Terms and conditions

Terms of Business

The Financial Services Authority is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. Contained in this document is information which the Financial Services Authority requires us to tell you. Use this information to decide if our services are right for you.

Who are we?

Safeguard is a specialist in motorhome and caravan insurance and a division of Swinton Group Limited. Our head office address is Swinton House, 6 Great Marlborough Street, Manchester M1 5SW. Swinton Group Limited is owned by MMA Holdings (UK) plc.

Whose policies do we offer?

All the motorhome insurance we arrange is underwritten by Allianz Cornhill plc, all UK breakdown assistance we arrange is provided by The Automobile Association Limited and European breakdown assistance is underwritten by

Automobile Association Underwriting Services Limited. These covers are available only as a package and may not be split or purchased individually. The legal protection product we arrange is underwritten by MMA Insurance plc. We act as the representative of all these companies. We also offer travel insurance and caravan insurance as the representative of Fortis Insurance Limited and AXA Insurance UK plc respectively. We are not contractually bound to do business in this way.

We will receive payment of your premium from you as agent for the relevant insurer. Any claims money or refund of premium we receive from the insurer in respect of your insurance is also received by us as agent of the insurer.

As agent of the insurer we receive a commission in respect of each policy we arrange. Should you wish to receive details of this you may do so, by either contacting your local branch or our Customer Assistance Team, tel 0845 168 3676, Swinton House, 6 Great Marlborough Street, Manchester M1 5SW.

Which service will we provide you with?

We will advise and make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your needs.

Your right to cancel your insurance

You have a right to cancel any insurance you buy through us and to recover any payment made (except as stated below).

You can do this by giving notice to us at Woodside House, 261 Low Lane, Horsforth LS18 5NY within 14 days of your receipt of the policy document.

If you do exercise this right to cancel your insurance, you will be charged by the insurer for the service provided up to the point of cancellation, as specified in your policy documentation. Safeguard will also make a cancellation charge of £25 except as shown in the ‘service charges’ table overleaf. You will not be entitled to a refund of the service charge made by Safeguard for arranging your insurance.

Further, if you exercise this right to cancel your motorhome insurance, any Driver’s Legal Protection you hold will also be cancelled. You will recover any payment made in respect of these products provided the cancellation right is exercised within the 14 day period mentioned above.

If you do not exercise this right to cancel, any remaining cancellation rights will be as set out in the policy document.

If your insurance is a travel insurance lasting less than one month, you do not have a right to cancel it except in accordance with any terms shown in the policy document.

Any refund of premium due to you on cancellation of your policy will be calculated by reference to the premium you actually paid at inception, net of any discount allowed to you at that time.

Where a cancellation or other transaction results in a premium refund being due to you, that refund will be reduced by any service charge and any other sums you owe in respect of the policy.

What will you pay us for our services?

The service charges we make may change from time to time. The tables below show the charges applicable at the time of printing. The outlet where you bought your policy will have available up-to-date details of the scale of charges at all times.

It is not economic or practical to issue refund cheques of very small amounts. Accordingly, where a transaction would result in a refund to you from us of less than £1.00, this nominal amount will be retained by us as an additional service charge.

Type of transaction		Service charge	Notes
Quotation (all policy types)		No charge
New policy inception & renewal		£15.00	No charge will be made in respect of the inception or renewal of a travel policy.
Changes to existing policies:
• Change of address		No charge	Where a transaction results in a premium refund being due to you, that refund will be reduced by any service charge and any other sums owing in respect of the policy.
• Foreign use extensions on motorhome policies
• Any other changes to existing policies (for taxation purposes or otherwise)		£20.00
Cancellations:
• Motorhome policy		£25.00	Your insurer will also charge you for the cover provided up to the point of cancellation plus a cancellation charge of £25.00.
• Caravan policy
• Travel policy		No charge
• Driver’s Legal Protection
Duplicate documents & covernotes		£15.00	Only one £15.00 charge will be made if a duplicate certificate is requested at the same time as a request for a cover note.
Returned cheques		£15.00
Direct debit defaults		£12.00

Instalment charges (where payment is not by direct debit)			Charge
Payment by 2 instalments			10% of the premium, minimum £15.00
Payment by 3 instalments			12% of the premium, minimum £20.00
Payment by 4 instalments			14% of the premium, minimum £25.00

For payment by instalments, a minimum deposit of 40% is required. Applies to annual policies only, minimum premiums apply.

Who regulates us?

Safeguard is a division of Swinton Group Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Our Firm Reference Number is 309599. Our permitted business is arranging, advising on and helping in the administration of general insurance contracts. You can check this on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.

Are we covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme?

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and therefore you may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS if we should be unable to meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. For most types of insurance, advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £2,000.00 and 90% of the remainder of the claim, with no upper limit.

Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.

What to do if you have a complaint

Step 1

Please contact the Manager at Safeguard, either by:

• writing to Woodside House, 261 Low Lane, Horsforth LS18 5NY
• telephone on 0113 258 1614 or fax on 0113 258 5841

We expect the majority of complaints to be quickly and satisfactorily resolved at this stage. In the unfortunate event that you are not satisfied, you can take the issue further, as detailed in steps 2-4.

Step 2

Please contact the Swinton Customer Assistance Team, either by:

• writing to Swinton House, 6 Great Marlborough Street, Manchester M1 5SW
• telephone on 0845 168 3676 or fax 0161 236 7102
• our online feedback facility – located under ‘Contact Swinton’ on our website www.swinton.co.uk

Step 3

If your complaint is one of the few that cannot be resolved by this stage, please write directly to our Chief Executive at the address given in Step 2.

Step 4

If you remain dissatisfied with our response to your complaint, you may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS will independently investigate your complaint without charge to you. You will not be able to refer any complaint to the FOS unless you are a) a private individual, b) a business which has a group annual turnover of less than £1m at the time of the complaint, c) a charity which has a turnover of less than £1m at the time of the complaint or d) a trustee of a trust which has a net asset value of less than £1m at the time of the complaint.

Following the above complaints procedure will not affect your legal rights. Please provide your policy details and the address where you bought the policy on all correspondence.

If you have a complaint against your insurer, please refer to the policy booklet for details of your insurer’s complaint procedure.

Treating you fairly

We aim to treat you fairly. We consider carefully the products we offer and we select or design them with our customers in mind. We work hard to make sure you’re not misled and that the information we provide is clear and understandable. Our complaints process is fair and accessible and we aim to put things right if we’ve made a mistake. We want you to be confident and comfortable in your dealings with us.

Further important information

What you must tell us

When you take out, renew or alter any policy, the information you supply to us is the basis on which your cover and premium are agreed. If that information is incorrect or anything changes, please let us know immediately as it could invalidate your policy or result in a claim not being paid.

Any changes in information supplied will be accepted from you either verbally or in writing. Remember, you should always tell us about any change immediately – please don’t wait until your renewal.

How you can deal with us

You can choose to deal with us face-to-face, over the phone or by post, all with our branch in Horsforth. The language we do business in is English. A leaflet that sets out our services to customers with disabilities is available on request.

At Renewal

Shortly before renewal, we will try to speak to you by phone about your renewal requirements. If we do not manage to contact you or you do not proceed at that time, then we will send you a letter setting out our renewal quote. We will ask you at that time to contact us.

If you are paying for your policy by monthly direct debit, and you are happy with your quote to renew with your current insurer, there will be nothing further for you to arrange. Your direct debit payments will continue automatically and your new monthly payments will be debited on your usual collection date.

Also, if you are paying by direct debit, Safeguard may (but accepts no responsibility to) renew your policy automatically if, prior to your renewal date, contact between us has not been successful or you have failed to confirm whether or not you wish to proceed. We would do this for your protection. If you do not wish us to take this action, please tell us at any time up to 7 days before your renewal date. If we do not hear from you to the contrary, we will treat it that you agree to this.

If you have a claim

We will make available to you free of charge the Safeguard One Call Claims Service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for motorhome insurance claims. Through this service we will always be available to give you expert help and advice when you make a claim. Simply call 0800 169 4559 (24 hours a day, 365 days a year) if you’re involved in an accident, if you suffer fire, windscreen or other damage to your vehicle or the theft of your vehicle.

If you need to make a claim on any other insurance, please contact us on 0113 258 1614. We will take your details and guide you through the claims process.

Monthly payments by direct debit

ost annual policies can be paid for by direct debit via our own credit agreement. For full details of the terms and conditions and interest charges, please ask. Availability is subject to status. A deposit is required. Quotations given on request. If you choose to pay by direct debit, you will be provided with a Consumer Credit Agreement to sign and return to us. This agreement will set out your direct debit payments.

Some of our direct debit arrangements require a deposit to be paid on inception of your policy. Policy inception is followed by 10 monthly direct debit payments. In the eleventh month, a further payment of the same amount is taken as a returnable deposit against next year’s renewal. This money will be held by us on your behalf and used against your renewal premium. This eleventh monthly payment will often be processed before you have confirmed that you wish to renew. Please do not treat our taking of this payment as renewal of your policy, it is simply a pre-renewal advance payment. If your policy is not renewed, this payment will be refunded to you.

As we operate our own credit agreement, policies we arrange cannot be paid for via an Insurer’s direct debit scheme.

Important: Safeguard’s right to cancel your insurance

If you choose to pay by monthly direct debit or under our instalment scheme, you will be provided with our Consumer Credit Agreement or Instalment Agreement to sign. You are reminded that it is a term of both agreements that you authorise Safeguard, as your agent, to instruct the insurers to cancel your insurance if any monthly direct debit or instalment payment, or any other amount due under those agreements, is in arrears and not paid on time.

Your details are in safe hands

We will share the information we have on record about you where the disclosure is required by law. As part of the process of providing you with a quote, arranging your insurance and putting your cover in place, this information and your personal data will be shared with insurers. We may also use this information to tell you, by phone, letter or e-mail about insurance related or other goods and services which we think you may be interested in. These are likely to include financial services such as the provision of credit, loan and mortgage facilities, life assurance, savings and investment products, and ‘life-style’ products and services, such as payment protection and associated products, as well as products and services related to the insurance, protection, maintenance and repair of your personal goods and property. These may be products and services supplied by us or other selected third parties. Please let us know if you do not want us to do this.

We may also pass this information to other carefully selected third parties who may use it to tell you by phone, letter or e-mail about other goods and services which they think you may be interested in. Please let us know if you do not want us to do this.

Most of the insurers we deal with have a sharing of information agreement to prevent fraud. Whenever you arrange your insurance through us, your cover and premium will be agreed with your insurer on the basis that you agree to their passing on claims information to the Claims Underwriting Exchange.

To help prevent fraudulent claims, your insurer exchanges information with other insurers through various databases. Also to help detect people who break the law by not having insurance, your insurer will supply details of your motor insurance to a database which can be accessed by the police or other insurers.

If you would like a copy of your policy record, please request this in writing enclosing a cheque for £10.00 payable to Safeguard, and send to Customer Assistance Team, Swinton House, 6 Great Marlborough Street, Manchester M1 5SW.

Introducer Arrangements

A third party may have introduced you to us and for this the introducer may be paid a fee by Swinton. Similarly, we may, with your consent, introduce you to other third parties, for which the third party may pay a fee to us.

Safeguard is part of a group

We are connected for the purposes of the Insurance Companies Regulations 1981 to MMA Insurance plc and Gateway Insurance Company Limited, as all have the same parent company. We do, however, act totally independently in the dayto- day running of our business and in deciding which insurers to place business with.

Wherever we recommend a policy underwritten by MMA plc and Gateway Insurance Company Limited we will advise you of this connection before you are committed to buying.

Safeguard is a division of Swinton Group Limited, registered in England number 756681, which is connected for the purposes of the Insurance Companies Regulations 1981 to MMA Insurance plc and Gateway Insurance Company Limited. Registered office: Swinton House, 6 Great Marlborough Street, Manchester M1 5SW. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

www.safeguarduk.co.uk