Terms of Business
About us
Advanced Insurance Centres Ltd (AIC) trading as Trident Insurance of 374 – 376 High
Road Ilford IG1 1QP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
(FSA). The FSA requires us to give you this document. Our Firm’s Registration
Number is 306128. We are permitted to arrange, advise on, deal as an agent of insurers
and assist in claims handling with respect to non-investment insurance policies. You
can check these details 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.
Your duty Of disclosure
Your insurance is based upon the information provided to the insurance company.
You must ensure that all such information is complete and accurate, and that any
facts which may influence the insurer’s decision to accept and pay a valid claim are
disclosed.
Failure to disclose material information may invalidate your insurance and could
mean that part, or all, of a claim may not be paid.
How to cancel
You may have a statutory right to cancel within a short period (up to 14 days from
inception known as the cooling off period). Please refer to your policy summary or
policy document for further details. If you cancel within the 14 day cooling off period
you will receive a pro-rata refund of premium from the insurer. If you wish to cancel
outside this period you may not receive any pro rata refund. In addition we will charge
a cancellation fee of 8% of the total annual cost, together with our charge subject to time
spent to effect a new policy and/or a renewal fee.
Before deciding to cancel any policy you should call us to discuss the matter. Refunds
cannot be issued until we are in receipt of all documents. The policy can be cancelled at
any time throughout its duration but you must contact us immediately if you choose to
cancel. All documents must be returned to us promptly as refunds can not be issued until
we are in receipt of these documents. The terms of your policy may allow insurers to
retain the premium in full or charge short-period premiums in the event of cancellation
before the policy expires, this will not be refundable.
Any other related policies, such as legal protection and breakdown cover will be
cancelled with the main policy, and will only be refunded if the policy is cancelled
within 14 days of receipt of the documents. However, we may keep an amount that
reflects our administrative costs of arranging and cancelling the insurance.
Should a claim occur during the period of cover after 14 days from inception, then full
premiums and charges will become payable. Please note once we have instructions
to issue cover, any commission we receive from insurers is earned and not refundable
following cancellation of the policy. Refunds of less than £15 will not be issued. Any
request for cancellation should be sent to Trident Cancellations, 374-376 High Road,
Ilford IG1 1QP.
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 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 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.
Fees and charges
We normally receive commission from insurers or product providers. We also charge
you for handling your insurances as follows:
A search fee up to a maximum of £350 may be levied, the basis of which will
be established subject to the complexity of the cover required and the time spent
in negotiations with underwriters. Mid Term adjustments up to £100, Mid Term
cancellation £40, Credit Check £5, Dishonoured Cheque £30, Payment made by Credit
Card 2% of total amount payable, Legal Expenses and Claims Management £22.50p
(non-refundable after 14 days), Breakdown Cover £58.95p (non-refundable after 14
days), Copies of personal data we hold about you £10 per request. For net rated products
- where the quote offered to us as an intermediary is net - we will charge a flat 12.5%
commission. Where payment is not received by midnight on the due date £20.
Credit checks
To make sure you get the best deal and to ascertain the most appropriate payment
options for you and to protect you from fraud, we use public and personal data from a
variety of sources, including a credit referencing agency and other organisations. Our
search will appear on your credit report whether or not your application proceeds. As
well as these searches insurance companies may use a credit check to ascertain the
most appropriate payment options for you. This credit check will also appear on your
credit report whether or not your applications proceed. By agreeing to the terms and
conditions you agree to these uses of your information.
Complaints
We aim to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times, but if you
are not satisfied please contact us (in writing – Trident Insurance, 374-376 High Road,
Ilford IG1 1QP by phone - 020 8553 5043 or by e-mail robertmarshall@aic.uk.net).
We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days giving the name of the
person handling your complaint. Within 4 weeks of receiving your complaint we will
either offer you a final response or a holding response which explains why we are not
in a position to resolve the complaint and we will indicate when we will make further
contact, which will be no later than 8 weeks from receipt of the complaint.
If you are still not satisfied having heard from us, you are entitled to refer the matter to
the Financial Ombudsman Service, email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.
uk or by phone 020 7892 7300 (except in the case of a business with a group annual
turnover of €2m or more, and more than 10 employees).
Compensation
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FCSC). You may
be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. This
depends on the type of business and circumstances of the claim. For most personal
(non-commercial) insurance, advising and arranging contracts are covered for 90% of
the claim without any upper limit. If you are in any doubt what to do please contact 020
7892 7300 or www.fscs.org.uk
How to claim
Should you need to make a claim please refer to your policy summary or your policy
document to confirm that you are covered.
You should take note of the required procedures in the event of a claim, which will
be explained in the policy documentation. Generally, insurers require immediate
notification of a claim or circumstances which might lead to a claim. If in doubt then
you should call us on 020 8553 5043.
Range of Insurers used
We select personal and commercial insurance from a range of insurers, but for certain
products, we may only deal with a single insurer or select from a limited number
of insurers. We will give you further information about this before we finalise your
insurance arrangements.
Ownership arrangements
AIC is a wholly independent company with no external ownership of the share capital
held by any other company. AIC do not own any share capital in any Insurer we trade
with. There is no conflict of interest with any service provider we use.
Details of commission received and/or fees charged
On request we will be pleased to provide information about any commission received
in the handling of your insurances.
Non payment of premiums
If the cheque, card or credit agreement is dishonoured or if the Client refuses to pay
outstanding monies, we will first try to take full or part settlement via any credit/debit
card from the details on our/your files.
If no alternative method of payment is agreed, cover will be cancelled immediately after
a 7 day notice warning. No refund monies will be returned, as the deposit covers the
insurers minimum Time on Risk charges (explained in the policy documents), our own
fees for the initial placement of business and our general handling and administration
costs – see Fees and charges.
Upon failure to recover the full or part payment, we will give 7 days notice of our
intention to pass the case to our debt recovery agency. Our administration charge will be
£20 per £100 outstanding, excluding our normal administration charges. Clients must
be aware that all fees generated by the debt recovery agency’s actions, will become the
Clients liability to pay within any future settlement.
Protecting your money
Prior to your premium being forwarded to the insurer, and for your protection, we
either hold your money as an agent of the insurer (in which case your insurance is
treated as being paid for), or we hold it in a client bank account on trust for you. We
may need to transfer your money to another intermediary in some cases. However
your money will be protected at all times because of our requirements under the FSA
rules. We also reserve the right to retain interest earned on this account.
Protecting your information
All personal information about you will be treated as private and confidential (even
when you are no longer a customer), except where the disclosure is made at your
request or with your consent in relation to administering your insurance, and except
where law requires us. The FSA may ask us to provide it with access to our customer
records in order that it may carry out a review of our activities.
Some or all of the information you supply to us in connection with your insurance
proposal may be passed to other insurance companies for underwriting and
claims purposes. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have a right of access
to see personal information about you that is held in our records, whether
electronically or manually. If you have any queries, please write to the Data
Security Department at Advanced Insurance Centres Limited 374 – 376 High
Road, Ilford IG1 1QP.
By accepting these Terms of Insurance Business you are giving your consent for us to
operate in this way.
Please note, all telephone conversations are recorded for both your security and that of Advanced Insurance Centres.
