Terms of Business Agreement – Retail

This contract is between Wicked Quotes and you, our customer.

who we are

Wicked Quotes is a trading name of Novitas Underwriting Agency Limited. We are an independent intermediary. We give advice on, sell and administer general insurance policies. We’re also allowed to arrange and provide credit facilities.

ownership

Novitas Underwriting Agency Limited, is part of Daly Holdings Group Limited. The Directors of Daly Holdings have more than 10% voting rights in Universal Insurance Company (Guernsey) Limited.

what we do and who we work for

We work closely with several leading insurers to provide specialist motorbike insurance policies for our customers. We’ll give you a personal recommendation, based on a fair analysis of the market, from our panel of insurers. If you’d like to know who is on our panel, just ask.

We act on your behalf when we are arranging and servicing your insurance policy, however when collecting and refunding premiums, we do so on behalf of your insurer.

find out more

If you want to find out more about Novitas Underwriting Agency Limited, you can call or go to our website at: www.novitas.co.uk

We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and you can search for us on the financial services register. Our firm number is 307931. You can find out more by going to www.fca.org.uk or calling 0800 111 6768.

We’re a motorbike specialist with exclusive rates from specialist insurers.

Our address is 28 Station Close, Potters Bar, Herts,   EN6 1TL. You can call us on 0344 8800 961 or email at [email protected]

your insurance

We use information you’ve given us to find the right cover for you. We ask questions to make sure we have the right information. We give the answers you’ve provided to insurers; they use this to help them decide what cover to offer and how much to charge.

what you need to do

We will ask you questions that are important to insurers when offering to cover you. You must take reasonable care to ensure that your answers are correct.

If the answers you give aren’t correct the insurer could:

• cancel the policy and treat it as if it never existed
• refuse to pay any claim
• not pay a claim in full
• revise the premium and/or change the compulsory excess or the extent of the cover may be affected.

It is a criminal offence to give incorrect information to get a certificate of motor insurance.

You must check your policy documents to make sure that the information in them is correct. We recommend that you keep copies for your records. If you’d like a copy of your application, within the first three months of your policy, we’ll provide this free of charge.

If anything mentioned in your policy documents changes let us know immediately.

We will also provide you with a list of documents, which you will need to send to us. If you don’t provide the documents your policy may be cancelled.

your information

Your information will be kept private and confidential. There are certain times when we need to share your information with business partners, insurers, credit providers and other third parties. We do this when they are directly involved in administering your insurance.

We also use your information to keep you up to date with developments at Novitas Underwriting Agency Limited and our other companies. We might need to do this for legal reasons, to help you find your insurance policy or collect payment. With your consent we may contact you for marketing purposes. We record all calls.

We hold data in line with the General Data Protection Laws. This means you have the right to see the personal information we hold about you. If you want to know what information we hold about you, please let us know. There is no charge for this information. There may be a charge if the request is onerous, but this will only cover the cost to us.

We also use information that is publicly available to help check who you are and protect against fraud. This includes things like credit referencing and checking the financial sanctions lists. Credit checks may appear on your credit report, even if you don’t take the policy out. If you have any queries don’t hesitate to call or write to us. For further information on how we use your personal information, you can also refer to our Privacy Notice.

what you pay

Our fees are as follows:

£150     For setting up or renewing an insurance policy on selected products

£50        For mid-term adjustment (temporary or permanent)

£50        For any cancellation per policy, whether instigated by you, us, or your insurer

£5          For duplicate documents

We don’t charge for giving advice or searching the market. When we sell a policy, we explain what you are paying to us and to the insurer.

If we change our charges, we’ll let you know by providing an up-to-date copy of this agreement. These charges are in addition to any charges made by the insurer. If you want to discuss our earnings, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Should your policy be cancelled, inside or outside of the cooling off period, our fees are not refundable.

As a broker, we incur various costs when arranging insurance. These include but are not limited to acquisition fees (comparison websites – we are charged over £50 for every policy set up), validation checks and administrative expenses. To recover a portion of these costs; a cancellation fee is applied when a policy is cancelled.

We will refund any remaining premiums unless there is an outstanding amount on a finance agreement. In that case, your finance provider will reclaim the outstanding amount before any money is returned to you.

Should you default on your payment terms, you will be responsible for any debt recovery fees incurred.

finance

If you pay by instalments, you will pay for your policy using a finance agreement. We use Universal Personal Finance Limited. Universal Personal Finance Limited charges interest on the value of the loan. Universal Personal Finance Limited has close links with Novitas Underwriting Agency Limited.

If you pay by continuous monthly direct debit, your policy will renew automatically by default. The only reasons we won’t renew your policy are if you tell us or the finance company won’t offer credit.

We will let you know when you need to pay your finance agreement. If you pay monthly, and don’t make a payment, your policy will be cancelled in line with the terms of your credit agreement, and you will be responsible for any debt recovery fees incurred.

next year’s policy

Before your policy ends, we’ll be in touch to discuss your next year’s cover. We’ll get your renewal quote based on the information you gave us when you took out your current year’s insurance. You need to let us know about any changes, as this may affect the price and cover you are offered.

We’ll put your quote in writing for you. We may get in touch with other companies to help find you cover. If we do, we’ll let you know who they are.

claims

If you need to make a claim, you can call our claim line on 0344 8800 967. This is provided on our behalf by Lemonaid, an accident management company, free of charge. If you need any help with your claim, call our customer service team on 0344 8800 962.

If anyone else involved in the claim contacts you, you should get in touch with us or your insurer without making any comment.

conflicts of interest

We will make you aware of any conflicts of interest that could affect you. We will discuss this with you before we do anything that will affect your cover.

We have systems in place to manage conflicts of interest and make sure you aren’t affected.

changes to your policy

We might need to make changes to your policy. If your insurer will still offer cover, based on the   changes, we’ll let you know the additional cost if there is one. If there is a reduction in premium   Novitas will retain the commission on any return premium.

cancelling your policy

You can cancel your policy at any time by calling or writing to us. If you cancel within 14 days, you have statutory rights. This means your insurer will issue a partial refund of the premium. Your insurer will charge you based on your time on cover (insurer charges are set out in your policy booklet). We will charge you a fee, which is shown above. The 14 days start from the date you take the policy out or receive the documents, whichever is later. If you cancel after 14 days, Novitas will retain the commission on any return premium.

If you make any claims in the year, it is likely that you’ll not receive any refund – even if you cancel within the first 14 days. If you pay in monthly instalments, cancelling the direct debit does not immediately cancel the policy.  We may cancel your policy at any time. If we do this, we will explain why and provide you notice in writing to your last known address.

how we pay refunds

Any refunds will be paid to the card or account you used to pay us. We cannot make payments to different accounts. This is for your protection and to prevent money laundering.

Refunds will be paid once we have received your money back from the insurance company; this can take up to 30 days.

how we are paid

When you take out a policy with us, we will charge you a fee as detailed above. In addition, we also receive a commission from the insurer which is a percentage of the total annual premium. Some insurers on our panel also pay us an additional bonus if the type of policy we sell reaches specific profit targets, if you would like to know whether your insurer pays us this type of bonus, please contact us and we will let you know.

if you are unhappy

Our aim is to provide all our clients with an excellent level of service.  However, there may be a time when you’re unhappy. Please let us know if that happens.

We take complaints seriously and have procedures for making sure they’re dealt with.

If you want to make a complaint, please contact us:

In Writing –28 Station Close, Potters Bar, Herts. EN6 1TL

By Telephone– 0344 8800 962

By Email– [email protected]

We arrange insurance for our customer with insurance companies and through Lloyd’s of London.

If you are a Lloyd’s customer, you can also complain to Lloyd’s:

• In Writing – Complaints Department, Lloyds, One Lime Street, London, EC3M 7HA.
• By Telephone – 020 7327 1000
• By Email – [email protected]

If you aren’t happy with what we, or Lloyd’s, do to resolve your complaint, you can complain for free to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

• 0800 023 4567 (free for people phoning from a “fixed line”), or
• 0300 123 9123 (free for mobile users who pay a monthly charge for calls to numbers starting 01 or 02)
• By post The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR
• By email [email protected]

To see if you can complain to the Ombudsman, you can call them or go to their website. Information can be found in their leaflet, ‘Your Complaint and the Ombudsman’. The Ombudsman’s website is: http://financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

If you do wish to complain to the Ombudsman, we would want to consider your complaint first. We have eight weeks to respond to your complaint. Once we respond, you then have a further six months to bring a complaint. If you complain outside of the six months, we will not consent to the Ombudsman considering your complaint. Once we have received your complaint, we will acknowledge it and tell you who is going to investigate it.

protecting your money

We hold your premium (payment or refund) in a trust account as agents of the insurers until it is passed to the insurers or refunded to you. While it is in the account, your money cannot be used for any other purpose other than paying the insurer or any brokers through whom we may have arranged your insurance. We will retain any interest earned on the account.

As a broker, we cannot and do not guarantee an insurers’ solvency or continued ability to trade throughout the duration of your insurance policy, it is for you to decide on the suitability of an insurer and whether you wish to proceed.

We’re covered by the Financial Services Compensations Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS steps in when financial services firms go into default. In the unlikely event of this happening to Novitas Underwriting Agency Limited, you may be able to claim. Insurance advising is covered for 100% of the first £2,000 of any losses and up to 90% of any additional amounts claimed, with no upper limit. Compulsory insurance is protected in full. You can find out more at http://www.fscs.org.uk. Credit broking is not covered by the FSCS.

the law

The contract is governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes will be dealt with by English courts or through alternative dispute resolution services, where appropriate.

TOBA version 1.2. You can download a PDF version of this Terms of Business Agreement here