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This Financial
Services Guide contains information about our services, your
rights as a client and other things you need to know in relation
to insurance. We trust it will assist you in deciding whether
to use our services. By placing your insurance with Business
Insurance Specialists Pty Ltd (BIS), you do so on the terms
set out in this Guide. Unless you inform us otherwise in writing,
we assume that you agree with these proposed terms. If you
need more information or have any questions, please feel free
to telephone us.
About
BIS
BIS holds an Australian Financial Services Licence No 223
627 granted by ASIC under the Corporations Act 2001. This
allows BIS to provide general financial product advice and
deal in financial products to both retail and wholesale clients.
Duty
of Disclosure
Before you enter into a contract of insurance, you have a
duty under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 to disclose to
your insurer every matter that you know, or could reasonably
be expected to know, is relevant to the insurer’s decision
whether to accept the risk and, if so, on what terms. The
duty also applies when you renew, extend, vary or reinstate
a contract of insurance. You do not have to disclose anything
that:
- Reduces
the risk to be undertaken by the insurer;
- Is
common knowledge;
- Your
insurer knows, or in the ordinary course of its business,
ought to know; or
- If
the insurer has waived your obligation to disclose.
If you
do not comply with your duty of disclosure, your insurer may
be entitled to reduce its liability in respect of a claim
or may cancel your contract of insurance. If the non-disclosure
was fraudulent, the insurer may be able to avoid (or cancel)
the contract of insurance from its beginning. This would have
the effect that you were never insured. One important matter
to be disclosed is the history of losses suffered by the person
seeking insurance or any closely associated person or entity.
As you are responsible for checking that you have made complete
disclosure, we suggest that you keep an up to date record
of all such losses and claims. If you have any questions about
whether information needs to be disclosed, please contact
us.
Renewals
We will give you at least 14 days notice of expiry of any
insurance contract which we arranged or last renewed for you.
At that time we will send you an offer to renew the insurance
contract and invoice you for the cost of renewal
Variations
You should carefully monitor and review that your insurance
contract is adequate to cover your assets or business activities.
If you want to vary any cover, eg by increasing the sum insured
or adding other property, please provide us with details of
the changes you require and any other information you need
to disclose to the insurer. We will arrange the variation
with the insurer and provide you with written confirmation.
Claims
We will receive your claims notifications, assist and advise
you regarding the scope of cover and pass the information
to the insurer.If a loss adjustor is appointed we shall, with
your permission, pass on your contact details and co-ordinate
meetings. We will promptly forward to you all claims documentation,
insurance company settlement cheques and other information.
Invoices
We will invoice you for the premium, statutory charges (eg
stamp duty, fire services levy, etc) and any fees we charge
for arranging your insurances. You must pay us within 14 days
of the date of the invoice or, in the case of a renewal, before
the expiry date of the contract of insurance. If you do not
pay the premium on time, the insurer may cancel the contract
of insurance and you will not be insured
Cancellation
We cannot cancel a contract of insurance without written instructions
from the insured. If a contract of insurance is cancelled
before expiry of the period of insurance, we will refund the
net premium we receive from your insurer. We will not refund
our income earnt for arranging the insurance.
Privacy
We are committed to protecting your privacy. We use the information
you provide to advise about and assist us with providing your
insurance. We only provide your information to the insurance
companies we deal with. We do not trade, rent or sell your
information.
Sums
Insured – Under-insurance
If you do not want to bear a proportion of any loss you must
ensure that the amount for which you insure is adequate to
cover the full potential of any loss. If you insure on a new
for old basis, the sum insured must be sufficient to cover
the new replacement cost of the property. Your proposed “Fire
and Perils” and “Business Interruption”
insurance do have under-insurance clauses which means if you
do not insure for the full amount your loss may not be paid
in full.
Remuneration
You are entitled to know that BIS is paid a commission when
we arrange your insurance. We also charge a policy fee. Prior
to settling your payment with insurers, we may also temporarily
hold your money in our trust account in which we receive the
interest earned.
Interests of other Parties
Some insurance contracts do not cover the interest in the
insured property or risk of any one other than the person
named in the contract. Please tell us about everyone who has
an interests in the property insured so that we can ensure
that they are noted on the contract of insurance.
Waiver
of Rights
Some insurance contracts seek to limit or exclude claims where
the insured person has limited their rights to recover a loss
from the person who was responsible for it, eg by signing
an agreement which disclaims or a limits the liability of
the other party. Please tell us about any contracts of this
type which you have or propose to enter into.
Premium
Funding
The lender is entitled to charge interest and pay a commission
for the transaction. In addition, a non-refundable application
fee may be included by the lender for the loan.
Underwriting
Binder
The insurer has granted BIS an authority to effect the contract
of insurance with you as its agent and not yours. This will
assist us in finalising your insurance arrangements.
Insurance
Brokers Dispute Facility
If you are not fully satisfied with our services, please contact
our customer relations/complaints officer. BIS subscribe to
the Insurance Brokers Dispute Facility a free customer service
and the General Insurance Brokers Code of Practice. Further
information is available from our office.
Our
Financial Services Guide is also available for download in
PDF and Microsoft Word Formats. Please click the appropriate
link below. If you don't have Acrobat Reader you may download
it free from the link provided.
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