Terms of business
Insurance products are sometimes complicated to understand. The industry is heavily regulated to make sure customer are protected and therefore there are often many parties involved in an insurance product and all the different parties have different obligations. We want to make sure that we can clearly explain these details to.
When you ask us to give you a quote, arrange or handle your insurance product you are agreeing to the terms in this document. We therefore ask you to spend some time reading this document as well as the product terms and conditions.
If you have any questions about anything in this document, please give us a call on 0330 912 4843.
The Financial Conduct Authority and our authorisation
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services
Hometree Services Limited is an Appointed Representative of Xact Risk Solutions Ltd (FRN 590914) who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Hometree is only allowed to arrange your insurance, act as an agent and help in the administration and performance of general insurance contracts.
You can check this on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website, or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.
Our service to you
Helping you to decide which products are best for you
When speaking to you we will arrange products and will provide factual information. We will not be able to offer advice or make personal recommendations when arranging your insurance. We can ask some questions to narrow down the selection of products, but it is important that you make your own choices on whether to go forward.
Who are Hometree and how do we work for you?
We act as an insurance intermediary, not an insurer. This means that we act on your behalf when arranging your insurance, when helping you make any changes to your policy, when helping you renew your insurance and when you make a claim. If there are times where we act as an agent of the insurer, we will let you know before we finalise your insurance arrangements.
What are our contractual obligations to you and who are the insurer?
We are under a contractual obligation to only select care cover plans from a single insurer Novus Underwriting Limited, rather than on the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market.
We will not guarantee the solvency of any insurer but you are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (see below).
Complaints and compensation
We aim to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times but, if you are not satisfied, please contact us. If you are not satisfied with how we deal with your complaint you also can refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). See the full policy terms and conditions for more information.
One thing to note is that if you are a business you may not be able to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman. This is the case if you are a business:
- employing 10 persons or more and with a turnover or annual balance sheet total exceeding €2m, or;
- with an annual turnover of 6.5m or more, and 50 employees more or with an annual balance sheet total of £5m or more; a charity with an annual income of £6.5m or more; or trustees of a trust with a net asset value of £5m or more).
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for our insurance mediation activities. This means that you may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations.
If you are eligible to claim from the FSCS, compensation is available in relation to insurance advising and arranging of 90% of the claim, without any upper limit.
Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS on 0800 678 1100 (freephone) or 020 7741 4100 or www.fscs.org.uk.
How do we get paid?
We normally receive commission from insurers and any commission we receive will be paid by the insurer from the insurance premium. You can see full details of the payment terms and cancellation policy in the product terms and conditions.
How we handle money
We act for the insurer in collecting premiums and handling any refunds given to our customers. All these monies will be held by the insurer which arranges your insurance.
Cancelling your insurance
If you want to cancel your policy please let us know by email or phone. Depending on your specific circumstances there may be a cancellation charge. There may be certain circumstances where we feel that we can no longer provide services to you. Please see the ‘how to cancel’ section in the full product terms and conditions for more details on this.
Your responsibilities to provide the right information
We will ask for certain information before arranging your insurance. You must give us honest, complete and accurate answers to these questions, to the best of your knowledge. This also applies at renewal and if there are any mid-term changes to your policy.
If you tell us some information or misrepresent any this could invalidate the policy and mean that claims may not be paid.
You must check all details on the welcome letter we send you. It is important that you read all insurance documents issued to you to make sure that you are aware of the cover, limits and other terms that apply. Please note that you must keep us informed about any changes to your heating system, address etc as failure to comply with them could invalidate your policy or mean that claims may not be paid.
You must tell us immediately of any changes in circumstances which may affect the services provided by us or the cover provided by your policy.
The processing of your personal data
You may provide us with information that may include data that is known as personal data. Where we process personal data, we comply with statutory data processing requirements as set out by the Data Protection Act 2018. Please see our privacy policy (https://www.hometree.co.uk/privacy-policy/) for more details
Conflict of interests
Occasions can arise where we, or one of our associated companies, clients or product providers, may have a potential conflict of interest with business being transacted for you. If this happens, and we become aware that a potential conflict exists, we will write to you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions and we will detail the steps we will take to ensure fair treatment.
How we handle your claims
We will always do our best to act for you when you make a claim. Please see the product terms and conditions for more details on how to make a claim.
Document Reference – Terms of Business Agreement v1
