YorkshireLets Landlord Solutions - Terms and Conditions
TERMS OF BUSINESS
The Financial Conduct Authority
YorkshireLets Landlord Solutions is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority(FCA). Our FCA Register number is 776357.
Our permitted business is advising on and arranging general insurance.
You may check this on the FCA's register by visiting the FCA website, www.fca.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FCA on 0845 606 1234.
Our Service
We act as independent Intermediaries on your behalf. Our role is to advise you and make a suitable recommendation after we have assessed your needs. In situations where we are able to arrange insurance for you but do not offer advice, we shall confirm the position to you in writing. We will not in any circumstances act as an insurer nor warrant or guarantee the solvency of any insurer.
Personal Insurances:
We offer products from a range of insurers for the majority of non‐investment household insurance products. The range available also includes, let property insurance, holiday home insurance, second homes
Commercial insurances:
We select commercial insurance products from a range of insurers but, for certain products, we may only deal with a single insurer or select from a limited number of insurers.
Customer Type
The FCA define customer type as follows. A "retail" customer is an individual acting outside his trade business or profession.
A "commercial" customer is anyone who is not a "retail" customer.
For the provision of our transactions and services, unless you inform us otherwise, then we will treat you as a "retail" customer.
Direct Offer
Some of the quotations and the supporting information we provide directly from the Internet sites are made on a direct offer bais. This does not therefore constitute personalised advice. No recommendation is made as to whether the specified products are suitable and match your personal circumstances.
Quotations
Our quotations are based on the information provided on a given date, valid for acceptance at that time and for only the exact circumstances and criteria given by you. You should be aware that occasionally insurers change premium rates, terms and/or conditions without notice, which can invalidate a quotation. Insurers always reserve the right to decline any proposal or vary terms of acceptance. We must also reserve this right.
Methods of Payment and Charges for our Services
We normally accept payment by guaranteed cheque, credit card or debit card.
You will receive a quotation, which will normally include an element of commission that the insurer pays to us.
Occasionally fees may be charged in addition to or instead of commission.
Your quotation will show you the total price to be paid, any fees, taxes and charges separately from the premium, before your insurance arrangements are concluded.
Where commission levels offered by insurers or underwriting agents are insufficient to allow the company to offer its services profitably we reserve the right to apply charges in respect of administration and brokerage costs. The specific charge and purpose of any additional charges will always be advised to you in advance in line with the FCA rules. In addition to the premiums charged by insurers, we normally make the following charges to cover the administration of your insurance:
Arranging new policies - £15.00 Admin charge for a single property or £10 Admin Charge per property, If your have more than one property insurered.
Late payment - Interest is charged at 3% over NatWest Bank base rate
Mid Term adjustments - £15 per policy
Policy Cancellation - Refund allowed by Insurers less £25.00 cancellation charge per policy. The insurers may also charge a admin fee as detailed on their policy schedule or wording.
Replacement insurance documentation - £10 per policy (Posted)
Cancellation of Insurances
You should make any request for the cancellation of a policy in writing and any relevant certificate of insurance should be returned.
Please note no refunds will be given until funds are returned to us from the insurer.
Handling Client Money and/or Insurer Money
Our financial arrangements with most insurance companies are on a "risk transfer" basis, which means that we hold premiums and refunds due to clients on behalf of the insurance undertaking concerned and under a "risk transfer" arrangement. Such monies are deemed to be held by the insurer(s) with which your insurance is arranged.
We hold client money collected for onward transmission to the insurance undertaking in a Client Bank Account, under a Non‐Statutory Trust in accordance with the authorisation we have from the Financial Conduct Authority to do so. A copy of the Deed of Trust is available on request or may be inspected at our premises during normal office hours. If you object to your money being held in a non‐statutory trust account you should advise us immediately. Otherwise your agreement to pay the premiums together with your acceptance of these Terms of Business will constitute your informed consent for the placing of all such monies in a non‐statutory trust account. Please note that this client account is completely separate from our trading account. For the purpose of some transactions, client money may pass through other authorised intermediaries before it is received by the insurance undertaking.
Interest will not be paid to customers in respect of money held in client bank accounts.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
We conform to the FCA code in respect of Professional Indemnity Insurance. This type of insurance is mandatory under the FCA published rules.
Changes to Your Cover
We will normally try to deal with requests to increase or amend your insurance cover on the day we receive your instructions, or within three working days if a weekend or public holiday. Sometimes changes cannot be processed without obtaining additional information. If additional information is required we will contact you as quickly as possible.
We will confirm changes to your policy, once agreed with Underwriters, in writing. We will also advise you of any extra premium, fees, charges or additional conditions, terms or warranties required.
Please note that instructions sent by post, electronic mail or fax, are not deemed to be received until they reach the relevant personnel in our office. We cannot accept responsibility for failures in the postal, electronic or telecommunications systems.
Awareness of Policy Terms
When a policy is issued you are strongly advised to read it carefully, as it is that document, the schedule and any certificate of insurance that is the basis of the cover you have purchased. If you are in any doubt over the terms and conditions, please seek our advice promptly.
Renewal of Policy Cover
In all cases we will assume that you wish to receive a renewal notice from us in advance of the expiry of your Insurance (other than one‐off contacts). If you do not wish to receive a renewal offer, please contact us. If an insurer does not offer renewal terms for whatever reason, we will try to give you reasonable notice and endeavour to obtain quotations with other underwriters.
Termination of Authority
You may terminate our authority to act on your behalf with one months' notice or as otherwise agreed. Notice of this termination must be given in writing and will take effect from the date of receipt. Termination is without prejudice to any transactions already initiated which will be completed according to these terms of business unless otherwise agreed in writing. You will be liable to pay for any transactions or adjustments effective prior to termination and we will be entitled to retain any and all fees or brokerage payable in relation to policies placed by us prior to the date of termination.
Your Responsibilities
You are responsible for providing the complete and accurate information, which insurers require in connection with any proposal for insurance cover. This is particularly important before taking out a policy and at renewal, but it also applies throughout the life of a policy. If you fail to disclose any material fact or other information material to the insurance this could invalidate the policy andmean that claims may not be paid. You should check all details on any proposal form or Statement of Facts and pay particular attention to any declaration you my be asked to sign.
You should read all insurance documents issued to you and ensure that you are aware of the cover, limits and other terms that apply. Particular attention should be paid to any warranties and conditions as failure to comply with them could invalidate your policy.
You should take note of the required procedures in the event of a claim, which will be stated in the policy documentation. Generally, insurers require immediate notification of a claim or circumstances that might lead to a claim.
You should inform us immediately of any changes in circumstances that may affect the services provided by us or the cover provided by your policy.
If you are unsure about any matter, please contact us for guidance.
Money Laundering/Proceeds of Crime Act
Sales of certain products fall under the Money Laundering regulations, this requires us to obtain evidence of a client's identity at the start of a business relationship. We may ask for sight of your passport, utility bill or bank statements. For companies, evidence usually consists of a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation or we may check the Companies House register.
Cooling Off Period
Only applicable for "retail" clients, this meaning non-commercial policies.
If we have not supplied you with certain information you need in order to come to a decision to buy/not buy the insurance offered, you have a cooling off period of 14 days from the date we do supply that information to you. You may cancel your cover within this period and get your money (excluding any set up charges) back, providing no claims have been made.
If you choose not to receive all the information required by the FCA code, we will keep a record of your agreement to this and there will be no cooling off period. If you decide to cancel the policy or we enforce cancellation, then you will be liable to pay all monies due to us as earnings under the policy, which is in addition to any charge the insurer makes for the time you have been on cover.
Confidentiality of Personal Data
Any information we hold about you is considered to be confidential. We will only use and disclose the information we have in the normal course of administering or arranging cover on your insurance policy. You agree that we may pass information about you to a credit reference agency for the purposes of arranging insurance premiums by instalments. We may also pass them details of your payment record with us if required. We must also draw your attention to the fact that most insurers share and exchange information for underwriting purposes. Sharing your information via various databases also helps claim settlements and helps to prevent fraud
We may, from time to time, use the information we hold about you to send you information on other products and services, which we offer, and which we feel may be appropriate. If you do not wish to receive any marketing information from us, please write to us at the address below and we will mark our records accordingly. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have rights of access to any personal information we hold about you in our records. If you have any queries in respect of confidentiality and data protection, please contact us at the address below.
Complaints and compensation
It is always our intention to provide a first class service. Our aim is to provide this level of customer service at all times, but if you are not satisfied, contact us by writing to "The Compliance Manager, YorkshireLets Landlord Solutions, 21 White Rose Way, Garforth, Leeds LS25 2EF" or telephone 0800 20 555 39
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of insurance, size of the business (if a commercial customer) and the circumstances of the claim. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.
Governing Law
Our Terms of Business will be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law.
NOTE. Your acceptance of these Terms of Business does not affect your normal legal rights.