Terms and Conditions Of Business

Definitions

"We", "Us" or "Our" means Be Wiser Insurance Services Ltd (Company number 6097813), whose registered address is Barrett House, Savoy Close, Andover, Hants, SP10 2HZ.

"User (s)", "You", "Your" or "Yourself" means any third party that accesses the Web Site and is not employed by Be Wiser and acting in the course of their employment

"Website" means the website located at www.bewiser.co.uk.

"Cookies" means a text only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on your computer's hard disk so that the website can remember who you are.

About Us and the Services Provided

As an Independent Broker we offer products from a range of Insurers for Private Motor Vehicle, Motorcycle, Commercial Vehicle, Household Buildings, Household Contents and Commercial Risk Insurance. After a fair analysis of the market we will advise and make recommendations whilst considering your demands and needs for these products. For which we may receive commissions and charge fees which are fully disclosed below.

We may offer products from a limited number of Insurers for Classic Car, Travel, Pet, Gadget, Personal Accident, Breakdown, Minibus, Caravan, Motor Home, Kit Car, Taxi, Motor Trade and American Car. A list of these insurance undertakings is available upon request. We are not contractually obliged to conduct insurance mediation in this way.

We act on your behalf when arranging and administering your policy. Claims handling and administering is handled by your Insurer.

Regulatory Status

Be Wiser Insurance Services Ltd is authorised and regulated with respect to Non-Investment Insurance contracts by the Financial Conduct Authority and is held on the FCA register, Firm Reference Number 465471. Our name, address and regulatory status may be verified by visiting their website at https://register.fca.org.uk/.

We act as agents of the Insurer in collecting premiums and handling refunds due to our clients. Such monies are deemed to be held by the Insurer(s) with which your insurance is arranged.

Policy Wording
Full policy wordings and summary of covers are available from the Insurer section of our web site. Please do read these and download them prior to purchasing any policy from us.

For details of additional Free Benefits that you may be entitled to go to:-

• RAC Roadside Assistance
• Handbag & Gadget Cover
• Helmet & Leathers Cover
• Personal Accident Cover
• Free Personal Accident Plan policies taken out from 1st August 2017: Key facts and policy wording
• Home Emergency Assistance Cover

Accuracy of Information

Your insurance contract, including terms, conditions and premiums are based upon the information provided and subject to acceptance by the Insurer. You must ensure that you are complying with your legal duty to answer all the questions honestly and to the best of your knowledge.

Please note any questions incorrectly answered, being accidental or deliberate, may invalidate your insurance cover and could result in all or part of a claim not being paid. Your Insurers hold the right to cancel or void all cover in these circumstances. It is important that all documentation we send to you is checked immediately to ensure all information is correct. If any information is incorrect please advise us immediately.

It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to the Insurer throughout the life of your policy, this begins from the point of quotation, throughout the policy duration and when the contract is renewed.

Any change in your circumstance or the risk itself must be notified to us immediately, cover may be invalid until your Insurers have agreed cover based on any such change.

What You Pay

All premiums quoted will be the total cost which you will pay including Insurance Premium Tax and our fees, which are variable, but excluding any interest that may be due (dependent on your payment method) which will be disclosed to you in your quotation or new business documentation but will be a minimum of £65.

Please note we make the following charges to cover administration:

Amendments to policy - £35 plus 20% of the insurer premium

Duplicate documents - £25

Refunds by Cheque - £20

Collection of Direct Debit payments by Credit/Debit Card - £15

Payments not honoured by your Bank or Credit Card company - £25

Telematics Driving Fine -£25

Cancellation of your policy within 14 days - £20. (Please read Cancellation section).

Cancellation of your Policy after 14 days – net return from Insurers less a charge of £100. (Please read cancellation Section).

We will retain your bank account details for the purpose of automatic renewals (see renewals below).  We will retain a token for your debit/credit card details to pay or refund other premiums that may become due upon changes to the policy. If you do not want us to use your credit/debit card for these purposes please contact our customer services team.

The adjustment schedule will show the net due to Insurers and you will be advised of any charges when obtaining quotations for adjustments.

In the event that you do not pay any balances due to us and we have to appoint a debt recovery agent please note that they may charge you an additional fee for their service.

Calls to 0844 numbers will cost you 7 pence per minute plus your phone company’s access charge.

Telematics / Black Box

Where you receive a driving fine, as detailed in your policy terms, this will be automatically collected using the retained credit/debit card token.

We will send an information notice confirming the reason for the fine, the amount due and when it will be collected.

If your premium is being paid by Direct Debit the fine will be collected with your monthly payments. 

Renewals

Prior to the policy renewal date we will write to you in good time and advise terms for the next policy period.

If you elect to pay for your policy by direct debit the renewal advice will confirm the new monthly instalments to be taken by direct debit and the policy will automatically renew unless we receive your advice to lapse the policy.

For all other methods of payment the policy will not be automatically renewed and you must contact us prior to the renewal date and advise us to continue cover by providing payment. If payment is not received from you the policy will lapse upon the renewal date.

Claims

In the unfortunate event that an incident occurs which may give rise to a claim, whether fault or non-fault it is your duty to advise your Insurers without delay. All correspondence received from any third party must be forwarded to us immediately upon receipt, failure to do so may prejudice your Insurers position and they may seek recompense from you for such loss.

As part of our service to you we also offer assistance with any claim you may need to make including if required, the recovery of any uninsured losses you may incur. This service is provided by Crusader Assistance who may, in the event of a non-fault accident, provide you with a replacement vehicle for the period your vehicle is off the road. Free Claim Assistance to pursue any losses you may incur will be provided. Please note this service is not an insurance policy and as such is not governed by the personal customer code. Crusader can be contacted on 0800 298 2820.

Compensation

Be Wiser Insurance Services Ltd is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. In the unlikely event that we are unable to meet our obligations you may be entitled to compensation from this scheme. Compensation depends on the type of your insurance contract and the claim circumstances. For legally compulsory insurance contracts, insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim without any upper limit. For other classes of insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim without any upper limit.

For further information please contact: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme, 10th Floor, Beaufort House, 15 St Botolph Street, London, EC3A 7QU. Tel: 0800 678 1100 or visit their website at www.fscs.org.uk

Cancellation

You have the right to cancel your policy at any time during or before the period of cover. If you wish to cancel your policy please contact our office either by Phone, Email or in writing with your request and we will be happy to explain how any insurer refund is calculated, our charges that apply and whether there will be a refund due or any further payments due from you to settle the policy.

Should you cancel cover within fourteen days from receiving your policy documentation or the start of the policy, the premium you will pay will be calculated by the number of days on cover, (the insurer may have a minimum premium of £25.00 plus IPT) plus our charge of £20.00.

Should you cancel cover after fourteen days your Insurers may base their premium on "Short Period Rates", this could represent the time on cover with an additional charge equal to three months premium. Any return premium to you will be the net return given by your Insurers less a charge of £100.

Also any broker discounts given will be reversed prior to cancellation.

For non- annual, short term policies, the full premium will be payable and no refund will be given.

In the event that a claim has occurred under your contract no refund may be given until your Insurers have settled the claim on a non-fault basis, recovering all financial costs which may have been incurred. Please note if you have elected to pay by instalments these will continue to be collected unless you settle the outstanding balance in full.

Insurers always retain the right to decline or not accept cover subject to 7 days notice. In the event of this happening they will only charge pro-rata for the time on cover.

Complaints

It is our intention to ensure exceptional service at all times. However, in the unlikely event that you are unhappy with our service please contact us immediately and we will endeavour to provide the service you deserve.

We have a formal procedure in place for handling complaints and, should there ever be an occasion where you need to complain, please contact us immediately on 0333 999 0838 or to Customer.Care@bewiser.co.uk. Upon notification of your complaint we will investigate your concerns and resolve the matter directly with you as quickly and fairly as possible.

Alternatively you can contact the Complaints Manager, Be Wiser Insurance, Barrett House, Savoy Close, Andover, Hants, SP10 2HZ.

We would also remind you that if you are unhappy or dissatisfied with our resolution and final response you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Should you wish to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service, you can do so by telephone on 0800 023 4567, or by visiting www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Alternatively, you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR.

Where your policy is underwritten by Lloyds you may be entitled to pursue your complaint further with the Complaints Department at Lloyd's Market Services. They can be contacted at Fidentia House, Walter Burke Way, Chatham Maritime, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4RN. Email: Complaints@lloyds.com. If you remain dissatisfied after Lloyd's has considered your complaint, you may have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

We take great care to ensure that complaints by policyholders against us are dealt with in line with the Financial Conduct Authority's and Lloyd's complaint procedures and that all members comply with the requirements of those procedures.

Credit Searches and Use of Third Party Information

To ensure our insurers and credit providers can assess your insurance risk, identity, to help prevent fraud and to provide you with the best premium and payment options they may obtain information from third parties at quotation and renewal and mid-term.

This information includes a quotation search from a credit referencing agency which will appear on your credit report and will be visible to other credit providers.

We may also use the personal information provided in order to offer you associated products and services, as such this information may be passed to carefully selected partners.

In addition we may also validate the information you have provided by using additional services; this may include the Claims and Underwriting databases.

How we use your Information

The information that we hold about you, whether on our computer records or on paper, will be treated as private and confidential. Your personal information is collected and stored on a lawful basis and in accordance with the Data Protection Regulation, please refer to our Privacy Policy at www.bewiser.co.uk/privacy for full information.

It is important that all your information is kept up to date and accurate. Therefore, please notify us of any changes. If you believe that there may be an error in the information that you have provided, please notify us to correct any inaccurate information in your records.

The information will be disclosed to your Insurers, their agents, the regulator and other third parties, and as stated under Credit Searches and Use of Third Party Information, in the normal course of arranging and administering your insurance policy.

Under the Data Protection Act 2018 you have the right to request a copy of all the personal information we hold about you, or if you have any queries in respect of confidentiality and data protection please write to the Data Protection Officer, Barrett House, Savoy Close, Andover, Hants, SP10 2HZ..

For full details relating to the collection, retention and use of your personal data please refer to our Privacy Policy located at www.bewiser.co.uk/privacy

Long Term Credit

If you have chosen to pay by long term credit any return premium issued by your Insurer will be used to reduce the outstanding balance of the agreement. Should your policy be cancelled the instalments will continue to be collected under the credit agreement which you have entered into until all balances have been paid.

Unless the full balance of this agreement is paid your cancellation of the credit agreement will be an instruction from you to cancel your policy. We reserve the right to cancel or lapse a policy where payments are not received by the date due.

Instalment Credit Facilities

Whilst other Finance solutions are available, our Instalments are administered through Close Premium Finance Ltd (Registered Office: The Bailey, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 1DN, originator number 3742453). Please note Be Wiser Insurance acts as a Credit Broker. Where indicated new agreements will carry a £30 arrangement fee. Please note that should you wish to take advantage of the 14 Day cooling off period and not proceed with the agreement the arrangement fee will not be chargeable.

Direct Debit Terms

You can read the the Close Direct Debit Terms here (PDF).

Direct Debit Guarantee

This Guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that take part in the Direct Debit Scheme. The efficiency and security of the Scheme is monitored and protected by your own Bank or Building Society.

If the amount to be paid over the payment dates change Be Wiser Insurance Services Ltd will notify you 2 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed.

If an error is made by Be Wiser Insurance Services Ltd or your Bank or Building Society you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid.

You can cancel a direct debit at any time by writing to your Bank or Building Society. Please also send a copy of your letter to us.

Accessibility

The Service is provided "as is" and on an "as available" basis. We give no warranty that the Service will be free of defects and / or faults. To the maximum extent permitted by the law we provide no warranties (express or implied) of fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy of information, compatibility and satisfactory quality.

We will endeavour to allow uninterrupted access to this Website, but access may be suspended, restricted or terminated from time to time. We will not be liable, for any reason, if the website is unavailable for any period.

We reserve the right to change, modify, substitute, suspend or remove without notice any information, service or content on this website.

In addition we cannot warrant that this site will be free of viruses or defects of any description and we will not be held responsible for any technical problems you may suffer as a result of your use of this website.

We assume no responsibility and provide no warranty, guarantee or representation for content or services of any other website which links to or from this website.

Any material and / or data downloaded or obtained through us of this website or any of the websites mentioned in this website is at your own discretion and risk. You hold sole responsibility for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from downloading of such material and / or data.

Intellectual Property

All intellectual property including, but not limited to, the copyright, trademarks and all other intellectual property rights in the whole and every part of this website are owned by or licensed to Be Wiser Insurance Services Ltd unless otherwise indicated.

Such material may not be used, sold, copied, licensed, distributed, transmitted, published or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or form or in any media by any person without prior written consent of Be Wiser Insurance Services Ltd.

The Be Wiser website is solely for the use by private individuals. You are not permitted to use this site or copy material from this site for commercial purposes

Credit and other searches

Many insurance providers operate a credit scoring system and will carry out checks with credit reference agencies, fraud prevention agencies, and other public and privately available sources of information. These checks will include electoral roll and credit information.

These insurance credit checks are registered as general insurance searches and may be viewed by other companies when you apply for credit or insurance. These searches shouldn’t harm your credit profile or adversely affect your credit profile

PLEASE REMEMBER while we do not carry out credit searches on our website, our partners may do so at any stage of the quote or purchase process. This may happen regardless of whether you get a quote via the internet or phone for any of these services.

Privacy

The pages on this website are only directed at United Kingdom residents and comply with appropriate UK legislation and regulation.

By using this Website, you expressly agree to the collection and use of your information for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

Your information may be used for the purposes of administering your insurance needs. It may be disclosed to regulatory bodies for the purposes of monitoring and/or enforcing the insurer's compliance with any regulatory rules/codes.

Your personal information may be disclosed to reputable third parties involved in the process and delivery of your policy. Be Wiser requires all such third parties to treat your Personal Information as fully confidential and to fully comply with all applicable UK Data Protection and consumer legislation from time to time in place.

Be Wiser reserves the right to access and disclose personal data or information to comply with applicable laws and lawful government requests, to operate its systems properly and to protect itself or its users.

In the case of personal data, with limited exceptions, and on payment of the appropriate fee, you have the right to access and if necessary rectify information held about you.

If you give us information about another person, in doing so you confirm that they have given you permission to provide it to us to be able to process their personal data (including any sensitive personal data) and also that you have told them who we are and what we will use their data for, as set out in this notice.

Be Wiser may use your information to keep you informed by post, telephone, e-mail, text messaging or other electronic means, about insurance products and services which may be of interest to you. Your information may also be disclosed and used for these purposes after your policy has lapsed.

By providing us with your contact details, you consent to being contacted for these purposes. However, you can contact us at any time to have your details removed from lists used by us for direct marketing purposes.

Be Wiser may use the information which it collects to personalise your experience on the Website and to help select services or materials for inclusion on the Website which may be of interest to you.

Be Wiser may on occasion ask you to provide sensitive personal data as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998. Be Wiser will take appropriate measures to protect such sensitive personal data.

As required by the Data Protection Act 1998, we follow strict security procedures in the storage and disclosure of information which you have provided via this Website, however we cannot guarantee the security of any information you provide through the Website. You agree that we will not be liable for any such security breaches unless they have been caused by our wilful neglect.

The information that we collect via this website may include:-

Any personal details that you type in and submit such as your name, address, e-mail address, date of birth, lifestyle and other information.

Data that allows us to remember you, any interests that you have recorded and how you use this website, this saves you from re-keying information when you return to the site.

We use "cookies" to collect this data. Cookies are text-only strings of information that are stored on your web browser or hard disk. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings of your web browser.

Your IP address that is automatically logged by our web server. This is used to note your interest in our website.

Your preferences and use of e-mail updates that are recorded by e-mails we send you.

The URL you came from, your browser type, the country and telephone area code where your computer is located, the pages of our Website that were viewed during your visit, the advertisements you clicked on, and any search terms that you entered on our Website. We may collect this information even if you do not register with us.

General

This Privacy Policy covers all websites operated by Be Wiser. Any other websites that may be linked to or by our website(s) will be subject to their own policies which may differ from ours. You should carefully read the privacy policies of these websites before submitting any personal information.

You should also be aware that communications over the internet, such as e-mails, are not secure unless they have been encrypted. Be Wiser cannot accept responsibility for any unauthorised access or loss of personal information that is beyond our control.

Be Wiser is not responsible for what any third party content provider or other third party offering goods and services via Websites linked to this Website may propose to do with information about you.

Be Wiser may, from time to time, expand or reduce its business and this may involve the sale of certain divisions or the transfer of control of certain divisions to other parties. Data provided by Users will, where it is relevant to any division so transferred, be transferred along with that division and the new owner or newly controlling party will, under the terms of this Policy, be permitted to use the Data for the purposes for which it was supplied by you.

Be Wiser reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy as we may deem necessary from time to time or as may be required by law. Any changes will be immediately posted on the Web Site and you are deemed to have accepted the terms of the Policy on your first use of the Web Site following the alterations.

Disclaimer

Be Wiser makes no warranty or representation that the Web Site will meet your requirements, that it will be of satisfactory quality, that it will be fit for a particular purpose, that it will not infringe the rights of third parties, that it will be compatible with all systems, that it will be secure and that all information provided will be accurate.

Be Wiser aim to correct errors and omissions as soon as possible once they are aware, however, on occasion there may be an error in the information or service shown. Should such an event occur we reserve the right to cancel any contract we may have entered in to with you. This will be without any liability to you and a pro rata refund will be offered.

We take every effort to ensure the site is accurate and up to date. However, all warranties (whether express or implied) and all liability to you in respect of the site, its contents and or your use of the same, are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

This disclaimer does not affect your statutory rights in respect of any products or services that you purchase from this site.

If any provision in these terms and conditions shall be found by any court or administrative body to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be deemed deleted and will not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions.

Insurers pass information to the Claims and Underwriting Exchange register, run by Insurance Database Services Ltd and the Motor Insurance Anti Fraud and Theft Register, run by the Association of British Insurers. When we deal with your insurance request we may search these registers. Under the conditions of your policy you must inform us about any incident which may or may not give rise to a claim, this information will be passed to these registers.

When a motor insurance policy is taken out with Be Wiser your policy details will be added to the Motor Insurance Database (MID), run by the Motor Insurers Information Centre (MIIC). MID data may be used by the DVLA and DVLNI for the purpose of Electronic Vehicle Licensing and by the Police to establish whether a driver's use of the vehicle is likely to be covered by a motor insurance policy and / or for preventing and detecting crime. If you are involved in an accident other UK insurers, the Motor Insurers Bureau and MIIC may search the MID to gain policy information.

Persons with a valid claim is respect of a road traffic accident may also obtain information which is held on the MID.

You may find out more about this from us, or at www.miic.org.uk.

You should show this notice to anyone insured to drive the vehicle covered under the policy.

Law and Jurisdiction

These terms and conditions and the relationship between you and Be Wiser shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the Law of England and Wales and Be Wiser and you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.

All quotations which we provide are in respect of policies subject to the law of England and Wales and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts save in either case where your policy otherwise provide

Be Wiser is only able to arrange insurance on this website for individuals who are permanently resident in the United Kingdom, The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Be Wiser accepts no liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage, foreseeable or otherwise, including any indirect, consequential, special or exemplary damages arising from the use of the

Web Site or any information contained therein. Users should be aware that they use the Web Site and its Content at their own risk.

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions excludes or restricts Be Wiser's liability for death or personal injury resulting from any negligence or fraud on the part of Be Wiser

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that these terms and conditions adhere strictly with the relevant provisions of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, in the event that any of these terms are found to be unlawful, invalid or otherwise unenforceable, that term is to be deemed severed from these terms and conditions and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining terms and conditions.

This term shall apply only within jurisdictions where a particular term is illegal.

No Waiver

In the event that any party to these Terms and Conditions fails to exercise any right or remedy contained herein, this shall not be construed as a waiver of that right or remedy.

Links to Other Web Sites

This Web Site may contain links to other sites. Unless expressly stated, these sites are not under the control of Be Wiser or that of our affiliates. We assume no responsibility for the content of such web sites and disclaim liability for any and all forms of loss or damage arising out of the use of them. The inclusion of a link to another site on this Web Site does not imply any endorsement of the sites themselves or of those in control of them.

Telephone Calls

We may record / monitor telephone calls for our joint protection and training purposes.

Road Traffic Act 1988

It is an offence under the Road Traffic Act to make any false statement or withhold any material information for the purpose of obtaining a certificate of insurance.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

Please note that you are not required to disclose convictions regarded as "Spent Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974".