LMI Ltd Terms & Conditions
Please read these “Terms & Conditions” carefully, which set out the terms on which we agree to act for our clients and contains details of our regulatory and statutory responsibilities. Please contact us immediately if there is anything in these terms of business, which you do not understand or with which you disagree.
1. About Us
LMI Ltd of Mill House, Priory Road North, Dartford Kent DA1 2BZ is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Our Firms Registration Number is 440256. We are permitted to arrange, deal as an agent of insurers and clients and assist in claims handling with respect to non-investment insurance policies. You can check these details on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.
2. Our Service
LMI Ltd is a specialist commercial insurance broker providing insurance solutions to businesses throughout the UK. We offer a fast and effective way to protect your business and in many cases instant cover can be arranged on-line by clicking on the appropriate “Instant Quote” tab. For other trades, professions and industries we can be contacted by Phone, E-mail and Fax or by letter. When arranging insurance for our customers, we generally offer specific products that we have negotiated with various insurers and we do not usually obtain quotations from a range of insurers for comparison purposes. Our service does include advising you on your insurance needs, helping you with any ongoing changes you have to make and we can also assist you with making a claim.
3. Your Duty of Disclosure
Your insurance 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 insurer’s decision to accept the policy and what terms are applied must be disclosed. Failure to disclose material information may invalidate your insurance and could mean that part, or all, of a claim may not be paid.
4. How to cancel
You may have a statutory right to cancel this policy within a short period. Please refer to your policy summary or your policy document for further details. If you cancel you will receive a pro rata refund of premium from the insurer. Insurers are also entitled to make an administrative charge. We may keep an amount that reflects the administrative costs of arranging and cancelling the policy. If you wish to cancel outside this period you may not receive a pro rata refund of premium. We may also keep an amount that reflects the administrative costs of arranging and cancelling the policy (see tariff of charges).
5. 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.
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 in our records, whether electronically or manually. If you have any queries, please write to the Managing Director at the above address.
6. Our Fees & Charges
We are normally remunerated by brokerage, which is a percentage of the insurance premium paid by you and allowed by the insurer with whom the insurance in placed. This will include additional premiums that are due by virtue of changes to your requirements during the term of the policy (mid-term adjustments) or as part of the policy conditions. You are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding any commission which we may have received as a result of placing your insurance business. Alternatively we may act for you for a fee, which will be disclosed to you before the policy is concluded. In addition to this we also apply the following minimum charges:
| New Business: |
|
Charge of £10.00 |
per policy |
| Policy Renewals: |
|
Charge of £10.00 |
per policy |
| Mid Term Adjustments: |
Policy Alteration |
Charge of £20.00 |
per alteration |
|
Duplicate Documents |
Charge of £20.00 |
per document |
If cover that we have negotiated or arranged is transferred to another intermediary, we reserve the right to charge a fee for our services Such a fee will not exceed the commission that we would have earned on arrangement of cover.
7 Terms of Payment
Our payment terms are as follows unless specifically agreed by us in writing to the contrary:
| New Policies |
Immediate payment on or before the Inception date of the policy. |
| Alterations |
Immediate payment on or before the date of the change. |
| Renewals |
Immediate payment on or before the renewal date. |
In the event that payment is not received from you in accordance with the above terms or monthly direct debit payments are not maintained we will take whatever steps we see fit to mitigate our position. This may include cancellation of your policy/policies. This could invalidate your insurance cover and could mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid.
In order to be able to offer you credit facilities, we are registered under the Consumer Credit Act and our Licence Number is 593655.
8. Return Premiums
Return premiums usually arise if an insurance risk is reduced or a policy cancelled. A sum equal to our loss of commission resulting from the cancellation or £20.00, whichever is the greater, will be deducted from the insurers net return premium and refunds are only paid to you after we have received the insurer's credit on our regular monthly account.
9. Claims
We have no authority to settle claims on behalf of insurers. Please refer to your policy summary or your policy document if you need to notify a claim. You should contact the insurer directly as soon as possible using the contact details provided. If in doubt about whom you should contact, or if you require any other advice or assistance with the claim, please contact us on 0845 2608010.
10. Complaints
It is our intention to provide a high level of service at all times. However if you have reason to make a complaint about our service you should contact the Managing Director at the above address or ring 0845 260 8010. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days and if we are unable to settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer the matter subsequently to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service by telephone on 0845 080 1800 and further information is available at http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ If you do decide to refer any matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service your legal rights will not be affected.
11. Risk Transfer
Premiums that we collect from you are held in an insurance broking bank account specifically used for the purpose of holding client premiums. By virtue of agreements we hold with insurers, we collect premiums as agent of the insurer. Therefore, once we have collected premiums from you, under the terms of our agreements with insurers, those premiums are treated as having been paid to the insurer. We will remit the premiums to insurers, after deduction of our commission, in accordance with the terms of our agreements with insurers.
12. Quotations
All quotations are subject to change in respect of the amount of premium indicated, and/or the terms and conditions that are applied.
13. Policy Terms, Conditions and Warranties
You should read through all policy terms, conditions and warranties shown on your policy documentation and ensure that you understand them and are able to follow their requirements exactly. If not, please advise us immediately as a breach of any terms, conditions or warranties may enable your insurer to terminate your policy from the date of that breach, and/or repudiate a claim under your policy.
14. Renewal Premiums Paid by Instalments
In good time before the renewal of your policy we shall contact you with the renewal premium and terms for the coming year or notification should the insurers inform us that renewal is not being invited. If you have not contacted us before the renewal date we will normally renew the policy automatically on your behalf so if you do not wish to renew the policy, please let us know as soon as possible.
15. Earning Interest on Customer Premiums
Premiums that we have collected from you are held in an insurance broking bank account specifically used for the purpose of holding client premiums. By virtue of agreements we hold with Insurers, we collect premiums as an agent of the Insurers and therefore once collected, these premiums are treated as having been paid to the Insurer, which provides protection for you in the event of the failure of our firm, the bank or any third party where the money may be held. Any interest earned on client money held by us will be retained by us for our own use, rather than paid to you. By accepting these Terms of Business, you are giving your consent for us to act in the manner described in this Section.
16. Customer Money Passed to Another Person
We may transfer client money to another person, such as another broker or settlement agent, for the purpose of effecting a transaction on your behalf through that person. We will only undertake such transactions with other entities regulated by the Financial Services Authority and subject to the same regulations and obligations as ourselves. By accepting these Terms of Business, you are giving your consent for us to act in the manner described in this Section.
17. Security of Insurance Companies
Insurance Companies and Lloyds Underwriters trade under the supervision of the Financial Services Authority (FSA). We take account of information about Insurance Companies and Lloyds Underwriters in the public domain including reports on financial strength. If an Insurance Company or Lloyds Underwriter is allowed to trade by the FSA there may be no reason to doubt its solvency and we cannot therefore be held responsible for lost premium or unpaid claims in the event of the financial failure of any such Insurer or Lloyds Underwriter.
18. Other taxes or costs
Other taxes or costs, or both, may exist in relation to the products and services offered by us which are not paid through, nor imposed, by us.
19. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. Full details and further information on the scheme are available from the FSCS or at http://www.fscs.ora.uk.
20. Governing law
The terms of business shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. In relation to any legal action or proceedings arising out of or in connection with these terms of business we both irrevocably submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.