Terms of Business of Bionic Financial Services Limited
Business Customers Please read this document carefully. It sets out the terms on which we will provide our services and contains details of our regulatory and statutory responsibilities. Contact us immediately if there is anything which you do not understand. In the interests of security, staff training, to maintain our records and to improve our service please be aware that telephone calls may be monitored and recorded
1. Who we are
1.1. Bionic Financial Services Limited (“BFS”) is an independent insurance intermediary; authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our address is The Minster Building, 21 Mincing Lane, London, EC3R 7AG. Our Financial Services Register number is 544998. These details can be checked on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA's website https://register.fca.org.uk/ or by contacting the FCA on 0300 500 8082.
2. Our Service
2.1. We are permitted to arrange, deal as an agent of insurers, assist in claims handling, help with ongoing changes, introduce to an insurer/finance provider(s) and arrange lending facilities, collect debt and administer debts in respect of general insurance policies on behalf of our clients.
2.2. We have access to leading insurers and we select your insurance product from a panel of insurers, however there are times when we may use a single specialist insurer. Please ask us if you would like a list of these insurers. At our discretion, we offer clients the options to pay by instalments through Close Brothers Premium Finance. We will always inform you of our selection range prior to you committing to purchase an insurance policy or take out a finance agreement. In certain circumstances we may use the services of another intermediary to place your insurance and in these circumstances, we will always inform you of the name of that intermediary and the insurer.
2.3. BFS do not provide advice, we will only provide you information on the policy.
4. Our Remuneration, Fees and other Income
4.1. Our remuneration for our services is normally in the form of commission which is a percentage of the insurance premium paid by you and allowed by the insurer(s) with whom the insurance is placed. Other remuneration options include an administration fee or a combination of a fee and commission percentage. Our remuneration is earned at the inception of the policy and each successive renewal date and fees will not usually be returnable. We, and Close Brothers Premium Finance, where you have chosen to pay with premium finance, may request payment of outstanding costs and fees, where the policy is cancelled mid-term. In addition to client fees and/or administration payments, we may also receive remuneration through sharing of profits with the insurer and by way of Interest earned on insurance monies passing through our bank accounts.
4.2 We may make a charge to cover the administration of your insurances at new business and renewal. Any charge will be notified to you on the phone or in writing prior to conclusion of the contract of insurance. The following charge(s) may be applied to cover the administration of your insurance:
- 4.2.1. New Business/Renewal (via telephone) - £45 Bionic Financial Services Limited Registered in England & Wales. Registration number 07548195. Registered Office Address: 4th Floor, The Minster Building, 21 Mincing Lane, EC3R 7AG. VAT Number 108278903. Bionic Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
- 4.2.3. Digital (automatic) Renewal - £30
- 4.2.4. New Business / Renewal (failed/incomplete payment) - £35
4.4. Please ask us if you would like further information on the above.
5. Commercial Customers Duty of Fair Presentation
5.1. It is your responsibility to provide a fair presentation of the insurance risk when requesting a quotation from us. This should include you conducting a reasonable search for information within your organisation and approaching relevant senior employees of both your company and any other connected company in relation to the risk. You must thereafter disclose every material circumstance which you know or ought to know. Failing this, you must disclose suAicient information to put your insurer on notice that it needs to make further enquiries regarding the material fact. You must also ensure that the information provided to us is correct to the best of your knowledge and that all representations made to us in either expectation or belief are made in good faith.
5.2. Failure to make a fair presentation of the risk may result in additional terms or warranties being applied to your policy from inception or any claim amount being reduced proportionately. In certain circumstances, your insurer may declare your cover void and will return any premiums already paid. If the insurer views the omission as a deliberate or reckless breach of the duty of fair presentation, they may void your policy and retain all premiums paid. If you need further clarity regarding a material circumstance or fact, please contact us immediately.
6. Mid-Term Adjustments
6.1. We do not charge you any administration fees for mid-term adjustments to your policy, however your insurer may charge you an additional premium.
7. Renewal of Contract
7.1. BFS have two options for renewal:
- 7.1.1. Insurance Broker – One of our insurance brokers will contact you in good time before your renewal date, they will discuss your demands and needs and make any necessary changes to the risk presentation sent to the insurer. They will provide you with a quote based on the updated risk information.
- 7.1.2. Digital Renewal – Where you have been opted in to the Digital Renewal Service, we will email you offering terms in good time before your renewal date. Renewal of the contract is based on the information you supplied when we arranged your current contract along with any amendments you have made during the period of cover.
7.2. Regardless of renewal method it is important that you tell us about any changes to your requirements. Please refer to the Duty of Fair Presentation section of these terms.
8. Payment of the Premium and Payment Options
8.1. You must provide the premium due in cleared funds in accordance with the amounts and payment dates in our debit notes. Failure to meet the payment dates may lead to insurers cancelling your policy without further notice. Where insurers have Bionic Financial Services Limited Registered in England & Wales. Registration number 07548195. Registered Office Address: 4th Floor, The Minster Building, 21 Mincing Lane, EC3R 7AG. VAT Number 108278903. Bionic Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. specified that the premium must be received by a certain date, failure to comply can result in the automatic termination of your insurance.
8.2. 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 in a finance arrangement with Close Brothers Premium Finance, your details will be passed to them to enable them to administer the agreement and you should contact us at the address given in this document if you do not want your details passed to that party. This finance arrangement will be subject to interest charges that we will confirm to you when providing the full details. Importantly, the arrangement you will enter will be with the finance company, not us. It is an entirely separate contract irrespective of the insurance contract. In the event of your failure to meet with the contractual obligations regarding payment the finance provider could approach the insurer to seek a termination of the insurance contract to recoup their outstanding finance arrears. You will be liable to pay their costs and charges and any outstanding administration charges on the policy, or cancellation costs charged by the insurer in line with their cancellation process, if you do not keep up your repayments and cover is cancelled under your policy. Charges applied by the finance company are between you, the policyholder, and them and will be part of your separate agreement
9. Cancellation Rights
9.1. Should you need to cancel your policy or if you change your mind within 14 days of commencement of cover, you are entitled to a premium refund. If you wish to cancel your policy after 14 days of the commencement of cover, please refer to your insurer’s policy wording for details of your cancellation rights and whether you are entitled to any refunds or contact us and we will advise you.
10. Refund Procedures
10.1. Where you cancel your personal insurance outside the 14 day cancellation period, we reserve the right to charge for our time and for the administration costs involved. This results in us retaining our original commission and fees.
10.2. For some insurance contracts, insurers will not provide refunds for mid-term cancellation of cover. We will tell you if this aAects you.
11. Notification of Claims or Incidents
11.1. Many insurers provide a 24-hour helpline in respect of claims. Please refer to your policy documents for contact details.
11.2. Please ensure that you report all incidents that could give rise to a claim as soon as you become aware of them by contacting your insurer.
11.3. If you receive correspondence from a third party about your claim please pass it to your insurer immediately.
11.4. If you require any assistance with a claim or incident please contact us.
12. Risk Transfer Arrangement
2.1 We have agreements with some insurers (known as 'risk transfer agreements'). Under these risk transfer agreements the insurer agrees that we are responsible to you for any premiums that Bionic Financial Services Limited Registered in England & Wales. Registration number 07548195. Registered Office Address: 4th Floor, The Minster Building, 21 Mincing Lane, EC3R 7AG. VAT Number 108278903. Bionic Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. you have already paid to us and that the insurer remains responsible for any premium refunds until the premium refund is received by you. In this case we may hold client money due to or from the insurers in the same trust fund.
12.2 We will not use client money to pay any commission before we receive your premium.
12.3 We are entitled to co-mingle risk transfer money with any other client money and/or risk transfer money held by us and the Insurer consents to its interests with regard to monies held in our client monies account being subordinated to the interests of our clients.
12.4 You will not be denied insurance cover or any risk transfer money which may be due to you from the Insurer as a result of insolvency or other financial default impacting BFS. Premium payable to the Insurer and paid to us by or on behalf of the yourself shall be treated as having been received by the Insurer when these premiums are received by us. Premium refunds payable to you shall be treated as having been paid to you when they are actually paid by us.
12.5 If, in the process of handling premium through this risk transfer, we earn interest, we will keep any such amounts.
13. Data Protection and Confidentiality
13.1. All information on our records relating to you will be treated as private and confidential and will only be disclosed to others such as our business partners, insurers, credit providers and other third parties who are directly involved in the normal course of arranging and administering your insurance. By accessing our sites and using our services, you consent to any such transfer of information to a third party.
13.2. Where you have given us consent we may use the data we hold about you to provide you with a renewal quotation and information about our group companies other products and services we consider may be appropriate.
13.3. Our Retention of your Personal Information - By using our services you consent to us and our partners retaining any personal information you have provided. We will retain any personal information only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the business purpose for which it was collected. We will also retain and use your personal information for as long as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
13.4. Under the General Data Protection Regulations 2018, you have the right to ask us for a copy of any personal information about yourself that we hold on our records. Please contact us if you require any more information. For further information on your rights under the General Data Protection Regulations please refer to the Information Commissioners OAice – www.ico.org.uk.
13.5. Please refer to our privacy policy on our website for further information.
13.6. To help make sure you receive a competitive quotation, oAer of appropriate payment options, protection against fraud and to verify your identity, insurers may use publicly available data which they obtain from a variety of sources, including a credit reference agency and other external organisations. Their search will appear on your credit report whether or not your application proceeds.
14. Termination of Agreement
14.1. Our agreement may be terminated by either one of us. We will typically provide 14 days notice in writing to you. In some circumstances your policy will be cancelled at shorter notice but this will be explained to you in writing.
14.2. We will be entitled to retain any fees or commission payable in relation to business transacted prior to the date of termination.
15. Limitation of liability
15.1. The extent of the parties’ liability under or in connection with this Agreement (regardless of whether such liability arises in tort, contract or in any other way and whether or not caused by negligence or misrepresentation) shall be as set out as below.
15.2. Subject to clause 15.6, BFS’s total liability shall not exceed the sum of the total commission earnt by BFS for the arrangement of the customers current insurance policy.
15.3. Subject to clause 15.6, BFS shall not be liable for any consequential, indirect or special loss.
15.4. Subject to clause 15.6, BFS shall not be liable for any of the following (whether direct or indirect): loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of data, loss of use, loss of production, loss of contract, loss of commercial opportunity, loss of savings, discount or rebate (whether actual or anticipated), harm to reputation or loss of goodwill, loss of business and wasted expenditure.
15.5. Except as expressly stated in this Agreement, all warranties and conditions whether express or implied by statute, common law or otherwise are excluded to the extent permitted by law.
15.6. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the liability of the parties shall not be limited in any way in respect of the following; death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, any other losses which cannot be excluded or limited by applicable law and any losses caused by wilful misconduct.
16. Bribery and Corruption
16.1. Our company culture and ethics mean that we do not bribe or use any other means to improperly influence the decisions of clients, potential clients or government oAicials. Our business is structured with appropriate systems and controls so as to comply with the requirements of the Bribery Act 2010.
17. Sanctions
17.1. Upon inception of a policy, renewal and when changes are made to your policy mid-term, we submit a sanction check to ensure that no sanctions will be, or are likely to be breached, as a result of us acting on your behalf or in placing insurances. Whilst we will try and comply with all relevant sanctions legislation (in the UK, European Union or elsewhere), it is for you to ensure compliance with such legislation and we will not accept responsibility for any breaches of sanctions legislation that you may commit in any part of the world. If we suspect or find there had been a breach of such legislation, we shall be entitled to refer such matter to the appropriate authorities without notice to you. In such circumstances, we reserve the right to withdraw from Bionic Financial Services Limited Registered in England & Wales. Registration number 07548195. Registered Office Address: 4th Floor, The Minster Building, 21 Mincing Lane, EC3R 7AG. VAT Number 108278903. Bionic Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. providing our services to you in support of any cover or insurances and shall not be liable to any services or services in support of any claim which is ongoing.
18. Complaints
18.1. Our aim is to provide all of our clients with an excellent level of service, however we recognise that there may be occasions when you do not feel satisfied with the service you have received from us. Should you need to make a complaint please contact our Complaints Manager using any of the following methods: Bionic Financial Services Limited 4th Floor Minster Building 21 Mincing Lane London EC3R 7AG United Kingdom Telephone: 0845 158 5263.
18.2. We aim to resolve complaints within 3 business days following receipt, however if we can't we will write to you within five working days to acknowledge your complaint and provide details of our complaint handling procedures and who is dealing with your complaint.
18.3. We aim to provide a final response to your complaint within eight weeks from the date of receipt of your complaint and if we cannot we will outline the reasons for the delay and provide you with an indication of when you can expect to receive a response.
18.4. If you are dissatisfied with our final response, or we have been unable to provide our final response to your complaint you may be eligible to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) free of charge. Details of the eligibility criteria can be found in our complaints procedure or on the FOS website https://financial-ombudsman.org.uk. If you do decide to refer your complaint to the Ombudsman you must do so within six months of the date of our final response.
18.5. The FOS oAer an independent service for resolving disputes and you can contact the FOS by:
- 18.5.1. Calling their consumer helpline on 0800 0234 567 or 0300 1239 123;
- 18.5.2. Writing to them at Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR;
- 18.5.3. Emailing complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk.
18.6. We will include a copy of the Financial Ombudsman Service's leaflet in all resolution letters.
19. Solvency and Compensation
19.1. We do not guarantee the solvency of any insurer we place business with.
19.2. We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for insurance mediation only; this does not extend to consumer credit lending. The FSCS is the UK's compensation fund of last resort for clients of authorised financial services firms. You may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and circumstances of the claim. Bionic Financial Services Limited Registered in England & Wales. Registration number 07548195. Registered Office Address: 4th Floor, The Minster Building, 21 Mincing Lane, EC3R 7AG. VAT Number 108278903. Bionic Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
19.3. Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim with no upper limit, although compulsory insurance is protected in full. Further details about the FSCS can be found on their website 20. Conflicts of Interes
20. Conflicts of Interest
20.1. Our company ethics and culture towards customer service means that we never deliberately put ourselves in a position where our interests or our duty to another party prevents us from discharging our duty to you. 20.2. Where we become aware of any actual or potential conflict of interest we will tell you about the situation, the options available to you and we will ask for your consent.
21. Law and Jurisdiction
21.1. These Terms of Business which form our agreement with you, shall be governed by and construed under the laws of England and Wales without giving eAect to such laws’ provisions regarding conflicts of law. Each party irrevocably agrees that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with this Agreement or its subject matter or formation.