Insurance Regulation (current)

• GISC was a voluntary insurance regulator, by whose code we abided until 14th January 2005 when we became regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
• On 1st April 2013 we became authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. It requires us to provide certain information to decide if our services are right for you. 
• This information will be sent to you if you submit a request on-line for information about a product
• Not all the products we offer are provided on-line.

1. Whose products to we offer?
   • We offer products from a range of insurers for all classes of insurance business unless stated.
2. Which service will we provide you with?
   • We will advise and make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your needs.
   • Information about many policies is available on-line
3. What will you have to pay us for our services?
   • A fee of NIL for arranging a policy providing the premium exceeds £50.00
   • A fee of £5.00 for arranging a policy if the premium is less than £50.00
   • A fee of £15.00 for processing any mid-term adjustment not resulting in a premium refund. The fee is payable once we have completed the adjustment
   • A fee of 15% of the return premium (minimum £15.00) for processing and mid-term adjustments that result in a return premium. The fee is deducted from the return premium due to you. This fee covers our loss of commission on the premium.
   • A fee of £35.00 for processing any policy cancellation on your instructions. This fee is deducted from the refund due to you and will not apply to policies being paid direct to the insurer. If the policy cancellation is on our advice and a new policy is taken out with us, we will regard the cancellation/ new policy as a single mid-term adjustment and make a £15.00 charge
   • A fee of £5.00 for inviting renewal of a policy. This fee will be included in our renewal invitation and due on renewal of the policy or inception of a replacement policy. The fee is to cover our costs of issuing a fresh statement of demands and needs and reviewing the insurance market at renewal.
   • A fee of £21.00 should you wish to pay your insurance premium by instalments and the premium is less than £210.00. The fee is spread over the instalments.
   • A fee of 10% of the premium should you wish to pay your insurance premium by instalments to us and the premium is between £210.00 and £500.00. The fee is spread over the instalments.
   • A fee of £50.00 if the premium exceeds £500 and you wish to pay the premium by instalments to us. The fee is spread over the instalments.
   • The instalment fees mentioned above do not apply if you pay the premium by direct debit on our finance or the insurance company's finance plan.
4. Who regulates us?
   • B. Portwood & Co Ltd,44 Medomsley Road, Consett, DH8 5HA is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA Register number is [300694] 
   •  
5. What to do if you have a complaint?
   • If you wish to register a complaint please contact us:-
     • In writing .....  Write to B. Portwood & Co Ltd, 145 Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland, co. Durham. DL14 7EN
     • by phone ..... Telephone 01388 607140
   • We will make every effort to settle your complaint.
     • If you cannot settle your complaint with us, you should contact GISC, BIBA or IIB
     • If you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service 
6. Are we covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
   • 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.
     • Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £2000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim without any limit OR
     • For compulsory classes of insurance (road traffic act liability, employers liability, and riding school third party liability) insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim without any upper limit
   • Further information about compensation arrangements is available from the FSCS
7. Is my premium protected?

    

   • All payments we receive are made in a non-statutory trust account. 
   • We pay all client premiums into a separate client account, which will be a non-statutory trust account
   • As trustees of the account we are able to perform the following:-
     • We may extend credit to certain customers by paying the premium to the insurance provider before receiving full payment from the customer. This means that part of your premium may, in effect, be used to pay another customer's policy!
     • We may pay your premium to another person who is not your insurance provider. We may, for example, pay your premium to another broker for whom we are agents. That broker may then pay your premium to the insurance provider (or even yet another broker!). It is likely that this form of providing credit would actually be made from the insurers bank account rather than the NSTA.
   • By paying your premium to us you authorise us to perform these actions.
   • Because of the flexibility of this form of account the FCA impose additional controls:
     • We must appoint a person to oversee the account.
     • We must have adequate systems and controls to ensure that the account is managed correctly
     • We must be audited each year by an independent firm of accountants
     • The firm of accountants must confirm that everything is in order.
     • We must have certain assets. Currently these must be at least £50,000