Our terms of business

Regulation

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is the independent watch dog that regulates financial services and it requires us to give you this document. Use this information to decide if our services are right for you.

Our business

BJIC Ltd is an independent insurance broker with access to both domestic and international companies and Lloyd's Underwriters. No insurer or any other provider of regulated products has any investment in or has given loans to the company. It is an arranger of general insurance. We act as agent for our clients and are subject to the law of agency. However in certain circumstances we also may act for and owe duties of care to other parties. We will advise you when these circumstances occur so you will be aware of any possible conflict of interest.

Services and products

We offer a full range of insurance products for the Commercial, Financial and Professional sectors and are able to arrange most types of Property, Liability and Crime based insurances. We will normally provide advice on the basis of a fair analysis of the market which may mean going to those insurers/underwriters who we know specialise in a particular area. We may also for certain types of business use a small panel of insurers or a single insurer. We will advise and make a recommendation after we have assessed your needs. This will include the type of cover you seek together with the costs. A list of insurers that we select from is available on request.

Your duty of disclosure

It is important that you understand that any information provided by you to us is your responsibility and must be full and accurate. Failure to disclose any facts may invalidate your insurance policy and result in all or part of a claim not being paid. Any changes to this information must be disclosed at the earliest opportunity and certainly at each renewal.

The cost of our services

We will usually be remunerated by a percentage of the overall premium which is allowed to us by insurers. We may in certain circumstances be paid other remuneration such as a profit commission which is dependant on the profitability of the overall portfolio of certain accounts. This does not effect our position in relation to our responsibilities to the insured under the law of agency. If you or we propose to operate on a fee basis instead of taking commission, we will agree its basis, frequency and method with you in writing before we undertake any chargeable work.  Should we receive commission from any third party in relation to the insurance contract arranged for you, we will offset the amount received against any fees due. You will receive a quotation which will tell you about any fees relating to any particular insurance policy.

Payments

We are authorised to hold client money which is kept in a statutory trust account with separate from our own funds. We may sometimes arrange that premiums are paid directly to insurance providers. Claims proceeds are held on behalf of underwriters/insurers or yourself under arrangements that are acceptable under the FSA rules.

If you wish to pay your premium by instalments your details will be passed to our third party instalment Provider. They will send you a welcome pack detailing their full Terms and Conditions. If you have any questions about your instalments you should contact them. We will provide you with contact details.
On renewal of your policy we will continue to pass your details to the provider unless you instruct us otherwise.  

Cancellation

Your insurance contract may include a cancellation clause. In the event that you fail to pay your premium by the due date the insurance may be cancelled forthwith or by insurers, giving notice of the cancellation. In the event of the cancellation of the insurance contract insurers may return a pro rata premium to us. Once our remuneration has been earned our brokerage will not usually be returnable. There may alternatively be a cooling off period under which the policy may be cancelled and the premium returned.
If premiums are not paid promptly then notwithstanding the issue of a policy document, the policy is likely to be cancelled and the proposer charged for the cost of risk for the period between issue of the policy and cancellation.

If any direct debit or other payment due in respect of the credit agreement you enter into with a premium finance provider to pay insurance premiums is not met when presented for payment, or if you end the credit agreement with them, or if you do not enter into a credit agreement with them, we will be informed of such events by them. If you do not make other arrangements with us to pay the insurance premiums you acknowledge and agree that we may, at any time after being so informed, instruct on your behalf the relevant insurer to cancel the insurance (or if this occurs shortly after the start or renewal of the insurance, to notify the insurer that the policy has not been taken up ) and to collect any refund of premiums which may be made by the insurer and if any money is owed to the premium finance provider, pay it to them, or if they have debited us with the amount outstanding use it to offset our costs. You will be responsible for paying any time on risk charge and putting in place any alternative insurance and/or payment arrangements you need.

Our regulatory status

BJIC Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. (FSA number 447858) You can check the full list of its permissions on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website www.fsa.gov.uk or by telephoning the FSA on 0845 606 1234.

Data protection

BJIC Ltd is registered under the Data Protection Act, 1988. We do not expect to require any personal information in respect of most of our general insurance products and only limited amounts in respect of others. We shall treat any personal information that we have as private and confidential (even when you are no longer a customer) except where we are required by law or where the disclosure is made at your request or with your consent in relation to arranging your insurance. We keep records of all business transactions for at least six years. The Data Protection Act, 1998 gives you a right to inspect either manual or electronic records that contain information about you. As we treat all clients’ records as confidential we reserve the right to give you copies of your particular record rather than allow access to files containing records about other clients.

Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA)

Under the POCA we may need to obtain evidence of the identity of clients. For individuals this could be evidenced by a passport or utility bill or for companies this could comprise of a certificate of incorporation, list of directors or shareholders and the registered address. If there is any evidence or suggestion of suspicious transaction then we are obliged to report this to the National Crime Intelligence Service.

Complaints

If you have any complaint about the advice you receive or a product you have bought, you should write to the Compliance Officer, BJIC Ltd 1-3 Linkfield Corner Redhill, RH1 1BL or telephone her on 01737  231512.

We will supply a copy of our formal complaints procedures upon receipt of a complaint or upon request.  If we are unable to resolve a complaint to your satisfaction you may have a right to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If you cannot settle your complaint with us you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Compensation

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and you may be covered by it if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.

Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.