Complaints procedure

Our aim is always to provide our customers with a first-class service; however we are aware that, occasionally, it is possible that we may fail to meet your expectations.

If you need to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact us either in writing to:

Complaints
Impact Insurance Services (Bolton) Ltd
625 Chorley Old Rd
Bolton
BL1 6BJ

Or, by telephone: 01204 848 481

Or, by email: complaints@impactinsurance.co.uk

Where a complaint arises we will, wherever possible, endeavour to resolve the matter by no later than the close of business the third working day following receipt. If this is not possible, to enable us to remedy the situation in a speedy and efficient manner, we have a documented, formal complaints procedure, details of which are shown below.

  1. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly, to reassure you that we will be dealing with the issue as a matter of urgency, giving you the details of who will be handling the matter in our office, and details of the service of the Financial Ombudsman Service, where this applies.

  2. In the event that your complaint relates to activities or services provided by another party, we will advise you of this in writing giving the reasons for our decision, and ensure that your complaint is promptly forwarded to the appropriate party, in writing.

  3. We will aim to make a final response to you as soon as is practicable and keep you reasonably informed as to progress. We anticipate that we will be able to provide a substantive response to most complaints within eight weeks.

  4. By the end of eight weeks from receipt of your complaint, we will issue you with our final response, or issue a response that gives the reasons for the delay and indicates when we will be able to provide a final response. If you are dissatisfied with our response or the delay at this time, you will have a period of Six months in which you can refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, whose details are shown below.

When we provide our final response letter, we will endeavour to ensure that we have taken into consideration any financial losses or material inconvenience you may have suffered. If we do not feel that your complaint is justified, we will advise you of the reasons for our decision and we will also advise how you may pursue the complaint if you remain dissatisfied.

The Financial Ombudsman Service provides consumers with a free, independent service for resolving disputes with financial firms.

The FOS Consumer Helpline is on 0800 023 4567
The FOS Switchboard is: 020 7964 1000
Email address: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Address: Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR

Duty of Disclosure

Where the main use of the contract is private.

Your duty to give information

When applying for or amending your insurance policy, we and / or your insurer will ask a number of questions to assess the risk prior to agreeing cover. It is your duty to ensure that you answer all questions raised by insurers or us honestly and reasonably. These questions are designed to enable us or the insurer to obtain a comprehensive picture of the nature of the risk to be insured, and only by asking such questions and receiving answers which are given honestly and with reasonable care, can we or the insurer be in a position to offer terms which are designed to meet your demands and needs.

The reason why this is vital and extremely important is that if you fail to tell us or the insurer something when asked, or, if you answer carelessly or act deliberately or recklessly in making misrepresentations when answering questions, your policy may leave you with no insurance protection; insurers may not pay a part or all of your claim and may cancel your policy. You may find it difficult to re-arrange cover because you did not tell an insurer everything when asked, and you will have to disclose this fact when you reapply for insurance.

FAILURE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS HONESTLY AND REASONABLY, WHEN ASKED, MAY LEAVE YOU WITH NO COVER AND A CLAIM NOT PAID

Duty of Disclosure

Where the main use of the contract is commercial.

It is your duty to ensure that you provide a fair presentation of the risk to underwriters; the objective of a fair presentation is to give us all the information underwriters might need to quote the premium and decide what terms to apply.

You have a duty to disclose every material circumstance that you know or ought to know after a reasonable search. This applies before the cover is placed, when renewed and if altered at any time during the policy period. A circumstance is material if it would influence the underwriters decision whether to accept the risk, including terms and pricing.

If there is any doubt whether a circumstance is material to this risk, it should be disclosed as failure to disclose may entitle insurers to refuse to pay a claim or apply additional terms or reduce the claim payment.

The point of a fair presentation is that it is far better to declare everything at the time of a quotation than to let the insurer find things out at the time of a claim.

FAILURE TO DISCLOSE THESE FACTS MAY LEAVE YOU WITH NO COVER AND A CLAIM NOT PAID.