Terms of Business ...

Our Service
We are an independent insurance intermediary and we will act on your behalf in arranging your insurances.  Our services include (i) advising and making recommendations on your insurance needs (ii) arranging your insurance cover with Insurance Companies to meet with your requirements or where your requirements cannot be fully met, providing you with enough information to enable you to make an informed decision (iii) helping you with any changes that you need to make to your insurance during the Policy period (iv) telling you when you need to renew your Policy in time to allow you to consider and arrange any continuing cover.

Who regulates us?
The FCA is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services.  It requires us to give you this information to decide if our services are right for you.
Phonus Insurance Services Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conducts Authority.  Our FCA Register number is 308430.  Our permitted business is arranging general insurance contracts.  You can check this on the FCA’s Register by visiting the FCA’s website www.fca.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FCA on 0845 606 1234.

Information on Costs
All new policies are subject to an administration charge of up to £20.00.   All Mid Term Adjustments are subject to a minimum administration charge of £10.00 this is in addition to any charges made by the Insurer.  Any duplicate documents requested may incur a minimum charge of £10.00.  All cancelled policy premium refunds will have an administration charge of a minimum of £10.00 deducted.  If we cancel a policy due to non-payment all premiums paid up until cancellation will be forfeited.

Payment Terms
We normally accept payment by debit/ credit card (for which a 2% charge may be applied on premiums over £500) or BACS (Bankers Automated Clearing System).  We require full payment of premium within 7 days of cover being effected.  You may be able to spread your payments through Insurers Instalment Schemes or the credit schemes, which we have arranged with Close Premium Finance. Any outstanding payment after this period will be referred to Daniel Silverman Ltd and will be subject to a surcharge of 15% plus VAT to cover the collection costs incurred. This charge together with all other charges and legal fees will be the responsibility of the customer and will be legally enforceable.

How we will handle your money
Our Client Bank Account has been set up in accordance with FCA Rules.   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.  If we earn any interest in excess of £20 per transaction through the Client Bank Account this will be retained by ourselves and you will be informed accordingly.

Your Duty of Disclosure
It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to Insurers when you take out your insurance policy, throughout the life of the policy and when you renew your insurance.  It is important that you ensure that all Statements you make on Proposal Forms, Claim Forms and other documents are full and accurate.  Please note that if you fail to disclose any material information to your Insurers this could invalidate your insurance cover and could mean that part or all of the claim may not be paid.

If you are in any doubt as to whether information is material, you should disclose it.   

Commission
Prior to the conclusion of each insurance contract, or upon renewal, we will remind you of your right to be advised of the level of commission which we receive from underwriters.  You are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding any commission we may receive as a result of placing your business.

Claims
As part of our service we can assist you with any claim you need to make.  When you first become a customer we will give you details of how to make a claim and tell you what your responsibilities are in relation to making claims.  If you are ever in any doubt as to what action to take in the event of a claim, please contact us at the address given below.

Complaints
It is our intention to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times.  If you wish to make a complaint about our service we have a formal complaints procedure.  Please address your complaint to Phonus Insurance Services Ltd   7 Church St Ampthill Bedfordshire MK45 2PJ  or Contact us by phone on 01525 404222. We will supply you with a copy of our complaints procedure upon receipt of a complaint or at any time upon request. If you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.  We will advise you if you are able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
We are covered by the FSCS.  You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations.  This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.  Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £2000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim, without any upper limit.  Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.

Confidentiality
All personal information about you will be treated as private and confidential.  We will only use and disclose the information we have about you in the normal course of arranging and administering your insurance.  We may pass information about you to credit reference agencies for the purposes of arranging payments by instalments and may also pass to them details of your payment record with us.  We will not disclose any information to any other parties without consent, unless required to do so because we are a member of the FCA or if we have to by law.  We may, however, use the information we hold about you to provide information to you about other products and services which we feel may be appropriate to you.  Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have the right to see personal information about you that we hold in our records.  If you have any queries in this regard please write to us.

If you do not wish to receive marketing information from us please let us know.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries with regards to any points mentioned in our Terms of Business.

Phonus Insurance Services Ltd
7 Church St
Ampthill
Bedfordshire
MK45 2PJ
Tel No: 01525 404222 / Fax: 01525 404544
Email :  phonus@phonus.biz or info@phonusinsurane.co.uk  

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