Our Standard Terms of Business
You will be provided with a specific initial disclosure document relevant to the type of insurance(s) arranged through Blackmore Borley Limited. This document is designed to give you generic information about our firm only.
Who Are We
Blackmore Borley Limited are an independent insurance intermediary based at 7th Floor, Cornhill London EC3V 3QQ
Who Regulates Us
We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA Register number is 311926. Our permitted business is to handle all aspects of general insurance business.
You can check this by visiting the FCA Register using https://register.fca.org.uk or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.
Who Are The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
The FCA are the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. Use this information to decide if our services are right for you.
Whose Products Do We Offer
We only offer products from a limited number of insurers. Please ask us for a list of these insurers if you require it.
What Products Do We Offer For Our Commercial Clients
We offer a wide range of business insurance products including but not limited to:
- Professional Indemnity Insurance
- Professional Indemnity Insurance with added IR35 Protection
- Directors’ & Officers’ Insurance
- Corporate Regulatory Defence Insurance
- Individual Regulatory Defence Insurance
- Cyber Insurance
- Office Contents Insurance
- Legal Expenses Insurance
- Employment Practices Liability Insurance
- Employers Liability Insurance
- Worldwide Portable Equipment Insurance
- Travel Insurance
- Personal Accident Insurance
- Motor Fleet Insurance
What Products Do We Offer For Our Private Clients
We offer a wide range of personal insurance products including but not limited to:
- Household
- Motor (including classic car) Insurance
- Fine Art Insurance
- Jewellery and Valuables Insurance
- Travel Insurance
- Private Yacht Insurance
- Private Aviation
If the type of insurance you require isn’t listed above, please contact us directly on 0207 929 4616 and we will be happy to confirm whether we are able to help you.
Which Service Will We Provide You With
Our service will be described within the initial disclosure document relevant to the type of insurance(s) that you require. This initial disclosure document will be provided at the outset
Duty of Disclosure – Commercial Clients
A Commercial Client is a client who is taking out insurance which is business related. As such, you have a duty to make a fair presentation of the risk to the Insurer. An example of this type of insurance would be Employer’s Liability Insurance. The law in relation to these contracts is the Insurance Act 2015 which came info effect on the 12th August 2016.
This means that you must answer the Insurer’s questions, and any we ask on their behalf, honestly, carefully, fully and accurately. In addition you should disclose any other material circumstances not covered by the Insurer’s questions. Material circumstances would best be described as those which would influence the judgement of the Insurer in deciding whether to accept the risk and if so on what terms
The information you provide is expected to be reasonably clear and accessible to the Insurer.
Duty of Disclosure – Private Clients
A Private Client is a client taking out insurance which is not business related. As such, you have an obligation take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation. An example of this type of insurance would be household insurance.
The law in relation to these contracts is the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 which came into force on the 6th April 2013. Under this statute you have a duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the Insurer. In practice this means that you must answer questions honestly, carefully, fully and accurately. You do not though have an obligation to volunteer information where a question has not been asked.
In the event of a misrepresentation the Insurer has various remedies depending on the nature of the misrepresentation. If it is honest and reasonable the Insurer has no remedy and must pay any legitimate claims. If it is careless and you ought to have known the information and failed to disclose it, the Insurer has remedies based on what they would have done had the question been answered accurately and completely. This could include voiding the policy from inception or reducing claims proportionately or retrospectively applying policy terms including additional premiums. If it is deliberate and reckless the Insurer may treat the policy as if it does not exist and decline all claims.
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Quotations
Unless otherwise agreed, any quotation provided will normally be valid for a period of 30 days. We reserve the right to withdraw or amend a quotation in certain circumstances, for example, where there has been a change in the original risk information provided.
Solvency of Insurers
We cannot guarantee the solvency of any insurer with which we place business – we do however conduct due diligence on any insurer who we do place business with.
Handling Client Money
We must protect the money we hold on behalf of customers. We cannot lend this money or use it to finance our own business.
Payments must only be made to Blackmore Borley Limited Accounts detailed at the bottom of our debit note. No payments are to be made to any other accounts.
What If You Have a Claim?
In the event of a claim, it is important that you get in touch as soon as possible – whether you believe you are liable for not. Please contact us in the first instance on 020 7929 4616.
So that we can help you quickly, please have your policy number available.
Renewal of Your Insurance
You will be contacted in good time before expiry of your policy either to offer renewal terms or to notify you that renewal is not being invited.
It is very important that you notify us at the earliest opportunity if your circumstances have changed to give us as much time as possible to find an insurer most suited to your needs.
To ensure we continue to provide you with insurance appropriate for our needs, your insurance is not renewed automatically. It is therefore important that you respond to your renewal invites as soon as possible.
What Will You Have To Pay Us For Our Services?
We usually receive commission from the respective Insurer and this will be included in the premium quoted to you. The amount of commission we receive will be based on a percentage of your total annual premium.
In some cases, we may charge you a fee instead of receiving commission. This will be agreed with you before you choose to proceed.
Any other fees that may apply throughout the term of your policy will be disclosed within the initial disclosure document relevant to the type of insurance(s) that you require.
Paying For Your Insurance By Instalments
Depending on the type of insurance you require, you may be able to pay for your policy by instalments (typically over 9 to 12 months and subject to status). If you choose to pay for your insurance by instalments, we use Premium Credit Limited to provide finance exclusively and we may receive a commission for introducing customers to them.
If you choose to pay by monthly direct debit payments, your personal information will be passed to Premium Credit Limited who will contact you either by email or post.
If you miss payments under an agreement with Premium Credit Limited, you may incur additional fees and this may affect your credit rating.
Premium Credit Ltd will provide you with additional information about the key features of the credit agreement in accordance with the Consumer Credit Act regulations, including monthly payments, total cost fees and charges which will enable you to make an informed choice whether the agreement meets your specific needs and financial situation.
Premium Credit Ltd carry out credit and anti-money laundering checks, as credit is subject to status. They use a credit reference agency and other information databases which will leave a record of the search.
Insurance Premium Tax (IPT)
Insurance Premium Tax is a tax levied by the Government on general insurance premiums in the UK. The standard rate is currently 12%. A higher rate of 20% applies to travel insurance, certain insurance when sold with mechanical/electrical appliances and certain insurance when sold with some motor vehicles.
Details of the amount of IPT payable will be included in the information we provide you with but will be shown separately.
Conflicts of Interest
We have put in place arrangements to ensure you are treated fairly and should anything arise that conflicts with this, we will bring it to your attention. We have implemented a conflict of interest policy to help us manage such risks.
Financial Crime / Fraud Prevention
Current UK money laundering regulations require us to obtain adequate ‘Know Your Client’ information about you. We are also required to check clients against the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) HM Treasury consolidated list of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK as part of the information gathering process.
To prevent and detect fraud, we may at any time share information about you with other organisations and public bodies, including the Police. We may also undertake credit searches and additional fraud searches.
Insurers pass information to the Claims and Underwriting Exchange Register (CUE) to help prevent fraudulent claims.
Further Checks – Motor Insurance
If you purchase a motor insurance policy – the insurers will add your details to the Motor Insurance Database (MID) which is used by the Police and other authorities to establish whether valid insurance is in place.
Insurers may use your driving licence number to confirm with the DVLA your licence status, entitlement and relevant restriction information prior to inception and throughout the duration of your policy
Are we covered by the 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.
Non-compulsory classes of insurance are covered for 90% of the claim, without any upper limit.
Compulsory classes of insurance such as Employers Liability insurance, are covered for 100% of the claim, without any upper limit.
Cancellation and Refund Policy
It is extremely important that you read your policy documentation and the policy terms and conditions as soon as you receive them. These documents will explain all applicable terms and conditions of your policy, including any cancellation rights.
Where a refund has been agreed, payment will only be made to a verified bank account.
No refund will ever be given in respect of a policy on which a claim has been made.
Zero Tolerance Policy
Our Staff work hard to deliver the best service possible. Our position is that our Staff should always be treated courteously and with respect for the work they do. We will not tolerate abusive behaviour in any form which includes:
- Rude, disrespectful and offensive behaviour including derogatory remarks
- Sexually inappropriate comments or behaviour
- Racial and discriminatory abuse
- Threats of physical violence
- Aggressive and violent behaviour
Abusive behaviour towards our Staff may result in Blackmore Borley Limited withdrawing the facility to purchase the insurance products we offer.
For The Avoidance of Doubt
This Terms of Business replaces any previous Terms of Business previously issued.
Version 10 – November 2022