Our Status

Crossbrook Insurance Brokers are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) (Registration Number 309980) to act as an Independent Intermediary on their behalf. We are permitted to arrange, advise and deal as an agent of a panel of insurance companies and assist in claims handling with respect to non-investment insurance policies. You can check these details on the FSA’s register by contacting them on 0845 606 1234 or by visiting www.fsa.gov.uk/register. We are also members of the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) (Registration Number 006489) and Key Choice Insurance Marketing Limited (Registration Number 007).

Duty of Disclosure

Your insurance policy is based upon the information provided to the insurance company and you must ensure that all such information is complete and accurate and that any facts that may influence the insurance companies’ decision to accept the policy and what terms are applied must be disclosed. If you do not return, or fail to sign and date any page of the proposal form/statement f of fact with any amendments, we will not be liable for any additional premium that may apply for any inaccuracies or undisclosed claims or convictions. Failure to disclose any material fact or information may also invalidate your insurance policy and could mean that part, or all, of a claim may not be paid. We would also like to inform you that information about you is exchanged between UK insurance companies and other regulatory organisations for underwriting and fraud purposes.

How to Cancel

All requests for cancellation of your policy must be put in writing to us. You may have a statutory right to cancel a policy within a short period (normally 14 days) from the inception date of the policy. If you cancel within this period, you may receive a pro rata refund of premium from the insurance company, but they are also entitled to make an administrative charge and we may also keep an amount that reflects our administrative costs of arranging and then having to cancel your policy. If the policy is cancelled within the first 30 days a minimum premium of 30% will apply and if you wish to cancel outside this period you may not receive a pro rata refund of premium. Any return premium due to you (less our commission) will be sent by us when we receive the return premium from your insurance company, which will take between 4 to 8 weeks from the date of cancellation. If a claim is reported during any period of the policy and the policy is cancelled, no refund will be due.

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 to do so. Some or all of the information you supply to us in connection with your insurance proposal may be passed to insurance and other companies for underwriting, claims and premium collection purposes. Your data will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, under which you have a right of access to see personal information about you that is held on our records, whether electronically or manually. Some insurance companies on our panel use public and personal data from a variety of sources, including a credit reference agency and other organisations to make sure they can give their most competitive quotation and to protect you from fraud. Their search will also appear on your credit record whether or not your application proceeds with them.

How to Claim

Please refer to your policy summary or your policy booklet if you need to notify a new claim or incident. You should contact the insurance company or legal expenses provider direct as soon as possible using the contact details provided. If in doubt about who you should contact, please contact us by telephone, fax or e-mail or by visiting our website at www.crossbrook.com.

Fees and Charges

We reserve the right to make an administration charge in addition to any premiums charged by insurance companies for arranging, amending, renewing or cancelling of your policy. The minimum specific charge of £20.00 will be advised to you in advance and will apply to the following activities: payment by instalments or late payments, dishonoured cheques, cancellation of policy and issue of new business, renewal, duplicate and adjustment documents including temporary additional vehicles and drivers. We never make charges in excess of the premium amount charged by insurance companies.

Our Earnings

Any Commercial Clients are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding any earnings which we may have received as a result of placing your insurance business.

Block Transfers

In respect of some classes of insurance (i.e. legal expenses and/or premium finance providers), we may operate block arrangements in order to provide competitive terms. On occasions it will be necessary for us to transfer such blocks from one provider to another where this is beneficial to you as our client. This written statement of terms and conditions of business constitute both your acceptance that we may do this and your prior request for us to do so.

Protecting your Money

Prior to your premium being forwarded to the insurance company and for your protection, we hold your money as an agent of the insurance company (in which case your policy is treated as being paid for). We may also transfer your money to another intermediary in some cases. However your money will be protected at all times because of the requirements of FSA rules. We also reserve the right to retain interest earned on this account. This written statement of terms and conditions of business constitute both your acceptance that we may do this and your prior request for us to do so.

Accounts

All accounts are payable on demand, but if for any reason you are unable to settle an account, we ask you to discuss this as soon as possible with a member of staff. We reserve the right to cancel your policy if payment is not received without any refund, either from inception or from an agreed date and to add on all charges incurred to the final amount if payments are not received and debt collectors are appointed. Where the premium is being paid by direct debit, you may be subject to a credit check and the finance provider (Premium First) will be arranging a loan for you to pay for your insurance policy. Premium First will also apply a 10% instalment charge as well as their own terms and conditions.

Complaints

It is our intention to provide a high level of service at all times. If however, you have reason to make a complaint about our service you should write to the manager at the above address. You may be entitled to refer the matter subsequently to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). If you do decide to refer any matter to the FOS your legal rights will not be affected. You can contact the FOS on 0845 080 1800 or by visiting their website at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

Compensation Arrangements

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and you may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. Compensation for non-compulsory insurance will be paid at 90% of the claim, with no upper limit and cover for compulsory insurance will be paid at 100% of the claim, with no upper limit.  Further information about the compensation scheme is available from the FSCS on 020 7892 7300 or by visiting www.fscs.org.uk.

These terms and conditions were revised on 1st June 2010.