Status Disclosure

Winchester Hawkins Limited trading as Winchester Hawkins Insurance Services is an independent insurance intermediary. Our registered office is at 14 Free Trade Wharf, 340 The Highway, London, E1W 3ES. Our Company Registration Number is 4211382. You can contact us on telephone number 020 7702 7785. Further details regarding Winchester Hawkins Limited are available on our website at www.winchesterhawkins.co.uk.

We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to sell general insurance products. Our Financial Services Firm Reference Number is 314002. The Financial Conduct Authority maintains a Financial Services Register that lists all authorised and regulated firms, appointed representatives and approved persons and this Register can be accessed at the Financial Conduct Authority’s website at www.fca.org.uk/ or by contacting the Financial Conduct Authority on telephone number 0800 111 6768 or 020 7066 1000.

The Financial Conduct Authority permits us to advise, arrange (bring about) and to make arrangements with a view to transactions in non-investment insurance contracts, to deal as an agent in non-investment insurance contracts and to assist in the administration and performance of non-investment insurance contracts.

Relationship

We act as the agent for our clients, namely, consumers* and commercial customers*. Therefore, we will seek the best insurance terms and conditions available on your behalf and will do this for you either directly or via other insurance intermediaries from either a single insurer, a number of insurers or based upon a fair analysis of the insurance market.

*       The Financial Conduct Authority defines a consumer as a person who is acting outside of their trade, business or profession and a commercial customer as a customer who is not a consumer. If it is not known if a client is a consumer or a commercial customer, then the client will be treated as a consumer.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

Professional Indemnity Insurance is mandatory under the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulations and Winchester Hawkins Limited carries Professional Indemnity Insurance that conforms to these regulations.

Ownership

100.00% of the share capital of Winchester Hawkins Limited is held by Mr Preston Morley and both Winchester Hawkins Limited and Mr Preston Morley do not hold any share capital in any other insurance intermediary or insurer.

Data Protection Act (1998) and Confidentiality

We are registered under the Data Protection Act (1998) and undertake to comply with this act in our dealings with all personal data. All information is treated in the strictest confidence and will only be disclosed to the relevant and appropriate parties involved with the insurance contract. However, insurers may pass information to various bodies, such as, the Claims and Underwriting Exchange operated by Insurance Database Services Limited and the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register operated by the Association of British Insurers to check information and to prevent fraudulent insurance claims. Motor insurance details are also added to the Motor Insurance Database operated by the Motor Insurers’ Information Centre which is used to identify uninsured drivers and can be searched by the police to confirm who is insured to drive a motor vehicle. The database is also used by insurers and the Motor Insurers Bureau to identify relevant policy information in the event of an accident.

Our Data Protection Registration Number is Z1741929. The Information Commissioner maintains a register that lists all individuals and organisations registered and the scope of their licence issued. You can access the register to check our registration and licence held at the Information Commissioner’s website at www.ico.gov.uk. Further details regarding the Information Commissioner and the Data Protection Act can also be found at their website or by contacting the Information Commissioner on telephone number 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745.  

Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice explains why we collect personal data, the personal data that we collect, how we use it and your rights in respect of your personal data. Any personal data we collect will only be used in accordance with this Notice.

• Our Obligations – the Data Protection Laws including the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that came into force on 25th May 2018, require that personal data we hold must be a) used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way, b) collected only for valid purposes in relation to any insurance we have been requested to arrange on your behalf including any mid-term changes and/or claims under your policy, c) kept securely and confidentially always and only as long as necessary for the purposes required and d) maintained up to date and accurate.
• How We Will Use Your Personal Data – we will only use your personal data where the law allows us to and to a) process and complete your requests and/or applications for our products and services, b) for security and identification verification, c) to update our records and maintain your policy with us, d) to develop and improve our products and/or services if required and e) to provide specific information to our regulators and other government bodies to adhere to our regulatory, legal and compliance obligations.
• Security Of Your Personal Data – as the data controller and processor we have responsibilities to prevent your information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed to unauthorised parties. We limit the access of your personal information to those individuals and businesses that have a need to use your data including Insurers, Professional Bodies, Associations or Trade Unions that may represent you and to which you belong or other Insurance Brokers with whom we transact business on your behalf to secure the cover that you have requested. We take the security of your personal data most seriously and because of this, we may ask you to verify your identity when you call us. We adopt a number of security measures to safeguard your personal data, which we store within the United Kingdom solely. Your data is also used for other business purposes such as fraud prevention or detection and financial management. This may involve sharing your information with third parties such as Loss Adjusters, Legal Advisers, Solicitors, Credit Agencies, Finance Companies, Fraud Prevention and Regulatory Authorities.
• The Information That We Hold About You – personal data means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified including your name, address, telephone number(s), email address(es), date of birth, occupation, gender, nationality, bank or other financial institution. We may also collect, store and use personal data provided to us in respect of third parties such as business partners or other individuals engaged in your business for the purpose of assessing the risk(s) to be insured. You are responsible for this additional information and must inform such parties of our identity and the purpose for which their personal data will be processed, drawing to their attention to this Privacy Notice. We will not use their information other than for the purpose for which you have provided it.
• Collection Of Personal Information – we usually receive personal information by way of a completed insurance application form, renewal declaration, statement of fact or correspondence both verbally or in written form. We also collect personal data from publicly accessible sources in order to establish and verify your identity to carry out Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Combatting Terrorism Financing (CTF) and Know Your Client (KYC) checks. If you use our website, we may also collect certain information automatically from you.
• Sensitive Personal Information – we may need to collect data that is defined as special or sensitive, such as medical history or criminal convictions. We will only process such data where it directly relates to a product you have requested from us or in respect of a claim which may involve allegations of professional negligence or criminal offences.
• Your Rights – you have the right to ask us about the personal information that we hold on you and we will provide you with a copy of this information in accordance with our obligations under the Data Protection Laws including the new General Data Protection Regulations. You should let us know if you think any information that we hold about you is inaccurate in order that we can correct it. You have the right to request erasure of your personal data. However, this could, depending on the circumstances, be overridden by the policy terms and conditions and our regulatory and legal based compliance requirements to retain the data. You may request us to restrict processing of your personal data although we may not be able to agree to your request if it conflicts with our legitimate business interests.
• If You Do Not Provide Or Update Your Information – we may be unable to provide any products or services requested, and we may be unable to comply with our legal obligations such as verifying your identity and complying with any anti-fraud and anti-money laundering regulations. In these circumstances we may have to cancel an insurance product that you have with us. It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current, and you should keep us informed if your personal information changes. We may process your personal information without your knowledge or consent where this is required or permitted by law.
• Sharing Your Personal Data – we will not sell your details to any third party, nor will we use your personal data for any marketing purposes without your explicit written consent (unless the products or services are directly related to insurance risks associated with your business). We do not use automated decision making or profiling.
• Withdrawal Of Your Consent – you may withdraw your consent for us to hold or use your personal data at any time. Any personal data not required for the management of any run-off insurance covers, current or future claims, compliance with any statutory or legal obligations will then be deleted from our records. In all other cases we will maintain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to comply with our own statutory obligations, your policy conditions, and for the protection of your interest in respect of future claims under the policy.

If you wish to exercise any of your rights or have any questions relating to our Privacy Notice, then please contact us at your earliest convenience. You also have a right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioners Office – the contact details are as that above.

The Insurance Act 2015

The Insurance Act 2015 came into force on 12th August 2016 and applies to all policies governed by the laws of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland that are entered into or varied on or after that date.

The key elements of the Act are as follows:

• A New Duty Of Fair Presentation Of Your Risk Details – the Act defines a new structured approach of how details of your business should be presented to us/your insurer at each renewal or variation of your policy (the duty of fair presentation). Your primary duty is still to tell us/your insurer about all information you know or ought to know that would affect the insurer’s judgement in deciding whether to underwrite your insurance cover requirements and on what terms. Failing that, you must give us/your insurer enough information so that they can determine whether they shall need to ask for further information. The Act sets out whose knowledge within your business should be sought and the sort of information you ought to know. The Act also requires that you provide the information in a suitable manner.
• Changes In The Way Non-Disclosure Or Misrepresentation Of Your Risk Details Are Dealt With – if a fair presentation is not made, the Act introduces a system of proportionate remedies based on what the insurer would have done had a fair presentation been made. The insurer will still be able to avoid (i.e., cancel from its start date) a policy (and retain the premium) if the failure to make a fair presentation was deliberate or reckless. For other cases, what the insurer may do depends on how they would have acted had they been provided with the correct details. So, if they would not have provided any cover, they may avoid the policy and refund the premium. If they would have charged a higher premium, they may proportionately reduce any claim. If they would have required different terms in the policy, it will be treated as though it contains those terms.
• Removal Of Basis Of Contract Clauses – basis of contract clauses are no longer allowed. These have the effect of turning information a customer provides to an insurer into warranties, which in turn means that if that information turns out to be incorrect, then the insurance policy is automatically terminated, even if trivial or immaterial to the risk.
• Revised Remedies For Breach Of Certain Policy Terms – the Act changes the way that certain customer obligations operate within a policy. Where the failure to fulfil the obligation used to result in the insurer having no liability, now it will lead to a temporary suspension of cover for the period that the obligation is not being met. However, once the obligation is being fulfilled, cover will be provided again. In addition, where there has been non-compliance with a term which would tend to reduce the risk of a particular type of loss, then the insurer won’t refuse any claim if you can show that the non-compliance could not have increased the risk of the loss that actually occurred.
• Changes In The Way Fraudulent Claims Are Dealt With – if a fraudulent claim is made, the insurer won’t be liable to pay the claim (including any honest element of the claim) and they may recoup any amount they have paid out on that claim. They may also cancel the policy from the point when the fraudulent act was committed, but they will still be liable for any losses before that point. Where the insurance is on a group insurance basis (and so provides cover to a number of persons), the new way of handling fraud will apply only to the person who committed the fraudulent act and won’t affect cover for the others.

Please contact Winchester Hawkins Limited if you have further questions on how the Act affects your business.

Insurance Premium Finance and Consumer Credit

We are able to arrange the finance of insurance premiums via an insurance premium finance company. We are required by the Financial Conduct Authority to hold a Consumer Credit Licence and our Consumer Credit Licence Number is 627907. This can be checked by accessing the Financial Services Register at the Financial Conduct Authority’s website at www.fca.org.uk/ or by contacting the Financial Conduct Authority on telephone number 0800 111 6768 or 020 7066 1000.

Insurers’ Solvency

We check the financial stability and solvency of any insurer where possible. However, we do not act as your insurer and do not and can not guarantee the solvency of any insurer with whom insurance cover is placed. Therefore, a liability for any insurance premium (whether in full or pro rata), can arise under insurance policies where a participating insurer is or has become insolvent.

Insurers’ Trust Bank Account and Statutory Trust Client Bank Account

We adhere to the capital resources requirement as stipulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and operate client bank accounts in accordance with their regulations. Our Terms of Business Agreements with most insurers are on a risk transfer basis. This means that we act as the agent of the insurer in collecting insurance premiums from our clients and handling any refunds and claims monies due to our clients. In these circumstances, such monies are deemed to be held by insurer(s) in our Insurers’ Trust Bank Account. If risk transfer does not apply, insurance premiums from our clients, refunds and claims monies due to our clients are deemed to be client money and are held held by us in our Statutory Trust Client Bank Account.

Our bank is not entitled to combine these accounts with any other bank account or exercise any set-off or counterclaim against money held in these accounts in respect of any sum owed to our bank on any other bank account of Winchester Hawkins Limited. Similarly, our bank is not entitled to any charge, encumbrance, lien, right of set-off, compensation or retention against any designated investments held for these bank accounts. The names of these bank accounts also distinguish these accounts from any other bank accounts held by Winchester Hawkins Limited.

Our clients must provide any insurance premiums due in cleared funds in accordance with the amounts and payment dates specified on our invoice. Failure to meet the payment date stipulated may lead to insurers cancelling an insurance policy.

We may forward insurance premiums to other insurance intermediaries authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority before being forwarded to your insurer. This is always for the sole purpose of incepting an insurance contract on behalf of our clients.

Our Insurers’ Trust Bank Account and Statutory Trust Client Bank Accounts are held with HSBC Bank Plc and any interest earned on these accounts is retained by Winchester Hawkins Limited.

Remuneration

Our income is derived as follows:

• Fees paid to us and which have been agreed by you, prior to conclusion of the insurance contract and which are shown separately to the insurance premium to be charged. Our fees are deemed to have been earned in full and because of this, are deemed non-refundable on any insurance policy that has either been cancelled by you or your insurer or our terms of business agreement has been terminated by you.
• Commissions paid to us by an insurer and/or other party, such as, a finance company and which have been contractually agreed by an insurer and/or other party. The commission paid to us is a percentage of the insurance premium to be charged and can vary for different classes of insurance and from insurer to insurer. Any return insurance premiums due to you will be returned to you including our commission earned on mid-term adjustments and excluding our commission earned on an insurance policy that has either been cancelled by you or your insurer or our terms of business agreement has been terminated by you.

Winchester Hawkins Limited does not receive a profit commission based upon the profitability of an insurance book of business placed with any insurers and does not receive a volume overrider based upon the volume of business placed with any insurers.

Winchester Hawkins Limited does not charge a fee for mid-term adjustments or for the issuance of duplicate, replacement or for copies of insurance documentation but does charge a fee of £75.00 in addition to any other fees that may have originally been charged to administer the cancellation of an insurance policy that has either been cancelled by you or your insurer or our terms of business agreement has been terminated by you.

You are entitled to request at any time, information from us regarding the amount of any commission that may have been received by us.  

Complaints

We are dedicated to providing an excellent and a high quality level of service to our clients at all times and will handle any complaint received seriously, promptly and fairly.

If you wish to make a complaint at any time, you may do so in writing to the registered office address of Winchester Hawkins Limited as shown above or by contacting us on the telephone number also as above. All complaints should be addressed to Mr Preston Morley either in writing or verbally. Thereafter, we will:

• Acknowledge your received complaint in writing within 5 working days. This acknowledgement shall include a copy of our complaints handling procedure.            
  
• If within 4 weeks from receipt of your complaint, our investigations are still ongoing, we will write to you again with our holding response, confirming that your complaint is still being investigated and when we expect our investigations to be completed.
• After 8 weeks from receipt of your complaint, we will issue our final response to you in writing, if this has not been issued beforehand.

Our final written response will be issued once our investigations into your complaint have been concluded and shall include the details of our investigations and confirmation of whether your complaint has been upheld or declined, together with any appropriate redress or resolution to be made.

However, if for any reason you are not satisfied with our final response, you may as an eligible complainant**, address your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Additional information about this service is available from the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR or at the Financial Ombudsman Service’s website at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or by contacting the Financial Ombudsman Service on telephone number 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9 123.

Winchester Hawkins Limited is also covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Under the Financial Services and Markets Act (2000), you may be entitled to compensation from this scheme, if we cannot meet our liabilities to you. This scheme broadly provides cover for two main circumstances. Firstly, the scheme covers the risk that we are holding your insurance premium, which has not been past to an insurer or we are holding your money from a claim paid by the insurer. Secondly, the scheme covers any mis-selling or bad advice that may be given to you by us.

The compensation amounts for insurance advising and arranging where the insurance intermediary has failed their client, changed on 1st January 2010 for non-compulsory classes of insurance. Before 1st January 2010, the maximum level of compensation was 100.00% of the first £2,000 of a claim and 90.00% of the remainder of a claim with no upper limit. After 1st January 2010, the maximum level of compensation is 90.00% of the claim with no upper limit. The compensation amounts for compulsory classes of Insurance did not change on 1st January 2010 and are protected in full of no upper limit.    

Additional information about this scheme is available from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme at 7th Floor, Lloyds Chambers, 1 Portsoken Street, London, E1 8BN or at the Financial Services Compensation Scheme’s website at www.fscs.org.uk or by contacting the Financial Services Compensation Scheme on telephone number 0800 678 1100 or 020 7741 4100.

**     An eligible complainant is deemed to be to be either a private individual, a business employing less than 10 employees and with an annual turnover or Balance Sheet not exceeding €2,000,000, a charity with an annual income of under £1,000,000 or trustees of a trust with a net asset value of under £1,000,000.

Illness and Holidays

During the period of any illness and prior to any holidays undertaken by any individual within Winchester Hawkins Limited, we will furnish you with the contact names and contact telephone numbers of the alternative personnel who will be able to assist you with any matters pertaining to your insurance requirements. 

Governing Law Jurisdiction

This terms of business agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law. In relation to any legal action or proceedings arising out of or in connection with this agreement, you consent irrevocably to the jurisdiction of the English Courts.

Termination

Winchester Hawkins Limited and/or you as our client may cancel this terms of business agreement by giving thirty days written intention to do so.

Notification

This terms of business agreement sets out the entire agreement between Winchester Hawkins Limited as your agent and you as our client in connection with the insurance services provided by us and acceptance of this terms of business agreement does not affect your legal and statutory rights.

Winchester Hawkins Limited (June 2021)