Terms and Conditions of Sale
1 Our Terms and Conditions
1.1 These terms and conditions set out the basis on which Lycett, Browne Swinburne & Douglass Limited, trading as Cliverton (hereinafter “Lycetts”, “we”, “our” or “us”) offers insurance products to you on the Cliverton website (the “Website”). You should save a copy of these terms and conditions for your future reference. These terms and conditions apply only to the purchase of insurance products offered for sale and purchased via the Website and do not apply to any other products or services offered or provided by Lycetts.
1.2 The products offered on the Website are generic insurance products offering the cover and benefits described and it is for each purchaser to determine the suitability for him, her or it of a particular insurance product offered, relative to his, her or its needs and circumstances. Insurance products purchased via the Website are placed with one specific insurer in relation to property damage insurance and with another specific insurer in relation to liability insurance. Lycetts does not and has not offered any advice as to the suitability for any person of any insurance product offered on the Website.
1.3 Please read these terms and conditions carefully before purchasing any products offered on the Website as they apply to your access and use of the Website and the sale of the insurance products on that Website. They include important sales and products information relating to the insurance products and form the basis of any agreement between us should you wish to proceed with an order.
1.4 If you are uncertain as to your rights under them or you want an explanation about them please contact our customer services department on 01328 857 921. Once you have read them and if you wish to proceed with a purchase, click the “Buy Online” button and you will be able to proceed with any order you wish to make. If you do not agree with these terms and conditions, you are not authorised to use the Website.
1.5 We act as an independent insurance broker. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and our registered number is 310623. Registration number and details can be checked on the FSA’s register by visiting the FSA’s website at www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.
1.6 Lycetts is a company registered in England and Wales with company registration number 00706042 whose registered office is at Milburn House, Dean Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1PP. Lycetts is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lycetts Holdings Limited. Lycetts Financial Services Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lycetts. For full details of the Lycetts group of companies please see our website at www.lycetts.co.uk.
1.7 Ecclesiastical Insurance Group holds a majority shareholding in Lycetts Holdings Ltd. However, this does not prejudice in any way Lycetts ability to act as an independent broker and to represent exclusively its clients’ interests with the insurers most appropriate to their requirements.
1.8 Lycetts Holdings Ltd has a shareholding in Amlin Plus Ltd, a joint venture with Amlin Plc, which is a service company for the Amlin Lloyd's Syndicate 2001. The service company administrates underwriting activity only and does not participate in the underwriting of risks.
1.9 The Website offers generic insurance policies only. Nothing on the pages of the Website shall be deemed to constitute the provision of financial, investment or other professional advice in any way or an offer by Lycetts to provide any other service or products. Should you require a bespoke policy or require professional advice on an insurance purchase please contact us on 01328 857 921. Please note that any bespoke policy or policy obtained on advice from us will be subject to separate terms and conditions. We will not in any circumstances act as an insurer, nor will we guarantee or otherwise warrant the solvency of any insurer or market. Your insurance contract in relation to products purchased on the Website is with the insurer identified as such in the policy documents referred to on the Website.
1.10 Additional specific terms relating to the individual policy or policies of insurance purchased by you through the Website may apply to your order and where applicable will be clearly set out on your schedule of cover, policy documentation and/or conditions of purchase as provided by us to you.
1.11 When purchasing insurance from the Website you must ensure that the details provided by you are correct and that you have sufficient funds to cover the cost of any policy which you intend to purchase.
1.12 Insurers may sometimes grant us a binding authority or similar facility under which we are enabled to accept business on their behalf and issue the policy. We may place your insurance under such a facility which assists us in the prompt and efficient placement of risks, facilitates the servicing of your business and will be used where the terms suit your insurance requirements or instructions.
2 Legal Notice
2.1 All content of the Website (such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips, digital downloads, data compilations and software) is our property or that of our content suppliers and is, unless specifically stated otherwise, protected by copyright or similar ownership rights. It is published by us and may not be reproduced other than by downloading and viewing on a single computer and/or printing a single hard copy, for private purposes only. It is not to be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, made available on a network or used to create derivative works without our prior written consent. All rights reserved.
2.2 The trade marks, logos and service marks shown on the Website, unless otherwise specified, are the trade marks of us. No rights are granted to use any of them without our prior written consent. 2.3 Any infringement of our rights or those of any of our group companies may result in appropriate legal action being taken.
3 Data Protection and Privacy
3.1 Any information you give to us will be stored and used in accordance with our privacy policy, which is available on our Website.
3.2 Unless required by law, public interest, the statutory requirements of our regulator the FSA, or you give your consent, information which you supply will be kept confidential to us and the parties involved in the normal course of arranging and administering your insurance. We will process your data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and our privacy policy.
3.3 You agree that we and other companies in our group may hold and process, electronically or otherwise, any information provided by you for the purpose of arranging insurance on your behalf and related activities.
4 Basis of Agreement
4.1 We will treat each order for insurance products made via the Website as an offer by you to purchase the insurance product(s) and your agreement to these terms and conditions.
4.2 By placing an order for products with age restrictions you declare that you are of legal age to purchase those products.
4.3 We will acknowledge receipt of your order without delay by e-mail.
4.4 No order submitted by you is accepted by us until we confirm by e-mail its acceptance. No contract shall exist between you and the insurer until we confirm our acceptance of your order in this way. Please note that our acknowledgement of receipt of your order is not our acceptance of your order, which we will send separately.
4.5 We reserve the right to place restrictions on the volume of any products ordered via the Website.
5 Description
5.1 Product descriptions and content on the Website are intended only to provide you with sufficient information about the insurance products offered to allow you to make an informed decision as to whether the particular product is suitable for you and meets your needs.
6 Price and Availability
6.1 The price of the policies is shown on the relevant page of the Website prior to your agreement to purchase the relevant policy. This price includes all applicable taxes and comprises the premium for the policy as well as an arrangement fee charged by us, as to which see clause 7 below.
6.2 If any policy is unavailable or we need to vary the price of the policy purchased to take account of any changes in taxes and duties, site errors or errors or omission in the price displayed on the Website, we shall notify you by e-mail and allow you an opportunity to cancel your order.
7 Payment, our remuneration and money
7.1 If you purchase an insurance product via the Website, payment must be made at the time in the manner described on the Website.
7.2 We charge a commission to the insurer for each insurance policy purchased on the Website and may also charge an additional one-off arrangement fee, details of which are shown on the Website and drawn to your attention before you proceed with your purchase. That arrangement fee is payable by you at the time of purchase in addition to the premium for the policy you purchase.
7.3 We will deliver a copy of the policy schedule and policy certificate to you by email once we have received confirmation that payment has cleared.
7.4 We may provide services to insurers that are not directly related to the services provided to you and we receive usual and customary remuneration in recognition of those services. This remuneration may be a management or administration fee, or payments based upon the volume or profitability of insurance business placed with a given insurer over a specific period. Additionally we may receive payment from premium finance companies or credit card agencies for arranging transactions through them.
7.5 It may be appropriate and for your benefit for us to use another intermediary or managing agent to assist us in fulfilling your insurance requirements. These companies may receive usual and customary remuneration for the services they provide.
7.6 If you are a commercial client you are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding the remuneration which we may have received as a result of placing your insurance business.
7.7 We act as trustees of our client’s monies and must meet certain legal and regulatory conditions in relation to that. We will hold client money separate from our own money with an approved bank, segregated in a client bank account designated as subject to a statutory trust.
7.8 Where we hold monies in a client bank account we may earn interest on monies held, which will be retained by us.
7.9 On some occasions we will receive the premiums you pay to us as agent for the insurers. This will be the case where we place your insurance under a binding authority or where the insurer has agreed that payment of monies to us represents payment to the insurer. This means that, in effect, the premium has been paid to the insurer as soon as it is received by us. So, if for any reason, we do not pay those monies to the insurer, you cannot be obliged to pay again. Such premiums will be co-mingled with other client money in our client bank accounts.
7.10 We may transfer client money to a third party, such as another broker or settlement agent, for the purpose of effecting a transaction on your behalf through that entity. We do, however, still remain responsible to you in respect of your money.
7.11 These parties may include brokers and settlement agents outside of the UK. The legal and regulatory regime applying to a broker or settlement agent outside the UK may be different from that of the UK and, in the event of a failure of the broker or settlement agent, this money may be treated in a different manner to that which would apply if the money were held by a broker or settlement agent in the UK. You may notify us if you do not wish your money to be passed to a party in a particular jurisdiction.
8 Accuracy of Information
8.1 You must ensure that all information provided by you in relation to the policies purchased is complete and accurate.
8.2 In the event that we become aware that any false, inaccurate or misleading information has been provided by you in your offer to purchase an insurance policy via the Website, your policy may be cancelled or an adjustment made to your policy premium.
8.3 It is important that you understand that any information, statements or answers supplied by you to us, or your insurer, are your responsibility throughout the term of the policy and must be correct. Your attention is particularly drawn to the importance of the declarations made by you in relation to any insurance offered on the Website. Failure to disclose facts material to the insurance, or any inaccuracies in your answers, may invalidate your insurance cover in part or in whole, and could mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid. Facts material to the insurance are matters or information which may influence your insurer as to the acceptability or otherwise of your proposal or renewal and must be disclosed at the earliest opportunity and at each renewal. You are advised to keep copies of documentation sent to you or received from us for your protection. Please do consult us if you are in doubt on anything in this regard.
9 Claims
9.1 If you need to claim on your policy you must comply with the notification policy set out in your policy package immediately using the method(s) specified in your policy summary.
9.2 You are responsible for notifying claims or potential circumstances that may give rise to a claim. In order to ensure full protection under the policy, it is essential that claims are notified as soon as possible in accordance with your policy documentation as failure to adhere to the notification requirements may entitle your insurers to invalidate your policy and deny liability. In presenting a claim it is your responsibility to ensure that all material facts relating to the claim are disclosed.
10 Limits of Liability
10.1 The Website or any part of it may not be compatible with your browser or computer configuration and we make no warranty that it is. We make no warranty that your access to the Website will be uninterrupted, timely or error free and we will not be responsible if we are unable to provide the Website for whatever reason.
10.2 The following terms should be read carefully as they limit or exclude our liability to you. Nothing in these terms and conditions seeks to exclude liability for death, injury or negligent misrepresentation or to exclude, limit or restrict our responsibilities to you under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, or any conduct of business rules that we are bound to comply with.
10.3 We exclude to the maximum extent permitted by law all liability in contract, tort, negligence or otherwise arising out of the sale of insurance products via the Website or your use of the Website, including without limitation liabilities arising from any errors or omissions on the Website. In no event will we be liable for any direct or indirect loss including economic losses; loss of goodwill or reputation; special, incidental or consequential loss or damage suffered or incurred and arising out of or in connection with your use of the Website and these terms and conditions.
11 Your Right to Cancel
11.1 If for any reason you are unhappy with any policy purchased via the Website, you may cancel such policy within 14 days of receipt of the email containing the policy schedule and policy certificate by notifying us in writing of your wish to cancel. You will be charged a proportion of the insurance premium for the cover afforded from the date of commencement of the policy to the date we receive your request of cancellation. In the event that a claim has been made under the policy, the full premium will be due.
11.2 Requests of cancellation received after the 14 day period may still be accepted by us subject to payment in full of the insurance premium on your policy.
11.3 We shall be entitled to charge an administration fee of £25 to effect any cancellation requested by you.
11.4 If you exercise your right of cancellation, this will also cancel any related credit agreement we may have entered into with you in relation to your purchase.
12 Statutory Rights
12.1 As a consumer you have certain statutory rights regarding statements made in public by us or our representatives and the performance of services, as well as claims in respect of losses caused by our negligence or our failure to carry out our obligations. In certain circumstances you may cancel your contract with us. Nothing in these terms and conditions affects those statutory rights.
12.2 You also have certain statutory rights under the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 because we are advertising and selling goods or services online. If we do not comply with these Regulations you have certain remedies. These terms and conditions do not affect your remedies under those Regulations.
12.3 For further information about your statutory rights, please contact your local authority Trading Standards Department or Citizens’ Advice Bureau.
13 Complaints
13.1 It is always our intention to provide a first class service. However, should you have any cause for complaint about the service we provide you can make a complaint to the Compliance Manager at Lycett, Browne-Swinburne & Douglass Limited, Milburn House, Dean Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1PP.
13.2 Your complaint will be acknowledged promptly, advising you who is dealing with the complaint and setting out our complaint handling procedures. You will be advised within the procedural timescales as to the resolution of the complaint, but if the complaint cannot be resolved within those timescales, then we will keep you informed of progress and the likely timescale involved.
13.3 You will be advised of any further redress available to you. Should you believe that the matter has not been resolved to your satisfaction the complaint may be referred to the Financial Ombudsman’s Service. This facility is only available to consumer clients and small commercial clients, that is those who have annual turnover not exceeding £1,000,000.
13.4 Should Lycetts be unable to meet its liabilities, then you may be entitled to compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Details are shown in your policy documentation.
14 Distance Selling
14.1 These terms and conditions are intended to be consistent with the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 as amended and nothing in them is intended to impose on you any duty or liability additional to those specified in those Regulations. If you would like a copy of these Regulations, they can be obtained from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.
15 General
15.1 You are not permitted to transfer your rights and obligations under these terms and conditions without our prior written authority.
15.2 These terms and conditions are governed by English law and you agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
15.3 All contracts concluded via the Website shall be in the English language.
15.4 Circumstances may arise where we find that we have a conflict of interest, or otherwise have a material interest in, or related to, a matter in which we are acting. For example, we may be asked to act on behalf of an insurer in the appointment of a loss adjuster or we may find that the interests of two clients for whom we act, conflict.
15.5 We have conflict management procedures and we seek to avoid conflicts of interest, but where a conflict is unavoidable we will explain the position fully and manage the situation in such a way as to avoid prejudice to any party.
15.6 The insurance market is complex and there could be other relationships not described here which might create conflicts of interest. Whatever the circumstances, we will act in your best interests and, if a conflict arises for which there is no feasible solution, we will withdraw, unless you wish us to continue to act for you and provide us with your written consent to that effect.