Effective date 1 May 2018
This Terms of Business Agreement sets out the basis on which Blackford & Company Insurance Brokers Limited/ManxCover, referred to as ‘We’, ‘Us’, ‘Our’, will provide services to ‘You’ as a consumer client or commercial client of the firm (non-consumer)
Please contact Us immediately on 01624 832042 if there is anything in these terms of business which You do not understand or with which You disagree. We are happy to answer any questions and willing to explain these terms and the reasons for them.
You are deemed to have accepted these terms of business unless you advise us otherwise within 7 days of receipt
Blackford & Company Insurance Brokers Ltd are registered with the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority as an insurance intermediary in respect of general business. You can check our details by going to www.iomfsa.im under ‘Registry search’. Blackford & Company represent a panel of Insurers & hold binding authorities for ManxCover bespoke Insurance policies. We act as Your agent for the advice given & for arranging Your insurance. Blackford & Company undertake to comply with the Isle of Man statutes for the selling of general & commercial insurance. We do not provide Legal advise or Trustee or Nominee Services or advise on the adequacy of sums insured for buildings, property, contents, jewellery, loss of profits, motor vehicles and the like. Once insurance arrangements have been agreed and set up, following Your instructions, no further advice will automatically be given. However, we will be glad to advise You and provide reviews at anytime upon your request.
It is recommended that You take time to review your insurance on a regular basis and at least when You receive your renewal invitation documents, to make sure that cover and replacement values do meet with all your requirements as undervaluing may affect any settlement value for a claim made. We do not re-quote our policies against the market but review our prices regularly to keep them as competitive as possible. The internet offers alternatives policies & prices but please compare on a like for like basis so You don't make a mistake when searching or buying cover — If in doubt call us to discuss.
Your attention is drawn to the importance of the declaration & signature section on the Insurer's proposal forms. Please read this section very carefully to make sure that You understand the implications fully, before signing. If forms are computer completed or not in Your own handwriting then please make absolutely sure that they are correct before You sign the declaration. Some insurers use statement of fact proposal forms that do not require signing — if this is the case then make absolutely sure that the details are correct and that cover meets with Your requirements before You file them away — If in doubt call us to discuss.
When You receive Your insurance renewal invitation documents please take the time to make sure that You review all of the details such as: jewellery values, property details, driver details, policy covers & any endorsements to make sure that You understand ‘what is’ & ‘what is not’ covered and that all the details are correct and meet with Your current requirements. Jewellery should be re-valued on a regular basis in order to make sure that they are insured for the correct replacement values — If in doubt call us.
Consumer customers: You must take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer. This means that all the answers You give and statements You make as part of Your insurance application, including at renewal and when an amendment to Your policy is required, should be honest and accurate. If You deliberately or carelessly misinform the insurers, Your policy may be void or cancelled, or a claim may be rejected or not fully paid.
Non-consumer customers: Where we arrange insurance wholly or mainly for purposes related to Your trade, business or profession, You have a duty to make a fair presentation of the risk. This means that You must disclose every material circumstance which You and/or Your senior management and/or anyone responsible for arranging Your insurance know or ought to know. Alternatively, You must disclose sufficient information which would put the insurer on notice that it needs to make further enquiries for the purpose of revealing those material circumstances. You are expected to carry out a reasonable search in order to make a fair presentation of the risk and will be deemed to know what should reasonably have been revealed by the search. Your duty of fair presentation applies at the start of the policy, at renewal and when any variation of the policy is arranged. If You fail to make a fair presentation, the insurer may refuse to pay Your claim or reduce the settlement amount or in some circumstances, Your policy may be cancelled and premium not refunded — If in doubt call us.
It is essential that You take the time to read & fully understand the contents of your insurance quotations, insurance policies, cover notes, insurers policy wordings, renewal invitations, instalment agreements and all correspondence You receive from us and your insurers & or instalment funding company. Having read such documents, we will be happy to clarify any issues or questions You may have regarding their contents. We will not accept any liability whatsoever arising from a clients failure to read and fully understand the details of their insurance cover, policies, cover notes, instalment agreements and other correspondence, if in doubt always call us to discuss.
We access the financial soundness of our panel of insurers & other markets we recommend using public information, including that used by recognised rating agencies. However, We will not in any circumstances act as an insurer nor will we guarantee the solvency of any insurer or market used for your requirements. The decision regarding the suitability of any insurer or markets rests with You. If you have any concerns regarding the insurers chosen we will be pleased to discuss the matter.
In respect of some classes of insurance We may operate block insurance arrangements in order to provide competitive terms. This is where We place all insurances of a certain type with one insurer who can provide particularly competitive terms for all our customers. On occasions it will be necessary for us to transfer such blocks from one insurer to another where this is beneficial for our clients. This Terms of Business Agreement constitutes both Your acceptance that we may do this and Your prior request for us so to do.
Insurers share information with each other via the Claims & Underwriting Exchange Register and the Motor Insurance Anti- fraud & Theft Register, to aid the prevention of fraudulent claims. In the event of a claim the information You supply by telephone, email, text or on a claim form, together with any other information relating to the claim, will be added to the Register. If non-disclosed claims/accidents etc. are found on the registers then the Insurers may request us to re-quote your policy based on this information and this may change Your insurance premium.
Insurers are legally required to provide details of motor insurance policies to the MIIC. The information describing your insurance cover will be added to the Motor Insurance database (MID), to which the policy and other Government Agencies have access. This helps the pursuance of claims following accidents and aids detection of those who are in contravention of the law by not taking out insurance.
The Financial Services Ombudsman scheme is a free independent dispute resolution service for customers with a complaint against an Isle of Man firm, such as a bank, insurance company or financial adviser — An information leaflet is available on request or You can visit the Isle of Man Government website www.gov.im
View our website Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Whilst We have taken care in the preparation of the site, certain technical matters may be beyond our control and We cannot guarantee that You will have uninterrupted or error free access to all of the site at all times, that defects will be remedied, or that the site or the server that makes the site available, are virus free. Access may be suspended or restricted to allow for repairs or maintenance or for the introduction of new services.
The site is directed at those who can access the site from the Isle of Man and is intended for use by Isle of Man residents only. Applications from non Isle of Man residents will, unless otherwise stated, not be accepted. To obtain access to certain online services you may be given the opportunity to register with us. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of Your details and Your password and for restricting access to Your computer to prevent unauthorised access to Your account. You agree to inform us immediately if You have reason to believe that Your password is being used in an unauthorised manner.
The travel insurance available from our website is sold on a NON-ADVISED basis only and is a linked website to the Travel Insurers website. Please make sure You read all the documents to make sure You are choosing a product that suits Your requirements. If the travel insurance policy does not meet with Your requirements you may cancel it within 14 days of issue and provided that you have not started a trip or intend to make a claim, the insurers will cancel the policy and refund your premium in full. There is NO refund outside this period.
Links to third party websites are provided solely for your convenience. When You activate these links You will leave our site. We do not endorse or take responsibility for the contents on the third party websites or the availability of those websites and We are not liable for any loss or damage that You may suffer by using those websites. If You decide to access linked websites You do so entirely at your own risk. Certain links on the site will lead You to websites that are under the control of other companies. These sites are operated on a local basis and may be subject to local laws and/or regulation. Please consult the terms and conditions of use and privacy statements on any third party website You may use.
We normally receive a commission from the insurance provider on insurance policies arranged for you. The cost of this commission payment is included in the standard charging structure of your policy. In addition to the commission paid to us (if any) we reserve the right to make the following additional charges to cover our administration costs. Fees are subject to periodic review. Any additional fees will be itemised on your documentation as laid out below:
New policy or the renewal of a policy — up to £30
Mid-term adjustments to policies — up to £10
Insurers cancellation terms — see policy wordings
Insurers cancellation terms — see policy wordings
Blackfords Cancellations — Net Premium Refund — see below under cancellations
Returned cheque charge £10
Funded instalments/charge ** a % of the annual premium
Commercial business policies & Other services — Net rated policies — variable fee — will be itemised on your Quotation/Renewal/policy document letters.
Fees charged by ourselves or underwriters as additional to the insurance part of any premium are unable to be returned on cancellation of a policy at any time.
The proportion of commission We have earned on Your policy refund at cancellation or on a mid term adjustment is non-refundable and will be deducted from any insurers cancellation or mid term adjustment advices along with Our fees as stated above — example: Gross return premium £30, minus commission say @ 10% = £3.00 refund is £27 This is called a 'NET refund of premium'. Insurers may have their own fees and if so, these will be itemised on their documents. CLAIMS — NO rebate will be allowed should a claim have been reported and any rebate allowed will be re-claimed, should a claim subsequently be reported. Charge for the period of time on cover is based on the insurance premium part of the policy, any separate itemised fees or extras paid are non-refundable. If in doubt call us.
There are NO refunds made by the providers of these products on cancellation of a policy. See each product policy wording for full details.
These will be returned to you once the Insurers have returned the monies to us and we have reconciled them — this will be as quickly as possible but generally all payments are handled within 30 days from the end of the month in which the cancellation was made.
Cherry Godfrey Finance (IOM) Ltd, 'Creation Consumer Finance' or Orchard Funding/ Bexhill UK are credit agreements between you and them — this means they pay your insurance premium in full to us to pay your insurers and you pay it back to them on monthly instalments by DD plus their agreed charge. If you cancel your policy mid-term your insurer will cancel the policy and make a ‘net refund of premium’ (if any). This net refund of premium will be offset against the amount still outstanding with the finance company, if this leaves a shortfall in the amount owing to them, (which is usually the case on early cancellation as the first instalment collection is usually sometime after the policy has commenced cover) the balance is payable by the client direct to the funding company as part of their terms and conditions. Please make sure you read each companies terms & conditions they send to you, so you understand the conditions you have agreed to. If in doubt call us.
We reserve the right to terminate your policy in the event that there is a default in the instalment payments due under a linked loan agreement. The policyholder must return to us the current certificate of Motor Insurance if we cancel the policy. Also read the 'Funded Instalments' paragraph above *
Any Bank charges incurred by us as a result of a cheque or payment being returned unpaid will be the responsibility of the customer and will result in a charge as per our ‘fees’ info above.
To make sure you get the best offer from our Insurers now, at renewal or at any other time and to protect their customers from fraud and to verify your identity, they may use publicly available data which they obtain from a variety of sources, including a credit reference agency and other external organisations. Their search will appear on your credit report whether or not your applications proceed.
We are obliged to report any suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing activity to the appropriate authorities
Prior to Your premium being forwarded to the insurer (or forwarded to You in the event of a premium refund) We hold your money as an agent of the insurer with which We arrange Your insurance. Where We hold premium as the agent of the insurer it is regarded as received by the insurer. We may transfer Your premiums to the insurer through another party, such as an underwriting agent for the purposes of effecting a transaction.
By accepting these Terms of Business Agreement, You are giving Your consent for us to treat Your money in this way. Please notify us immediately if You have any objection or query.
It is our intention to provide you with a high level of service at all times. However, if you do feel you have cause to be unhappy in any way with our service or your insurance cover, in the first instance, please write to the Managing Director, Blackford & Company Insurance Brokers Ltd, The Old Bank, 19 Station Road, Port Erin, IOM IM9 6AE. Your complaint will be acknowledged by us within 10 working days of receipt. Our full complaints procedure is available on request. The Insurers complaints procedure will be found in their policy document.
As insurance brokers We generally act as Your agent, arranging Your insurance and assisting You in the event of a claim. In certain circumstances We may act for and owe duties of care to insurers and/or other parties. Where we become aware of any actual or potential conflict of interest, We will inform You of the situation, the options available to You and obtain Your consent before we proceed.
We will contact you via the following methods if you have given your consent for us to do so: Post, Phone, Email and Mobile SMS text. Please advise us if you do not want us to contact you by any of the above methods.
We may record calls into the office on our telephone number 01624 832042 for security reasons, for fraud prevention and training purposes.
You or We may terminate authority to act in connection with Your insurance arrangements at any time. Notice of termination must be given in writing and will be without prejudice to the completion of any transactions already commenced. Any business currently in progress will be completed unless We have instructions to the contrary. Any premiums of fees outstanding will become payable immediately. In circumstances where We feel We cannot continue providing services to You, We will give you a minimum of 7 days notice. Examples of reasons why We may discontinue providing services to You include but are not limited to:
These Terms of Business shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Isle of Man law and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Isle of Man.
Please refer to our Privacy Notice & Data Policy.