About our insurance services

1)About this document

This document sets out how we will deal with you as a customer. Use this information to decide if our services are right for you.

2)Whose products do we offer?

We offer products from a range of insurers for

• Home
• Motor
• Motorcycle

We offer products from a limited number of insurers for

• Marine
• Caravan
• Travel
• Classic car
• Holiday Homes
• Pet

In addition we offer a single insurer for the following

If a type of policy is not listed, we offer that type of Policy from a single insurer.

Ask us for a list of insurers we offer insurance from.

3)Which service will we provide you with

We will advise and make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your needs.

4) What will you have to pay us for our services?

• A fee of £15.00 for all New business transactions.
• A fee of £15.00 for all Renewal transactions
• A fee of £15.00 for all administration charges and amendments to your policy
• A fee of £50.00 for cancellations except in relation to Home and Motorcycle policies where a fee of £15.00 applies
• A fee of £15.00 for administering a duplicate document
• A fee of £25.00 for cheque returned as unpaid.
• A fee of £10.00 for all annual travel policies
• A fee of £3.00 for all Single Trip Annual Policies

Credit card payments – A fee of 2% of transaction amount with a maximum amount payable of £20.

Refunds under £1.00 will not be made. These will be retained by us as an additional fee as it is not economical or practical to issue refund cheques of very small amounts.

If we give a discount at inception of your policy and the policy is subsequently cancelled, we shall be entitled to reduce the amount of any refund to enable us to reclaim the unused portion of the discount.

The service charges we make may change form time to time. The charges above are applicable at the time of printing, your local branch will have up to date charges at all times.

5)Client money

By proceeding with any insurance policy purchased through us, you agree to the following terms and conditions in this section.

For some of the markets in which we place business we have agreements in place which may result in us holding premiums as agent of the insurer, both for the purposes of receiving premiums and holding premium refunds.

We may hold your premium in respect of risks insured in the Republic of Ireland in a client money bank outside the United Kingdom (UK) and in the Republic of Ireland. In such circumstances the legal and regulatory regime applying to the bank may differ from that in the UK. The bank may not have accepted that it has no right of set-of or counterclaim against money held in a client bank account in respect of any sum owed on any of our other accounts even though we may have requested it to do so.

Where arrangements to hold premiums on behalf of the insurer are not in place, we will hold premiums as your agent. All such premiums will be held in a non statutory trust. The terms of the non statutory trust mean that we are entitled to use client money held in trust on behalf of one client to pay another client’s premiums before the premium has been received from that client. We are not, however, entitled to withdraw commission until the relevant premium has been received from a client.

Please note that any interest earned by us and any investment returns on any segregated designated investments will be retained by us.

6)Governing Law

Unless we have agreed otherwise with you, all policies sold by us are governed by English law and subject to the jurisdiction of the English Courts. All information about the contract will be provided in English.

7)Who Regulates us?

Open + Direct is a division of Swinton Group Limited which is authorised and regulated by the financial services authority (FSA). Our head office address is Swinton House, 6 Great Marlborough Street, Manchester, M1 5SW. Our FSA Firm Reference number is 309599.

You can check this on the FSA’s register by visiting their website www.fsa.gove.uk or by contacting the FSA on 0300 500 5000

8)Ownership

Open + Direct is a division of Swinton Group Limited which is owned by MMA Holdings (UK) plc. Swinton Group Limited is connected for the purposes of the Insurance Companies Regulations 1994 to MMA Insurance plc and Gateway Insurance Company Limited.

9)Your right to cancel

This section contains important notes about your rights of cancellation. You must read these notes carefully.

• You can cancel your policy at any time by sending written notice to the address given below:
• If your policy is cancelled, the following applies:
• If you cancel your policy within the 14-day withdrawal period, and before the commencement of the policy, we will refund any payment made.
• If you cancel the policy within the 14-day withdrawal period but after the commencement of the policy, you will be charged by the insurer for the service provided up to the point of cancellation. We will also make a cancellation charge of £15. You will not be entitled to a refund of the new business / renewal fee or credit card charge made by us for arranging your insurance
• If you do not exercise your right to cancel within the 14 day withdrawal period, any remaining cancellation rights will be set out in the policy booklet. In addition to any charge made by your insurer we will also make a cancellation charge of £15 or £50 depending on the type of policy being cancelled. You will not be entitled to a refund of the new business / renewal fee or credit card charge made by us for arranging your insurance.
• We may not refund your premium if you have made a claim, or if one has been made against you, during the period of insurance. If you are paying by instalments and have made a claim you may have to pay the balance of the full annual premium.
• If your insurance is a travel insurance lasting less than one month, you do not have a right to cancel it except in accordance with any terms shown in the policy document.

Please note, any refund of premium due to you on cancellation of your policy will be calculated by reference to the premium you actually paid at inception, net of any discount allowed to you at that time.

Motor Legal protection and Motor legal Extra Cover, Home Legal and Protection, Key Assistance, Appliance Repair, Home Emergency and Personal Accident Policies

The above policies can be cancelled at any time. However unless they are cancelled within the 14 day withdrawal period, they will be subject to no return in premium.

The above policies will be automatically cancelled when the core policy is cancelled.

Notes

• The address to return your policy document to is: Open + Direct, Training Branch, 9 Wellington place, Belfast, BT1 6GA
• The withdrawal period of 14 days commences from the time the contract is concluded. The contract is concluded when you receive the documents. We are entitle to assume that the documents have been received in accordance with accepted principles of law. That is; provided the documents is sent to the correct address or number, documents posted first class on business day 1 are received on business day 2.

What to do if you have a complaint

We aim to provide all our customers with a high level of service and satisfaction but if you wish to complain about any aspect of our dealings with you please firstly contact the manager where you bought the policy.
If you cannot resolve the complaint you can contact the Customer Assistance Team:
In writing to Swinton, Swinton House, 6 Great Marlborough Street, Manchester, M1 5SW

By telephone 0845 168 3676 or Fax 0161 236 7102

If we have been unable to resolve your complaint with us you should contact the Financial Ombudsmen Service giving them full details.

Address:
Financial ombudsmen service
South Quay Plaza
183 marsh wall
London
E14 9SR

Telephone:
020 7964 1000

Website:
www.financial-ombudsmen.org.uk

These procedures do not affect your right to take legal action if necessary.

10)Are we covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme in the unlikely event we cannot meet our obligations to you. This depends on the type of insurance and the circumstances of the claim. Further information about the compensation arrangements is available from the FSCS (www.fscs.org.uk)

11)Data Protection Notice

We will share the information we have on record about you where disclosure is required by law. As part of the process of providing you with a quote, arranging your insurance and putting your cover in place, this information and you personal data will be shared with insurers.

We may also use this information to tell you, by phone, letter or email about insurance related or other goods and services whi9ch we think you may be interested in. These are likely to include financial services such as the provision of credit, loan and mortgage facilities, life assurance, savings and investment products, and ‘lifestyle’ products and services, as well as products and services related to the insurance, protection, maintenance and repair of your personal goods and property. These may be products and services supplied by us or other selected third parties. Please let us know if you do not want us to do this.

We may also pass on this information to other carefully selected third parties who may use it to tell you by phone letter or email about other goods and services which they think you may be interested in. Please let us know if you do not want us to do this. Most of the insurers we deal with have a sharing of information agreement to prevent fraud. Whenever you arrange your insurance through us, your cover and premium will be agreed with your insurer on the basis that you agree to their passing on claims information to the Claims Underwriting Exchange. To help prevent fraudulent claims, your insurer exchanges information with other insurers through various databases. Also to help detect people who break the law by not having insurance, your insurer will supply details of your motor insurance to a database which can be accessed by the police or other insurers.

If you would like a copy of your policy record, please request this in writing enclosing a cheque for £10 payable to Swinton, and send to Customer Assistance Team, Swinton House, 6 Great Marlborough Street, Manchester, M1 5SW.