Definitions
In this Terms of Business Agreement “we”, “us” and “our” means RIAS, a trading name of Ageas Retail Limited a wholly owned subsidiary of Ageas (UK) Limited and a sister company to Ageas Insurance Limited.
We are an intermediary; we work on your behalf to understand what you need from your insurance and to offer appropriate products and services. We work on behalf of insurers to incept, collect and refund premiums for your insurance policy. We will also handle mid-term adjustments and cancellations on behalf of your insurers. We are registered in England and Wales No. 1324965 and our registered address is Ageas House, Hampshire Corporate Park, Templars Way, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO53 3YA.
Who regulates us
We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and our registration number is 312468. You can check this by visiting the FCA’s website www.fca.org.uk/register.
About our service
Our service includes arranging your insurance cover and helping you with on-going changes. You will be asked a series of questions so we understand what you need from your insurance, we will not provide advice or recommendations. Please ensure that the policy meets your needs.
About the products we offer
We only offer home and car insurance from a single insurer, Ageas Insurance Limited. Our additional optional products are provided by one insurer per product:
- Home products
Home Protection is offered by Inter Partner Assistance SA. Garden Secure is offered by UK General Insurance Ltd on behalf of Great Lakes Insurance SE. Personal Legal Protection, Key Protection, Personal Accident and Excess Protection are offered by Ageas Insurance Limited.
- Car products
Breakdown Cover, Legal Expenses Key Protection, Replacement Car, Excess Protection and Personal Accident are offered by Ageas Insurance Limited.
Information about you and changes to your circumstances
Please ensure that at all times, when requesting an insurance quotation or contacting us about your policy you have purchased from us, you take care to answer all questions honestly and to the best of your knowledge. If you don’t, your policy may be cancelled, treated as if it never existed or your claim rejected or not fully paid. For car insurance, you are reminded that it is an offence under the Road Traffic Act to make any false statements or withhold any relevant information to obtain a Certificate of Motor Insurance.
You must tell us about any changes which affect your insurance policy. In particular you must call us before you move address or if there are any changes to the item(s) to be insured. For other examples of changes you should tell us about, please see your policy document.
You should read and retain all the documents we have sent or may send you in the future. You should make sure the documents are accurate and contact us if the documents contain any errors. If you have any queries about your policy or do not understand it, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help you.
To help you manage any changes to your policy, any persons named on your policy, who we reasonably believe to be acting for you, will be dealt with if they call on your behalf in connection with your policy. However, if you wish to cancel your policy by calling us, we will only accept this instruction from you or someone authorised by you e.g. a solicitor or power of attorney.
How we will use your information
For details of how we collect, use and store your personal data - please visit our website www.rias.co.uk or contact our Data Protection Office at Ageas House, Hampshire Corporate Park, Templars Way, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO53 3YA or thedpo@ageas.co.uk. You can also request a copy by contacting us.
What you will have to pay for our services
Our fees and charges are in addition to any charges made by the insurer and are listed below:
| Action | Home insurance | Motor insurance |
| Administration fee for cancellation within 14 days | £15 | £15 |
| Cancellation fee after 14 days | £35 | £50 |
| A mid-term adjustment fee for making changes to your policy when speaking to one of our team | £15 | £25 |
| Making changes to your policy online | Free | Free |
| Unpaid Direct Debit payments | £12.50 | £12.50 |
| Direct Debit rejection charge | £12.50 | £12.50 |
| Renewal set-up fee (non-refundable) | £20 | £20 |
If you pay by instalments, your current rate of interest will be applied to any fees, charges, or additional premium added to your repayment plan. The rate of interest will be confirmed when you arrange, amend or renew your insurance.
What we receive from your insurers
When you arrange or renew your policy and any additional optional products, we retain commission from your insurer(s) which is a percentage of the premium. We have a profit share agreement with the provider of our optional Home Protection additional product. We also charge arrangement and renewal fees.
Mid-term adjustment premium
If you are entitled to a refund of your premium for any reason, we will only provide this where the amount due to you is greater than or equal to £10.00.
Receiving your documents
If you are currently receiving your documents electronically then we would encourage you to continue to do so, saving paper saves trees, let’s help our environment! Paper copies can be provided though, if you would prefer this please call us and let us know, we will also remind you about your options and how you can change how you receive your documents when your renewal is due.
If you are receiving paper copies and would prefer the convenience and more environmentally friendly option of electronic copies, then again please call us and let us know
Cancellation
Any fees incurred prior to cancellation are non-refundable. If your policy is cancelled within 14 days from receiving your documents (known as a cooling off period), your insurer will make a proportionate charge for the time you have been on cover, and we will charge you an administration fee which is noted above. The same will apply if you cancel your policy after the cooling off period but you will incur a higher administration fee which is noted above. If your policy is cancelled after your cooling off period, any fees charged by us are non-refundable. You will also incur an administration fee which is noted above. You will be charged for any additional products that you purchased, either in full or for the time you have been on cover. Full details of what you will be charged for these additional products can be found in your policy documents.
Any charges that may be made by your insurer and full details of what happens when your policy is cancelled, can be found in your policy documents. If there is an unpaid balance on your policy after it is cancelled, we may pass this to a debt collection company to recover on our behalf. If we are unable to collect the unpaid balance it may result in the issue of a County Court Judgment.
Client Money
We act as agent for the insurer for the collection and payment of your premiums. This means that premiums are treated as being received by the insurer when they are received by us. Any premium refund is treated as received by you when it is actually paid to you. We will not pay you the amount of any interest that we earn from investing your money before paying it to your insurer.
Quote guarantee period
When we have provided you with a quotation, it is only valid for a limited period of time and providing there are no changes made to the information provided, including the start date of the policy:
- Online: Your quote is only guaranteed while you are on our website. This is because rates can change throughout the day
Renewal of your policy
If we are going to automatically renew your policy, we will write to you before your renewal date to confirm this along with the details of your renewal premium, if you are happy with the price and the details of the cover you do not need to do anything and we will send you your new insurance documents. If you do not want us to automatically renew your policy or any of your details have changed, please call, email or write to us to let us know.
If we are not going to automatically renew your policy, we will confirm this in our renewal letter; if you want to renew you will need to call us.
Making a complaint
If we have not met your expectations and you would like to make a complaint, you can do so by contacting us directly. If you remain dis-satisfied you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service. Full details on how to make a complaint about us or your insurer can be found in your policy documentation.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) meaning you may be entitled to compensation from the scheme in the unlikely event that we cannot meet our obligations to you. Further information about the compensation scheme arrangements can be found in your policy documentation.
The Law and Language Applicable to this Agreement
This Terms of Business Agreement and the services which we provide under it, are subject to the law of England and subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England unless we agree otherwise.
All communications from us relating to your insurance policy will be in English.