Introduction
Hepburns Insurance Limited is an independent insurance intermediary, registered in Jersey and regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC).
Our intention in issuing these Terms of Business is to establish clearly and concisely with you the basis on and extent to which we will provide you with placing services in relation to each insurance that we arrange on your behalf, unless there is a more specific agreement in writing between us. This document also highlights certain important insurance practices and procedures that apply when arranging insurance and provides you with more general information on our services.
We would therefore urge you to read this document carefully, particularly the section entitled Placing Services, as it sets out the basis upon which we will act as your agent in relation to each insurance policy that we arrange on your behalf. If you do not wish our relationship to be governed in such a manner, you need to advise us in writing before we proceed to arrange the insurance.
Service Standards
Quality & Standard of Service
In providing you with insurance placing services, we will be acting as your agent, in accordance with your instructions and in a professional and expeditious manner, maintaining quality and standards.
Under the terms of the Financial Services (Jersey) Law, 1998 we are required to adopt and abide by specific Codes, Practice and Regulations issued by the JFSC in relation to both the operation of our business and the services that we provide.
Managing Your Requirements
We will assign one or more Account Manager to take responsibility for the provision of the insurance placing and claims related services that are described in this document. Such person(s) will be your primary point(s) of contact in relation to insurance that we arrange on your behalf and will ensure, in so far as is reasonably possible, continuity of and accountability for those services.
PLACING SERVICES
Establishing Your Needs
In good time before negotiations with the insurer(s) commence, we wish to establish a proper understanding of your requirements. We will assist where necessary in the gathering and collation of material risk information and in its preparation for submission to the insurer(s) who we consider to be appropriate. In that regard, we would draw your attention to the section of this document entitled Duty of Disclosure.
Quoting & Placing
We will seek on your behalf from the insurer(s) competitive indications for insurance and coverage which are, in our opinion, as efficient as possible to protect against the proposed risk(s), advising you of the terms indicated by the insurer(s) in such a manner as to enable an informed decision to be made on whether to proceed with the insurance.
We will take diligent and timely steps to implement your instructions and, subject to the available insurance market, place all of the required insurance before its intended date of inception, renewal or extension, confirming to you prior to such date the coverage which is in place. If any inability to fulfill your instructions becomes clear to us, we will bring this to your immediate attention.
Documentation
We will advise you by facsimile, letter, e-mail or other agreed communication medium of the completion of the insurance arrangement(s). We will then arrange for appropriate documentation to be forwarded to you, which will provide you with formal evidence of the insurance and the amount of premium payable in respect thereof.
Insurance Summary / Cover Note
Is a confirmatory letter that provides a summary of the main terms of the insurance and identifies the insurer(s) with whom it has been placed. You should check the document and satisfy yourself that it is entirely in accordance with your understanding and instructions. Any variance should be advised to us immediately and any correspondence should quote our reference.
Where a certificate, policy or other evidence or confirmation of insurance is issued in a timely fashion after completion of the insurance arrangements, we will not issue a cover note unless one is specifically requested by you.
Premium Debit Note / Invoice
A premium debit note or invoice indicates the premium charged by the insurer(s) for the insurance, the amount of any rebate or discounts to you and the net amount of premium payable to us. Where the insurer(s) requires premium to be paid directly to them, this will normally be indicated on the premium debit note or invoice.
Insurance Policy / Certificate
We will seek to obtain and, subject to any lien which we may be legally entitled to exercise, issue to you as soon as practicable any insurance policy or certificate documents which may be required in relation to the insurance. The policy or certificate document will set out comprehensively the terms of the insurance and replaces earlier documentation.
Taxes, Duties & other Charges
Any insurance premium tax, duty or other charge which is payable in addition to the premium and which needs to be remitted to the appropriate authority by the insurer(s), or which is allowed by the insurer(s) to be deducted from the premium payable, will be indicated on the premium debit note or invoice. If a tax, duty or other charge is allowed to be deducted by you from the premium payable; it is your responsibility to ensure that it is remitted to the appropriate authority.
Amendments
If you require a subsequent amendment to the terms of the insurance, you should advise us in writing at the earliest opportunity, specifying the required changes(s) and enclosing any relevant supporting information. As noted under the section of this document entitled Duty of Disclosure, the duty to disclose material information resurrects itself when amendments to the insurance are proposed.
We will then seek the necessary agreement(s) from the insurer(s) and advise you in writing when the amendment has been effected, or of any inability to effect the required amendment.
An addendum to the cover note, or endorsement to the policy or certificate of insurance, together with a debit note or credit note indicating respectively any additional or return premium due, will be issued to you unless such amendment is reflected within the already issued documentation.
Premium Payment Terms
In order for us to meet the premium payment terms of the insurer(s), premiums must be settled to us as specified in each premium debit note or invoice. In certain circumstances, the insurer(s) will stipulate special premium payment terms or warranties, which, if not met, may affect the validity of the insurance. We will advise you when these special payment terms or warranties apply to the insurance.
Use of Sub-Agents
Where we consider it to be appropriate and for your benefit, it may be necessary for us to request or recommend another more localised or specialist insurance broker or intermediary to act as our sub-agent and assist in the placement or servicing of the insurance, for example, accessing the Lloyds of London insurance market. In such cases, we will provide specific instructions to meet your insurance requirements. We are obliged by law to advise you that:
- insurance money may be passed to another insurance intermediary outside Jersey; and
- if the money is so passed, the legal and regulatory regime applying to the insurance intermediary with which the insurance money will be held may be different from that of an insurance intermediary located within Jersey and in the event of the failure of the insurance intermediary the insurance money may be treated differently than it would be if the insurance money were held by an insurance intermediary in Jersey.
COMPLAINTS
If you have a complaint regarding our practices or performance, which you are unable to resolve to your satisfaction, please contact the person below detailing the nature and underlying circumstances of your complaint:
The Compliance Officer, Hepburns Insurance Limited, P.O. Box 732, 6/7 Mulcaster Street, St. Helier, Jersey JE4 0QJ
The Compliance Officer in Jersey is responsible for monitoring the quality of our services and compliance with the laws and regulatory practice codes applying to us in Jersey. He will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five business days, detailing who is dealing with your complaint and give you our response to your complaint at that time if possible. If investigations take longer you will be provided with a full written response within 20 business days, or the current position of your complaint will be explained and you will be provided with an indication as to when we expect to provide our final response which will be within 90 working days from the date of your initial complaint.
If you are not satisfied with our final response to your complaint, you can refer to the Channel Islands Financial Ombudsman (CIFO). You can contact the CIFCO at:
Channel Islands Financial Ombudsman, P.O. Box 114, Jersey, Channel Islands, JE4 9QG
Making a complaint against us is in addition to and does not replace your right to seek legal redress against us.
Duty Of Disclosure
Consumer Policies
These are policies taken out for personal use. Clients must take care to answer all questions honestly and not to make any misrepresentation. If you are unsure how to answer any question, please contact us. If you provide details that are untrue, inaccurate, misleading or incomplete that may result in the refusal by an insurer to pay a claim, the alteration of the terms of your policy, the reduction of the amount paid for your claim or an increase in premium.
Non Consumer Policies
These are policies taken out for business purposes. You must make a fair presentation of the risk which discloses every material circumstance which you know or ought to know concerning the risks proposed.
This includes information known by your senior management and those responsible for arranging your insurance policies as well as information which would reasonably have been revealed by a reasonable search of the information available to you.
A circumstance will be deemed to be material if it would influence the judgement of a prudent underwriter in determining whether the risk proposed should be accepted or not and if accepted upon what terms.
Your disclosure must be clear and accessible to a prudent insurer or underwriter. All material representations must be correct and made in good faith.
If you fail to comply with this duty of fair presentation it could mean that your insurance is void or that insurers are not liable to pay all or part of your claims.
Confidentiality, Security Of Information & Data Protection
Hepburns Insurance Ltd is registered under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 20018. To view our full Privacy Policy go to :-
www.hepburnsinsurance.com/privacypolicy
Alternatively ,if you would like us to send to you a written copy of this please let us know.
Claims Procedures
Claims should be notified either directly to Hepburns Insurance Limited or should you prefer, direct to your insurer(s) without delay.
Negotiation & Settlement
We will diligently pursue the settlement and, where applicable, the collection of any claim under the insurance and seek to secure as full and as reasonable a recovery as we are able within the terms, conditions and limitations of the policy. We will not compromise the amount of any claim settlement without your prior approval. Where applicable, we will provide you with written confirmation of the acceptance of the claim and the amount of settlement agreed by the insurer(s).
Maintenance of Records
We will make, maintain and keep a record of all material particulars relating to the notification, processing and resolution of claims under the insurance for which we provide claims related services. Such records may be kept in paper based, electronic or such other medium as we consider appropriate provided that they are either in a legible form or capable of being reproduced in a legible form.
Services for Insurer(s)
In relation to the claims process, we may provide and may be separately remunerated for limited services to the insurer(s), including but not limited to, claims handling and record retention for the insurer(s) and, in relation to surveyors, adjusters, lawyers, recovery agents and other third parties appointed by the insurer(s), by relaying instructions from the insurer(s), disseminating reports and collecting fees or other disbursements. These latter services may also be provided to the insurer(s) during the placing process.
In the event of us not being retained as your appointed advisor, the claims service we promote will be automatically terminated.
Subject to any lien, which we may be legally entitled to exercise, we will fully co-operate in the transfer of files and other documents to which you are legally entitled and which are reasonably necessary for either yourself or another insurance intermediary to assume appropriate responsibility.
Conflicts of Interests
In performing our services, there are two main situations where we may have conflicting interests and we wish to highlight our normal procedures in relation thereto.
Firstly, in providing the limited services to the insurer(s) as described above, where a conflict arises, we will simply refrain from performing any further services of a like nature for the insurer(s) unless you have agreed otherwise in writing.
Secondly, where we act as agent for two or more clients involved in the same or a related loss situation, we will advise the clients involved of our conflicting interests (if any) and take immediate steps to segregate the claim servicing functions proved to each of the involved clients. These steps will normally include the assignment of different staff to represent the claim interests of each involved client and the establishment of direct communication procedures.
We recognise for conflicting interest situations that you may wish to secure the services of another intermediary to assist you with matters.
Remuneration and Other Income
Our principle remuneration for arranging the insurance will be either by way of brokerage commission, being the proportion of the premium paid which is allowed to us by the Insurer(s) for introducing the insurance to them, or a fee agreed with you.
In addition to the above, you should be aware that as a result of arranging the insurance, we may receive additional income from the following sources:
- Interest earned on monies passing through our clients accounts.
- Income derived from arranging premium financing.
- Expense allowances from Insurer(s) for managing and administering certain lineslips, covers, binding authorities and other similar facilities, including claims which may arise thereunder. All of which we believe enable more efficient service and competitive terms to be provided to those clients for whom we consider the use of such facilities appropriate.
- Contingent commissions (some-times referenced as “incentive” commissions) which can be based on profitability, premium income volume and/or growth, or payable to reflect our processing efficiencies, across a portfolio of business placed with a particular insurer(s).
Notwithstanding the existence of contingent commission agreements, we recognise that our overriding responsibility is to promote the best interests of the policyholder in the selection of the insurer(s).
Methods Of payment
Premiums should be settled on an individual debit note or credit note basis unless we have agreed otherwise with you. Statements of Account are issued periodically where there are monies due for payment to us or we have monies on account that are owing to you.
All payments should be made in the same currency in which they have been invoiced to you.
Cheques / Bankers Drafts
A cheque or bankers draft should be made payable to Hepburns Insurance Limited, unless otherwise advised. (If you wish to remit by wire transfer or other electronic medium, please contact your Account Manager for details of the appropriate account number).
All monies paid to us are held in a segregated ‘client account’ prior to settlement of the premium to insurers. All monies held in this account can be used only to settle insurance company premium statements and as such are held at the risk of insurers.
We recognise that communicating by e-mail on a “desk- to-desk” basis is a very desirable method of conducting business and that email is fast replacing facsimile as the preferred method of communication. However, if you choose to communicate with us by e-mail, we do have some concerns specific to its use in placing and servicing insurance that we would like to share with you:
Integrity & Receipt
There is no certainty of the completeness, accuracy or even the receipt of a message or data file sent by e-mail. As an insurance intermediary, we are concerned that using e-mail as part of a contractual process creates an exposure for our clients and ourselves as their agent or professional advisor. We are particularly concerned with misrepresentation or non-disclosure of information, where corruption of data during transmission or missing data file attachments may not be immediately obvious to the recipient. This could create a situation, which subsequently affects the legality of the insurance contract.
For important messages we may ask for a confirmation of receipt and we will acknowledge or respond to those that we receive. Hard copies of messages may also be requested or sent where considered appropriate.
Confidentiality
By unavoidably having to use third party service providers to “deliver” e-mails, confidentiality may be outside of the sender’s control.
Appropriateness
Where receipt of a message by a given time/date is critical or the subject matter is of an important nature, such message should be communicated by facsimile or courier to ensure that it is received and can then be acted upon.
Many contracts of insurance have provisions which require notice in writing in order to ensure compliance, particularly in relation to claims advices. The use of e-mail in such circumstances may be inappropriate.
Legality
In the absence of any formal contract setting out the terms of communicating by e-mail, it may be questioned in certain jurisdictions as to whether such communications are or will be legally admissible as evidence in any dispute, without considerable supporting evidence as to checks having been made on receipt, security and integrity of the communication.
Viruses
With knowledge of the potential damage which computer viruses can cause, e-mail users should use their best endeavours to ensure that they do not transmit harmful viruses to other parties.
E-Commerce
We will seek to place and service insurance business in the most efficient manner, which increasingly is by means of electronic trading. Therefore, where we consider it appropriate, we will exchange data and text with you, the insurer(s) and other parties connected with the insurance using email, through private insurance market networks and through web-enabled systems accessed via the internet. The exchange of data between Intermediaries and insurer(s) by electronic means has long been a feature of the Insurance Market, principally in relation to accounting and insurance claim processes.
Countering Financial Crime and Terrorist Financing
Hepburns Insurance Limited is required to comply with all appropriate legislation, regulations and guidance notes. Our compliance arrangements are contained within a Compliance Manual and all staff are required to fully discharge their responsibilities as contained therein. These responsibilities primarily concern Customer Due Diligence (CDD).
It may well be that we will request personal or corporate details from you and ask for proof of identity in a prescribed format, for example to see your passport or driving licence. Evidence of residence may be required in the form of an original utility bill.
We would very much appreciate your assistance in this respect. We will only request such details and verifying documentation from you in circumstances where it is a strict legal requirement and as such are obliged to do so.
