Insurance Terms of Business

Please read this document carefully. It contains important information which the Financial Conduct Authority requires us to give you and should be used to decide if our services are right for you.

Please contact us if there is anything in this document which you do not understand or with which you disagree. These terms of business are for Commercial Customers only, who are acting for purposes relating to their trade, business or profession. This insurance is optional and is provided by us in conjunction with a contract for our HR/Employment Law and/or Health and Safety Service.

Who are we?

Avensure Limited, St John’s House, 2-10 Queen Street, Manchester M2 5JB is an insurance intermediary and not an insurer. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FRN783702. This can be checked on the FCA’s Register by visiting the FCA’s website https://register.fca.org.uk or by contacting the FCA consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768.

Our relationships

As an insurance intermediary we act as your agent. We also have relationships with the insurer and act for them in a limited capacity. We also have relationships through minority shareholding and family links. We are subject to the laws of agency and will always act in your best interests.

Our service

We only offer insurance from Financial and Legal Insurance Company Ltd (FLI). They are authorised and regulated by the Prudential Regulatory Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

You will not receive advice or a personal recommendation from us. We will ask sufficient questions to establish your demands and needs. Any quotation we give you will be consistent with those demands and we will identify your needs. You will then need to decide how to proceed and whether you consider  the product is suitable for you.

We act as agent of the insurer when receiving premiums which mean that when you pay us your premium it is protected by risk transfer and held in trust for the insurer.  We have limited claims handling authority from the Insurer and written procedures in place to protect your interests.

How are we paid?

We are remunerated by commission from your premium which is paid to us by your insurer and have a profit sharing arrangement in place with FLI. If we also charge you a fee this will be disclosed to you in advance together with the reasons applicable. You have the right to ask us about our earning at any time.

Cancellation

You may cancel the insurance policy within 14 days of its inception without any premium charge provided that there have been no claims by giving written notice to Avensure Limited. After 14 days the policy may be cancelled, and any return premium will be in accordance with the policy conditions.

In respect of the Employer Protect Legal Expenses Insurance Policy you will be entitled to a proportionate refund of the premium provided that there have been no claims.

In respect of the Business Premier Legal Expenses Insurance Policy no refund of premium will be available.

The cancellation of the insurance does not affect the other services provided by Avensure which are provided by a separate contract and any liability to pay for those services will continue until that contract expires.

Your “demands and needs”

The Employer Protect Insurance product meets the demands and needs of any organisation that requires legal protection insurance to provide cover, wherever possible, against Employment Tribunal awards; and access to an HR/Employment Law advice line service which will give you access to an expert, dedicated Employment Law Advice Team 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The Business Premier Legal Expenses Insurance product meets the demands and needs of any organisation that requires commercial legal protection insurance to provide cover, wherever possible, against Health & Safety Appeals, Legal Defences, Contract Disputes & Debt Recovery, Property Disputes, Court Attendance, Tax Protection, Licence Protection and Personal Injury.

The Employer Protect Legal Expenses Insurance Policy and the Business Premier Legal Expenses Insurance Policy are provided by Financial and Legal Insurance Company Limited. Financial and Legal Insurance Company Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under number 202915.

Your obligation to us

As commercial customers you are purchasing Insurance for purposes related to your trade, business or profession. You must disclose all facts material to the insurance you wish to take out. The facts you need to reveal are all those which the insurer needs to estimate your risk and set the premium and terms. You must disclose this information in a way that is clear and substantially correct.

You must also inform us of any changes to your policy details during the life of your policy, including at renewal.

Please read carefully all policy documents sent to you and inform us immediately of any incorrect information shown. If you have difficulty in understanding anything, please let us know and we will assist you.

For your protection, insurers maintain databases to prevent fraud and the information you give us may be subject to checks.

Your obligation to the Insurer

Employer Protect Insurance Policy

The Employer Protect Legal Expenses Insurance Policy covers the cost of basic and compensatory awards (subject to the maximum limit) following a dispute with an employee resulting from any claim or incident which was unforeseen at the date of the commencement of this insurance policy (providing the terms of the policy are met).

The insurance policy is effective only if the nominated person seeks and continues to follow the advice provided by Avensure Limited. In particular, advice must be sought in the following situations to enable Avensure Limited to ensure that you follow the correct procedures, therefore limiting your chances of needing to defend your actions in a Tribunal and to give you the best possible chance of presenting a strong defence and winning the case:-

• Before taking any disciplinary action or commencing a disciplinary procedure;
• Before making ANY amendments to your employment documentation when re-issuing documentation to existing employees;
• Before dismissing an employee;
• Upon receipt of notification of any form of grievance by an employee or a complaint of harassment or discrimination;
• Before starting any redundancy process or making an employee redundant;
• Before seeking to make a material change to an employee’s contract, which is likely or can be argued to have a negative impact upon that employee;
• Upon becoming aware of a situation that could give rise to a potential claim for constructive dismissal by an employee;
• Upon the resignation or retirement of an employee;
• Following a request by an employee for reasonable adjustments.

The amount of cover provided:

£100,000 for any one claim.

£200,000 in total in any one Period of Insurance.

Business Premier Legal Expenses Policy

The Business Premier Legal Expenses Policy covers the following:

• Health & Safety Appeals – the Costs and Expenses in relation to an appeal against the service of an improvement or a prohibition notice, a suspension notice or an order of enforcement order under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 or the Food Safety Act 1990.
• Legal Defence – the Costs and Expenses for defending an insured person’s rights relating to certain criminal prosecutions, wrongful arrest and date protection.
• Contract Disputes & Debt Recovery – the Costs and Expenses for the pursuit or defence of legal proceedings relating to an agreement or alleged agreement that an insured person has entered for the buying, selling or hiring in of any goods or services.
• Property Disputes – the Costs and Expenses for the pursuit of a defence of Legal proceedings relating to:

1. An incident which causes or could cause physical damage to the buildings.
2. Any unlawful interference of your use or enjoyment or right of the building.
3. The landlord’s failure to maintain the building.

• Court Attendance – For each day the insured person is required to attend any court at the request of an appointed representative, the actual loss of the salary or wages of an insured person for the time off work.
• Tax Protection – the Costs and Expenses for defence of legal proceedings relating to:

1. A Tax Enquiry or Cross Tax Enquiry.
2. An investigation by HM Revenue and Customs of compliance with Pay As You Earn regulations
3. An appeal to the VAT tribunal following an assessment by HM Revenue and Customs.

• Licence Protection – the Costs and Expenses in relation to an appeal against a statutory licensing authority following an act or omission, which leads to the suspending, revoking, altering the terms of or refusal to renew a statutory license.
• Personal Injury – the Costs and Expenses in relation to the pursuit of legal proceedings in respect of any incident causing bodily injury or death of an insured person

The amount of cover provided:

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

We are covered by the FSCS. You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim and further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.

What to do if you have a complaint

If you wish to make a complaint, please contact us with details of your complaint at your earliest convenience quoting your account number, name and contact details:

By Post:  Complaints Department, Avensure Limited, St John’s House, 2-10 Queen Street, Manchester, M2 5JB.

By Email:    complaints@avensure.com

We will attempt to resolve your complaint by the end of the third working day following receipt and a summary resolution letter will be sent to you.   Where this is not possible, an acknowledgement will be issued.

Where a complaint is not resolved within 4 weeks Avensure will write to you to advise what further action is to be taken.  A final written response will be issued within 8 weeks of receipt.

Financial Ombudsman Service

If we cannot resolve your complaint, you may have the right to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.  This must be done within 6 months of receiving our written response.  Their contact details are:

By Post:  Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR

By Phone:              0800 023 4567

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

Privacy Notice

Please read the Privacy Notice that accompanies this document. It contains important information about how we protect and use your information.