Terms of Business

Regulation & status

The Insurance Surgery Limited is authorised and regulated by The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. Our Financial Services Register number is 401425. This can be checked on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website at www.fca.org.uk or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768. Our company is registered in England & Wales. Company Registration Number 5137288, Registered Office: 2nd Floor, Pickford Street Mill, Pickford Street, Macclesfield, SK11 6JD.

 

Financial objectives (demands and needs)

We will provide advice based on your current situation, your goals and needs from the information you provide. We will recommend which insurers we will approach to try and obtain quotations based on your personal circumstances.

 

We will obtain quotes for products that meet the needs of those who wish to effect a protection policy. Once the quotations are obtained we strongly suggest you read the Key Feature Document and illustration to ensure the product is suitable for your specific needs.

 

Your stated objectives will be reiterated in the Suitability Letter, which we will issue to you following our recommendation, along with details of any special risks associated with the product recommended.  Unless confirmed in writing to the contrary, we will assume that you do not wish to place any restrictions on the advice we give you.

 

Services / restrictions

Please see our “Key Facts about our services” document which tells you about the services available. If you wish to restrict the type of service covered by these terms of business, please advise us in writing, otherwise, we shall assume that no restrictions apply.

 

Instructions by telephone

You agree to The Insurance Surgery Ltd taking instructions from you via telephone calls.  There may, however, be certain circumstances where we insist on receiving your written authority before taking action.

 

We record all calls for security and training purposes.  We use third parties to obtain quotes as part of the application process. All information is held securely and you will only ever be contacted by The Insurance Surgery.

 

Regular reviews

Any products we have arranged for you will not be kept under review but we will advise you upon your request.  However, we may contact you in the future by means of an unsolicited promotion to discuss the continued suitability of the product; plus to discuss the relative merits of a particular product, or service, which we feel may be of interest to you.

 

 

 

Disclosure of all material facts

It is important that you provide complete and accurate information to us and/or insurers when you take out your insurance policy. All statements you make on application/proposal forms, claims forms and other documents must be full and accurate. Please note that if you fail to disclose any material information this could invalidate your insurance cover and could mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid. (If you are in doubt as to whether a fact is material or not, you must disclose it.)

 

Commission payment for services

If we receive a commission, or other form of benefit, from the insurer we will inform you, but we will not tell you the amount, unless you ask us to do so.

 

If a client is introduced to us from a third party we may pay part of the commission we receive to the introducer. Disclosure of this amount will be the responsibility of the introducer.

 

Receiving client payments

The Insurance Surgery Ltd is not permitted to handle client money and we cannot accept a cheque made out to us (unless it is in respect of an item for which we have sent you an invoice) or handle cash.

 

Termination of authority

You, or we, may terminate our authority to act on your behalf at any time, without penalty.  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 the Client Agreement unless otherwise agreed in writing.  You will be liable to pay for any transactions made prior to termination and any fees outstanding, if applicable.

 

Right to withdraw

In most cases, you can exercise a right to cancel by withdrawing from the contract recommended to you.  In general terms, you will normally have a 30 day cancellation period for a life or pure protection policy and a 14 day cancellation period for all other policies. Finally, any contracts arranged at your explicit consent (normally referred to as “execution only”) do not provide cancellation rights.

 

For pure protection policies, the start of the cancellation period will normally begin when you are informed that the contract has been concluded or, if later when you have received the contractual terms and conditions. Instructions for exercising the right to cancel, if applicable, will be contained in the relevant product disclosure information which will be issued to you.

 

Ceasing Premiums

In the circumstances, where premiums are not paid to, or collected by, the provider/insurer, your cover will cease (usually after a period of 30 days) and your cover will lapse.

 

Identity Verification

Money laundering regulations may require us to obtain proof of your identity and verification of your address before we can arrange transactions on your behalf.  In submitting an application you authorise us to undertake an online search with a reference agency, for the purposes of verifying your identity.  To do so, the agency may check the details you supply against any particulars on any database (public or otherwise) to which they have access.  They may also use your details in the future to assist other companies for verification purposes.  A record of the search will be retained.  In certain circumstances, you may be required to provide further evidence of your identity and address in which case we will contact you to advise further.

 

Material Interests

Circumstances can arise where we, or one of our other customers, may have some form of interest in business being transacted for you.  If this happens, or we become aware that our interests or those of one of our other customers conflict with your interests, we will write to you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions, and detail the steps we will take to ensure fair treatment.

 

Data Protection

Some services are provided to The Insurance Surgery Ltd by third parties such as processing business or obtaining compliance or regulatory advice, which warrant the disclosure of more than just your basic contact details.  You agree that personal information held by The Insurance Surgery Ltd may be disclosed on a confidential basis and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, to any such third parties.  You also agree that this information may be transferred electronically, e.g. by email and you agree that we, or any such third party, may contact you in future by any means of communication which we consider appropriate at the time.

 

Complaints Procedure

The Insurance Surgery Ltd has an internal complaints procedure, details of which are available on  request. If you have a complaint (whether oral or written) about us or a service we have provided then this should first be directed to our complaints officer at 2nd Floor, Pickford Street Mill, Pickford Street, Macclesfield, SK11 6JD. We promise to deal with your complaint in a fair and objective manner. Where you have a complaint or dispute with us and we are unable to resolve it to your satisfaction then you may have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Please see the following link for further details: http://financial-ombudsman.org.uk/