Terms of Business

Taylor Hargreaves Ltd. Orchard House, Lutton Road, Polebrook, Peterborough, PE8 5LX. Telephone: 01832 275763. Fax: 01832 275789. Email: ian@taylorhargreaves.com.

The Regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent watchdog that regulates financial services. Our financial services firm reference is 307593 and you can check our status and permissions at https://register.fca.org.uk/ or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.

Law and Language. This Terms of Business is subject to English Law and the jurisdiction of the English Courts. We will use the English language 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.

Acceptance. The purpose of this agreement is to set out our professional relationship and detail the services we will provide to you. For your own benefit and protection, you should read all of the information carefully. If you do not agree with anything, please advise us immediately. We assume that you accept the terms of this agreement unless we hear from you.

Limit of Liability. The Maximum aggregated liability of Taylor Hargreaves Limited and associated companies, in respect to all losses, costs and expense, that is a result of your engagement with us where we have been found guilty of breaching our duty or otherwise, other than injury or death of any person (no cap on liability will apply) shall be limited to £2,000,000 or a limit that has been agreed in writing. No action will be taken against the Directors or individuals from the business in connection to the claim.

Our Activities. We are an insurance distributor, which means the FCA has authorised us to advise, arrange, deal in and assist with the placing and administration or prepare in any other way the conclusion of all types of General Insurance policies and Pure Protection policies. We are also authorised to undertake the following Consumer Credit Activities: Credit Broking (where we act as a credit broker).

Our Service. We are an insurance intermediary and can act both as agent of insurer, and on behalf of you, the customer. We have in place management controls (see “Conflict Management” section) to deal with any conflicts of interest that might arise. Unless we advise you otherwise, we are acting on your behalf. We also act on behalf of insurers when collecting premiums under risk transfer (See “Money” section). We will ask questions to enable us to assess reasonably your insurance requirements, this may include checking information that we already hold about you and your existing insurance arrangements with us and other parties.

We will provide you with advice and guidance, after assessing what you want and need and recommend a suitable policy based on our experience of dealing with similar risks. We will confirm to you the level of service we are providing as part of our sales process. In all cases our service will include arranging and administering your insurance, including helping you with on-going changes. If we use the services of another intermediary or distributor to place your insurance, we will advise you of the name of the intermediary or distributor we use, and the name of the insurer.

Ownership. There is no ownership of any insurance company.

Conflict Management. Whilst we act in the capacity of agents for our product providers (i.e., the insurance companies with whom we conduct business), we are required to have in place appropriate governance controls to help us meet our regulatory objectives. We have in place organisational controls, including appropriate supervision, to ensure we manage any, and all conflicts of interests which may arise or be identified from time to time, this includes gifts and benefits granted and accepted, which may damage the interests of our relationship with either our distributors or our customers.

Demands and Needs. Non-Consumers. If you are dealing with us in a commercial capacity, you will be under a duty to make a fair presentation. You are therefore, required to disclose any matter which you know or ought to know that would influence the judgement of an insurer in deciding whether to insure the risk and on what terms. If you are unsure whether this is relevant or not, you should provide sufficient information to put an Insurer on notice that it needs to make further enquiries if necessary. We will make a specific personalised recommendation for product suitability based on our understanding and appraisal of your demands and needs requirements. Where we provide you with specific advice, we will give you the relevant information you require, honestly, fairly, and professionally and in a way that is in your best interests (i.e., we will alert you to important terms and conditions about the contract of insurance, and we will provide you that information when it is most relevant). This may include information about comparable products between different product providers, all of which will help you to decide whether to go ahead with any particular contract of insurance.

Consumers. In assessing your demands and needs we will ask you a series of questions. It is your responsibility to ensure you give us complete and accurate answers to any such questions, not only when you take out your policy, but also when you decide to renew or make any changes during any term of a contract of insurance (this applies to any changes in information relating to any individual named on the policy.)

Our Product Selection (Fair and Personal Analysis). We offer products from a wide range of product providers (i.e., insurance companies) and sometimes use other distributors (i.e., sub-agents) to access products. Our selection usually involves presenting to a reasonable number of insurance companies that will insure for the risk at hand, and this is called a fair and personal analysis of the market. Sometimes we may only approach a specified number of product providers (i.e., insurance companies) and this is a Panel, or in some cases, we may only approach one product provider, in either case, we will tell you the basis as part of our selling process. The processes we have in place, means that the characteristics of these products take account of our target customer’s demands and needs, and include sourcing products from one or more of the product providers we deal with. We will provide a list of the companies from the Panel we have approached at quotation stage and should you require a copy of the full list please contact us.

Method of Communication. Whilst you do have a choice in the way we communicate with you, we will principally provide you with information by email. During the process of dealing with us you will be given an option to receive information in this way, meaning if you would like information in a paper format, we will be happy to provide it.

Your Right to Cancel (Applicable to Consumers only). Please contact us if you wish to cancel any policy that we have arranged for you. Customers acting outside their trade or profession (Consumers) will usually have a legal right to cancel policies for any reason, subject to no claims having occurred, within 14 days of receiving the full terms & conditions. You will always be advised where this Right applies. A charge may apply for the period of cover provided and, in addition, an administration charge will apply as shown in the charges section on the next page. Cancellation under this Right must be in writing, prior to expiry of the cancellation period, to our usual office address.

Your Right to Cancel (Applicable to Non-Consumers only). Commercial insurance policies do not routinely have cancellation rights except those available to the Insurer. As a commercial customer, you do not have the same cancellation rights by law as a consumer but may still have specific contract rights and reference should be made to the policy document to ascertain your position. Where returns of commercial premiums are made on cancellation, it is usually following cancellation by the insurer, not the policyholder. On cancellation of a policy, any refund or premium allowed by the insurer will be paid to you after deducting our annual commission and fees

Our Fees, Commission and Charges. We usually receive a commission from the insurer with whom we place your business, and this commission will be paid to us, either when we 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 us, in respect of the premium due under your policy. The individual agreements we have with each Insurer will determine which of the two methods is used to make this transfer of commission.

We may also receive commission for arranging finance agreements for the payment of insurance premiums, which are usually a percentage of the individual loan and paid to us directly by the premium finance provider. This means that the amount you pay for credit and the overall cost of arranging your insurance will vary according to the interest charged by the lender and the amount of commission we earn. Using premium finance makes the overall cost of the insurance more expensive. A full breakdown of the cost of your insurance and the cost of credit will be provided as part of your new business or renewal quotation before you decide to proceed. We may also receive a commission or fee for passing introductions to other professional firms and from insurers for achieving sales targets. Policies voided or cancelled by insurers or by you will both be treated as a cancellation and we will retain any commission and fees before returning the net premium to you. By accepting these terms of business, you agree that we may retain the portion of the premium that relates to commission that would have been due to us. If policies are undertaken exclusive of commissions a professional fee will be levied by way of a separate invoice. This is normally a proportion of the premiums payable and is a non-refundable fee on cancellation of any policies by us, your Insurers or you. Where we are unable to achieve a satisfactory level of commission from insurers, we may charge an annual retainer fee in addition to the premiums payable, for the arranging, amending renewing and cancellation of any policy of Insurance. Again, this will be levied by way of a separate fee invoice and is a non-refundable fee on cancellation of any policies by us, your insurers or you. In the event your insurance is placed via any other intermediary regulated by the FCA, the other intermediary may earn commissions. You have the right to request written details of our remuneration and that of other intermediaries in the distribution chain in respect of any transaction. Specific charges, which apply to individual policies, will be advised to you prior to the commencement of each contract applicable to that policy. The specific charge and purpose of any additional charges will always be advised to you in advance.

Insurance Premium Tax (IPT). Your premium detailed in the policy will include IPT at the prevailing rate. Should the rate of IPT, be amended by the Government, your premium will be amended by your Insurers to reflect the change. Some polices are subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) not IPT and should the rate of VAT be amended by the Government, again, your premium will be amended by you Insurers to reflect the change.

Payment Options. We will provide you with full details of all the payment options available to you when we provide you with your Insurance premium.

Premium Finance. We may be able to arrange finance for insurance instalments via Close Brothers Premium Finance or your insurers. In doing so, we act as a credit broker in arranging premium finance facilities and we will give you further information about this before we finalise your instalment arrangements. When we are aware there is an alternative premium finance arrangement available, with a lower annual percentage rate, for example direct with your insurer, we will advise you at the quotation stage, enabling you to make an informed decision. We will not make a specific recommendation or provide you with specific advice, we will give you the relevant information you require, honestly, fairly, and professionally and in a way that is in your best interests. This may include information about one or more agreements for which you may be eligible so that you can compare them, enabling you to make your own choice about whether to go ahead with a finance agreement.

Important: Using premium finance makes the overall cost of the insurance more expensive. We will ask you to confirm that you have actively elected (that you have “opted in”) to pay via premium finance. A full breakdown of the cost of your Insurance and the cost of credit will be provided as part of your new business or renewal quotation before, you decide to proceed. Your agreement will last for 12 months but the premium finance may last for a shorter period. If you choose to enter a finance arrangement, your details will be passed to a third party (Close Brothers Premium Finance or your Insurer) to enable them to contact you. Please contact us directly if you do not want your details passed to that party. Any finance arrangement will be subject to interest charges that we will confirm these to you at the quotation stage. Importantly, the arrangement you will enter, will be with the finance company not Taylor Hargreaves. It is an entirely separate contract, irrespective of the insurance contract. In the event of your failure to meet with the contractual payment obligations, the finance provider may approach the insurer to seek a termination of the insurance contract to recover their outstanding finance. You will be liable to pay their costs and charges if you do not keep up your repayments and cover is cancelled under your policy. This is because the agreement is between you, the policyholder, and the finance company or Insurer direct, rather than Taylor Hargreaves. It is important that you read the finance agreement that is sent to you before you agree to enter an agreement. For the provision of premium finance facilities, a credit check will be performed. We do not charge any fees to you for introducing you to a credit provider. Please note, your policy cover will cease if you fail to keep up payments on an instalment agreement or premium finance facility related to it.

Money. We will hold money that you pay to us in accordance with the regulator’s rules or under a risk transfer agreement with insurers. This will include holding your money in a Statutory Trust client bank account that only allows us to use the money held in trust on behalf of a customer for paying that customers’ premium to an insurance company and to pay premium refunds or claims we receive from that insurance company to the customer only when, the premium has been received from that insurance company. We cannot use a customer’s money to pay another customer’s premium or refund. Also, for this reason, it is not possible for you to offset the refund against premiums owed on another policy. We do not pay any interest on premiums held by us while 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 we become insolvent, your money remains 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 client’s 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.

Training.We maintain training to a minimum standard ensuring our workforce is appropriately skilled. Where specialism in particular activities is required, we have in place more detailed requirements, including the need for our staff to attain a professional qualification where relevant.

Additional Services. We can also provide additional services, including via third parties, such as risk management and Health and Safety services. Please note these services, are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In addition, these services do not benefit from the protection offered by The Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). If we are unable to meet our obligations, you may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS. If we have advised or arranged Insurance for you this will be covered for 90% of a claim, without any upper limit, however compulsory classes of Insurance (such as Motor Insurance) is covered for 100% of a claim. Further information is available from the FSCS helpline on 0800 678 1100 and www.fscs.org.uk. The FSCS is the UK’s statutory fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms. Compensation is usually payable if an authorised firm is unable or unlikely to pay claims because it has ceased trading or become insolvent.

Financial Strength. We regularly assess the financial strength of the Insurance Companies and other intermediaries that we deal with. This process usually involves general observation of the financial ratings applied by independent rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s and/or A M Best published with other readily available information within industry guides, newsletter’s and press releases. Whilst we take care to deal with companies that maintain reasonable solvency margins, we cannot guarantee their financial ability to pay claims.

Termination. You may cancel this agreement with us at any time. You must provide at least 7 days written notice of instructions. We also reserve the right to cancel this agreement at any time. In any event, we will provide you with reasonably sufficient time to re-arrange your Insurance and we will notify you of termination in writing together with an explanation.

Complaints. Our aim is always to provide our customers with a high-quality service; however, we are aware that occasionally, it is possible that we may fail to meet your expectations. If for any reason we have not met your expectations, let us know as soon as possible, by calling our main office telephone 01832 275763, or write to Ian Bines, Taylor Hargreaves Ltd, Orchard House, Lutton Road, Polebrook, Peterborough, PE8 5LX or email nina@taylorhargreaves.com

If we are unable to resolve the issue to your satisfaction by the end of the third business day, we will formally investigate the matter. You will receive an acknowledgement of the matter together with a copy of our complaints process promptly and certainly within 5 working days. We will then aim to investigate and provide a resolution as quickly as possible, informing you of the position at no later than 4 weeks and a final response no later than 8 weeks.

If you are not happy with our response, or the position after a period of 8 weeks, you may be eligible to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) 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 02). Alternatively, you can contact them at The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR or www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. A full copy of our complaint’s procedure is available on request.

Privacy Notice

Introduction. Taylor Hargreaves Limited (collectively, the “Company", "we" or "us") is committed to safeguarding the privacy and personal information of our customers and business partners. This Privacy Notice explains how we may collect, use, process, share, and store personal information about you and your company, including through designated third-party service providers, and the choices that are available to you regarding this information. Please read this Privacy Notice carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal information and how we will treat it.

What information do we collect about you?

Information you give us

We collect information about you from when you have your first contact with us through to when your purchase, renew or amend your Insurance policies and/or services, submit claims and make payments.

The types of information that you may give us vary depending on the specific type of Insurance and/or services requested. For example, you may be purchasing a property, engaging with us to provide Buildings Insurance, increasing turnover in order for us to amend your Liability cover or purchasing an additional vehicle to be added to your Motor Fleet Insurance. The information you may provide could include categories such as, but not limited to, your name, work or personal address, e-mail address, phone number, date of birth, gender, business profile, past, present and future business activities and financial information, claims history, employee data, property details including survey information, driving license information, personal descriptions, as well as customer and payment data.

Information we receive from other sources

We may receive information about you from third parties including, for example, Insurers, wholesale intermediaries, finance providers, loss adjusters, claims handling agencies, credit reference agencies and government agencies such as Financial Conduct Authority, Office of Official Sanctions and HM Treasury.

How do we use the information about you and your business?

Marketing

It is extremely important that all parties insured under your policy understand how we process information, including that set out in the Marketing Section of our Privacy Policy and this Terms of Business Agreement. In distributing any marketing, we will act honestly, fairly, and professionally and in the best interests of a customer or potential customer, including asking you separately for your permission (consent) to contact you, and the means to contact you (such as by phone, e-mail, SMS text, or post). We will typically ask for your permission when you first contact us, but you have the right to easily withdraw your consent whenever you wish (unsubscribe). We will regularly review your consent to check that your relationship with us and the processing and the purposes have not changed. We have processes in place to refresh your consent at appropriate intervals, and act on withdrawals of consent (unsubscribe) as soon as we can and not penalise you if you choose not to give or later choose to withdraw your consent.

It is important that you understand you have the right to withdraw or alter your marketing preferences at any time either by calling our office (01832) 275763 or by email (ian@taylorhargreaves.com).

How do we share your information?

We may share your data with insurance companies and with third party intermediaries such as Lloyds’ wholesale brokers, finance providers, loss adjusters, claims handling companies for the purpose of administering your insurances. These third parties will not use your personal information for any other purposes than as required to provide the insurance service required, and those third parties are also required to implement adequate levels of protection in order to safeguard your personal information. Since Taylor Hargreaves operates globally, the data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (“EEA"). For example, it may be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for Insurers or the third-party intermediaries mentioned above in relation to the fulfilment of Insurance administration. Whilst this information is not under our control, we seek to ensure that your personal information receives the same level of protection as it would, had it stayed within the EEA, including seeking to ensure that it is kept secure and used only in accordance with our instructions and for legitimate purposes. In the event we go through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition of another company, or sale of part of our assets, we may disclose your personal information to third parties and your data held may be among one of the assets transferred. We may also aggregate details which you have submitted to us. You cannot be identified from this information and it is only used to assist us in providing an effective service. Finally, we may be under a duty to disclose or share your information for various other reasons, such as to comply with a legal obligation, to enforce or apply our terms of business, to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Company, our customers, or others. This could include, for example, exchanging information with a law enforcement agency and/or regulator or with companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

Potential rights under the GDPR.

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), if you are a citizen, resident or a business within an EEA country or Switzerland, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:

- Right to access information maintained about you.
- Right to ensure your data is accurate and complete.
- Right to erasure, or the right to be forgotten.
- Right to restriction or suppression of personal data.
- Right to data portability.
- Right to withdraw consent if consent was previously provided and
- Right to raise a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office.

If you are eligible to invoke one of the rights listed above and wish to do so, you may contact us as part of a subject access request using the details found below. Please note that we may not always be able to fulfil your request as there may be legitimate purposes, such as certain legal or statutory obligations, that require us to retain your information as stored or if we believe the change would cause the information to be incorrect.

Updates to our Privacy Notice.

As appropriate, we may make changes to this Privacy Notice that will be posted online and, where appropriate, be sent to you by e-mail and included in the documents we provide such as Renewal Reports and Registers of Insurance. Please check back frequently to remain aware of any updates or changes to this Privacy Notice.

How to contact us.

If you have additional questions, or believe you are eligible to submit a subject access request, you can reach us by email at (ian@taylorhargreaves.com). or by post at:
Data Preferences, Taylor Hargreaves Limited, Orchard House, Lutton Road, Polebrook, Peterborough, PE8 5LX.

Please be aware that when we receive a formal written complaint regarding the processing of personal data, we try to resolve it directly with the person or business representative who has made the complaint. However, as necessary, we will work with the appropriate regulatory authorities, including local data protection authorities, to resolve any complaints regarding our processing of personal data that we cannot resolve with a complainant directly.

October 2022 version