SMI PLACINGS LTD

Terms of Business

The Financial Services Authority (FSA)

The FSA is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. It requires us to give you this document. Please use this information to decide if our services are right for you.

Our Service

We are independent Insurance Brokers. In arranging Insurance for our clients, we act as intermediary. We will advise and make recommendations for you after we have assessed your needs. We will arrange your Insurance cover with insurers, help you with any changes you need to make, answer promptly any queries raised and assist you with claims arising.

We offer a wide range of Insurance products and have access to leading insurance companies in the market place. We can also issue policies on behalf of certain insurance companies.

Unless otherwise agreed we will send you documentation confirming the basis of cover secured on your behalf, including the name of the insurance company with whom we have placed your business. We will advise you of all amounts payable including any VAT and/or IPT (insurance premium tax) any service charges and any charges for any additional products.

Who regulates us

SMI Placings Ltd of 43-46 Howard Business Park, Howard Close, Waltham Abbey EN9 1XE, is authorised and regulated by the Financials Services Authority. Our FSA Number is 439828.Our permitted business is advising on, arranging, transacting and administering general insurance contracts .You can check this on the FSA Register by visiting the FSA website; www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.

Information on Cost and Our Remuneration

Our remuneration will be commission paid to us by your insurance company unless otherwise agreed, and /or a fee agreed with you, we would usually make a change for arranging, amending or canceling any policy of insurance. In addition to the premiums charged by insurers a policy administration charge will also generally be made in respect of new policies and subsequent renewals. The amount of any charge will be identified. We may also receive remuneration from insurers that are not directly related to the services provided to you. This may be in form of a management or administration fee or revenue based on volume or profitability of insurance business placed with an insurer over a given period.

We may also receive commission on any separated credit facilities arranged for you.

We make the following minimum service charges in addition to any policy chargers levered by insurers.

Arranging new policies - £100.00

Mid-term adjustments -   £50.00

Renewals - £100.00

Replacement/duplicate certificates or cover notes - £20.00

The specific amount and purpose of any fee and service charges will always be advised to you in advanced. We earn the entirety of our commission and/or fees when your risk is successfully placed and take our commission and/or fees immediately upon receipt of payment unless agreed otherwise with your insurer.

Mid-term adjustments or cancellations:

In the event of an adjustment that results in a return of premium or cancellation mid-term (subject to no claims being made) we will refund the premium due net of our full commission, arrangement fee and any charge made by insurers. Where the premium is being paid by installments we will claim our full commission along with any charge made by the insurers in the calculation of any outstanding monies.

Insurance Documentation

You are responsible for reviewing the insurance policy and other evidence of cover to confirm that it accurately reflects your insurance requirements. If there are any discrepancies or areas that you do not understand you should notify us immediately.

Payment Terms

We normally accept payments by guaranteed cheque or credit card or the bankers automated clearing system (BACS). Full payment of the premium must be made promptly after cover is affected. Failure to meet the payment date may lead to insurers canceling your policy. You may be able to spread your payments through a credit scheme and we will give you full information about your payment options and details of the interest payable at the time we provide you with a quotation. In order to be able to offer you credit facilities we are registered with The Consumer Credit Act.

We may withhold certain documents, such as your insurance policy documents or certificates while we are awaiting full payment of premiums (or evidence of no claims discount, unless the full premium is paid). In theses circumstances we will ensure you receive full details of your insurance cover and any documents that you need to have by law.

Any payments that default i.e.: cheques, direct debits will occur chargers off £50.00 excluding any bank chargers and any other cost to SMI Placings.

How we will handle your money

We act as agents of the insurers and have Risk Transfer Agreements in place with insurers for the business we carry out, we will remit such monies to your insurance company in line with our agreement with them. In arranging your insurance we may employ the services of other intermediaries who are regulated by the FSA and your premium may be passed to these intermediaries for payment to insurers.

What is Risk Transfer Agreements.

Any monies we receive form you our client is deemed to have been received by the insurers. 

Your duty to disclosure information:

It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to insurers when you take out your insurance policy, throughout the life of your policy and when you renew your insurance. It is important that all statements you make on proposal form claim forms and other documents are accurate. If a form is complete on your behalf, you should check that the answers given to any of the questions are true and accurate before signing the document, as the information remains your responsibility. Failure to disclosure any material information to your insurers could invalidate your insurance cover, and mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid. We will not accept any liability for any loss you may suffer in respect of any non-disclosure.

You are reminded that it is an offence under the Road Traffic Act to make any false statements or withhold any relevant information to obtain an insurance Cover Note or Certificate.

If you are in any doubt as to whether information is material, you should disclose it.

Customer Classification

Retail customers-a private individual who is insuring their personal risk such as private motor or household and is subject to greatest protection under FSA rules, but not when the individuals is acting in a commercial capacity for the purposes of trade, business or profession; or

Commercial customers-any individuals or person insuring their business risks that is not a Retail customer, subject to a lighter touch to protection under FSA rules where larger commercial risk is involved.

Claims

As part of our service we can assist you with any claim you need to make. It is important that you notify us of any claim in accordance with the terms of the policy. We will then inform your insurance company as soon as possible on your behalf. Certain policies require that you notify your insurance company direct and notification to them should be made without delay. Where we provide assistance in preparing and presenting your claim to insurers we reserve the right to make a charge for this service we will charge,

Complaints

It is our intention to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times.

If you should wish to make a complaint about our service we have a formal complaints procedure. In the first instant you should contact us at the address given below. Please address your complaint to Mr Steve Mahmut. At SMI Placings ltd

 We shall supply you with a copy of our complaint procedure upon receipt of a complaint or at any time upon request. You will be advised of any redress available to you, should you believe the matter has not being resolved to your satisfaction. If you can not settle your complaint with us you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service we will advise you if you are able to refer any complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Financials Service 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 not the circumstances of the claim. Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £2.000.00 and 90% of the remainder of the claim, without any upper limit. For compulsory classes of insurance about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.

Confidentiality 

All personal information about you will be treated as private and confidential. We will only use and disclose information we have about you in the normal course of arranging and administering your Insurance. We may pass information about you to credit reference agencies for the purpose of arranging payments via installments and may also pass to them details of your payment record with us. If you do not wish us to disclose certain information you must inform us accordingly, in writing. We will not disclose any information to any other parties without your consent. Unless required to do so because we are authorised by FSA, it is in the public interest, or we have to by law. We may, however use the information we hold about you to provide information to you about other products and services that we feel may be appropriate to you. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 private customers have a right to see personal information we hold about them. Should you have any queries in this regard please write to us.

If you do not wish to receive marketing information from us please let us know by contacting us at the address below.

Unless you advise us to the contrary you are deemed to have accepted these Terms of Business

Claims and Understanding Exchange Register and Motor Insurance Anti-fraud Register

Insures pass information to the claim and Underwriting exchange register operated by Data Base Services Limited and the motor Insurance Anti -fraud register compiled by the Association of British insurers. The objective is to check information provided and to prevent fraudulent claims. Motor insurance details are also added to the motor insurance Database operated by the Motor Insurer's information Centre (MIC), which has been formed to help identify un insurance drivers and may be accessed by the police to help confirm who is insured to drive. In the event of an accident this database may be used by insures .MIC and your motor insurer to identify relevant policy information... Other insurance related database may also be added in the future.

Third Party Rights

Unless otherwise agreed with us in writing no term of this agreement is enforceable under Contracts (Right of Third Parties) Act 1999.

Governing Law

This Terms of Business document will be governed in accordance with English Law.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries with regards to any points mentioned in our Terms of Business.