Terms and Conditions

Acceptance

The purpose of this agreement is to set out our professional relationship and detail the services we will provide to you. For your own benefit and protection, you should read all of the information carefully and in particular, we would like to draw your attention to the “your duty to give information” section.  If you do not agree with any part of the information, please tell us. We assume that you accept the terms of this agreement unless we hear from you.

Limit of Liability

This clause restricts the amount that may be recoverable as a result of our negligence.  Other than injury or death of any person (that no cap on liability will apply), our liability to you for the services we provide shall not exceed $2,000,000 CAD in connection with any one event or connected events.

WARNING!  Your duty to give information

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR DUTY TO PROVIDE ALL MATERIALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION, INCOMPLETENESS AND ACCURATELY TO US AND YOUR INSURERS NOT ONLY WHEN YOU TAKE OUT YOUR INSURANCE, BUT ALSO THROUGHOUT THE LIFE OF YOUR ARRANGEMENT, AT THE ANNUAL RENEWAL OR AT ANY OTHER TIME WHEN YOUR MAKE OR NOTIFY CHANGES.

Materially important information is any information that could influence an insurer’s decision to accept your risk including the cost of your insurance.  For example, details of the previous insurance claim’s that you have made, or reported.  Personal information about you, such as Criminal Convictions (you have a duty to give this information even when the insurance relates to a business and not you).  General information about the risk, such as the construction of a building, (for example, concrete floor, timber frame with brick, stone, and a slate roof) if you are not sure how much information to provide or do not understand the question please ask.

The reason why this is vital and extremely important is that if you fail to tell us something, your policy will leave you with no insurance protection; insurers will not pay any claims and cancel your policy.  You will find it difficult to re-arrange cover because you did not tell an insurer everything, and you will have to disclose this fact when you reapply for insurance.

The Regulator

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent watchdog that regulates financial services.

Premium Financial Insurance is an Appointed Representative of Insurance Broker Association of Canada which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).  Insurance Broker Association of Canada is permitted to arrange, advise on, deal as an agent of insurers and assist in claims handling with respect to of all types of General Insurance policies, for example, Personal Car, Home, and Commercial Risks (manufacturers, retailers, and professionals for example).

Confidentiality and Data Protection

We will exchange the information that you provide to us with insurance companies and other brokers or agents for the purposes of obtaining quotations and arranging cover, this may result in a credit check to confirm your identity and minimize the risk of fraud.  We will treat all information as private and confidential, and in strict accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA), even when you are no longer a customer and only share information if we are required to do so by law, or regulation.

Under the DPA, you have a right to a copy of any personally identifiable information about you that we hold in our records, you can obtain details by writing to us at the usual address.  A nominal charge might apply in providing the information to you.

We will, in addition, use information for marketing similar products or services by us and carefully selected companies. Contact may include SMS text, post, telephone or e-mail. If you do not want us to use your information in this way, please let us know.

Our Service

We act both as an agent of an insurer, and on behalf of you, the customer. We have in place management controls to deal with any conflicts of interest that might arise.  Unless we advise you otherwise, in each case we are acting on your behalf.

We will ask questions to enable us to assess reasonably your insurance requirements, this may include checking information that we already hold about you and the insurance arrangement.

Depending on the complexity of your requirements and our understanding of your knowledge of the insurance you require, we will either:

Provide you with advice and guidance, after assessing your demands and needs and recommend a suitable policy based on our experience in dealing with similar risks.

OR, we will provide you with information only; including generic comparable details, you will need to make your own choice as we will not provide you with any advice or specific recommendations.

We will tell you which type of service we are providing as part of our selling process.  In all cases, our service will include arranging and administering your insurance, including helping you with on-going changes and assisting you if you need to make a claim.

If we use the services of another intermediary to place your insurance we will state the name of the intermediary we use and the name of the insurer.

If you mislay your policy at any time, we will issue a replacement policy document, if you request it.

Our Selection

We offer products from a wide range of insurance companies.

Our selection usually involves using our knowledge of the insurance market to select which insurance companies to approach and presenting to a reasonable share of insurance companies that will ensure the risk at hand. However, sometimes we may only approach two or three insurance companies or just one depending on the risk.  We will tell you the basis of our selection as part of our selling process. You can also request a list of the companies we approached.

Demands & Needs

What we mean by this is that we will assess the suitability of any insurance we arrange based on the insurance protection you have requested and our understanding of what you need on the experience of dealing with that type of insurance and our general understanding of products available in the insurance marketplace.

Financial Strength

We regularly assess the financial strength of the Insurance Companies and other intermediaries that we deal with. The process usually involves general observation of the financial ratings applied by independent rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s and AM Best published with other readily available information within industry guides, newsletters, and press releases. Whilst we select our insurers carefully, we cannot guarantee their financial strength.

Language Used

The English language will be used for all communications, the contractual terms and conditions, and any information we are required to supply to you, before and during the duration of the contract.

WARNING!  Warranties and Conditions Precedent

Your insurance may contain a number of WARRANTIES and CONDITIONS PRECEDENT.  These are critically important terms.  You must comply with them, word for word otherwise; your insurer will not pay a claim and may cancel your policy from the start, even if there is no connection between a breach of these terms and the cause of the loss.  You will find full details on your policy schedule and document.

An insurance warranty is not a good thing, it does not mean that it is a guarantee of something; it typically means that you must comply with terms in order that your insurance protection remains operative.

FAILURE TO COMPLY MAY LEAVE YOU WITH NO COVER AND A CLAIM NOT PAID.

Our Fees, Commission, and Charges

We receive commissions from insurance companies and in addition, we may charge a fee or a combination of both.  The agreements we have with insurance companies will determine when we receive our commission and fees.  If we opt to charge a fee, you will be advised prior to policy inception or renewal.  In respect of any midterm transaction, we reserve the right to make a charge of up to $50 CAD.

In addition, there may be a fee charged for making payment by credit or debit card.  This rate is variable and you will be advised of this before any payment is processed.

We may also receive commission or fees for arranging finance agreements or for passing introductions to other professional firms.

You are entitled to request information about the commissions that we may have received in connection with your insurance if you want this information you should contact us.

Money

We will hold the money you pay to us on behalf of insurers either in accordance with the Client Money rules or under a risk transfer agreement with insurers.  The options will include holding your money in one of the following ways.

A statutory or a non-statutory trust client money bank account governed by rules that seek to protect customers against the inability of an Insurance Broker to transfer premiums to Insurance Companies, or to transfer refunds and or claims money to you.

A non-statutory trust account allows us to use the money held in trust on behalf of one customer to pay another customers premium before we receive it from that customer and to pay premium refunds or claims before we receive payment from Insurance Companies.  This is normal practice within the Insurance Industry and we cannot use Client Money for any other purpose.  Unless you tell us otherwise, you are consenting to us holding your money in this way.

A statutory trust account only allows us to use the money held in trust on behalf of a customer for paying that customers premium to an insurance company and to pay premium refunds or claims we receive from that insurance company.

We also have agreements with Insurance Companies in most cases that transfer the risk of money we receive from customers to them, these agreements deem any money you pay to be received by them and they will bear the risk of any losses in the event that our firm becomes insolvent.  This includes claims money or premium refunds we receive until paid to you.

What this means is that in the event that this firm becomes insolvent customer monies remain protected.  No interest will be payable to you and we may deploy the services of other regulated firms to provide our service to you in which case your premium may be passed to other regulated firms.  We will inform you if at any time we are required to pass your premium to firms that operate outside the CANADA where the protection may be different.

Payment Options

We will provide you with full details of all the payment options available to you when we provide you with your insurance premium.

If you choose to enter into a financial arrangement, this will be subject to interest charges that we will confirm to you when providing the full details.

Importantly, the arrangement you will enter into will be with the finance company, not us.  You will liable to pay their costs and charges if you do not keep up your repayments and we will cancel all cover under your policy.

Cancellation

Please contact us if you wish to cancel any policy that we have arranged for you. Customers acting outside their trade or profession (Consumers) will usually have a legal right to cancel policies for any reason, subject to no claims having occurred, within 14 days of receiving the full terms & conditions. You will always be advised where this Right applies. A charge may apply for the period of cover provided and, in addition, an administration charge will apply as shown in the charges section above, cancellation under this right must be in writing, prior to the expiry of the 14-day cancellation period, to our usual office address.

Complaints

We are committed to providing our customers with a high standard of service but understand things can go wrong.  If for any reason we have not met your expectations, let us know as soon as possible, either by informing your usual contact, or calling our main office telephone 1-855-836-5102, or writing to The Complaints Manager, Premium Financial Insurance, Po Box 774, 19 School St. Kensington PEI. C0B-1M0 or email info@premiumfinancial.ca

If we are unable to resolve the issue to your satisfaction within 1 working day, we will formally investigate the matter.  You will receive an acknowledgment of the matter together with a copy of our complaints process within 5 working days.

We will then aim to investigate and provide a resolution as quickly as possible, informing you of the position at no later than 4 weeks and a final response no later than 8 weeks.

If you are not happy with our response, or the position after a period of 8 weeks, you may be eligible to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for an independent assessment and opinion.

Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI)

401 Bay Street, Suite 1505
P.O. Box 5
Toronto, ON M5H 2Y4

Toll-free Telephone: 1 888 451-4519
Greater Toronto Area Telephone: 416 287-2877
TTY Telephone: 1 855 TTY-OBSI (1 855 889-6274)
Toll-free Fax: 1 888 422-2865
Greater Toronto Area Fax: 416 225-4722
Email: ombudsman@obsi.ca
 A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.

Our Governance Structure ensures the Ombudsman and OBSI’s staff are independent and impartial and have the necessary resources to carry out their jobs.

A non-profit and independent organization, OBSI is overseen by a Board of Directors. A majority of the directors are from the community, has not been part of industry or government for at least two years. A minority of the directors are appointed from shortlists of nominees provided by industry bodies. The directors also comprise the voting membership of the organization.

Beyond the composition of the Board, further important safeguards of OBSI’s independence are in place. In addition to having at least a standard two-thirds majority on the board, a majority of Community Directors is required for key independence matters including the hiring and firing of the Ombudsman, the setting of the Ombudsman’s compensation, the budget process, the Terms of Reference and the nomination of Community Directors.

The Governance, Human Resources, and Compensation Committee of the Board search for new independent board members, balancing diversity, geography and a variety of backgrounds and skills. Collectively, the directors have experience in business, law, consumer affairs, economics, community organizations, dispute resolution, and public service.

The Board of Directors meets at least quarterly, and in addition, has an annual strategic planning session. All Directors also conduct performance reviews with the Chair at least once every two years.

To maintain the independence and impartiality of our staff, our Board of Directors does not look at specific complaints. The final decision concerning complaints rests with the Ombudsman. There is no appeal to the Board, nor can the Board influence the decisions of the Ombudsman. As a voluntary process where you have not given up any of your legal rights, there is also no appeal to a higher body.