The Financial Conduct Authority
The Financial Conduct Authority is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. Top Insurance Services, 170 Highfield Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, B28 0HT is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA Register number is 301623 and you can check our status at www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FCA on 0845 606 1234.
Our permitted business includes advising, arranging, dealing in and assisting with the placing and administration of all types of General Insurance policies.
Confidentiality and Data Protection
We will treat all your personal information as private and confidential to us and anyone else involved in the normal course of arranging and administering your insurance, even when you are no longer a customer. We will not give anyone else any personal information except on your instructions or authority, or where we are required to do so by law, or by virtue of our regulatory requirements. We may use information we hold about you to provide information to you about other products and services, which we feel may be appropriate to you. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have the right to see personal information about you that we hold in our records. If you have any queries please write to us at our usual office address.
Our Service
We are an independent insurance broker, who acts on our customers’ behalf in arranging insurance. We will not provide you with any advice on the purchase of policies via our website and customers should make their own decision regarding the suitability of products offered.
Whose products we offer
In respect of products purchased via our website, these will be from Iprism Underwriting Agency Limited, Abacus underwriting Services, Professional insurance agents limited and Tokio Marine who are other professional Intermediaries and insurance companies that specialise in web based insurance business. They will then, for each type of business, offer products from insurance providers for you to choose from, who will be clearly identified in the quotation.
The service we will provide you with
In respect of policies purchased through our website you will not receive advice or a recommendation from us and you will then need to make your own choice about how to proceed. Guidance on the circumstances in which any policy is likely to meet customer’s needs, will be confirmed in a demands & needs statement with the quotation.
What you will pay for our services
We usually receive a commission from insurers and underwriters we deal with, and in such a case, the commission will be paid to us either when they are in receipt of cleared funds from you (or the premium finance company, if one has been used) or, when the insurer has received cleared funds from them in respect of the premium due under your policy. The individual agreements they have with each insurance provider will determine which of the two methods above is used to make this transfer of commission.
We would remind commercial customers of your right to be advised of the level of commission which we receive from insurers and Underwriting Agencies.
What to do if you have a complaint
Our aim is to provide a first class service, however, if you wish to register a complaint, please contact us by writing to Complaints Manager, Top Insurance Services, 170 Highfield Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, B28 0HT or, by phone Telephone 0121 628 9494, by fax 0121 628 9400 or Email: topinsurance@onetel.com.
We will provide you with a copy of our full complaints procedure and respond to you promptly, and always within 5 working days. We will make a final response to you within eight weeks, In the event that your complaint relates to activities or services provided by another party, we will ensure that your complaint is appropriately forwarded in writing, and will track the progress of the complaint and responses of that party.
After our final response has been issued, or If this cannot be issued within eight weeks or if you still cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, for an independent assessment and opinion.
The FOS Consumer Helpline is on 0800 023 4567 (free for people phoning from a “fixed line” (for example, a landline at home) or 0300 123 9123 (free for mobile-phone users paying monthly charge for calls to No’s starting 01 or 020) and their address is:
Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SR
A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.
Online Dispute Resolution
If you have purchased your policy on line and are unhappy with the product or the service you received, you can also use the European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution service to make a complaint at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/ . The purpose of this platform is to identify a suitable Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider and we expect that this will be the Financial Ombudsman Service. Please be aware that the Financial Ombudsman Service will only be able to consider your complaint after the insurers have had the opportunity to consider and resolve this.
Are we covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS is the UK’s statutory fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms, like us. The FSCS can pay compensation if an authorised firm is unable or likely to be unable to pay claims against it, usually because it has gone out of business or is insolvent.
Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim, without an upper limit. For compulsory insurances (for example, motor insurance and employers’ liability insurance), insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim, without an upper limit. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.
Payment Options
We will advise you of the payment methods available to you at the time of placing your order.
Please Note: Your policy cover will cease if you fail to keep up payments on an installment agreement or premium finance facility related to it.
Language Used
The English language will be used for all communications, the contractual terms and conditions, and any information we are required to supply to you, before and during the duration of the contract.
Applicable Law
This Terms of Business is subject to English Law and the jurisdiction of the English Courts
Information on how we treat Payments You make to Us
We will hold money that you pay to us in accordance with the regulators rules or under a risk transfer agreement with insurers. This will include holding your money in the following way.
A non-statutory trust client bank account that allows us to use the money held in trust on behalf of one customer to pay another customers premium before we receive it from that customer and to pay premium refunds or claims before we receive payment from Insurance Companies. This is a standard practice within the Insurance Industry and we cannot use your money for any other purpose. We do not pay any interest on premiums held by us in the course of arranging and administering your insurance, unless, in the case of consumer transactions we receive more than £20 per transaction, and then we will ask for your permission to retain the interest. Unless you tell us otherwise, you are consenting to us holding your money in this way.
By holding your money in this way, means that in the event that this firm becomes insolvent your money remain protected.
In arranging your insurance we may employ the services of other intermediaries who are regulated by the FCA and your premium may be passed to these intermediaries for payment to insurers. These firms are also required to hold clients’ money in a separate trust account. We will also inform you if at any time we are required to pass your premium to firms that operate outside the UK where the protection may be different. Should you not wish us to pass premiums to a firm outside of the UK, please inform us.
Your Duty to Give 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 you ensure that all statements you make on proposal forms, statements of fact, claim forms and other documents are full and accurate.
Please note that if you fail to disclose any information or change in circumstances to your insurers which could influence the cost, or their decision to accept your insurance, this could invalidate your insurance cover, and could mean that part or all of a claim may be not be paid.
