Terms of Business
Introduction
This Agreement is between you the client or potential client and Infocus Photography Insurance and applies to the purchase, administration and handing of claims for photography insurance. Please read this Agreement carefully to decide if our services are right for you and contact us if there is anything in this Agreement with which you disagree or do not understand.
Who are we?
Infocus Photography Insurance is a trading style of The Alan Stevenson Partnership Ltd. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 305785. You can check this on the FCA register at www.fca.gov.uk/register or by contacting them on 0800 111 6768.
Our Service
You will not receive advice or a personal recommendation from us. We will ask enough questions to establish your demands and needs. Any quotation we give you will be consistent with those demands. You will then need to decide how to proceed and whether you consider if the product is suitable for you. We only provide products for this scheme from Hiscox Underwriting Ltd. We are an independent Insurance Intermediary. We act as agent of the insurer when sourcing and placing your cover, or when holding premiums. However, in limited circumstances we may act as your agent, when assisting you in making a claim.
Policies Offered
Our search for a product to meet your requirements involves a single insurer. We do not guarantee the solvency of any Insurer we place business with.
Quotations are valid for 30 days unless stated otherwise.
When you purchase a policy online you will be covered from the selected start date and confirmation will be emailed to you on completion of the online process. The policy documents will be emailed to you within seven working days of the policy start date.
Payment
You are responsible for paying premiums by the due date. We have no obligation to fund premiums for you and have no responsibility for any loss you may suffer as a result of the Insurer cancelling due to non-payment.
You must pay your premium to us online by:
- Debit Card
- Direct Debit, subject to receipt of a completed Direct Debit Mandate.
Your Money
We hold your premium payment under risk transfer as agent of the insurers and we do this by paying it into an insurer premium trust account until it is passed to the insurers. This is to protect your money and means that whilst your money is in the account, it cannot be used for any purpose other than paying the insurers through whom we have arranged your insurance. We will retain any interest earned on the account.
Your Cancellation Rights
You have the right to cancel within 30 days (the ‘cooling-off’ period) of inception, renewal or upon receipt of the policy documentation, whichever is the latter and provided there have been no claims, without providing a reason and without penalty. After the ‘cooling-off’ period you or the Insurer may cancel by giving 30 days written notice. The Insurer will give a refund of premium for the remaining period.
If the Insurer has agreed that you can pay the premium by instalments and the Insurer has not received an instalment 14 days after the due date, they may cancel the policy. In this event, the period of insurance will equate to the period for which premium instalments have been paid to the Insurer. We will confirm the cancellation and amended period of insurance to you in writing. You need to note that our charges and commission are separate from the Insurer and if the policy is cancelled at any time these will not be refunded.
Claims
Except where otherwise agreed, we will provide claims handling services during the policy period where policies are placed by us and a claim is notified to us by you. These services can be continued beyond our appointment as your broker or advisor subject to a separate fee to be agreed at the time. If you have a doubt about whether a matter constitutes a notifiable claim or circumstance contact us immediately. If you want to claim on your policy you should notify us immediately by telephone on 0161 925 5051 or use your Insurer claim line (details in your policy).
Our Fees and Charges
We are remunerated by commission from your premium and paid to us by your Insurer, and you may request details of this from us. In the event of cancellation, we do not refund commission paid to us for arranging your Insurance.
Because the commission rates paid by insurers are variable and do not always reflect the level of work carried out by us, we also make individual service charges over and above the charges made by your insurers to cover the administration of your insurance policy. Such charges are non-refundable and are as detailed below:
- Legal Expenses Administration Charge – £10.15 or less
- Changes to your Policy – £20.00
- New Business/Renewal Administration Charge – £25.00
Your Contract of Insurance – Information and changes we need to know about
Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 – If you are an amateur photographer you are treated as a consumer and must take reasonable care to provide complete and accurate answers to questions we ask when you take out, make changes to, or renew your policy. If you are in doubt, please contact us. If the information provided by you is not complete and accurate, depending on the circumstances:
• The Insurer may void the policy.
• The Insurer may cancel the policy.
• The Insurer may keep the premium.
• The Insurer may refuse a Claim, or not pay in full.
• The Insurer may apply new terms to the policy or an increased premium.
Duty of Fair Presentation (Insurance Act 2015) – If you are taking out insurance related to your business, you have a duty to make a fair presentation by disclosing all material facts clearly and substantially correct. A material fact is anything the insurer needs to know about the risk they are accepting. If in doubt, please ask and we will give you examples of what you must tell an insurer.
You should review the evidence of your Insurance cover to confirm that it accurately reflects the cover, conditions, limits and other terms that you require. Particular attention should be paid to any policy warranties.
You should settle your premium and other charges, if applicable, with cleared funds of all monies due by the date advised to you. This enables us to meet Insurers’ advised payment terms and conditions.
To ensure full protection under your insurance cover you should familiarise yourself with coverage conditions or other procedures immediately, particularly those relating to claims. Generally, Insurers require immediate notification of any claim or circumstance that may give rise to a claim.
You will inform us as soon as reasonably practicable of any changes in your circumstances that may affect the services to be provided by us or the cover provided under your Insurance policy.
All activities undertaken by us as outlined in this Agreement are provided by us for your exclusive use and all data, proposals, reports and other information provided by us in connection with our services are for your sole use. You agree not to permit access by any third party to this information, without our express written permission.
Data Protection and Confidentiality
Please read the Privacy Policy notice that contains important information about how we protect and use your data.
https://www.infocusinsurance.co.uk/privacy-policy/
Automatic Renewal
Where we have previously obtained your agreement and your policy is eligible, we will automatically renew your policy (unless you tell us otherwise) up to 7 days before the renewal date.
Complaints
First speak to us – we make every effort to maintain high standards of service but if we let you down we will try to put things right immediately. If we are unable to do so, you can register a complaint formally by writing to Ian Stevenson or telephoning us on 0161 925 5051.
If we are unable to resolve your complaint by close of business on the third working day after receipt an acknowledgement will be sent no later than 5 working days after receiving your complaint, confirming who is dealing with the complaint and when we will expect to respond to you. Within 8 weeks of the date we receive a complaint we will provide you with our final decision.
If you are still not satisfied, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (except in the case of a business: (1) employing 10 persons or more and with a turnover or annual balance sheet total exceeding €2m, or (2) with an annual turnover of 6.5m or more, and 50 employees more or with an annual balance sheet total of £5m or more; a charity with an annual income of £6.5m or more; or trustees of a trust with a net asset value of £5m or more).
The Financial Ombudsman contact details are:
Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR
0800 0234567
www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
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. For Commercial customers with less than £1m turnover non-compulsory Insurance is covered for 90% of the claim without any upper limit. For Compulsory classes of insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim without any upper limit. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.
Governing Law
This Agreement, which sets out the terms of our relationship with you, will be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law.
Version – Photographer Feb 2019