Terms of Business

Terms of Business

Applying to General Insurance customers

By accepting these Terms of Business, you are giving your consent to the actions described in the following sections. Please read this document carefully.

Company Details

Northern Counties Guarantee Corporation Ltd, 478 Durham Road, Low Fell, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, NE9 6BP Telephone: 01914821219. Northern Counties is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Our Firm Reference (FRN) is 304423. You can check this on the FSA's website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or telephone the FSA on 0845 606 1234.

Our Service

We offer a wide range of insurance products and have access to leading insurers in the marketplace.  For some types of insurance we deal predominately with a single or limited number of insurers which we have selected as offering value for money and quality service.  We will give you details of these arrangements before you make any commitment on any product we offer you and a list of the insurer used in these cases, will be available on request. We will make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your needs, or advise you if we are unable to place your insurance.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

All information about you will be treated as private and confidential and kept secure. We will only use and disclose the information we have about you in the normal course of arranging and administering your insurance. We may pass information about you which may include details of your payment record to credit reference agencies for the purposes of arranging payments by instalments. As a member of the Broker Network Ltd, the products and services we can offer may be enhanced. We may pass information about you to the Broker Network Ltd as part of our required management procedures.

We may also use the information we hold about you to provide you with information on other products and services we can offer which we feel may be appropriate to you.  If you cancel or lapse your policy we may contact you the following year to provide a quotation. If you do not wish to receive marketing information from us, or for us to disclose information about you to other parties for marketing purposes please write to us at the above address.  Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have rights of access to any personal information we hold about you in our records.  If you have any queries or requests in this regard please contact us. At your request we may provide information to your personal representative. We will however only do this on completion of our Data Protection Authorisation Form, details of which can be obtained from us.

Solvency of Insurers

We cannot guarantee the solvency of any insurer with which we place business. This means that you may still be liable for any premium due and not be able to recover the premium paid, whether in full or in part, should an insurer become insolvent.

Money Laundering/Proceeds of Crime Act

We are obliged to report to the National Criminal Intelligence Service, any evidence or suspicion of money laundering at the first opportunity and we are prohibited from disclosing any such report.

Your Duty to Disclose Information

It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to insurers when you take out an insurance policy, throughout the life of the policy, and when you renew your insurance.  It is important that you ensure all statements you make on proposal forms, claim forms and other documents are full and accurate. Please note that if you fail to disclose any material information to us and your insurers, this could invalidate your insurance cover and could mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid.  You should take particular care to check the accuracy of all information you provide.

Notification of Incidents/Claims

It is essential to notify us immediately of all incidents that may result in a claim against your insurance policy. You must do so whether you believe you are liable or not. Any letter of claim received by you must be passed to us immediately, without acknowledgement. Only by providing prompt notification of incidents can your insurance company take steps to protect your interests. Your policy summary and policy document will provide you with details on who to contact to make a claim. Method of settlement may vary depending on your business status in respect of commercial insurance - please ask your account handler how this will affect you. Claims payment will be made in favour of the named policyholder. If you require a payment to be made to a third party then you must confirm the required payee name and details and provide a brief explanation for your request in writing. Please contact us for guidance on claiming under your policy.

Cancellation

Your policy document will detail your rights to cancel your insurance once you have taken it out.  Depending on the type of policy you have purchased, you may be entitled to cancel within 14 or 30 days of either conclusion of the contract or receiving your policy documentation, whichever occurs later. The arrangement fee on your policy is nonrefundable. Where you cancel a policy before renewal you will be responsible for paying a charge to meet the cost of cover provided and administration expenses. Please see the Charges section. To enable your insurer to process the cancellation, you will need to return certificates and any official documents to our office within 30 days of your notice to cancel.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (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. Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £2000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim, without any upper limit. For compulsory classes of insurance, insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim, without any upper limit. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (http://www.fscs.org.uk).

Complaints

It is our intention to provide you with the highest possible level of customer service at all times.  Should we not meet your expectations, we have a complaints procedure, which is explained below.

Should you wish to complain you may do so:

• . In writing to the Complaints Manager - Lynne Kane-Boyle
• . By telephone on 0191 482 1219
• . By Fax on 0191 420 0097
• . By e-mail at contactus@northerncounties.com
• . In person by visiting our office (see above for address)

Should you not be satisfied with our final response, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).  Further details will be supplied at the time of responding to your complaint.

Northern Counties Guarantee Corporation Ltd  TOB 2.0

Charges

Applicable to commission paying and non-commission paying products. These charges apply in addition to any charges made by insurers and policy commission or commission fee and are non-refundable.

Retail Customers

Non refundable arrangement fee £25.00 Renewals £25.00 Mid Term Adjustments £25.00 Lost papers/documents £25.00 Temporary change £25.00 Cancellations* £25.00 Solicitor Referral (at inception or renewal)† £25.00 Solicitor Referral (on a per claim basis)† £25.00

Commercial Customers

Non refundable arrangement / renewal fee  up to £150.00 Mid Term Adjustments (requiring document issue) up to £150.00 Routine Mid Term Adjustments up to £75.00 Lost papers/documents £25.00 Temporary change up to £75.00 Cancellations*  up to £150.00 Solicitor Referral (at inception or renewal)† £20.00 Solicitor Referral (on a per claim basis)† £30.00

Where we arrange non- commission paying products, we will charge an arrangement fee not exceeding 35% of the premium, and will advise you of the actual amount at the time of quotation or renewal. Please be aware that these charges are in addition to those imposed by insurers for various insurance services such as duplicate certificates / mid term cancellations. You will be advised of these separately. We advise that these charges are made at the discretion of Northern Counties. *All cancellation return premiums will be refunded net of commission and less an applicable above mentioned charge. †Solicitor referral is not a legal expenses insurance policy and is offered to assist in the in the recovery of uninsured losses in the event of a non-fault Road Traffic Accident. The acceptance and/or success of your case is not guaranteed by Northern Counties.

These fees may be subject to change. Where there are changes we will confirm this clearly and the actual amount will always be disclosed to you before you commit to purchasing the product. As insurance brokers we earn our income predominantly from commission paid to us by insurers based on the amount they charge you. You are entitled, at any time, to request information regarding any commission which we may have received as a result of placing or renewing your insurance cover. We may occasionally receive additional remuneration from certain insurers for insurance policies we place with them. Please ask us should you require further information.

Refunds Where a policy is cancelled before renewal, insurers charge to cover their costs, with the balance refunded to you, subject to no claim having been made. Full details will be available in your policy. In the event of an adjustment giving rise to a return premium the amount may be refunded or held to credit. Insurers reclaim commission paid to us when you cancel a policy before renewal. The amount reclaimed reflects the number of days in the policy year, for which cover will no longer be provided. As a consequence, we will make a deduction to the value of the commission reclaimed, from any return premium to be paid to you. For certain commercial insurance policies, insurers will only provide cover where the premium is due in full on inception of the policy. This means that no refund will be paid if the policy is cancelled before renewal. We will advise you if this affects you. In view of the cost involved in making changes to your policy, we will not issue refunds of less than £25.00.

Terms of Payment

Our payment terms are as follows (unless specifically agreed by us in

writing to the contrary):
New policies: immediate payment on or before the inception date of the
policy

• . Alterations to existing policies: immediate payment on or before the effective date of the change
• . Renewals: due in full before the renewal date

If payment is not received from you in accordance with the above terms, we, or your insurer may be forced to cancel the relevant policy/policies, which could mean that part or all of a claim may not be paid.

Unless we advise otherwise, any payment we receive from you will be passed to "Broker Network Ltd" who pay insurers on our behalf.  This means that any payment made to us will be regarded as having been paid to the insurer. Please make cheques payable to "Broker Network Ltd". Your money will be segregated into a non-statutory client bank account held by Broker Network Ltd as trustees on your behalf. This means credit may be extended and payments may be made to other customers using cleared funds from the client bank account. We may pass the money you pay us to another intermediary. We will only do this where it is a necessary part of the process of arranging cover for you. Where this includes intermediaries outside the UK, the legal and regulatory regime may be different from that of the UK. In the event of the intermediary failing money may be treated differently than if it was held by an intermediary in the UK. You may notify us if you do not wish your money to be passed to a person in a particular jurisdiction. No interest will be payable to customers in respect of the client account. Any interest earned will remain in the ownership of Broker Network Ltd

Motor Insurance Database (MID)

The primary purpose of the MID is to assist the police in identifying uninsured drivers quickly, but also to assist EU insurance companies being able to identify third party insurers in the event of an accident. The obligation to provide Vehicle Registration Numbers rests with the policyholder and there are legislative penalties for those who do not comply. NORTHERN COUNTIES accepts no liability for vehicles that should be registered with the MID not being registered.

• PRIVATE CAR POLICYHOLDERS

-The 1^st phase of the MID is already underway and the details of individually insured vehicles are recorded by your insurer.

• MOTOR TRADERS, SELF DRIVE HIRE & FLEET OPERATORS

-Temporary additional vehicles need not be added to the MID if only required for a few days. You must however still advise your insurer of temporary additional vehicles to be covered if ordinarily required under the terms of your policy. Motor Insurers Information Centre (MIIC) has recommended that only vehicles that are required to be on cover for a period of 14 days or more should be added to the MID. In the event of a claim involving a temporary additional vehicle it will be up to the insurer identified by the MID to liaise with their policyholder to trace the lessee and their insurer. Policyholders who have a contingency plan for vehicles which are hired out should NOT remove vehicles from the MID during periods of temporary hire.

-The Department of Fair Trade has indicated that the obligation for Fleet policyholders and Motor Traders is to notify taxed vehicles which will be driven on the road. The deadline for notification is given by the MIIC as 14 days. That is to say that vehicles held taxed for road use for between 1 and 14 days will be excluded under a de minimis exception, but all vehicles held longer than this, covered by the policy will need to be notified to the MID.

-In the case of untaxed vehicles the trade plates numbers will be required by the MID.

-With regard to stock vehicles - if such vehicles are never driven in a public place they do not need to be notified to the MID.

-‘Blanket Certificates' can still be issued as there are no law changes affecting liability or scope of policy cover. ‘Specified Certificates' in terms of drivers or vehicles will also still be allowed.

-Appropriate vehicle notification will be a condition of your insurance policy and as such if vehicles which should be notified are not notified your insurer may seek to repudiate the ‘Own Damage' aspect of the claim.

-      Non compliance of the MID will be a criminal offence.

-You should notify the MID of permanent fleet vehicles, vehicles taxed for road use, courtesy vehicles, demonstrator vehicles and all trade plate numbers.

Northern Counties Guarantee Corporation Ltd                                                      TOB 2.0