Disclaimer & Disclosure
Complaints
Complaints should be mailed to:
Administrative Services, POB
370, Cocoa, FL 32923, eMailled to
clientservices@offshorerisk.com
or telephoned to (305) 743-7711.
Administrative Services telecopier number is (661) 420-8602 or (408) 228-8937 or
(760) 875-9772.
Contract Certainty
We are committed to achieving "Contract Certainty" for all
risks placed wherever possible. "Contract Certainty" is achieved by the complete
and final agreement of all terms between the insured and insurers before
inception of the insurance. Please therefore ensure, wherever possible, your
written instructions to place any insurance are given in a timely manner.
eMails
eMails referencing this disclaimer and any attachments are
CONFIDENTIAL and may contain legally privileged information. If you are not the
intended recipient of the eMail message then please contact us immediately,
delete the message from your system, and do not read, copy, distribute, disclose
or otherwise use the eMail message or any attachments.
Although we believe emails and any attachments sent are
free of any virus or other defect that may affect your computer, it is the
responsibility of the recipient to virus check prior to opening and we do
not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage arising in any way from
infected emails.
Website
The information contained in our
websites is not intended to be an offer to sell or a solicitation in connection
with any product or service offered in any jurisdiction where such an offer or
solicitation would be unlawful or in which our firm, its/their owners,
employees, associates, partners, officers, directors, affiliates, heirs,
assigns, et cetera, are not qualified to do so.
Products and services described in our websites may not be available in all
jurisdictions. The information in our websites is not intended to be a complete
description of all terms, exclusions and conditions applicable to the products
and/or services. Read your policy!
Third Party Services
Some products
and/or services are provided by third parties including Premium finance services. You may elect to use any source of
premium finance you wish. If you elect to finance your premium we will execute
all the necessary documents on your behalf.
If the premium
is financed and the installment(s) are not received in a timely manner by the
premium financer your coverage may be cancelled without prior notification and
you will be unprotected.
In most cases you may pre-pay the balance with little
or no penalty. Contact our office for details. We accept no responsibility for
timely payment of your premium.
Do not send your installments to us unless you
are instructed to do so in writing by an authorized individual of our firm.
Important note regarding
submissions & supporting documentation
Please review
your entire submission
carefully including any supporting documentation before submitting forms as false or inaccurate information may void
your insurance. Submitting forms does not bind you to purchase the insurance or
any Insurer to accept the risk, however it is agreed that the information
submitted shall be the basis of the quotation and contract should coverage be
bound and/or a policy issued. Read our Privacy Policy
below.
No coverage is bound or in
force until confirmed in writing by our office.
Privacy Policy
We obtain information from your
application and other sources. We value our relationship with you and protecting
the information we have about you is important to us.
Information
we acquire from or concerning our clients will be treated as confidential and
will not be disclosed, other than in the normal course of performing services
for our clients including claims assistance or if the information is required
by a court of competent jurisdiction or it is already in the public domain or
it has been received independently from a third party.
In
the normal course of performing services for our clients information may be
shared within our group of companies and to third parties and may be used for
research and statistical purposes and crime prevention. It may be transferred
to any country, by any means secure or otherwise, including countries outside
North America, the European Economic Area and other countries where we do
business or may do business.
When
our clients or prospective clients supply us with information containing
personal data (names, addresses, or other information relating to individuals),
we will hold and use that data to perform general insurance and other services
for those clients.
We will provide that information
to Insurers, reinsurers and prospective Insurers and reinsurers so they may
properly evaluate your proposal for
coverage.
You have the right to verify the
accuracy of the information we collect and keeping your information accurate and
up to date is important to us and should be to you. You may see and correct
personal information about you that we collect except for for information
relating to a claim or a criminal or civil proceeding.
We restrict access to personal
information about you. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural
safeguards to protect your personal information.
If you have questions about
this privacy policy statement or would like to learn more about how we protect
your privacy please contact us.
Free offers
From time to time we offer
incentives to clients or prospective clients such as T-shirts and
other items. The offer and acceptance of these items should not influence your
decision to purchase or use our products or services.
The value of any one item offered
for free or without charge does not exceed $24.99 in value and the offer is void
or invalid where prohibited by law.
You must request the free gift in
order to receive it.
You are under no obligation
to purchase any of our goods and/or services if you accept these incentives. For
more information on Free Gifts
contact us.
Our
Business Principles and Practices
Disclosure
Delivering services to our clients
Our
approach to the delivery of services to our clients is driven by a desire to
create value for them and to achieve the highest professional standards. We aim
to meet these goals in relationships that are fostered by clarity, transparency
and a desire for continuous improvement.
We
encourage all our clients to enter into service agreements with us in a manner
reflecting the particular service or solution to be delivered to them. In case
of conflict the terms of the service agreement take precedence over the
contents of Our Business Principles and Practices and, unless otherwise amended
by the terms of such an agreement our general insurance services to our clients
include:
· advising our clients on their insurance
needs
·
arranging insurance cover in accordance with
their requirements with a single insurer, an insurer with support from other
insurers or a panel of insurers we have selected
·
helping our clients with any changes to such
insurance cover they wish to make
· assisting them with claims on insurance
policies we have arranged whenever possible.
Occasionally
we provide services at the request of our clients that are not regulated by
statute, law, regulation or custom because they do not strictly relate to cover
provided to an insurance product.
Listening to our clients
We
want our clients to let us know what they think of our service. When we receive
praise for a job well done or a suggestion that helps us improve our business
processes, we will act positively whenever feasible.
The
same is true when we fail to reach the standards expected of us by our clients.
Complaints may be made orally or in writing and should be directed in the first
instance to your usual ORM contact. Clients may expect:
· within seven (7) business days of receipt an
acknowledgement of the complaint and be given details of who will be handling
the matter. If the complaint should be more properly redirected to another
party we will endeavour to identify that party and provide details.
· within twenty-one (21) business days of
receipt, be given or sent a progress report, unless the matter has already been
resolved, that will include the reasons why we need more time and when we
expect to provide our final response.
· receive regular reports thereafter in
intervals of twenty-one (21) business days until the matter is resolved.
Our
commitment
We
strive at all times to conduct our business with utmost good faith and
integrity.
We
organize and control the internal affairs of our business in a responsible
manner and ensure our staff are competent, suitable and under adequate
day-to-day supervision.
We
maintain a system of internal accounting controls such that our clients' monies
are kept separate from our own.
We
endeavour to satisfy the insurance requirements of our clients and to place
their interests before all other considerations. Subject to those requirements
and interests, we inform our clients of the situation and their options and act
upon their written instructions.
In
the conduct of business and in the choice of an insurer or service
organization, including any with which we, or our affiliates, may be connected,
we aim to provide advice objectively and independently in our client's best
interests.
When
giving a quotation or indication for a contract of insurance we take due care
to ensure its accuracy and that we can place it at the quoted price.
We
inform our clients of the name of all insurers with whom a contract of
insurance is placed and the premium and other amounts required to be paid
following receipt of their instructions. This information, and any change to
it, is advised at the earliest opportunity.
Confirmation
of cover/policies and other documentation
As
soon as is reasonably practicable after we have effected a contract of
insurance, we write to our clients with confirmation of the type and outline
terms of the insurance that has been arranged.
We
liaise with insurers to send our clients, unless one is not required or not to
be issued, a formal policy document as soon as possible after the inception of
cover. This document sets out the various terms, conditions, warranties and
exclusions relating to the cover and should be read carefully and understood.
We
recommend and urge our clients to check carefully all confirmations of cover,
policies and other documents to ensure they are in accordance with client
requirements. If they are not, or if any clarification of any aspect of the
cover is required, we must be contacted in writing immediately.
We
recommend clients retain all confirmations of coverage and policy documents for
as long as a claim is possible under the relevant insurance policies.
Premium
payment
Insurance premiums are due at inception. There is no grace period. Insurance
premiums not received on or before their due date will result in cancellation of
all coverages from the due date. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Return
premiums
Credit
notes are issued for returns of premium. Credit should not be taken until the
item(s) appear(s) on a statement of account. If premiums are financed or paid in
installments credits are applied to any outstanding balance in most cases.
Payment
arrangements
If
clients wish to make payment by direct transfer to our bank account we will
send them the relevant details. Once sent, clients should not accept any
amendments to these banking details unless we notify them in writing. Other
payments should be sent to the address on our invoice or statement.
For payment, in addition to wire
transfer outlined above, we normally accept cheques, cash, postal money orders,
and in some cases credit/debit cards. Furthermore, payment can be made by FaxChek© or NetCheck©. FaxChek© will allow us to accept you payment
from a cheque faxed to us and NetCheck© will allow us to accept your cheque sent over the
World
Wide Web/Internet. More
information can be obtained on these and other acceptable payment methods from
our website.
FaxChek and NetCheck are copyright
of ISC Insurance Services Corporation
and used with permission.
If
clients wish to avail themselves of premium installment facilities, in certain
cases we may be able to make arrangements with a premium finance provider.
Unless
otherwise agreed, premiums should always be paid in the currency in which they
have been invoiced.
Insurer
or reinsurer security
We cannot and do not guarantee the solvency or continuing solvency of
any insurer or reinsurer used or their ability to pay in a timely or correct manner and
clients should note that the financial position of an insurer or reinsurer can change after
cover has incepted.
Claims
or return premiums may arise under policies on which one or more insurers
or reinsurers sharing the risk become insolvent or is delaying settlements. In these
circumstances we cannot and do not accept liability for the uncollected
proportion. However, we will help our clients submit a claim for the unpaid
sums in a Liquidation, Administration, Receivership, Scheme of Arrangement,
Bankruptcy or similar process. Clients may receive part settlement in respect
of the amount collected from the solvent and responding insurers or reinsurers, and we may
inform clients of the name(s) of the insurer(s) or reinsurer(s) who have not paid and the
amount(s) unpaid by them if requested to do so in writing.
Claims
In
general terms, insurers require immediate notification of any claim or
circumstance which may give rise to a claim. Whilst the precise terms of the
notification requirements of insurers will be set out in their policy document,
it is our practice to advise clients to submit claims or advise details of
claims or circumstances immediately. Failure to do so may entitle insurers to deny
claims.
If
there is any doubt whether a matter constitutes a notifiable claim or
circumstances, we should be contacted immediately. Claims can also be reported
via our website.
We
may issue credit notes for claims payments made to us by insurers on a client's
behalf. We endeavour to send these without delay.
Our
remuneration
The
method of remuneration for our services to our clients is either in the form of
a proportion of the insurance contract premium (known as a commission or
brokerage), or a fee or fees, or a combination of both.
We
may sometimes in the ordinary course of business also earn income in a number
of other ways by providing services to the market or suppliers we deal with on our
client's behalf. The level of our remuneration is determined by the terms of
confidential business agreements with them but may be, for example, in the form
of management/administrative expenses allowed to us by insurers to cover our
costs in administering Binding Authorities or Lineslips, and similar facilities
for them or in the form of volume, growth or profitability payments for the
performance of general marketing, product development, systems and processing
functions and other such services on their behalf.
We
may also act as reinsurance brokers and in that capacity may be instructed by
insurers subscribing to an insured's policy to place reinsurance business on
their behalf. This is a separate contract with the insurer who is responsible
for our remuneration.
In
the handling of positive premiums balances or un-cleared funds for our clients,
or in the process of collecting claims for them, we may earn
interest/investment income or benefit from foreign exchange differentials.
Assignment
and subcontracting
In
the normal course of operating as international insurers we sometimes
ask other entities to assist us in responding to the instructions of our
clients or their insurers.
Reminder
of the duty of disclosure to insurers
and
Duty of Utmost Good Faith
It is a legal requirement worldwide that anyone seeking a new policy of
insurance or reinsurance or cover for additional risks or renewal under an
existing policy must disclose any information that might influence the insurers
&/or reinsurers when deciding whether to accept the risk and what the terms and
premium should be. Failure to disclose all material facts may
entitle insurers and/ or reinsurers to avoid cover from inception and seek
repayment of paid claims. If you are in any doubt as to whether information is
material, you should disclose it.
Generally
speaking, the law deems insurance to be a special class of contract which
imposes onerous duties upon prospective Insureds and their Agents, who are
obliged to act with utmost good faith towards Insurers at all times. In
addition they are obliged to disclose to Insurers, before the contract is
concluded, all "material" information known to them. The obligation
of disclosure is not limited to material information of which they are aware;
it extends to those matters of which they ought to be aware in the ordinary
course of their business.
Most
insurance law states that all information of every circumstance is material if
it would influence the judgement of a prudent insurer in fixing the premium or
determining whether he would take the risk.
If
there is any breach of the duty to act with utmost good faith or failure
to disclose any material fact or information to Insurers, the Insurers may be
entitled to avoid the policy of insurance from inception if the breach induced
the making of the contract on the relevant terms. In effect, this means they
would be entitled to act as if the policy had never existed and to seek
recovery of all claims already paid under that policy, although they would be
obliged to return the premium in most circumstances. Insurers may also press
criminal charges if fraud is suspected or determined.
The
duties of utmost good faith and disclosure also apply to the claims process and
to any situations or changes in situations between the initial submission to
obtain a quotation or premium indication and the inception of the policy and
during the policy period in which the Insured is required, under the terms of
the policy or otherwise, to provide information to Insurers including the
extension or amendment or renewal of any policy.
Our
organization is a member of the Fraud Defense Network and we assist in the
prosecution of insurance fraud.
For
more information
Additional
information can be obtained at our website
www.offshorerisk.com