Terms and Conditions

1. Your Responsibilities

You must take reasonable care to provide us with accurate information and you should notify us immediately if anything is incorrect or if you are unsure about any details. Providing inaccurate information could adversely affect your policy, including invalidating your policy and claims being rejected or not fully paid.

You are advised to carefully check your insurance documents once received. Should the information we hold be incorrect or your circumstances or details change, either mid-way through your cover or at renewal, you must notify us immediately.

2. Regulatory Status

Business Insurance Solutions Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA register number is 513256. Our registered address is 1st Floor, 2 Bishops Wharf, Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, GU1 4UP. Our permitted business is introducing, advising, arranging, dealing as an agent, assisting in the administration and performance of general insurance contracts and credit broking in relation to insurance instalment facilities. You may check this on the FCA's register by visiting the FCA website, www.fca.org.uk.

3. Our Service

For online quotes and sales our websites do not offer advice or recommend a particular insurer or product. We will ask a number of questions to allow you to make your own informed decision on which product is suitable for you.

For telephone sales, our role is to advise you, and after we have assessed your needs, to make a suitable recommendation.

We deal with a limited panel of insurers, you can ask us for a list of all the insurers we deal with for each product. For optional extra cover such as legal expenses sold as a supplement to your main policy, we can only offer insurance from a single insurer. We also act for one lender only when arranging premium financing.

We act as agents for the Insurer for the collection of premiums and refunds of premiums. This means that premiums are treated as being received by the Insurer when received in our bank account and that any premium refund is treated as received by you when it is actually paid over to you.

4. Charges for Our Services

Setting up a new policy/renewal	please refer to section 15 Statement of Price
Making an adjustment to your policy	£45.00
Dishonoured cheques or rejected card payments where an instalment plan has been agreed with us	£25.00
Cancellation during the validations process	£0.00
Cancellation prior to policy start date	£0.00
Cancellation for any other reason	£45.00 *
Issuing of Green Card	£35.00
Telematics Products
Provision of device	£75.00 Smart phone device / £105.00 OBD or 12V device
Replacement device	£35.00 Smart phone device / £45.00 OBD or 12V device

Should you choose a telematics policy, and you do not have a smart phone, you will need to have an On Board Diagnostic (OBD) or 12v device.

* If you take out a new policy with Business Insurance Solutions this fee is reduced to £25.00.

Fees in lieu of commission may be charged on low or nil commission products. The maximum commission fee will not exceed 80% of the insurer's annual premium. These fees will be detailed on your statement of price.

It is not economic or practical to issue refunds of small amounts. Accordingly, where a transaction would result in a refund to you from us of less than £5.00, this nominal amount will be retained by us as an additional service charge.

If you do not pay in full for your time on cover or you fail to pay any part of your insurance, we may choose to use a debt collection agency.

For policy cancellation, you will be entitled to a refund of the insurer premium less the time on risk charged by the insurer and our cancellation fee of £45.00. Outside the cooling off period, we will retain 15% of the premium refund due from the insurer.

For GAP and Warranty Insurance policies if you cancel within the 14 day cooling off period, you will entitled to a full refund less a £25 cancellation fee, after the cooling off period the total premium will be due.

5. Handling Money

We act as agents of the insurer in collecting premiums and handling refunds due to clients. These monies are deemed to be held by the insurer with which your insurance is placed. We will retain your debit/credit card details and bank accounts details for the purpose of automatic renewal and to collect or refund adjustment/cancellation premiums that may become due, in addition to the collection of any amounts due to us after policy cancellation. These may also be used for the collection of any monthly instalment payments which have not been paid on due dates. If you do not want us to use your credit/debit card for these purposes please contact us on live chat. We will always provide an alternative method.

6. Identity Check

We will carry out an Identity Check using your details provided. This check will use sources available to Experian, which will include your credit file. You will be able to see a search has been made on your file, however this will not be visible to any other financial provider. This ID check does not provide us with your credit rating and does not affect your ability to obtain credit in the future. Should we be unable to verify your identity, we may require additional documents to be supplied to us. We will also check your details against the CUE (claims & underwriting exchange) database to validate the claim history disclosed.

7. No Claims Bonus and DVLA Licence information

We reserve the right to request evidence of any declared No Claims Bonus at any point during your policy, we will verify this information with your previous provider. We may also require you to submit a copy of your, and any named drivers, driving licences along with a DVLA 'Check Code'. Details on this can be found www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence . You will be notified in writing when your policy is incepted if we require these documents.

8. Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

We are covered by the 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, size of the business insured and the circumstances of the claim.

Further information about the compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS at www.fscs.co.uk

9. Complaints Procedure

Our aim is to provide you with a high level of service at all times. However, if something has gone wrong and you wish to make a complaint, write to our Customer Experience Director at Business Insurance Solutions Limited, 1st Floor, 2 Bishops Wharf, Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, GU1 4UP.You may also lodge a complaint by calling us on 0330 041 9374, or emailing complaints@carlinedirect.co.uk

Where you have accepted our response to your complaint within three business days we will send you a summary resolution communication in which we:

- refer to the fact you have made a complaint and inform you that we consider the complaint to have been resolved

- tell you that if you subsequently decide that you are dissatisfied with the resolution of the complaint you may be able to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)

- indicate whether or not we consent to waive the usual six-month time limit limit for referral to the FOS

- provide the website address of the FOS and refer to the availability of further information on the website of the FOS.

If we are unable to resolve your complaint within three business days, we will send you a written acknowledgement of your complaint within five business days, giving you the name or job title of the individual handling the complaint.

By the end of eight weeks after receipt of your original complaint letter we will send you a final response; or a letter explaining why we are still not in a position to issue a final response and advising you of when we expect to be able to do so.

If you are insured via a Lloyds provider, you may ask Lloyd's to investigate your complaint by writing to: Complaints Team, Lloyd's, One Lime Street, London, EC3M 7HA. By email: complaints@lloyds.com or by phone: +44 (0)20 7327 5693 or fax: +44 (0)20 7327 5225. Details of Lloyd's complaints procedures are set out in a leaflet "Your Complaint – How We Can Help" available at www.lloyds.com/complaints and are also available from the above address.

If you are not happy with the way we (or Lloyd's) have handled your complaint, you can refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service 0300 123 9123.

Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

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

If you have a complaint against your insurer, please refer to the policy booklet for details of you insurer's complaint procedure.

10. Cancellation of Your Policy

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

You can cancel your policy at any time in a number of ways:

In Writing:
Please send written notice to the following address: Business Insurance Solutions Limited, 1st Floor, 2 Bishops Wharf, Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, GU1 4UP.

Via Email:
cancel@MyPortal.co.uk

Online Portal
www.MyPortal.co.uk/cancel-policy

By Telephone:
Within 14 days of inception: 0333 202 3542
Mid-term: 0333 202 3542
Renewal: 0333 202 3549

We can cancel your policy by sending you a seven-day notice in writing to your last known address or email address.

If your policy is cancelled, we will refund your premium as follows:

If you or we cancel the policy at any time, we will refund the part of the insurers premium you have not used less a cancellation fee of £45. In addition, if a discount was applied at inception, the discount will be reclaimed on a pro-rata basis along with any charges made by the insurer. (Refer to your policy booklet/policy summary for details of the insurer cancellation charges). We will not refund our Fees charged as these have been earned in the arrangement and setting up of your policy, although fees charged in lieu of insurer commission will be refunded on a pro-rata basis, and refunded in full if the policy is cancelled within the first 14 days. Outside the cooling off period, we will retain 15% of the premium refund due from the insurer.

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 a claim you may have to pay the balance of the full annual premium.

Please note that we are unable to backdate cancellations.

We will be unable to incept any new insurance proposals, whether purchased online or on the telephone, until any previous outstanding issue and balance are settled. Any payment received may be retained and applied against the previous outstanding balance.

If we are unable to contact you to validate the details provided we may cancel your policy with seven days written notice.

If you are paying for your premium in monthly instalments, and you cancel your loan or direct debit mandate without settling the outstanding loan amount, we will take this as being an instruction from you to cancel your insurance policy. In this case we will give you 3 days notice of cancellation of your policy.

Similarly, if you request a chargeback from the bank for any card payment made to us, we will assume that this is a Cancellation instruction from you, and will give you three days notice of cancellation, backdated to the chargeback request date.

You are always advised to discuss your options with us prior to deciding upon cancellation of your policy.

11. Add-on policies (Optional Extras)

Add-on policies are separate insurance policies that are linked to your primary insurance policy. These can be cancelled at any time. Should your primary policy cancel, the Add-on policy will also be cancelled. Licence Defence and Gadget Cover are subject to different cancellation terms and as such, if you are outside of the 14 day cooling off period no refund shall be given.

12. The following conditions apply to telematics products:

Customers must install the device within 7 days of policy inception, or a change of vehicle or windscreen.
Customers must send in photographic proof of the device installed in the Correct vehicle within 7 days.
Customers must download and log into the associated app within 24 hours of installing the device.
Customers must have a live device fitted correctly at all times.
Installation of the device constitutes the customer's agreement to the transmission of data from the device from the installation date.
BIS, at its discretion, may cancel the policy due to unacceptable behaviour/intervention campaigns such as extreme or persistent speeding, device tampering, or actual risk factors differing from disclosed, such as annual mileage or overnight parking locations.

13. Notification of Claims

A 24 hour claims line is available which is a service provided by Winn Solicitors Limited.

Simply call 0333 202 3548 (24 hours a day, 365 days a year) if you are involved in an accident or suffer damage or loss to your vehicle.

Please notify details of any possible claim or circumstance which may give rise to a claim as soon as possible. You should also refer to your insurers claims conditions, which you can find in your policy wording. Please note that we do not directly handle claims.

14. Renewing your Policy

We will write to you in good time before the renewal date to explain what will happen and to let you know what the policy terms and new payments will be. Any renewal premium quoted will only apply provided no claim happens or is reported after the renewal quotation is issued, and provided you have informed us of any change that may affect your policy since inception or last renewal.

At renewal, for your convenience and protection we may automatically continue your insurance (including any additional policies such as legal protection, breakdown, tools cover) unless you ask us not to. We will write to you before renewal date to remind you of this and inform you of any changes to your policy and we will take payment up to 7 days before the renewal date if you are paying in full

However, we do not guarantee to renew your policy, and we won't automatically renew your policy if your payment fails to be authorised.

If you would like to opt out of your automatic renewal then you may do so by:

Calling
0333 202 3549

Emailing
autorenewal@carlinedirect.co.uk

Portal
www.myportal.co.uk/renewal/cancelMyRenewal

Writing
Business Insurance Solutions Limited, 1st Floor, 2 Bishops Wharf, Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, GU1 4UP.

15. Statement of Price

We will provide you with a detailed statement of price when your policy is issued. Should you wish to have this prior to incepting your policy online please contact our offices and we will confirm your statement of price.

16. Instalment Funding (Direct Debits)

We use Close Brothers Premium Finance (Close) to provide our instalment funding. Please note that personal data provided by the Customer will be provided to Close, who will then be acting as data processor of such data on our behalf. Such data is only processed by Close in order to process your payment instruction and your personal data will not be provided to third parties other than the Financial Institutions for the chosen payment method. Close will provide you with details of their privacy policy, or you are invited to email them for this at marketing@closepf.com. Certain instalment funding schemes attract a set-up fee, any scheme that has a fee will be disclosed at point of quote.

17. Introducer Arrangements

A third party may have introduced you to us and for this the introducer may be paid a fee by us. We may also, with your consent, introduce you to other third parties, for which we may be paid a fee.

If, as a result of an accident that was not your fault, you require legal representation, Business Insurance Solutions Ltd can arrange for their recommended solicitors to act for you. The solicitors recommended by Business Insurance Solutions Ltd have been chosen as experts in this particular field. A fee is paid by the solicitors for being members of our legal services panel. We comply with the Solicitors' Introduction and Referral Code as set down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and any solicitors to whom we may refer you are independent professionals from whom you will receive impartial and confidential advice.

18. Dealing with others on your behalf

In administering your insurance policy we will deal only with you, the policy holder, or such other person(s) that you have specifically given us permission to deal with, subject to them confirming security questions.

19. Law And Language Applicable

The law to be applied to this policy will be stated on your Key Facts document. The language used and any communications relating to this policy will be English.

Last revision: 18/10/2024