Terms of Business

Parties to this agreement
“We/Us/Our” means Lycetts, a trading name of Lycett, Browne-Swinburne & Douglass Ltd. This includes our trading divisions.
“You/Yours” means our customer.
About us‍
Lycetts is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lycetts Holdings Limited. Lycetts Financial Services Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lycett, Browne-Swinburne & Douglass Ltd. For a full list of Lycetts group companies, please visit our website: www.lycetts.co.uk.
‍Lycetts Holdings Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Benefact Group Plc. This does not affect our ability to act as an independent broker and to represent exclusively your interests with the insurers most appropriate to your requirements.
Purpose of this agreement
This agreement sets out the terms under which we provide our services to you.
Please:
a) read this document carefully and let us know if you have any queries or concerns; and
b) keep a copy of this agreement safely with your insurance documents. Claims can be made many years after the end of the policy, so you should keep this document in a safe place.
Acceptance of terms
‍Your continued instructions or placement of business with us will be treated as your acceptance of these terms.
Our regulatory status
‍We are an independent insurance broker working on your behalf. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and our registered number is 310623.
These details can be checked on the FCA website at www.fca.gov.uk/register or by calling the FCA on 0845 606 1234.
Our permitted business is arranging general insurance contracts and credit broking.
Our service to you
‍We will give you advice and information to meet your insurance requirements. We will do this in relation to:
a) new business;
b) renewals; and
c) mid-term adjustments.
We will discuss your insurance requirements including price, scope of cover and policy limits. We will also consider the financial security of the proposed insurers and will discuss any concerns you may have.
‍We will provide you with a statement setting out your requirements, based on the information you have given us. We will only take into account any circumstances and objectives we might reasonably expect to be relevant.
‍We will advise you on the most suitable insurance to meet your requirements, including as to the level of cover, cost, and the relevance of any exclusions, excesses, limitations or conditions.
‍We will keep you updated on progress and will let you know promptly of any issues. We will use reasonable efforts to place your insurances before the intended start date or date for any extension or amendment of cover.
‍We may provide you with a ‘Policy Summary’ or similar before you confirm your instructions. Where we have given you advice, we will provide a ‘Suitability Statement’ setting out the reasons for the recommendations we have given.
Once the policy has been placed, we will confirm details of the cover in writing and give you a policy document. You must carefully check the policy and other documents to ensure the cover meets your requirements. If the policy does not meet your demands or if you have any concerns, you must let us know immediately.
‍You should pay particular attention to the policy conditions, exclusions and claims notification provisions. Failure to comply with these may invalidate the policy, result in a claim not being covered or a payment being reduced.
Non-advised sales
Sometimes we may source and arrange products without offering advice or making recommendations, or may not provide further advice or recommendations after initially arranging your policy, unless you notify us of a change to your circumstances or ask us to review your insurances. Where either of these situations apply, we will let you know.
Market analysis
‍Our recommendations are based on one of the following:
a) a fair and personal analysis of the market;
b) a review of a limited range of insurers only; or
c) placement with a single insurer, with no wider market review,
We will tell you which of the above applies in each case. Where we only use a limited number of insurers, you can ask us to provide a list of the insurers we have considered.
For some matters we may recommend using another insurance intermediary. We will let you know in good time if this is the case.
Your duty to provide information
You have obligations before the start of your policy to provide certain information to us to provide to insurers. Those obligations apply at renewal and to any change you make to your policy. The obligations, which are set out below, differ slightly depending on whether you are a consumer customer or a commercial customer.
A ‘consumer customer’ is an individual who enters into a policy wholly or mainly for purposes that are not related to their trade, business or profession.
A ‘commercial customer’ is anyone who is not a ‘consumer customer’.

Consumer customers
Consumer customers must take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to insurers. This means you must take reasonable care when answering questions asked by insurers and when providing information to them to ensure that such answers and information are complete and accurate.

Commercial customers
Commercial customers must make a ‘fair presentation’ of the risk. A fair presentation is a presentation that discloses in a reasonably clear and accessible manner all material facts which you, including your senior management and those responsible for arranging the insurance on your behalf, know or ought to know following a reasonable search.

Ongoing obligations
The obligations set out above apply throughout the policy period. If any of the information you have given to insurers changes at any point during the policy period, you must let us know immediately. We will then let you know if any further action needs to be taken. It may be necessary to tell insurers, who may change the terms of the policy, charge an additional premium or in some cases cancel the policy.

Failure to comply
If you do not comply with these obligations, insurers may be entitled to one of the following remedies, depending upon the circumstances and nature of your failure to comply:
a) avoid the policy. This means insurers can treat it as if it never existed and refuse all claims. You would also have to repay any claims payments already made.
b) amend the policy terms. This could include applying additional conditions and exclusions, limits and excesses. Those terms will be treated as if they applied from the start of the policy period.
c) reduce the amount they pay for a covered claim. Usually this will be calculated by reference to the premium you actually paid as a percentage of the premium you would have paid if you had complied with your obligations. For example, if the policy premium would have doubled, insurers will only pay half of any claim.
In some cases both b. and c. above will apply at the same time.
Premium payment
‍You must pay all premium payments with cleared funds in accordance with the terms on our invoice. This will detail all premiums due and any taxes collected by insurers.
Acting for insurers
‍We are not an insurer although in some cases we will act on behalf of insurers as their agent. For example, insurers may sometimes allow us to accept business on their behalf and issue a policy. We may place your insurance under such an arrangement, which helps us place risks quickly and efficiently. We will let you know if this is the case.
Insurer solvency
‍We do not guarantee or warrant the solvency of any insurer or market.
Remuneration
‍We will be paid in one of the following ways:
‍a) commission. This is a percentage of the premium you pay, which the insurer pays to us or allows us to retain from the premium payment you have made to us;
b) fees. This is a fee we will agree with you before placing any policy; or
c) a combination of fees and commission. We will only charge on this basis with your agreement.

Administration fees
‍We may also charge administration fees. These might be charged at the start of the policy or renewal, or if changes need to be made during the policy period. We will show the amount of any such fees on our invoice.

Mid-term changes and premium refunds
Most of our work is involved with finding and setting up your policy or renewal. Therefore, unless we agree otherwise, our commission is earned in full when we place your policy. If you cancel the policy or change the cover after any cooling-off period, which results in a refund of your premium in full or in part, we may still charge you for the time and costs involved in arranging the policy. This will usually result in us reducing the amount refunded to you by the full amount of the fees and commission we would have earned if you had not cancelled or changed the policy.

Information about remuneration
‍You may ask us at any time for information about the remuneration we have received for arranging your policies.

Other payments
In addition to the above, we may also receive:
a) management or administration fees from insurers for other services we provide to them;
b) payments based on the volume or profitability of insurance placed with an insurer over a period of time; and
c) payments, including commission, from premium finance companies and credit card agencies for arranging transactions through them.

Payments to others
‍We may use other intermediaries or agents to help us provide our service to you. Those companies may be paid for doing so.
Premium payment
‍We accept payment of premium by guaranteed cheque, most debit or credit cards or cash, subject to certain limits.

Paying in instalments
It might be possible to spread the premium payment. You may be able to do this through the insurer’s instalment scheme or through a finance provider which you can arrange or we can arrange for you.

Payment terms
All payments must be made within 14 days, unless we inform you otherwise. This does not apply to payments by Direct Debit.

Up-front payment
Some commercial policies require payment in full before the policy starts. No refund will be given for such policies if they are cancelled before the end of the policy period. This does not affect your statutory rights.

Retaining documents
‍We can keep any certificates of insurance or other policy documents until all payments due under the policy, including any monies owed to us, have been fully paid. This includes payment of all agreed instalments.
If we do keep your documents, we will make sure you have details of your cover.
Client money
‍We may handle money on your behalf in the course of our work for you. When we do so, we will hold your money in a separate designated statutory trust account. We will do so in accordance with all legal and regulatory obligations.

Interest on client money
‍We may keep any interest earned on any monies held in our client account.

Holding money for insurers
Sometime insurers agree that we can hold money on their behalf. This means that when you pay your premium to us it is treated as having been received by the insurer as soon as we receive it. If for any reason we do not pay the money to the insurer, the premium is still treated as having been paid and you do not need to pay again. We may also hold claims monies on behalf of insurers, which means payment to us by the insurer will not be treated as payment to you until you actually receive the money. We may co-mingle (i.e. mix) money held in this way with client money in our client bank account.

Payments to third parties
‍We may pay client money to third parties. This could be to another broker to carry out a transaction on your behalf. If we do this, we will remain responsible for your money.
Money may be passed to agents and others outside the United Kingdom, where different laws apply to the treatment of client money. You must let us know if you do not want your money to be passed to another party in any particular country.
Conflicts of interest
As your insurance broker, we usually act on your behalf. However, sometimes a conflict of interest may arise. We may also sometimes have an interest in or related to any matter we are acting on. For example, your interests might conflict with those of another client.
We have procedures to manage and minimise the risk of conflicts. If a conflict does arise, we will explain the position to you and the steps we are taking to avoid harm to any party.
We will always act in your best interests. If we cannot do that, we will not act for you unless you ask us to do so in writing.
Financial crime
To comply with financial crime laws, we are legally bound to:
a) obtain certain information about you;
b) carry out sanctions checks;
c) tell the national Crime Agency if we have any suspicion or evidence of financial crime (and not tell anyone we have done so); and
d) not allow our employees or others to be influenced or to influence others through any undue payments or privileges from any third party, including insurers and clients.
Limitation of liability
‍You may only bring a claim against us, and not any of our employees or consultants, arising from the work we do for you.
‍We will not be liable to you for your loss of profit or business.
Nothing in this clause excludes or limits our liability for:
a) death or injury caused by our negligence;
b) any fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation by us;
c) any other matter where it is unlawful for us to do so.
Policy Cancellation
‍Your policy documents will include details of your cancellation rights under the policy. You may be entitled to a 14 or 30 day cooling off period after you have received your policy documents.
If you do cancel your policy, you may still need to meet our costs. These are detailed under ’13. Remuneration’, above.
If you do cancel your policy, you may be required to return policy documents to us or the insurer.
Claims
If you need to claim under a policy, you must let us know immediately. You must do this using the following contact details. These are also found on your policy summary.

Claims contact details
Address:
Lycett, Browne-Swinburne & Douglass Ltd,
Bank house
Pilgrim Street
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 6QF
Telephone 0191 232 1151
Email: info@lycetts.co.uk

‍Claims support
When we receive details of your claim, we will:
a) notify your insurers;
b) represent you in resolving the claim;
c) arranging the settlement and collection of claim payments; and
d) pass any claims payment on to you as quickly as possible.
Where you deal directly with insurers in relation to a claim, we will advise and support you as necessary.

Acting for insurers
‍We may be authorised by insurers to settle claims on their behalf. We will let you know if this is the case.

Admitting liability
If someone makes a claim against you that may be covered under a policy, you must not admit liability or take any action without authority from your insurer.

‍Emergency action
If you suffer a loss, you must take any emergency measures that are necessary to minimise the amount of the loss.

Notifying claims
‍You must:
a) notify claims, or anything that might lead to a claim, immediately; and
b) provide full details and information in relation to actual or potential claims.
If you do not, insurers may not cover the claim, reduce the amount they pay or in some cases terminate the policy.
Cancellation of this agreement
‍We or you can cancel this agreement by giving the other party 14 days’ written notice. We will still complete any work we have already started on your behalf.
You will still be liable to pay for any work we have done or started and we may keep all commissions and fees relating to any placements made by us before the agreement was cancelled.
Data protection and confidentiality
‍Your privacy is important to us and we will process all personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws and regulations, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679), UK implementing equivalent, and UK Data Protection Act 2018, and our privacy notice. Data controller We are the data controller in relation to personal data you give to us or which we hold about you. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to process personal data and our registration number is Z5976799.

Other people’s data
If you give us personal data belonging to someone else, you must: a) tell them you are giving the data to us before you send it to us (either in an email or in your own privacy notice); b) ensure they have not objected to the transfer to us (where you are processing their personal data on the basis of consent); and c) refer them to our privacy notice on our website set out in the “Further information” section below.

What we do with your data
‍We will collect and process personal data for the purposes of arranging and advising you in relation to your insurances. All of our personnel who access your personal data are aware of their obligations to protect such data under data protection laws, and are bound by written duties of confidentiality in respect of the same. This includes assisting with any claims under your policies. Personal data is also used for other purposes such as fraud prevention, business management, developing systems and strategic analysis, and we may share it with third parties for such purposes as set out in our privacy notice.

How long we keep your data
‍We will retain personal data for the duration of any applicable policy cover, and in accordance with our Data Retention Policy, which satisfies the requirements of GDPR and our regulatory obligations. We maintain appropriate technical and organisational security measures to maintain the integrity of your personal data as required by applicable data protection laws, proportionate to the harm that may be incurred by data subjects if such data is lost, damaged or corrupted at any time.

Sharing personal data
In order to provide our services to you and to comply with legal obligations, we may need to share personal data with third parties. This includes, but is not limited to, insurers, brokers, finance providers, credit reference agencies, service providers, regulators and professional advisors and those organisations listed in the “Notices” section below. All data sharing arrangements are set out in our privacy notice and we enter into written data sharing arrangements with all third parties. If you have any complaints or concerns about how a third party who we have shared your personal data with is using your personal data, you can contact them directly or us in the first instance – see the “Further information” section below.

Transfers outside the EEA
‍We may sometimes need to transfer personal data outside the EEA. Where we do this, we will notify you of the nature of the transfer, reasons for it, data being transferred and we will ensure that our contract with the company processing data outside of the EEA contains all necessary provisions to protect your rights and provide adequate safeguards in relation to your personal data.

Marketing
Where you are an individual data subject, we may use your personal data to market our services and products to you that we think may be of interest, or pass your data on to related companies and business partners for marketing purposes. We will only do this if you have given us your prior consent. You can opt-out from such communications at any time without affecting your policy or any related claim. Where you are a commercial customer, we do not need your consent to market to you directly.

Special category data
In order to provide our services to you, we may need to process ‘special category data’. This includes data relating to health or criminal convictions. We can usually only do this with your specific consent, which we will ask for in advance. If you do not give such consent, we may not be able to provide our services, or it may affect the insurance products available to you.

Data breaches
If, at any time, we become aware of an incident that may affect your personal data, where such data may or has become lost, damaged or corrupted at any time, or a third party with whom we have shared your personal data experiences the same, we will notify you and the ICO if required by applicable data protection laws.

Notices
‍Your insurers may pass information to the:
a) Claims and Underwriting exchange, run by Insurance Database Services Limited; and
b) Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register, run by the Association of British Insurers,
for the purposes of checking information and preventing fraud.
Motor insurance details are also added to the Motor Insurance Database (MID), which is run by the Motor Insurers Information Centre and overseen by the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB). This has been created to help identify uninsured drivers and may be searched by the Police to confirm who is insured to drive. In the event of an accident, insurers and the MIB can access the MID to gather policy information.

Further information
For further information about how your personal data is used and your rights in relation to it, please see our privacy policy at www.lycetts.co.uk/privacypolicy or contact us at:
Address: Lycett, Browne-Swinburne & Douglass Ltd, Bank House, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 6QF.
Telephone 0191 232 1151
Email: privacy@lycetts.co.uk
Complaints
‍We aim to provide a high level of service at all times. However, things can sometimes go wrong. If they do, we will try to resolve your issue quickly and fairly.
Making a complaint
If you do need to make a complaint, please let your usual contact at Lycetts know. Alternatively you can contact our complaints manager at:
Address: Lycett, Browne-Swinburne & Douglass Ltd, Bank house, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 6QF.
Telephone 0191 232 1151
Email: complaints@lycetts.co.uk Handling the complaint We will:
‍a) acknowledge your complaint within 5 days; and
b) let you know who is dealing with the complaint;
c) give you a copy of our complaints handling procedure; and
d) try to resolve the complaint within 8 weeks. If we cannot, we will keep you informed of progress and likely timescales for resolution.

Complaints to Lloyd’s
If your policy is with an insurer at Lloyd’s, you may refer your complaint to Lloyd's. Lloyd’s will then investigate the matter and provide a final response. You can contact Lloyd’s at:
Address: Complaints Lloyd’s One Lime Street London EC3M 7HA
Telephone 020 73275693
Email: complaints@lloyds.com
‍Website: www.lloyds.com/complaints

‍Financial Ombudsman Service
If you are not satisfied with our final response or, if applicable, the final response from the Lloyd’s complaints team, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You can contact the FOS at:
Address: Financial Ombudsman Service Exchange Tower London E14 9SR
Telephone 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9123
Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
‍Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
‍
‍The FOS will only consider complaints from eligible complainants. If you make a complaint we will give you details as to who can complain.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
If we cannot meet our financial liabilities, you may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS. Details of the FSCS can be found in your policy documents.
Governing law and disputes
This agreement is subject to the laws of England and Wales.
All disputes under this agreement are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English and Welsh courts.

CONTACT US

LEGALS