the client, with particular regard to the scope of cover provided, the service or the cost to the client. This will be monitored by increased file checks on business where the product offering a higher level of commission has been recommended.
We do not have any close links with insurers or with parent, subsidiary or associated companies or other organisations which provide services to policyholders. Where a customer is referred to another service provider, the details of the referral will form part of the client records.
Where we offer any supplementary or add-on product (such as motor uninsured loss recovery), this will always be made clear verbally as part of the demands and needs and (for advised sales) suitability process and in documentation issued to the client. The client will always have the option of not taking up the offer of supplementary or add-on products and the cost of any add-on will be clearly and separately explained, both verbally and in relevant documentation. This will be monitored by the supervisor as part of ongoing supervision and customer files will be specifically checked, where an add-on product has been sold, to ensure all documentation is clear, fair and not misleading.
Where we use a binding authority, placing facility, preferred insurer or selected panel, the arrangement will be regularly reviewed to ensure that the scope of cover, the security of the insurer and the premium rates are competitive.
Our premium finance arrangements are reviewed regularly to ensure that the interest rates charged are competitive. If a customer may be eligible to pay in instalments or use credit facilities, the different payment options and related terms will always be prominently drawn to their attention. We will not unduly promote the use of any particular payment facility where this may conflict with our general duty to customers (eg where we may profit at the customer’s expense).
Any fees charged by us will be fair and reasonable for the work undertaken and will only be payable as agreed with the client and as stated in our written terms of business.
We do not accept any gifts (including benefits in kind), uneconomic ‘soft loans’ (ie loans offered at below market terms) or other inducements from product providers where to do so would not be compatible with the duty we owe to our clients. A full record of any gifts benefits accepted will be maintained and administration and sales staff will not be remunerated based on placement of business to achieve GWP overider targets.
Staff will not accept any gift, inducement or benefit in kind from any product provider or any other source without the express permission of senior management. To do so would result in disciplinary measures being taken against the member of staff concerned.
Where an unavoidable conflict of interest may exist, this will be properly disclosed to the client concerned in writing and their authority to proceed will be obtained before undertaking the transaction on their behalf.
All members of staff will be given a copy of/given access to this Conflicts of interest policy and are subject to its requirements. Any failure to comply with the policy could result in disciplinary measures being taken.
Senior management will hold conflict of interest meetings on a 6 monthly basis to review the business for any possible conflicts and to address any conflicts identified. Records will be made of these meetings.
Only senior management and designated staff have access to detailed information about any non-standard commission arrangements. Where a customer requests commission information, in such circumstances, a procedure is in place to refer the request to the appropriate member of staff so that the relevant information may be promptly disclosed to the customer.
We may accept introductions or oversee the activities of other firms acting as our Appointed Representatives (AR). In instigating and managing such relationships, every effort is made to identify and manage any potential conflicts of interest and any AR, and their staff, are subject to this Conflicts of interest policy.
If we are asked to undertake activities for two or more customers and the activities involve conflicting, rather than shared, interests (eg a disputed claim), the situation will be explained to the customers involved. Wherever possible, arrangements will be made to ensure that such requests are handled by separate personnel and overseen independently by the firm’s senior management. However, where this is not possible, alternative arrangements will be made ensuring that we do not handle more than one of the conflicting interests.
Where we act on behalf of an insurer in negotiating and settling claims, we will inform customers that we will be acting on behalf of the insurer, not the customer, in relation to such an arrangement. The customer will be advised before their arrangements are concluded and again at the point of claim. Where we may receive payments from product providers based on the profitability of our account with them, this will be disclosed to the customer where we believe it may conflict with our obligations to customers.
Unless under a legal obligation to do so, we will not share customer information with people, either inside or outside of the firm, if doing so may harm the interests of our customers.
All senior personnel within the business will, at all times, support this policy and will not seek to influence any member of staff to behave in a manner which has the potential to create a conflict of interest.
The firm maintains a Conflicts of interest register on which we record actual and potential conflicts as these arise and the measures taken to address such conflicts.
Where appropriate, we may use training facilities and/or materials supplied by product providers to ensure that our staff have appropriate knowledge of the products we offer. Such facilities are not a factor in our selection of products.
We will not place increased volumes of business with specific product providers to encourage the reciprocal placement of insurance or reinsurance business through ourselves by the product provider, where this arrangement may cause customer detriment.
13 Cancellation of Insurances
You should make any request for cancellation of a policy by recorded delivery letter to:
Martinez and Partners
Insurance House
Berrington Way
Basingstoke
Hampshire
RG24 8GT
And any relevant certificates of insurance should be returned to us or to the insurer concerned. In the event of cancellation, charges for our services will apply as set out in section 7 of this document. The terms of your policy may also allow insurers to retain the premium in full or to charge short-period premiums in the event of cancellation.
14 Ending your relationship with us
Subject to your immediate settlement of any outstanding premiums and fees, you may instruct us to stop acting for you and we will not impose a penalty. Your instructions must be given in writing and will take effect from the date of receipt. In circumstances where we feel we cannot continue providing services to you, we will give you a minimum of 7 days notice. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, if our relationship ends, any transactions previously initiated will be completed according to these Terms of Business. You will be liable to pay for any transactions concluded prior to the end of our relationship and we will be entitled to retain commission received for conducting these transactions, together with all fees charged by us for services provided.
15 Your responsibilities
You are responsible for providing the complete and accurate information which insurers require in connection with any proposal for insurance cover. This is particularly important before taking out a policy and at renewal, but it also applies throughout the life of a policy. If you fail to disclose information, or misrepresent any fact which may influence the insurer’s decision to accept the risk or the terms offered, this could invalidate the policy and mean that claims may not be paid. You must check all details on any proposal form or Statement of Facts and pay particular attention to any declaration you may be asked to sign.
It is important that you read all insurance documents issued to you and ensure that you are aware of the cover, limits and other terms that apply. Particular attention must be paid to any warranties and conditions as failure to comply with them could invalidate your policy. You must inform us immediately of any changes in circumstances which may affect the services provided by us or the cover provided by your policy.
If you are unsure about any matter, please contact us for guidance.
16 Data Protection & Confidentiality
We will process any personal information we obtain in the course of providing our services to you in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. In administering your insurances it will be necessary for us to pass such information to insurers and other product or service providers which may also provide us with business and compliance support.
We may also disclose details to relevant parties, as necessary, to comply with regulatory or legal requirements. We may contact you or pass your details to other companies associated with us in order to promote products or services which may be of interest to you. We will not otherwise use or disclose the personal information we hold without your consent.
Some of the details you may be asked to give us, such as information about offences or medical conditions, are defined by the Act as sensitive personal data. By giving us such information you signify your consent to its being processed by us in arranging and administering your insurances.
Subject to certain exceptions, you will be entitled to have access to your personal and sensitive personal data for which you will be charged a fee of £10. If at any time you wish us, or any company associated with us, to cease processing any of the personal data or sensitive personal data we hold, or to cease contacting you about products and services, please write to Martinez & Partners, Insurance House, Berrington Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG24 8GT
17 Complaints and Compensation procedure
It is our aim that you should always be satisfied with the service we provide you with. However, there may be occasions when you feel that we have failed to achieve an acceptable standard. If that is the case, we would like to know about it. To ensure that every complaint is considered fully, we operate an internal complaints procedure.
To help us put matters right:
- You should initially approach us at Martinez and Partners (Insurance House, Berrington Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG24 8GT telephone 01256 355656). This can be done either by e-mail, in person, by letter or by telephone.
- You should set out the full details of the complaint. It would help us if you could provide any reference number, the date on which the matter arose, who was involved and the nature of your complaint. The office will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 5 working days and endeavour to resolve your problem within 24 hours of receiving your complaint. If this is not possible, we will advise you when to expect a full response (this will usually be within 12 working days).
- If a satisfactory response is not provided, you can ask for it to be referred to a Director. A Director will undertake a full review of the complaint and of the steps already taken. Every effort will be made to resolve the matter.
- Finally, and after we have indicated in writing that our internal complaints procedure has been exhausted, and If you are still not satisfied, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Access to the FOS is available for complainants coming within one of the following categories at the time we receive their complaint:
Consumers (eg private individuals)
Before 1st November 2009 - businesses with a group annual turnover of under £1 million
From 1st November 2009 - businesses employing fewer than 10 persons and with a turnover or annual balance sheet total not exceeding €2 million
Charities with an annual income of under £1 million
Trustees of a trust with a net asset value of under £1 million
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. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. If you are eligible to claim from the FSCS, compensation is available as follows:
Until 31st December 2009 - Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £2,000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim without any upper limit.
From 1st January 2010 - Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim, without any upper limit.
For compulsory classes of insurance (such as Third Party Motor or Employers Liability), insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim, without any upper limit. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS on 020 7892 7300 or www.fscs.org.uk.
17 Governing Law
Martinez and Partners Limited undertakes its activities as an insurance intermediary in accordance with the Laws of England and Wales and any disputes will be governed by and construed in accordance with the Laws of England and Wales.
If you have any questions about the contents of this document, please contact your Account Executive who will be pleased to assist you.
18 Acceptance
By asking us to quote for, arrange or handle your insurances, you are providing your informed agreement to these Terms of Business.
If you are unsure about any aspect of our Terms of Business or have any questions regarding our relationship with you, please contact us at the above address....
