OUR TERMS OF BUSINESS
1. General
Insured Windows Guarantees Limited (IWG) is located at Cora House, 20 Gills Yard, Wakefield, WF1 3BZ.
Our intention in this document is to establish clearly with you the basis on which we will provide you with insurance agency services, unless there is a more specific agreement in place in writing and agreed between you (the customer) and us (IWG).
2. Regulatory Status
We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our FCA permitted business activities are advising, arranging, dealing as agent and assisting in the administration and performance of general (non-investment) insurance contracts. Our FCA Firm Reference number is 310784. You may check this on the FCA’s register by visiting the FCA website, https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.
3. FENSA/CERTASS/ASSURE Accreditation
We are accredited as an Approved Insurance Provider to FENSA, CERTASS and ASSURE and where an IWG member logs an installation with them as part of the Competent Person Scheme (CPS) we will receive regular data transfers from FENSA, CERTASS and ASSURE to enable us to issue Insurance Backed Guarantee policy documentation. (See item 12 regarding the implications regarding non-payment of premium)
As a condition of such accreditation, all Approved Insurance Providers are required to remind members that Deposit Protection must be in force for all installations the member receives a cash, debit card or cheque deposit payment but not where the customer pays via a credit card.
4. Basis of Advice
As an independent intermediary, we act on your behalf. As scheme brokers, we offer insurance facilities specifically for Insurance Backed Guarantees and Deposit Protection.
5. Instructions
We would normally expect to receive your instructions in writing, by letter, electronic mail or facsimile, in order to avoid any ambiguity or misunderstanding about the cover which you have requested. We will of course accept oral instructions, but request that they be confirmed in writing immediately.
6. Duty of Disclosure
It is the responsibility of you and your customer to disclose to insurers all material information when obtaining cover. Information is deemed material if it would influence the judgement of a prudent insurer in deciding whether or not to accept the risk or in establishing the terms upon which they are prepared to write the risk. If there is any doubt as to whether or not an item of information is material, it should be disclosed. You have an ongoing duty to disclose all material information throughout the term of your policy.
It is important to remember that there is no duty on the insurer to make enquiries: the burden falls entirely upon you. If any material information is omitted or misrepresented, insurers may have the right to void the policy and return the premium, and no claims will be paid. It is therefore extremely important that attention is paid to the information which is provided to enable the insurers to consider the risk.
7. Insurers
IWG is not able to guarantee the security or continued solvency of any of the insurers which we may from time to time use. We place insurance with FCA authorised and regulated insurers, accredited to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in relation to insurer failure and subject to the decisions of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in the event of claims disputes.
8. Credit checks
Insurance Backed Guarantees and Deposit Protection covers are based on the member’s trading status and so we reserve the right to make credit checks on your business and or officials of the Company from time to time or as may be required by our Insurers.
9. Quotations
Unless otherwise agreed our quotations are valid for a maximum of thirty (30) days from the date of issue. This is particularly relevant when seeking quotations for extended projects, such as commercial installations, where completion date may be up to 2 years away.
10. Professional Indemnity
In accordance with FCA rules, we maintain professional indemnity cover to a minimum level of indemnity of €1.5M in aggregate for any one year.
11. Our Remuneration
We are ordinarily remunerated for our service by receiving a percentage of the premium charged, by way of a commission or brokerage. Alternatively, a fee may occasionally be agreed for our service, or a combination of a fee and a commission. We may earn additional income from insurers to reflect our efficiency and/or profitability.
12. Methods of Payment
At the time that membership of IWG is approved, we will agree how you make payments to us. Unless you have a Direct Debit Instruction in place our preferred method is via SagePay using the members’ portal on Certifast, our proprietary policy processing system. Payments can also be made by BACs
13. Non Payment of Premiums
Invoices issued by IWG are a formal demand for payment, there are no credit terms available for this type of product. Failure to settle your account will result in suspension of IWG membership which will in turn be communicated to the CPS Operator in line with our appointment as an Approved Insurance Provider.
14. Documentation
We reserve the right to retain policies until all payments have been made. We will apply payments to policies sequentially such that the earliest dated policy is paid first and the latest last.
15. Non-Statutory Trust
We hold all customer money subject to a non-statutory trust in accordance with the FCA’s CASS rules. This means that we are entitled to, and may, use customer money held on behalf of one customer to pay another customer’s premium before the premium is received from that other customer, and to pay claims and premium refunds to another customer before we receive payment from the insurer. We are not entitled to use customer money to pay commissions before we receive the relevant premium from the customer. Our commission will generally be taken by us when we receive the premium from you in accordance with the FCA rules, and this may be before we pay the money on to insurers or underwriters, depending upon the operative terms of trade with the insurer or underwriter concerned.
16. Your Ceasing to Trade
Should you cease to trade please advise immediately.
17. Confidentiality and Data Protection
We will only use and disclose the information we have about you and your customers in the normal course of arranging and administering insurance. We will not disclose any information to parties not connected with your insurance requirements without your consent.
We will comply at all times with the Data Protection Act 1998 and any subsequent related legislation. You have the right to see personal information that we hold on our records. If you have any queries, please write to the Managing Director at IWG.
18. Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
Depending on the type of business and the circumstances of the outstanding claim, you may be entitled to compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”) if we cannot meet our obligations to you.
Full details and further information on the scheme are available from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, PO Box 300, Mitcheldean, GL17 1DY; telephone +44 207 741 4100; email via the FSCS website at https://www.fscs.org.uk/contact-us/
19. Complaints
It is always our intention to provide a high standard of service. If our service falls below the standard you might reasonably expect and you have cause for complaint, we endeavour to ensure that at the appropriate stage the matter is handled fairly and promptly by a suitably senior and independent member of staff.
If you wish to register a complaint, then please contact the Managing Director in writing at the address above.
If we consider that your complaint is not with regard to our performance (for instance, if the complaint concerns the performance of our insurer), we will endeavour to put you in contact with an appropriate person to whom your complaint may be addressed.
We have a formal complaints procedure which complies with FCA requirements and which we will send to you on receipt of a complaint.
If we are unable to settle your complaint, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Telephone on 0800 023 4567; Web www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.
20. Duration
This agreement is deemed to have come into effect upon issue to you. This agreement will continue indefinitely until terminated in accordance with the terms of clause 20 of this agreement or upon our receipt of your written confirmation you do not accept our terms of business. This agreement supersedes any previous agreement, written or oral, express or implied, between the parties.
21. Termination
This agreement can be cancelled by either party by providing 7 days’ written notice of termination. All outstanding transactions which are not finalised within the notice period will be followed through to completion as though the agreement were still in force, unless all parties agree that it is possible to set aside the transaction without prejudice to the customer’s interests.
22. Money Laundering
IWG complies with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Terrorism Act 2000 UK Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and the terms of the Proceeds of Crime Act. This means that we may, on occasion, request further information from you about your business for the purpose of monitoring our compliance with the relevant laws and regulations. We are obliged to report any evidence or suspicion of money laundering to the relevant authorities at the earliest opportunity and we are prohibited from disclosing any such report to you.
23. Compliance
IWG undertakes to follow the FCA rules and to observe the terms of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (‘FSMA’) at all times during the conduct of its business dealings.
24. Enforceability
If any part of this agreement is found to be in breach or potential breach of any existing or future rule of the Financial Conduct Authority, that part of the agreement will be construed in such a manner as to prevent such breach or potential breach from occurring. All other terms of the agreement will continue to be applicable and enforceable upon both parties as though no breach or potential breach had been identified.
25. Jurisdiction
This agreement shall be construed in accordance with, and governed by, English Law.