Butcher Robinson &
Staples
International Ltd
Terms and Conditions
of Business
For Retail Customers
These Terms and Conditions
represent a formal understanding of the basis upon which insurance is placed
between the Retail Customer & Butcher Robinson & Staples International
Ltd (BRASIL)
Regulation
Butcher
Robinson & Staples International Ltd of Collegiate House,
Our
FSA reference number is 310478.
Our
permission by the FSA is for arranging general insurance contracts.
You
can check what this means and our entry on the FSA register by visiting the FSA
web site www.fsa.gov.uk/register
or by contacting the FSA directly on 0845 606 1234
We
maintain Professional Indemnity Insurance to a level which is deemed
appropriate by the FSA.
The
company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Butcher Robinson & Staples Group
Limited which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Butcher Robinson & Staples
Holdings Limited
2 of
our Directors currently hold more than 10% of Company shares, they are
S M
Brown 15.44 % and
R D
Symonds 18.64%
Products
We
are an Accredited Lloyd’s Broker and a general insurance intermediary specialising
in Travel and Personal Accident insurance, Financial institutions insurance,
Marine Cargo, Construction risks, International property and
casualty.insurances
A
fuller list of our products and the relevant account handlers for them is
available on our website www.brasil.co.uk
We
have negotiated certain specific facilities for certain insurances but also
place business with other insurers should we consider that such options would
better suit your requirements. We will give you details of these insurers when
we discuss your individual requirements.
Disclosure of Information
In
order to enable us to obtain valid insurance on your behalf, it is your
obligation to provide us with sufficiently detailed, accurate and complete
information to enable us to make full disclosure to the prospective Insurers of
all circumstances which are material to the proposed insurance. A "material circumstance” in this
context is a fact, which might influence the Insurers either whether to
underwrite the risk at all or the terms (including premium) upon which they are
prepared to underwrite the risk. If full
disclosure of material circumstances is not made to Insurers, they may be
entitled not only to decline any subsequent claim, but also to avoid the policy
with effect from inception, enabling them to recover any claims, which have
already been paid. If you have any doubt as to whether something is material,
you should discuss it with us.
All
answers or statements given on a Proposal Form, Claim Form, or other material document
are your responsibility and you should always check the accuracy of the
information which you provide to us. If there are other material circumstances
(as defined above) which you think should be made known to prospective
Insurers, but which have not been asked about on the Proposal Form, you should
still advise such circumstances so consideration may be given to them . Failure to do so may still give insurers the
right to decline any subsequent claim, or avoid the Policy with effect from
inception even though the insurers may not have raised questions about them on
the Proposal Form.
This
duty of disclosure arises not only when the insurance is first taken out, but also
on each subsequent renewal or amendment of it. It is, accordingly, your obligation
to advise us on these occasions of any material change of circumstances since
inception or the last renewal or amendment of the policy.
Quotations
When giving you a quotation,
we will have taken due care to ensure its accuracy and, at the time of presenting
it to you, we will have the reasonable belief that we can place the insurance
at the quoted terms. However, there is no binding commitment on the part of the
quoting Insurers to write the risk on those terms at that stage, and we cannot,
therefore, be held responsible if, for whatever reason, the quoting Insurers
decide to withdraw the quotation prior to our taking it up on your behalf.
Information about the Proposed Insurance
We provide you with details of
the key features, terms, scope and effect of the proposed insurance including
the essential cover and benefits, any significant or unusual restrictions,
exclusions, conditions, warranties or obligations and the period of the cover:
We are not qualified to advise
you on legal interpretation of the policy, and if you are uncertain as to the
legal effect or meaning of any of the terms of the insurance or the
consequences of the breach of any of them you must take advice. We may also seek an interpretation from the
insurer should you so request.
Placement of the Insurance
We will take all reasonable
steps to review the financial security, service standards and stability of all
Insurers recommended for use on the insurances, but we do not guarantee the
continuing financial viability and solvency of any of the Insurers with whom
the risk is placed.
Where we consider it to be
appropriate, we may request another more localised or specialist insurance
broker or intermediary to act as our sub-agent to assist us in the placing of
the insurance.
The broker acts for the party
seeking insurance. Where a broker is
authorised in addition to provide a service for, or bind risks on behalf of, an
insurer the concurrent duties are as contained in and limited to the specific
role, terms conditions and limitations contained within Terms of Business
Arrangements, Coverholders, Subscription or Agency Agreements between broker
and insurer and which, notwithstanding, shall not conflict with the primary
duty to the insured.
We have an obligation to
advise you in an circumstances where a conflict of duty may arise.
Payment of Premium
In order for us to meet the
premium payment terms of Insurers, premiums and any duties or fees must be
settled to us by the payment date(s) specified in our Debit Note. In certain circumstances, Insurers will
stipulate special premium payment terms or warranties which, if not met, will
give Insurers the right to cancel the insurance contract with effect from
inception. We will advise you when these
circumstances arise. It must be your responsibility
to make appropriate arrangements to ensure that funds are paid in sufficient
time to comply with our payment requirements.
For the avoidance of doubt we
have no obligation to fund any premiums, duties, fees etc on your behalf; and
have no responsibility for any loss which you may suffer as a result of
Insurers cancelling the policy or taking any other prejudicial steps as a
result of the late payment of such premiums, duties, fees etc if such delay is
substantially attributable to you.
Any premium and other monies
received by us and due to Insurers on or after14th January 2005 shall
be held as provided for in the FSA rules on client money and shall be held in a
separate non-statutory trust account designated for that purpose. Client monies
and Insurer monies may be co-mingled in this account where the Insurer has
given such consent.
The FSA require all firms who
wish to open a non-statutory trust account to take reasonable steps to ensure
they have explained this to their clients and obtained their informed consent
to their funds being held in a non-statutory trust account.
Our Remuneration
We will normally be
remunerated for arranging the insurance in the form of commission or brokerage
paid to us by the Insurers underwriting the insurance. This will be disclosed
if required. Should we charge you any fee or additional sum for our services we
will advise you of this in writing prior to you incurring liability for it.
In addition to such brokerage
or commission, we may also be entitled to benefit from:-
earnings which we are able to
generate due to the weight of account placed with certain Insurers and its
underwriting performance, which are not referable to any specific customer; and
earnings which we are able to generate through management of cash balances held
on behalf of Insurers and clients which are not referable to any specific
customer.
Confidentiality
Any information obtained from
you by us will not be used or disclosed except in the normal course of
negotiating, maintaining or renewing insurance for you, unless we have your
consent to do otherwise, or disclosure is made by us pursuant to regulatory
and/or legal obligations which we have to disclose the Information.
Complaints
It is always our intention to
provide a first class standard of service. However, if you wish to make a
complaint about the standard of service you receive, we have a formal
complaints procedure and in the first instance you should contact us as
follows:
·
In writing to
S M
Brown Esq
Chairman
Butcher
Robinson & Staples International Ltd
Collegiate
House
·
By Telephone 020 7407
0626
·
By Facsimile 020
7407 1076
In line with our complaints
procedure we will log your complaint and acknowledge in writing to you within 5
working days of receipt. If our investigations take longer we will provide a
full response within 20 working days or explain out position and provide
timescales for a full response.
If we cannot satisfy your
complaint you are entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service
details of which are on their website www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
or by telephone on 0845 080 1800
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
We are covered by the FSCS.
You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we are unable to meet
our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of
the claim.
Insurance advising and
arranging is covered 100% of the first £2000, 90% of the remainder and 100% for
compulsory classes of insurance.
Further details about this
scheme are available from the FSA,
Documentation
Documents in our possession
which record the contract of insurance which you have asked us to place
(principally the slip and any policy wording) are, as a matter of law, your
documents and we will pass them to any other broker in accordance with your
instructions should you choose to terminate our appointment, subject to all
monies due to us having been paid. For
the avoidance of doubt, the ownership of working documents which we create in
order to carry out your instructions remain our property, and hence will not be
transferred in the event of any change of broker
Governing Law and Jurisdiction
As our services will be
performed substantially in